POD and exchange rates: uploads vs what shows on Etsy: all kinds of confusion!

[Smilelinesdesigns]

Hi all. I am VERY new to this.  Have had a shop for about a month.  I am in Australia, which is relevant to my questions.

I am using POD with Printify.  I have lots of questions, I've been around long enough now to progress from total know-nothing, to at least realising some of the things I don't know.  My question for this 'finance' forum (please let me know if I'm in the wrong place) is to do with exchange rates.  They are totally doing my head in and I have a PhD so i wouldn't have thought i was a total moron.  Could be wrong.  here are some of the issues I am experiencing:

Sometimes the rates in Printify are in USD and sometimes in AUD. Confusing as hell.  I'm not sure if that's because of the location of the printer, or me or what....

Sometimes the retail cost shows on Printify in AUD but when it uploads to Etsy it  says it's in USD but the price is way too low, so I'm assuming it's actually in AUD.

I made my first sale and actually lost money because of the whole exchange rate confusion.

I'm really scared of making more sales where I lose money because of this, so I've upped my prices by .45% (the approximate exchange rate at the moment).  I'm not sure if that's the right thing to do.  

I have no clue what price is showing in the US, I can only see in AUD.  If anyone in America can tell me what they are seeing it would be immensely helpful.  I tried using Surfshark VPN to masquerade as charging countries but it didn't seem to make any difference.

The same issues that apply to products also apply to postage, only worse sometimes.

Just generally, this is really a hassle.  Most other things seem to have clicked into place in my brain but not this.  Any advice from other sellers, particularly those who don't live in countries that use USD would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance. 

[DaysofYoreTreasures]

Scroll right to the bottom of your shop home page and click on the left side link that shows country, language & currency. You can change your currency then see prices in that currency. Doing this does not affect your shop currency setting.

[DaysofYoreTreasures]

ps the prices you see in USD will likely be higher than your own calculations because Etsy uses a variable retail exchange rate and adds a 2.5% currency conversion fee.

[CappuccinoLace]

All that is synced between your listings and printify is the numbers.

The currency is already set on etsy, and printify can't change that. It simply syncs the number in the price box, to the price box on etsy.

So if your etsy currency is AU$, then whatever number you enter into the price box, transfers to etsy and is displayed in your AU$ currency.

This is the article about ignoring the currency symbol 

https://help.printify.com/hc/en-us/articles/4483625794577-In-which-currency-can-I-sell-my-products-

[DaysofYoreTreasures]

@CappuccinoLace Thanks for sharing. I'm just following along but you'd think Printify would fix that.

[CappuccinoLace]

@DaysofYoreTreasures 

Nothing for printify to fix.

Etsy's API isn't designed to allow for the shop currency to change, as it shouldn't. That's something only the seller can do.

The OP can change their shop currency to US$ so it all makes sense, but then they pay the 2.5% to convert it.

[DaysofYoreTreasures]

@CappuccinoLace 
I meant the display to the Printify customer. It shows USD 24.99 when it is actually CAD 24.99?

[CappuccinoLace]

@DaysofYoreTreasures  That's the point. You can only select USD or GBP on printify.

So if you want to list in CA$, you have to input the CA$ amount you want, and ignore printify's currency, so that when it syncs the numbers 24.99, it's correct.

If you try to to exchange rate CA$ 24.99 to US$ (say it's 20.99) and use that in printify, it's still only going to sync the numbers, leaving you with CA$20.99 one etsy.

The images show printify and then Etsy, when you sync. It showing that it syncs only the numbers, not the currency.

[EarthSisterStudioCo]

what i think you want to do and learn about is doing bulk editing. from the main listing page, where all your listings are shown - you can check the box on all similar listings - then go to the top and theres a drop down box. after you have clicked all the similar ones, choose "edit prices" from the drop down menu and it opens a pop up where you can set prices for all of those at once. if its already priced correctly it wont change it, but in this way you could edit them all at once.

assuming you have several things that are all the same price, i havent checked your shop out, but just assuming you have repeats. this is much much faster than going through them one by one. if you have too many listings that theres multiple pages you can go the right hand side, pick out the section the ones you want are in and it will just show listings from that section. that makes it easier too, to see all your similar together so you can bulk edit them. hope this helps.

[CappuccinoLace]

Wouldn't work with the OP's POD listings.

The listings sync with the POD. Changing the price on etsy would only last until the next sync with the POD. 

[EarthSisterStudioCo]

i have very little experience with it, to be true i might decide its not for me ultimately, but for me the POD only syncs once when you make the listing, or if you go back to the POD company and republish.

they do not continually sync and change your listings. which is good because they do not always make the listing right. some of them list everything as "supplies" for example, one of the companies i use list everything as "belts and suspenders" for some completely random reason. so you always have to edit it once they make the listing, also tags are an issue with most.

with printify in specific they recently changed it so that even when you re publish it on printify, it will only change the things you check a box for. so you can republish and have it leave your manual edits on etsy, or choose to update the prices or description, but you have to actively check that box. anywho i have never had any of them change my price, or any other things, just when you repulish it, if you even need to do that, which you usually dont. there may be different companies that do, i do not know, but my limited experience with a few places they never do.

[Smilelinesdesigns]

Thank you so much everyone.  I only just found these responses here, as for some reason the notification went to my junk mail.  I now have to fix that too.  These answers look so helpful, I don't have time right now to take them in sufficiently and see how I can apply them.  I have some time later this week so will get back to you and let you know how I go.  Thanks so much for taking the time to help me.

[ColourfulHuesCo]

Hi @Smilelinesdesigns I am in Australia as well and trying to setup my Printify with Etsy store. What's confusing me in order to route orders to Australian print company's I have to chose either to Automatic routing in Printify or do manual orders. Please can you share your learnings? I am reading a lot online forums, I have not found info on what works better.

[RakelMacc]

https://youtu.be/jBPTNUUcrfw?si=nxP4i0vPxZH9jvRI

that’s how. Hope it helps.

[Smilelinesdesigns]

Hi.  Sure:  I wouldn't put myself forward as an expert, I've only been on Etsy for about three months but here's what I've done so far.  At first I sent it automatically to Printify, and if the item was primarily for Australia (e.g., Voice to Parliament) I would use an Aussie printer, otherwise I would use a USA based one.   Then, I decided to make a couple of customisable T shirts and so I had to use manual routing because I couldn't have them go through without me seeing them first.  At around the same time I had a couple of orders that I wanted to reroute to a different printer due to location.  As a result, now I just use manual approval.  I am retired so I have time.  Then, if for example I get an order from Australia but it's with a USA based printer, I just change the printer to an Aussie one before I click submit.  I hope that's helpful.