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

[TigersandDragons]

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.

[WaterLilyArtDesigns]

I switched mine a couple of months ago and, while I see more sales to Europe, I have had no difference in the amount of buyers I get from the U.S., either.

In fact, I personally think the odd numbers make your item stand out in the search from all the even, rounded-off numbers.

[Former_Member]

Oh good topic- I have actually been wondering whether to switch my shop to Euros or keep it in US dollars- I was worried about putting off buyers from the USA if I switched to euros.. I will watch this topic with interest for other people's opinions about this!

[Former_Member]

I was wondering the same thing. I have been thinking about changing the currency of my shop to Canadian currency, but I am not sure whether it will affect my sales as the majority of my customers are from the US.

[cindylouwho2]

marking to follow - I find this interesting.

[Former_Member]

maybe other sellers from the USA who also buy on Etsy could come on here and comment on this topic if they see it? Would you be put off buying from a shop that had prices listed in currency other than the US dollar? would appreciate some feedback on this!
Thanks!

[Former_Member]

I'm Priced in euro and recently I dealt with and Austrailian who gave me a budget in US Dollars :) So no and personally, If i want something the currency doesn't put me off, nor does the pricing. The American buyers I have had, didn't seem to mind either :D

[Former_Member]

I switched to selling in Aussie dollars quite early on. It's hard to say if it is the cause, but my sales have been slow since then. I've opened a shop on Made It, an australian sellers only site, so I think I might switch my etsy shop back to US dollars just to see if anything happens.

I certainly am not bothered if prices are a little weird, like $20.58

[Former_Member]

I'm in Australian dollars too, but I was wondering whether I should switch back to US dollars. Someone once told me they found other currencies off-putting - I think they get nervous about exchange rates!

[Former_Member]

I think it might also depend on the type of product; for example something typically "local" (e.g. not found easily in the U.S. or outside the country that sells it) might sell more easily in the local currency because it is typically "from there". Right off I'm thinking of French maracons or some types of stones found only in certain countries. So that the local currencly reinforces its "French nature" (for the macarons). whatever

[TigersandDragons]

Since Paypal is supplying the information on the currency rates, it takes their currency conversion fee into account and the number that customers see in their own currency is what they pay and no more...but they may not be aware of that.

[Former_Member]

Hmm, I'm in Australia but I opened my shop using US dollars. At the moment that is almost the same as Aus dollars anyway. But I haven't had many sales yet (might just be because I'm new), but I was wondering if I should switch to Aus dollars to attract more local buyers.

[Former_Member]

I have been worried it would be less attractive to US buyers if my prices were in NZD

[Former_Member]

I'm in Australia and kept my currency as US dollars. The majority of my sales are to the US and I thought that another currency maybe confusing.

T.

[Former_Member]

I'm Canadian but I have kept my prices in US dollars for the same reasons other have mentioned - namely fear of alienating US sellers (of whom the majority of my customers are) and of over-complicating things.

As a buyer, I don't necessarily find other currencies off-putting for items I really like, but if it was more of an impulse buy, having to work out the price from a currency with which I was largely unfamiliar would probably be enough to dissuade me from purchasing. I'm lazy like that.

[SallyAnnaBoutique]

I am in the same boat as BenandJess and petitcheau. I am nervous to change currency for the same reason.

[Former_Member]

As a buyer, I don't find any problem when seeing something in a different currency. Actually, I usually say "oh wow, it is in euros" and kind of feel more attracted as that tells me it is not from the US (meaning that we note first the price and, maybe later, the place where it comes from). Besides, it shows the approximate conversion right below the price.

If you have frequent customers, I don't think they would mind the price exchange, but just let them know you will be posting your prices in a different currency.

:)

[ClosetGothic]

I use US$ - only about 5% of my Buyers are from New Zealand, mainly USA so it seems sensible for me. I haven't had any mention of it being a problem for my NZ customers.

I'll shop in any currency myself!

[MadeByStefBelfast]

about 90% of my buyers are from USA, 7% from UK and 3% from Europe. I still sell in $ but was wondering about changing to £ simply because in the past i have sold a $5 items with $4 postage and because of the exchange rate i only got £2 that didn't even cover the cost of the postage!

But again i'm not sure if i will change it because the Majority of my customers are first time buyers - they only sign up to etsy in order to buy a few things for their weddings and they usually havn't a clue what they're doing or how to purchase so i think seeing a different currency would make it even harder for them.

[Former_Member]

I've always listed mine in GBP but then all my customers have been local so I can't really say but I think I'm one of those categories that's better off promoting locally, although it would be nice to have some international orders :).

[Former_Member]

I'm in UK but always price in $ - in fact I had an enquiry from a UK person yesterday who asked "how much is that in real money?" and I had to concentrate to work it out!

BUT - so many people have said (me included) that they're sticking with $US because the majority of their buyers are US. Trouble is, we don't know which is chicken, which egg. Are most buyers US because the prices are in $, or maybe if we switched, we'd find more buyers who are not US?

[Former_Member]

Interesting subject!
I list in US$ rather than NZ$ as the majority of my sales are from USA or Europe.
It hasnt been a problem, as far as I am aware, but I guess you will never know until you change something!
I have listings on NZ sites such as FELT which cater for the NZ buyer too.

[TigersandDragons]

My shop has been slow lately, I`m wondering if it has anything to do with the currency change, or the small rise in price for US buyers, or if that`s just the online market at this time...or just the importance of price in the competitive world of jewellery.

I put this question out in the main forums in the Business section and got no replies.

[CestSuperbeLabels]

It would be interesting to hear from a seller how changed to euros a few months ago and see what the concequences (if any) are. Please share, if you're one of them! :)

[Former_Member]

Cest, many of the Europeans chat mostly in the EST forum only. Perhaps you'll get some answer, if you ask there too? http://www.etsy.com/teams/5127/european-street-team-est

I don't change, since most of my buyers are from the US and I normally spend the money to buy items in USD again :)

BTW if you change to a non-USD currency, the prices in your RSS feed are wrong, since they forgot to change USD with your currency - e.g. instead of 40 Euros (as in the shop), it would show 40 USD in the RSS feed. I hope, they fix this soon.