Spending big money

There are 24 replies in this Thread which has previously been viewed 509 times. The latest Post (January 13, 2026 at 2:01 PM) was by serafina.

    We have a couple of big expenses to make (we have to replace two air conditioners and a mobile phone) and I was wondering if you know how to pay those using money from abroad. I remember that a few years ago, my mother wanted to gift me the washing machine for our new home, but the payment with her foreign credit or debit card didn't go through.

    Some phone places accept USDT, but I don't even know how to buy them, let alone move them. I had tried to set up binance years ago, but I failed the verification.

    I believe there's no longer a problem paying for stuff using foreign cards. However I haven't a clue how it works. GlasgowJohn will be able to help you as he's more clued up about such things....plus, unlike the rest of us he's not skint.

    foreign credit card works almost always in person at a store. Online it works at most sites, though not all. Of course, only as one-payment, not using the Argentina bank card benefit of choosing at the time of purchase to stretch equal payments over N number of months.

    Still, this year all the limits have been raised, and bureaucracy minimized. You should not have any issue transferring money from your foreign bank accounts directly into your USD account here at your argentina bank. Talk to the commercial exterior office at your bank to setup one time or periodic transfers.

    I believe USDC is preferred vs USDT. I have not tried USDC, but I read there are apps that will let you scan the same QR code that you would use for Modo or MecadoPago. They process the payment using your USDC balance that you have preloaded into your assigned wallet. Lemon looked promising though they would only accept Argentina citizens. Suggest first testing a smaller amount at the cafe

    Pay with QR, receive Bitcoin - Lemon
    You can scan all the QR codes of any business in the country and pay without any problems, and for each purchase you make, you will receive cashback in $BTC.
    lemon.me

    I wasn’t able to pay for the aircon from Sodimac’s app or website. I went in store and explained, and the gentleman with whom we spoke said that we could try do a card swipe to pre-credit on the website purchase. TBH it made no sense… I think he meant they’d swipe the physical card at the cashier, gave me a coupon, and I’d pay online using that coupon.

    What a joke of a system. It shouldn’t be legal to make it impossible people from spending their money. If it was a person and not a system, we’d call that abusive.

    On another account, I had no issue in buying 3 pairs of socks at Decathlon with the same card. I was given a good exchange rate, too.
    Price: 18.999 ARS

    Equivalent in USD 13.06

    Charged on my card USD 13.66

    Quote from serafina

    I wasn’t able to pay for the aircon from Sodimac’s app or website.

    I used mine recently at the Easy website without any issue. Coto rejects all my cards, except one US debit card. There are various payment processors, and the ones which ask for the name of my bank are the ones that fail. The ones who use MercadoPago (be sure not logged into MP account in same browser) or TiendaNube as the processor are the ones that work the most often. Try both a Mastercard and a Visa.

    You did not want to buy at the physical Sodimac store because the price was better online?

    Quote from aficionado

    I used mine recently at the Easy website without any issue. Coto rejects all my cards, except one US debit card. There are various payment processors, and the ones which ask for the name of my bank are the ones that fail. The ones who use MercadoPago (be sure not logged into MP account in same browser) or TiendaNube as the processor are the ones that work the most often. Try both a Mastercard and a Visa.

    You did not want to buy at the physical Sodimac store because the price was better online?

    Yes, the price was $685,000 in store (promo price - full price was $850,000), $649,999 online and $639,999 using the Sodimac app. A dear local friend offered to buy using her card, and I will give her the cash.

    Quote from serafina

    Yes, the price was $685,000 in store (promo price - full price was $850,000), $649,999 online and $639,999 using the Sodimac app. A dear local friend offered to buy using her card, and I will give her the cash.

    Maybe if you'd offered to pay cash in store they would have knocked another 10% off?

    Quote from UK Man

    Maybe if you'd offered to pay cash in store they would have knocked another 10% off?

    I don't think big chains do that kind of special deals to individuals. It was not offered to us when we were there in person.

    Besides, I used my US card to fill in the tank yesterday.

    Mastercard's advertised rate: 1 ARGENTINE PESO (ARS) = 0.0007225 UNITED STATES DOLLAR (USD)
    Amount in ARS: 52,000

    Amount per Mastercard's rate: 37.57 USD (no foreign conversion fee with my card)

    Card charge: 37.58 USD

    Official rate: 1 ARS = 0.00069 USD

    Amount per official rate: 35.84 USD

    Difference: 1,74 USD = 4.85%

    My aircon purchase was not showing in my Sodimac account today. So I contacted the whatsapp support and I was informed that the order was rejected with no explanation provided except a list of potential issue.

    Quote

    📩 Actualmente no contamos con un motivo específico del rechazo. 🔍 Solo disponemos de una información general brindada por el área encargada, la cual indica que el pedido fue rechazado por validación interna. 📌 Como te comenté, esto puede deberse a distintos factores, como: Una dirección de entrega incorrecta o incompleta. Que la tarjeta utilizada no pertenezca al mismo titular de la cuenta Sodimac. Que se haya ingresado algún dato erróneo de la tarjeta. O que se haya solicitado la entrega a nombre de otra persona. ❌ Estos son algunos de los motivos más comunes que pueden ocasionar el rechazo del pedido.

    My friend was charged, I owe her 400 +USD. And there is no aircon to collect.

    The only con is this f*** country.

    Yip , none of the big stores or chains will give you a deal for cash purchases.

    Not a surprise really.

    Most of the independent stores who do give you a deal will be likely keeping the sale of the offical accounts.

    Quote from serafina

    My friend was charged, I owe her 400 +USD. And there is no aircon to collect.

    Similar happens in US when the address or owner of the credit card is different than the address to deliver. Not always. Often random attempt to catch fraud. But there, the charge to the credit card is reversed at the same moment the order is cancelled. Here it could take days or weeks until your friend is refunded.

    I can see the potential red flags, but I have never experienced it first hand.

    Indeed, I added my US cards to my mother's Amazon account so that I can use her Prime membership to order stuff while I am in Italy (and to pay for my purchases myself). I have also used her Prime account to send stuff to friends who later brought it over to me in Argentina.

    Of course, everything I have described could have been a fraud or hacking attempt. But that's not the default answer.

    Today, I have used my US card to make a purchase on ML using my husband's account. No issue at all and the item was immediately available for pickup from the seller.

    I'd like also to recommend Gauss Online - I purchased an opened-box/second hand printer and they took the time to test it in front of me during the pickup. The printing heads were installed by them, and the ink tanks were already filled in since the previous use, so I just had to connect it to my WiFi network. I am not a fan of inkjet printers, but the copy shop around the corner charges me 1850 pesos per sheet yesterday! With 32 pages to print today, I have already saved 50.000 pesos.

    Hp Smart Tank 790 - Regular price 650-720.000 pesos, Outlet price 450.000 pesos (My card was charged 326 USD)

    Impresión, escaneo, copiado, Alimentador Automático de Documentos (AAD) y conexión inalámbrica

    D_NQ_NP_2X_991634-MLA99701015376_122025-F.webp