We use transferwise for almost all of our international payments. transferwise rocks. We used to use XETrade, but this isn't available to us where we currently live and work. Our bank(s) hate us for using transferwise, and actually try many different ways to stop us from using it (except for making the process cheaper - funny thing, that)
I've used Paypal because it was very simple to setup, until I realised how much I was losing, then I setup a bank to bank international wire, which took some time because most account managers I have talked had no idea how to do. It still takes some fees, but a lot less compared to Paypal.
I've not experienced that, even within SEPA (the EU's transfer area). Payments from e.g. Denmark to Germany seem to typically take one business day to go through.
I've got a business bank account with Chase, and they'll do currency conversions and international transfers, via online banking, with a minimum of fees.
They've also got a credit card (Sapphire Preferred, I believe) that has no currency exchange fees, and has both a chip (useful in Europe) and a magstrip (useful everywhere else).
If you set up a local bank account, keep the FBAR in mind.
Some banks—such as Thailand's Bangkok Bank—have a US branch just for receiving transfers. That way, you have a US routing number along with your normal local bank account number, and then can get your US pay despoiled just as if it were going to a US account. Fees tend to be lower than manually wiring money each month.
You mean bank transfer fees?! You cannot avoid them unless you also have an US bank account which you won't get if you are not living in the US.
Private money transfer is pretty cheap with well known services like e.g. Paypal (I'm guessing this is one of the main reasons Paypal exists, easy and cheap).
You don't have to live in the US to set up a US bank account. You just need to physically be in the US.
That said, I think your resident country needs to have a relationship with the US. I was approved no problem as an Australian, but one of the devs I work with from Ukraine was declined.
The bank fees are separate and on top of PayPal's, moving money to/from PayPal can only be done through their website instead of PayPal's and they collect their fees that way.
A lot of this is dependent on where you live? Are you billing via a US/International LLC? Or is this a direct contract? do you spend USD in the current country or another currency?
Bitcoin is very volatile, so you could lose or gain unknown amounts during the "transfer" (even if it is within a few minutes).
Additionally unlike a traditional wire transfer you cannot prove that you're transferring it to yourself (it is an anonymous currency by design after all) therefore they could come after you for tax (or worse accuse you of laundering).
Wires are a rip-off. However the costs are knowable and there is a very low risk of any misunderstanding from the big G in either country.
I use a company called XE, and to be frank it is a huge PITA. But at least all money is completely traceable/verifiable (the broker is almost too paranoid about fraud, that's why it is such a pain) and the fees are relatively low. It would be very easy to prove with XE that I sent it to myself.
I also use XE. I think he might be referring to setup. Setting up an account takes a lot of documentation and took a few weeks IIRC. Once it's setup though, things are easy.