Listing in your own Currency - Is it Working for You?

[#1]

I switched to Canadian currency in my two shops a couple of weeks ago and I have been attracting more Canadian sales, especially at my vintage shop http://www.TipsyTimeMachine.etsy.com
But I do wonder if the irregular (not rounded off) numbers are turning off American buyers. Jewellery is a very competitive category, most of my pendants used to be $25 US, but now that I've set them at $25 CAD, that does raise the price.

So I would like to hear from those who list in their own currency (any country), as to how this has affected their sales (good or bad or just different). If you're an American, it would be great to hear if these irregular numbers ($26.21 instead of $26) are a turn off for you.

[Candidate]

I'm so wary of listing £s.. I have way more US buyers so I'm not sure if it'd be beneficial (I actually have more Canadian buyers than American - I think it would be even more odd of me to list in CAD$...) USD is the base currency here so I'll probably stick with it.

[CestSuperbeLabels]

Thanks, glasfaden. I'll check it out.

[Former_Member]

I'm delighted to find this thread, as I've been wondering about whether it would improve sales to have my items listed in Dollars rather than Euro...

It certainly doesn't make a difference to me as a buyer - if I find something I really want, the currency doesn't put me off as Etsy also shows me the rate in my local currency.

[FiberArtemis]

I list in $US as most of my customers are from there.

[LaughLand]

I am Australian and list in Australian dollars. About 60% of my sales are local, to Australians. I changed to AUD, not because of where my customers are but where I want them to be. I want local buyers because some of my items are bulky and international postage is so expensive, I will only sell them locally anyway. I also sell at local markets and through local kindergartens. I view etsy as my online presence that I direct local buyers to. If international buyers see me too, that is a bonus.

The Australian dollar is very high now compared to the US dollar, and compared to what it was a year ago. If my prices are in AUD, they are getting more and more expensive for US buyers and I will have fewer sales. But if I stayed I USD, I would either be constantly revising my prices anyway, or if I keep my prices the same, I get less and less for them in AUD. Just not worth having the sale.

[Former_Member]

I've listed everything in GBP because I'm in England and that's how I work out my prices... I wonder if it is worth changing the listing to USD - maybe that will lead to my first sale.

[TigersandDragons]

I was working on my 2010 taxes and thinking about how 2011 was going to be easier since everything except Etsy fees will be in my own currency. I'm sick of currency conversions.

[FiberArtemis]

Is it relevant now anyway, as all buyers can elect to view items in whatever currency they want?

[TigersandDragons]

Some Americans are leery of buying outside their own country...also your prices will change daily because currency rates go up and down and that may irritate people who look at your shop more than once.

[Former_Member]

I thought that the buyers select the currency they want to see, have I got that wrong??

[Former_Member]

I'm another Australian, and I've been wondering about this. I initially chose to list in US dollars because at the time it was almost the same as the aussie dollar, and I thought it would be easier. Most of my customers have been from the US so far. But I want to attract more Australian customers and the difference in the value is more now that I have to either increase prices or change currency. I'm going to be taking a short break from my shop soon, but when I come back I think I'm going to change to $AUS and see how that goes.

[LaughLand]

Buyers do select the currency they want to see, but each shop also selects the currency they are selling in. If both are the same, no issues. If they are different then, the buyer see in their currency but pay the seller in the seller's currency and there is a fee to convert currencies. Etsy automatically factors the fee into the price that they show the buyer.

For example, I have chosen to list in Australian dollars. A buyer in the US will see my price in US dollars but if they buy the item, they pay me in AUD. Furthermore, the amount they see and pay will actually be a bit more than my price according to the exchange rate of the day. This is the fee to cover converting currencies.

The benefit for me is that I am paid in my own currency and I do not pay a conversion fee when I withdraw money from Paypal in AUD. However, if I want to buy an item listed in USD, I pay the fee then because my Paypal account only has AUD and has to convert currencies.

So, nobody has to get out the calculator and work out how much things cost anymore. But there is a fee every time money changes currency. Either the buyer or seller will pay this depending on what currency you have your shop in and what currency the buyer is buying in.

[Former_Member]

Any one from the UK noticed if its better to price in GBP or US Dollars??

[Former_Member]

I've just been reading a thread from someone who has been experiencing difficulties with currency conversion, thought it might be of interest here:

http://www.etsy.com/teams/7718/site-help/discuss/8524315

[TigersandDragons]

I have switched back to US currency because if I have to give any refunds due to the postal strike, my US customers (the majority) will not be shorted the exchange rate.

[Former_Member]

I tried GBP for a few months but it reduced my sales to the US and some of my regular customers commented that they weren't buying because they didn't like the exchange at checkout. I seem to find that those of us outside the US tend to be more used to buying in different currencies so are less phased by it. The US dollar is more commonly used on the internet than other currencies so I think Americans are less used to buying in different currencies.

[Former_Member]

oh gosh tigersanddragons I hadn't even thought of that. So if hypothetically you'd given a refund, it wouldn't be at same exchange rate as the purchase - I'd have been very cross!

[TigersandDragons]

Years ago a Paypal glitch caused a payment of mine to go through twice and I noticed right away - I was going to cancel it through my credit card company but Paypal advised me to have the Ebay seller cancel the sale. Well, I was out $5! If I had let the credit card company handle it, I wouldn't of been charged anything, and the seller would have only been out the base Paypal fee which I think was 20 cents.

I guess I jumped the gun last night , my store policy is exchange only, no refunds. But of course I would have to offer refunds if the postal strike held up shipping. Now that it's a rolling strike, mail will move slower but still be moving. Since May was a slow month, I'm going to stick with the US currency for now and see if sales improve.

[Former_Member]

I recently changed from USD to Swiss francs because the dollar kept dropping and I needed to stabilize my prices against my cost of goods. I lowered my prices a bit, stated them in CHF and also cut my shipping prices to soften the blow. I don't think this will make a difference in my sales, but at least I have control over my sales prices now.

As a shopper, I don't mind seeing odd numbers in CHF because I know it is the result of the conversion (my setting automatically convert all prices into my home currency when I shop).

I wouldn't hesistate to keep prices in Canadian dollars if that stablizes your shop for you.

[Former_Member]

SilkspinnerDesigns says "As a shopper, I don't mind seeing odd numbers in CHF because I know it is the result of the conversion (my setting automatically convert all prices into my home currency when I shop"

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Thing is though, generally speaking I guess most forum posters/team members are sellers, so maybe we automatically make the adjustments more easily than people who are just buyers?

**not intended to offend all the lovely buyers** :-)

[TigersandDragons]

I woke up to 4 sales today, so maybe I made the right choice changing back? May was a bit slow. In general, many of my customers are new to Etsy and find me through google - it could of been all these changes to Etsy and to search that were slowing my sales instead of currency issues. It's impossible to know what's really going on here sometimes.

[Former_Member]

impossible indeed. it's really annoying, it'd be so useful if we could *know* that something we did was helping!

[LaughLand]

It is so hard to tell which, if any, changes make a difference to our visibility, views and sales. I had a very slow May, and noticed through google analytics that most of the visitors to my shop were from overseas. This is a bad thing for me (but may not be for others) because I have a much higher sales rate with local customers. Suddenly, my sales have picked up. They have all been local Australian buyers and this corresponds with an increase in local visitors to my shop.

I changed to AUD last year as soon as this facility was available, and I have kept it like that. So in my case, I don't think this has been a factor. Perhaps all of the changes to the search and Shop Local functions are now starting to work as etsy intended. Or perhaps I am just gradually becoming better known. I just know that I will be staying with my local currency because local viewers are far more likely to look around my shop and buy and I want to encourage them.

[Former_Member]

I've just reactivated my store after being in vacation mode for a couple of weeks, and I switched my prices from US to AUS dollars. I'll see how it goes over the next few weeks, but I'm hoping to attract some more Australian customers.

[FayeKilday]

I reopened my shop 2 weeks ago and I'm selling in NZD. No sales yet but I'm going to leave it in NZD for a month or two to see how it goes before thinking about changing back to USD.