Advice: Client Asking Me To Change Currency To His Country's

[crocdragon89.livejournal.com]

So, I recently had a client asking me to send a money request in his currency, I think so he wouldn't get charged the fees? Is this proper? Or is it more proper for me to accept his request and do it? I only accept USD, and that is in my TOS. Technically, I would still be getting payment in my currency, but only AFTER I change it back to USD, which would in turn take out a chunk of what the client paid me. So am I in the wrong for not wanting to convert the money to his country's? I'm not certain, and that's why I would like some advice on what I should do.

EDIT 4/9/14: I want to clarify that yes, all of my transactions are done through Paypal. And thank you all very much for the advice! This has helped me out a ton, and I will let the client know that from now on when he goes to commission me, if he does, the currency must be USD only! 

Comments

[oceandezignz.livejournal.com]

If your TOS says you only deal in USD, you only deal in USD. Do not buck your own terms for the client. The client should realize that fees are involved in the process of doing transactions online regardless.

If they insist/don't agree; you don't need to work with them, as they are not adhering to your Terms.

[adzuki.livejournal.com]

I wouldnt change currency as I think you will lose out that way.

[lurkerwisp.livejournal.com]

Let PayPal do the change for you. He can pay in your currency, with very little hassle. If he didn't read your TOS that you accept only your own currency, then that's his problem.

I buy quite a lot of Canadian yarn, and the dyer who sells it only takes CAD. I send the money to her as CAD, and PayPal takes it out of my account as the exchanged amount in USD. :)

[wolf-goat.livejournal.com]

If you have Paypal make the change you shouldn't lose out? I accept payment in 3 currencies - USD because most of my customers are in the US, British pound because I have a UK account and it transfers to my UK bank account, and EUR because I currently live on mainland Europe. I am yet to notice any losses. If you're really concerned, round up by a couple of dollars on the conversion. I.e. if it says that $50 is £29.85 (current rate) then charge £32.

But regardless if it's in your ToS that you only accept USD you would only be doing the guy a favour to do this. You don't HAVE to.

[roxyfur.livejournal.com]

If its in your TOS, then its his responsibility to get you the money in the correct currency, not yours. It would be like going to a foreign country and expecting them to accept your home-countrys currency. The fees are usually small, and not something that a customer cant deal eith every now and then. As an artist, it would be a lot more of a financial loss to eat the currency fees as well as the paypal fees anyway.

Send your invoice/request in your currency, and if he doesnt want to deal with the paypal fees, dont work with them.

[ljmydayaway.livejournal.com]

If he's paying through Paypal with his Paypal account, he won't get charged extra fees (or shouldn't). It's only if he doesn't have an account and uses his credit card that he would be charged extra by his credit card company. Paypal makes the change before charging the card (I order form Japan in yen all the time and never get charged an extra fee from my credit card).

I think in the US, Paypal charges a small amount to transfer it from one fund into USD when the payment is being received, but not the other way around (i.e. paying in USD into another currency). I could be wrong. So you're best off using and accepting only USD.

(I also wonder if the customer is hoping you'll send it in the same amount, i.e. if it was $15 USD you'd send the invoice for $15 AUS, which would be a lot less than $15 USD. > _> I've had people try this scam on me a few times.)

[thaily.livejournal.com]

Is this Paypal? Because they have their own exchange rate, which might be different from a bank, but those rates vary from bank to bank anyway. Kinda sounds like they're trying to pull a fast one somehow.

I always charge my currency, because my bills are in my currency.

[onesteptwo.livejournal.com]

I bought something on eBay and when I went to pay with Paypal got a different amount. And they're owned by the same company, aren't they? :/

[thaily.livejournal.com]

Yep! And there's no reasonable explanation for that.

[onesteptwo.livejournal.com]

None whatsoever and slightly embarrassing since I'd just put into my Paypal account a bit more than eBay told me, but less than Paypal ended up telling me. :/ Good thing the seller was very understanding.

[pinkpuppybelly.livejournal.com]

It's in your ToS that you only accept USD. In my opinion, that should be the end of it.

[ryunwoofie.livejournal.com]

Depending on where they are sending the money from they might be trying to pay less depending on the currency exchange? IDK I wouldn't accept any currency other than my own.

[woofstep (from livejournal.com)]

If it's paypal, the currency is automatically changed to USD with no fees involved.

[mazz.livejournal.com]

It's in y our TOS, show them your TOS and explain they should have read that. If you have not done work you can cancel their commission if it's that big of a deal to them .

[eveshka.livejournal.com]

TOS stands. You aren't a large company that does international business and therefore has factored in multicurrency into costs. Tell him kindly that you only accept USD and let it rest.
If he's pushy and you're feeling magnanimous, tell him that you will take payment in his currency at a %15 upcharge to cover all fees associated.

(My gut tells me though that he'll just be more trouble than the commission is probably worth.)

[mistresswolf.livejournal.com]

I charge USD even though I live in Canada since most of my customers are American and it is just easier.

Still, customers should pay in the currency you request. I do a lot of online shopping and most shops I buy from are American, so I pay USD. I think it is a little self centered to expect to pay someone in another country with your currency instead of theirs. Tourists from the US try that in the shops up here all the time. Grocery stores usually do it and their tills can accept it (and give change back in CAD) but small business like mine can not accept it.

[sbneko.livejournal.com]

If you use invoices for payments it's not at all harder, it's what I do!

I send them in invoice for the amount and that it's CAD. All they do is click pay. I only had issues when I would let my clients send me the money, so it would come in different amounts, different currencies (even if told), and as gifts rather then services (again, even if not told not to).

[selunca.livejournal.com]

omg your icon is so cute. :X

[mistresswolf.livejournal.com]

hehe Thanks. :D

[crocdragon89.livejournal.com]

Here's a question. I prefer to send money requests as it helps me keep organized, and there's less chance of a client leaving a message for Paypal to see that may get my account frozen. <-- Main reason for my money requests, that and it makes it easier to remind the client that hey, they still need to pay me. There have been cases of clients actually forgetting to pay, not to me, but to others.

Can a client request I not send a invoice/money request for some reason, or is that something I can say no to?

[oceandezignz.livejournal.com]

That is totally something you can decline. Someone asking you to not invoice them is highly suspicious, I can't think of a reason why someone wouldn't want to be invoiced.

If how you handle payment is in your ToS, that's that.

[crocdragon89.livejournal.com]

Alrighty. Thanks a ton for answering my question and responding so quickly.

[mistresswolf.livejournal.com]

They can ask you not to and ask to just send it directly to you instead... but you can say that you'd rather send an invoice. Some people like to send it without the request so they can include a tip or whatever. *shrug*

[hendikins.livejournal.com]

Essentially they're trying to pass the risk of exchange rate fluctuations (and the currency conversion fees) on to you.

Your TOS says USD, they pay USD. End of story.

Edit: And to those saying PayPal has no fees on currency conversion, their rates include a commission of a couple of percent. As an example, at the time of writing 1AUD gets 0.93344USD at raw MasterCard rate or 0.911923USD through PayPal.

[ctk-hullo.livejournal.com]

Paypal dings something like 2.5% for currency conversion, so either he eats that fee by sending you you currency, or you eat the fee by accepting his currency. Paypal makes it super easy to convert, fees aside.

[four-calamities.livejournal.com]

Agreeing with a few others here in saying they may be trying to pull a fast one to skimp on exchange rates. PayPal doesn't charge a conversion fee insofar as I've personally noticed - I take payments in USD but all funds are eventually transferred to a Canadian bank.

You're not in the wrong for not wanting to convert your rates; your TOS states USD, and that is what the customer should be ready to pay in.

[kelen.livejournal.com]

For me.. 'If someone is trying to avoid fees, don't do business with them.' Because avoiding fees when dealing with Paypal, and a host of other things, gets you in trouble. Like that whole giving gifts through Paypal.

Also totally agree with the others about your TOS. When people start asking for weird stuff like this it automatically gets dodgy in my book. Don't risk it.

[thera nightwolf (from livejournal.com)]

I have a question as well relating to this.

What is the general opinion on artists that charge in a foreign currency purely for profit? I know 10€ is more than 10$ for example..

[teekchan.livejournal.com]

If someone had their prices listed as $10 and then asked to send 10 pounds or Euros, I's day no, because that's not okay. If I sent $10 equivalent in the other currency, it's fine. If all of they're prices are listed in the currency, then that's fine. Who am I (or anyone else for that matter) to say they're only doing it for 'more money'?

[thera nightwolf (from livejournal.com)]

That's what I meant though. I heard of one artist in Canada, with other Canadian customers, but charging in USD because it got an extra 15$. :/

[teekchan.livejournal.com]

Are their prices listed in dollar amounts though? I'm Canadian and I charge USD.

My prices are listed in dollars.

People can change what they want. But if someone says the order is ten dollars, but expects you to pay ten pounds/euros then NO, that's not okay.

[demonofdreams.livejournal.com]

I live in Southeast Asia and use Singaporean Dollar (SGD), but my commissions are in GBP because 1. more profit and 2. unfortunately given the circumstances I need to use an overseas bank account to access Paypal as it won't accept my country's banks. So I charge in GBP since I'm using a UK bank account to make things easier. It's not always about profit, although it's a main reason.

On the other hand, if the artist is asking for a currency not listed in their prices, that's really not okay.

[pixelcorgi.livejournal.com]

I had a customer once get snarky because my prices are in USD and they were in Australia, so the price would be over the quoted $80. It clearly says all of my prices are in USD, and if you let them pay in THEIR country's currency you will more than likely lose money.

They should be aware of the prices when they buy it; that isn't your job to calculate the conversion!

[hendikins.livejournal.com]

And yet I'll bet that same person would have been quite happy with USD prices when the AUD was above parity!

Folks like that need to find a lake and jump in it. You're the artist, you set the price. They have a choice - pay it, or go elsewhere/do without.

[noctowl.livejournal.com]

yeah, what people have said above, just ask them to use your currency and if they don't agree, then no business for them.

i personally have to accept USD even tho i'm in europe, i lose a LOT of money by doing this (like $150 is barely 100 euros) but if i charged in euros, i'd have to bump up my prices too much. u-u

[trentxandrew.livejournal.com]

Think of it like this: You wouldn't walk into a store in another country and demand they accept your country's currency.