For those who don't use USD currency

[HereMyDear]

For those of you that have changed your currency to anything other than USD:
-How long have you been listing in your countries currency?
-Have you noticed a change in sales?

While there are tons of threads with whys/why nots, pros/cons, etc. I haven't seen any info on actual outcomes, whether the change has had any impact, good or bad, on sales.

So anybody want to share their experience..

[Former_Member]

Although I list in USD (I'm in the USA) I have purchased items that are listed in other currencies and have never seen it as a problem.

The price in USD is right below the price in whatever the shop has chosen in the individual listings.

[LuluSplendor]

I would love to know too!

[DuniStudio]

Most of my visitors to my shop and customers are from USA, therefore I'm keeping the currency in USD even though I live in Germany. And local customers don't mind either!

[Former_Member]

I was wondering this! I still post in USD although I'm in Canada, I have a few Canadian customers but the majority of my sales come from US buyers so I keep my shop in USD.

[sockysocks]

I changed to British pounds at the beginning of the year just to make it easier for myself. Most of my sales have been to the US before and since the change so I can't say it has made any difference. Socks are seasonal and most are bought in the run up to Christmas so I'll have to report back in January if sales are down on last year!

[Addy]

-How long have you been listing in your countries currency?
For about 7 months, since Jan or Feb 2011.

-Have you noticed a change in sales?
I sell more items now, but I think that may also have to do with being on here longer and having more stock than I did before. I've only been selling since March 2010. I do sell more to the UK than I did before. Once again, I'm not sure if that's because I've been here longer or because of the change in currency.

[Former_Member]

I sell in CAD, since I live in Canada, and I've recently seen an increase in sales, but like Addy, I think it's because I have more inventory, and I've been promoting my business outside of Etsy for a while now.

[billetsdoux]

I have kept my shop in USD mainly because that's what most shoppers are used to......and payment goes into Paypal which operates in US funds. I have that sent right into my US funds account at my local bank, because if I converted to Canadian dollars and have it sent to my bank, I am losing money on the exchange. Paypal doesn't follow banking exchange rates, they set their own.
My sales have really picked up this year, so no downside there. :)

[BusyBusyResi]

I've left my prices in USD as most of my buyers are American but I'm losing on exchange rate. I'll probably have to start thinking if it's better to list in euro

[Former_Member]

I changed my shop to GBP near christmas and saw an instant drop in sales so put it back to USD but then in March I decided to try again with the GBP.

I have seen a slight drop in my international sales but an increase in sales within the UK which is fine with me since it seems to have levelled itself out and I prefer to ship within my own country.

I think US buyers are getting more used to seeing different currencies on the site now so my US customers seem to be slowly coming back.

[Wudwerx]

I changed to GBP as soon as the option became available as 90% of my business comes from the UK. Business levels seemed to stay the same.
Last week I changed it to Euro and I'm still getting customers, but I can't say yet if it's going to affects sales. I really think it'll be ok though.

[HereMyDear]

Lots of great insight and info, much appreciated! Keep it coming!

[Former_Member]

I wish we could tell if it was chicken or egg.

[byEline]

Very useful to read this thread. I sell in USD even though I live in Norway. Our currency NOK (Norwegian Kroner) is not well known I think, and therefor I stick to USD. I have few customers in Norway and don't think I would get more if I changed.

As the USD/NOK exchange rate is changing rappidly I might change to Euro and I get less and less payed very day now.

[Former_Member]

I don't think I can bear thinking about another currency. Wudwerx I know you're a Brit, why did you choose euro and not stick with £?

for me, I'm still with $$ for the moment. In theory my ££ buyers buy from my other shop. in theory LOL

[Former_Member]

billetsdoux says

I have kept my shop in USD mainly because that's what most shoppers are used to......and payment goes into Paypal which operates in US funds. I have that sent right into my US funds account at my local bank, because if I converted to Canadian dollars and have it sent to my bank, I am losing money on the exchange. Paypal doesn't follow banking exchange rates, they set their own.
My sales have really picked up this year, so no downside there. :)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have also noticed that my Canadian bank offers a better exchange rate, but as far as I know PayPal does not allow to withdraw USD to another country.

This is from their Help Center:
"Your bank account must be denominated in the national currency of your home country for the transfer to be successful."

How do you do it?

[TigersandDragons]

This is a thread I started here in the International team a few months ago about listing in your own currency: http://www.etsy.com/teams/7654/etsy-international/discuss/6805439/

I also tried to start a thread in Business Topics hoping to hear from buyers - mainly heard from one opinionated seller who though Americans were turned off by foreign currency: http://www.etsy.com/teams/7722/business-topics/discuss/6806517/

What you can do is set your main Paypal currency to Canadian dollars and then set your Etsy Prices in Canadian dollars...that way you do not end up losing the approx. 2 1/2% currency exchange rate when you transfer over money to your Canadian bank account.
..but that will be passed on to many of your customers since they will be doing a currency exchange to pay you. Most international customers are used to having to pay in other currencies, but some Americans are not.

If you set your main currency to CAD, you can still accept direct USD but would have to send a USD invoice. I've noticed that some Canadian sellers who have their Etsy shops set to USD, do offer to send CAD invoices to their Canadian Etsy customers if requested, instead of going through Paypal checkout.

I set up a US dollar account here in Canada when I started on Etsy and Paypal would not accept it...so to reiterate; if all your payments are in USD you are stuck with paying the currency conversions every time you transfer money. ..unless you set your Paypal currency to your own as well as your Etsy prices.

[Former_Member]

I got tired of constantly calculating and changing my prices with fluctuations in the US dollar. Now I list in AUD which makes it easier for my customers (most of my FB and Twitter friends are Aussies) and makes sure I always receive the amount I want for my goods.

[Former_Member]

I experimented using GBP, found my sales dropped so returned to dollars and they went up again so I'm sticking with dollars