Sell Saudi riyals for British pounds

Right now, the best Saudi riyal to pound buy back rate is 4.8371 based on our comparison of 7 UK currency suppliers which is equal to £0.21 per Saudi riyal. The worst buy back rate is 5.1374 (£0.19 per Saudi riyal).

The difference between the best (lowest) and worst (highest) Saudi riyal rate is 5.85%. If you were selling SR600, you'd get £7.25 more by going with the best offer.

The best time to sell Saudi riyals is when the Saudi riyal buy back rate is low. This is because the amount of pounds you receive for your Saudi riyals is calculated by dividing the amount of Saudi riyals you have by the buy back rate.

In this example, you'll see the lower buy back rate yields more pounds for SR600 compared to the higher rate:

SR600 / 4.8371 = £124.04

SR600 / 5.1374 = £116.79

Think of it like this: it's a good time to sell Saudi riyals when it's a bad time to buy them! This is because when you buy Saudi riyals you want the exchange rate to be as high as possible (since the amount of Saudi riyals you receive is calculated by multiplying your pounds by the exchange rate) but when you sell Saudi riyals you want the opposite to be true.

Use our historical Saudi riyal buy back rate chart above to determine if now is a relatively good time to sell. Ultimately though, don't worry about trying to pick the perfect time to sell because it doesn't make a huge difference to the amount you'll receive unless you're selling tens or hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of Saudi riyals (in which case you'll probably want to use a money transfer service).

The rate at which a currency supplier will exchange your Saudi riyals back into pounds is called the Saudi riyal buy back rate, and as you would expect this rate varies from supplier to supplier and changes frequently throughout the day. You can calculate the amount of pounds you'll receive for your Saudi riyals by dividing the amount of Saudi riyals you have by the supplier's buy back rate.

For example, to calculate the value of SR1 you simply divide it by the buy back rate:

SR1 / 4.8371 = £0.21

In other words, you'd get £0.21 for each Saudi riyal you sell.

We have performed all of these calculations for you in the comparison table above so you can see exactly how much each supplier is offering based on their current Saudi riyal buy back rate.

We found 7 suppliers in the UK who are currently exchanging Saudi riyals to pounds including: Manor FX, fourex and Sterling.

Most high street currency suppliers who sell Saudi riyals will also buy them back off you, but the process isn't always straightforward. Some suppliers will only buy back currency that they originally sold you in the first place (and you'll need to provide a receipt as proof), or you might be limited to the amount of Saudi riyals you can exchange back to pounds in a single order.

Our currency partners listed above are different because they will buy any Saudi riyals sent to them by post (or taken in person if you live nearby) without limits and with no proof of purchase necessary apart from the usual ID and source of funds checks. If you place your buyback order online, you'll also get a much better buy back rate than if you walked in off the street unannounced.

Visit a supplier's website for more information on their specific process for buying back Saudi riyals, a list of their store locations and postage instructions.

You cannot deposit Saudi riyals directly into your UK bank account but you can swap your Saudi riyals for pounds and deposit them that way. The most cost-effective way of doing this depends on the Saudi riyals you want to deposit:

• If the Saudi riyals are in notes / physical cash, you can exchange them for pounds using a buy back service such as the ones listed above. These suppliers will convert your Saudi riyals into pounds and deposit them directly into your bank account via bank transfer.
• If the Saudi riyals are in an overseas bank account, you can use a money transfer service to convert the Saudi riyals electronically and transfer them straight into your bank account. You can use a money transfer service to help facilitate transfers from Saudi riyal bank accounts even if the sending account belongs to another person or company.

Some banks will allow you to exchange Saudi riyals to pounds over the counter and deposit them directly into your account, but bear in mind the buy back rate you receive will often be horrendous so only use this option if you are desperate or have a very small amount to exchange.

Most currency suppliers will not buy back Saudi riyal coins because they are expensive to post and difficult to exchange. We've indicated which Saudi riyal notes and coins each supplier accepts in their extended descriptions which you can see by clicking 'More Details' in the results table above.

If you're stuck with some Saudi riyal coins that you can't exchange back, here are a few suggestions on what you can do with them:

• Keep them for your next trip to Saudi Arabia. They may come in handy for smaller purchases, tips, taxi fares etc.
• Donate them to charity. Most charities will be glad of any coins you can donate regardless of value - just pop them in a collection tin like you would with any other coins.
• Sell them as scrap metal. If you have a large number of low-denomination coins that you definitely won't use again, you may be able to sell them for a fixed price per kilo at your local scrap dealer.

When posting your Saudi riyals, we recommend you use Royal Mail's Special Delivery service which is fully insured and guaranteed to arrive on the next working day. Packages sent by Special Delivery go through a more secure process than regular mail and can be tracked from the moment they enter the system right up to the point of delivery where they must be signed for by the supplier. It is very rare for Royal Mail to lose a Special Delivery package, but in the unlikely event this does happen Royal Mail will refund you the entire insured amount plus postage costs. You can also reclaim your postage costs if Royal Mail do not deliver your currency on time.

When you purchase Special Delivery you'll be given an option to insure your package for up to £2,500 and you'll be given a receipt which contains a tracking number and proof of postage. If you are sending more than £2,500 worth of Saudi riyals, you can split them up into multiple packages and insure each package for an appropriate amount.

The cost of Special Delivery varies depending on the amount you've insured the package for, but we estimate this cost for you in our comparison results above. You should ensure that your Saudi riyals are securely packaged before you post them; we recommend you use a plastic tamper-proof envelope that you can obtain from the Post Office when you purchase Special Delivery. If you are in any doubt, just ask the Post Office clerk to check your package before you send it and they will advise you on whether it is suitably packaged and insured.

For orders sent by post you'll be paid by Bank Transfer within 3 working days from the day you currency is received. For orders exchanged in person you'll be paid immediately in cash.

The Saudi riyal buy back rate you receive will be the prevailing rate on the day your currency is received. This rate does not usually change significantly from day to day but it does mean you may receive slightly more or slightly less than the amount quoted today.

If you're unhappy with the final amount received, you can arrange to have your currency returned minus postage costs.

Every so often, a country will update it's currency and issue a new set of notes or coins whilst simultaneously withdrawing the old ones. The withdrawn currency is usually accepted for a while after the issue of the new currency to allow a for graceful transition to take place, but eventually the old currency will cease to become legal tender. Once this happens, the old currency cannot usually be exchanged.

If you're unsure whether the Saudi riyals you have can still be exchanged, we recommend you contact the supplier beforehand and they will gladly help you to determine whether your notes can be accepted.