My question is why is the rate higher on one exchange than on another?
The price basically depends on the buy and sell amount of a particular coin. If you know basic economics, then it depends on the policy of supply and demand. If the supply is sufficient to fulfil the demand, then the price doesn’t fluctuate a lot, but if it’s not possible, then the price really goes up and down. On the other hand I have seen the price of coin in popular exchanges always remain same. So price fluctuations aren’t a big deal at all.