We show you 3 low-fee options so you can accept payments as a music teacher and receive international payments cheaper – perfect for music teachers who teach international students and music lessons online.
When you’re trying to work out how to receive international payments without paying massive fees, or how to take payments from your music students, chances are you’ve banged your head against a few walls attempting to figure out which option is best for you.
As a music teacher, you’re having to figure out what expenses you can claim back for tax purposes, keep records of your invoices and what to charge for music lessons. So paying huge fees to banks and reducing your profit margins is not really something you want to think about. We get it!
Two questions we get asked a lot here at MusicTeacher.com are “how do I accept payments as a music teacher” and “how do I receive international payments for music lessons?”. So we thought we’d give you 3 low-fee options so you’re not paying massive fees when taking payments from students.
To help you out, we’ve complied 3 payment options that will help you receive international payments cheaper than what a bank transfer would cost and that are widely accepted across the globe. This is perfect for music teachers who teach international music students online and those who want to accept payments for music lessons.
Before we begin:
Disclaimer: We always recommend that music teachers seek professional financial advice and the information in this article is for illustration purposes and should not be relied on as financial advice. We always recommend testing each option and making your own decisions!
Now that’s out of the way, let’s dig into how to take payments for music lessons!
Get paid internationally without the pain.
1. Wise (Formerly Transferwise)
I personally use Wise and have found it to be incredibly cost-effective with nominal fees.
The main benefit of Wise is that you can receive money from almost any country. All you do is create a profile, connect your own bank account and you’re ready to receive money from almost anywhere in the world.
Wise lets you accept payments into their international bank accounts so you don’t have to go to the trouble of setting one up – very useful!
For example:
If you are based in the UK and you are teaching a student in Canada, you can connect a Wise Canadian bank account to your profile. The student then pays the Canadian dollars into that account and you can then transfer those funds into your own bank account or leave it within the Wise account and simply spend it through the app.
Alternatively, you could be working with a student in Malta. To ensure you’re paid in pounds, you could ask them to transfer your payment to the Wise UK bank account. The Wise account absorbs most of the fees, whereas your existing bank account will likely charge you a hefty fee.
This also means you can be paid the same flat fee from anywhere in the world.
Money usually arrives within 2-3 days and fees are usually around 0.35% of the total transfer value. You also benefit from the fact that the exchange rate is similar to that of Google, rather than the tourist rates.
3 Benefits of Wise
- You can be paid in your own currency
- You can receive payments worldwide
- Their transfer fees are around 0.35%
2. PayPal
PayPal is easily one of the most common ways to transfer and receive international payments.
If you’re just starting out as a music teacher and want to know how to get paid by international students, this could be the best option for you as almost everyone has a PayPal account.
One thing to note though is that you do need a bank account to transfer money from your PayPal account, otherwise you can only spend it in places that accept PayPal like some online stores and eBay etc.
We recommend setting up a PayPal account as it is accepted all over the world. They’re now accepting QR code payments, so you can accept payments for your music lessons a lot quicker!
Be advised though, they do charge a 3% fee on some transactions unless the sender selects the “Friends and Family” option. We’re not telling you to do this… but we’re also not NOT telling you to do this to avoid fees…
Another thing to keep in mind is that they use a retail or tourist exchange rate, which is sometimes worse than what Google offers. So make sure you adjust your international lesson fees to reflect exchange rates.
3 Benefits of PayPal
- Almost everyone has an account
- Low fees (which you can work around with the F&F option)
- Uses almost every currency
3. Xe
We’ve included Xe.com here as it has quickly become one of the most reliable sources to check current exchange rates. It’s also very easy to receive international transfers and makes a great option for music teachers to receive international payments without massive fees.
You will need to open an account with Xe, but it’s worth it if you want to make receiving international payments a lot cheaper!
Your students will also need an account, but it really doesn’t take long to set up.
There are a few currencies they don’t facilitate, but if you’re dealing in euros, dollars and pounds, you’ll be fine.
3 Benefits of using Xe for international payments
- Low fees of around 3 USD for transfers up to 500 USD (that’s pretty cheap!)
- Rates are close to the official Google rate
- Easy to use app for Android and iOS
And that about wraps it up. If you’re looking to start your own business as a music teacher and start teaching music online, you’ll need a solid payment platform that won’t charge you a load of fees. These 3 options will help you receive international payments cheaper and allow you to accept payments as a music teacher whilst keeping your overheads down!
Why not market yourself to more international music students!
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Students simply search by location and instrument and they are presented with an array of different music tutors close to their location.
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This is one of the easiest ways to get more private music students online and in person. So sign up today.
About the author
Lee Glynn (linkedin.com/in/leerglynn/) is a digital content strategist, blog writer and has been playing the guitar for 3 decades. Along with creating content strategies for a wide range of industries, and writing for well-respected music blogs and retailers for nearly 20 years, he helps websites grow their traffic with his company Quarry Lake Content (quarrylakecontent.com), specialising in blog and content writing, YouTube SEO and Copywriting. He was also in the UK-based band Sound Of Guns and has played Glastonbury, Reading & Leeds and just about every stage and festival in the UK multiple times.
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If you teach online or work with international students, these options can reduce fees and simplify getting paid.