Busx3,
The whole point of this thread is to try find a way to avoid those exact fees you are talking about. If you are happy to continue to pay the $$ to send and receive your pay, that's fine....the idea here is that there is a way that is not overly complicated to do this without paying anything.
I'm pretty sure most people are aware of the use online of the wire transfer with HSBC. One thing some may not be aware of is that it can cost you more if you tick the "overseas charges to be paid by recipient" box at the bottom of the form. If you do this, HSBC USA take a slice of the pie as your money makes its way to your bank. So, the costs end up something like this.....
Wire out - $100 HKD taken by HSBC HKG. Wire passing through - $20 US taken by HSBC USA. Wire being received - $10 (or up to $20 by some banks) wire being received by your bank.
If thats OK with you....go for it. By the way, the $20 I quoted above that HSBC USA take out is what I used to see before I changed to ticking the box of "overseas charges to be paid by self". If you do this, then the total wire fee for HSBC become $130 HKD (ie, a bit less than $100 HKD and $20 US).
So, make sure you change how you tick that box on the form you use in the HSBC wire transfer page online. That is a big savings straight away. As far as paying a bank fee to receive the wire.....again, if you are ok with that then fine. The point of this thread is that it is not that hard to adjust your banking setup, if only slightly, to avoid that fee. Just setup an account online with someone that doesn't charge for incoming wires, no monthly minimums and a checkbook and then write yourself a check to deposit at your local bank. You can't tell me that is over complicating the process.
FYI