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Cat Gabriel Jan 6, 2008

Hi everyone,

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and best wishes for a happy and healthy 2008!

I have a question for other Aussies out there and also for the Americans.  On my new website I have a paypal shopping cart system, and I decided to list everything in Australian Dollars, I'm just wondering whether it will put American buyers off? (95% of my sales go to the US.....) 

What do other aussie bearmakers do?

Delartful Bears Jan 6, 2008

Hi Catherine,

If most of your sales are in the US - I would go with the US$ then.  The only thing I hate about that is with the way the exchange rate fluctuates... 

I'd go with whatever you feel most comfortable with.  The 95% is a huge percent, so personally I'd go with the US$ - but that's just my opinion!
Danni

russellbears Jan 6, 2008

Hi Catherine,
I'm not sure what the right thing is to do, but I've gone for Australian dollars as most of my sales are through PayPal and the conversion is automatic in the actual transaction.
Kim

Laura Lynn Banner SponsorJan 6, 2008

I've seen some artists put a link to www.xe.com or another currency converter.  It makes it easy for us in the US to figure out how much it will cost (approximately) in US dollars.

karenaus Jan 6, 2008

I'd agree with Danni, if most of your sales are to US customers I would go with US$.  I'd also say most Australians are used to converting to other currencies, but fewer Americans are.
      It's also a more 'international' curency, people in other countries would probably have a rough idea what a US$ is worth compared to their own currency.

rufnut Jan 6, 2008

Catherine, you have raised a great point, mine are in A$.

Might be changing mine.

Cat Gabriel Jan 6, 2008

Thanks everyone for your opinions, much appreciated.  That's a good point Karen, $US is more of an international currency isn't it and most people roughly know the value of it compared to their own currency.  Ok, looks like I will be changing to US Dollars!

Thanks 

jenny Jan 6, 2008

If I were you I would stick with Australian Dollars...otherwise people will pay you in US dollars then you will be charged for converting it back to your currency. You can always put the rate in US dollars on the site. I have found that UK bidders bid on my eBay.com auctions just the same...but then I have to send a pound sterling invoice at the converted rate or paypal charge a further percentage to convert dollars to pounds.

rufnut Jan 7, 2008

Great points Jenny, thanks for sharing with us.  :hug:

karenaus Jan 7, 2008

If I were you I would stick with Australian Dollars...otherwise people will pay you in US dollars then you will be charged for converting it back to your currency. You can always put the rate in US dollars on the site. I have found that UK bidders bid on my eBay.com auctions just the same...but then I have to send a pound sterling invoice at the converted rate or paypal charge a further percentage to convert dollars to pounds.

I don't know if it's because of something I did when I set up my Paypal account, but when I get Australian $$ funds I have to pay to convert it to US- or I can leave it in my Paypal as an Australian $$ balance. I know that sounds wierd- I was a bit surprised myself when it offered me the option not long ago.
   When Australian $$ are worth a bit less than US dollars, it looks more expensive than what it is to US buyers as well.

rufnut Jan 9, 2008

Karen, I have multi currencies available in my  Paypal a/c, my primary currency is set to  USD, and I have Pounds and A$ as secondary currencies.

I don't recall seeing a charge to convert currencies though. check it out or ask paypal a question.