Using PayPal for purchases is not the same as sending money abroad.

There are two issues: the exchange rate you'll get and the fees you'll pay. You can get a near-perfect exchange rate and high fees. Or you can get a fee-free transaction with lousy exchange rates. For sure, whatever you get will be a compromise between these two factors. The best thing to do is to do a lot of googling. The procedures you might have to follow can be labyrinthine and hard to understand.

I've only done this a couple of times, sending money to my bro in New Zealand. I ended up using the company I have my prepaid travel card with, Caxton. I can't remember whether I got a better deal because I was with them... They seemed to be a reasonable compromise at the time. But there's never any such thing as a free lunch...

The one that Raggytash mentioned, Wise, gets a lot of positive write-ups these days.

Of course, if you can wait, your mate could just get the best cash exchange rate he can and give you cash. You'd lose a lot less between you that way, but if it's a question of fifty grand in a hold-all...