Pricing Advice?

[bladebandit.livejournal.com]

(Sorry if this goes through twice. My internet had a spazz the first time I tried to post - not sure if this went through!)

To cut a long story short, I'm not sure what currency to price my commissions in.


Most of my customers are American. Also, most of the commission prices I see on FA and DA are in USD.

I'm British, and in all honesty, I want to price my commissions in my own currency - it makes things a little easier for me to understand.

My question is: Would putting my prices in GBP instead of USD put people off? Would putting my prices in GBP cause any problems? In short...is which is better?

I'm trying to weigh up the advantages and disadvantages of both and I'm just getting nowhere. I guess I just really need a second opinion on this and figured posting something here may help others in the same situation as me!

Bah, I'm just generally confused. Any help/advice would be appreciated! Cheers!


PS: I don't want to list prices in both currencies - if I did this I would have to be constantly editing prices to match exchange rates, or my pricing page would be misleading for customers! x_x


EDIT: Forgot to mention! I already link to a currency converter on my commission page - sadly though, not everyone uses it!

EDIT 2: Ok! Thanks SO much for all the help guys, you're all wonderful! <3 I've given this a thorough think through - I'm going to start listing in GBP and I'm also going to have a duplicate 'Commission Information' page with prices in USD. The prices in dollars will be slightly higher than the prices in GBP to counter for conversion rates/fluctuations/whathaveyou. I'll also date the page as to when the prices were converted. I hope that sounds a good solution! (If not...please do tell me!)

Once again, thank you so much for all your time!

Comments

[hellebore.livejournal.com]

If someone is very interested in your commissions, they'll quickly find a converter calculator. Does your country use Euros, I can't recall.

I plan to move and will still sell in USD, because seeing the prices of the new country's currency will probably through people off.

[hellebore.livejournal.com]

*throw, gfd.

[breakspire.livejournal.com]

include a link to a good currency converter with your prices so people can check it themselves

[bladebandit.livejournal.com]

I already have that on my commission info page - but thanks, I should have mentioned that in the original post! I'll go edit now, cheers. :)

Also...I'm worried that asking people to 'work it out themselves' (For lack of a better phrase. x_x) would put them off. :(

[aerotheacrobat.livejournal.com]

I'm American and have bought from someone in the UK. They listed in GBP and then gave a link to a currency converter and also added that paypal can automatically convert for them by selecting GBP.

It was an easy process to follow. You can also add a reminder when giving them a price quote when you're contacted for a commission.

[bladebandit.livejournal.com]

Hmm, ok! Thanks very much for your input. Adding a reminder sounds a good idea!

[jurann.livejournal.com]

I'd think that Americans would be thrown-off by listing in GBP because GB£50 winds up being something around US$75 and you'll have people BAWWWWING that they didn't know it was going to cost them so much. Plus, while I hate to insult my countrymen (not really), most of them are either stupid as dirt or PLAY at being stupid as dirt in order to save a buck - I wouldn't trust them to understand conversion and the nuance of it, or to do it correctly when making payment. I think non-Americans are far more accustomed to conversion details, and so using US$ might end with less headaches for you. =/

[tysharina.livejournal.com]

Annoyingly, I have to agree with this.

I'm British too, and I really wish I could say list in GBP (I personally would rather see that) but I do think it would put off some American buyers (especially the ones too lazy or stupid to use a currency converter).

[gaaralover85.livejournal.com]

If I were you I would just post it up in GBP and link to a good uptodate currency converter. I know Dolphy does this with her commissions (for Euro's) with no problem. It certainly doesn't help that the pound is always stronger than the dollar, but if people want your artwork then taking the extra couple of minutes to do a currency conversion won't be too bad :)

[bladebandit.livejournal.com]

That's true. o:

Although...copy/pasted message because I'm a lazy bum XD:
"I have to say, I used to price in GBP quite some time ago - when I first started commissions, in fact.

I had a very obvious link to a currency converter on my commission info page (as I still do) and even then, people were always saying 'What's that in dollars?'"

Arg, decisionsss. XD

Thanks for the advice m'dear!

[sovy.livejournal.com]

The problem with GBP is when someone converts it to USD they go "Oh, hey, twenty pounds, doesn't sound too bad, let me just see how much that is in USD... Over $30!?" Euros also has this problem but it isn't as bad.

Also you are going to end up making your customers eat the conversion fee on Paypal, which is 2.5% if you price everything in GBP, unless they have an account with GBP in it.

Pretty much every artist I know prices themselves in USD, a handful I found have it priced in Euros and usually they also price their stuff in USD as well.

I am a Canadian so I know it sucks having to convert everything over to USD to pay for commissions. The best situation is that I find out the artist is also a Canadian so I offer to pay in CAD instead of USD to save us both the conversion fee.

[bladebandit.livejournal.com]

I never even thought of the conversion fee! Ack, thanks for that!

To clarify - the conversion fee only applies if they don't have GBP in their account...right? Or am I totally off the mark? XD;

[kadaria.livejournal.com]

You can do conversions with google: http://www.google.com/search?q=dollars+to+euros
Add the link to your ToS. Paypal allows you to pay in your own currency, so as long as your customers know that the prices may vary depending on currency changes, you should be gold.

Just wanted to also add that having to convert currency hasn't turned me personally off from buying something that I wanted. The prospect of shipping certain items from another country has (ie huge bulky, breakable things). Digital artwork shouldn't be an issue.

[bladebandit.livejournal.com]

Forgot to mention in the original post, but yes I already link to a currency converter on my commission page. :) Cheers though, I totally forgot; edited my original post to include that fact!
(PS: We use GBP here, not the Euro! XD)

Ok! Thank you for the input. Much appreciated! :D

[llyander.livejournal.com]

Hey there. I'm in the UK as well, and I wondered similar things when I was debating my prices. Neither way is entirely satisfactory. Either you price in dollars, knowing that you're going to be losing about 25% of the cost when those dollars become pounds, or you price in pounds, and listen to people moan and complain when they translate that into a dollar amount.

I just bit the bullet and I price everything in dollars, and adjusted my commission charges accordingly so that I'm not losing out terribly when that sum is changed to "real" money, so to speak.

[bladebandit.livejournal.com]

Hmm, yeah. Very good point!

I really don't want people to moan, I want to keep them happy. Your way is a very good way - I'm very much inclined to do the same, now.

Thank you very much!

[sigilgoat.livejournal.com]

I would say it's up to you. Convert to a higher dollar ammount, or list in pounds. I've seen both and while I haven't bought from anyone not in the US, I wouldn't be opposed just because the currency was different.

[bladebandit.livejournal.com]

Just to clarify; when you say "Convert to a higher dollar amount", do you mean if a commission costs £5 and this converts to $8.06, I should charge $9? Or did you mean something totally different? ^^;

(Oh god I hope that made sense. My brain is not working tonight, LOL!)

Thank you for your input, very much helpful!

[beetlecat.livejournal.com]

I tend to default to what is best for the customer. Also, a little story -

I used to price in CAD, then I had a long-term project during which the price of CAD compared to USD jumped up in strength. Suddenly, my customer was paying a lot more $ in USD to make up for this. They didn't make a fuss but someone could easily have tried to turn the vagaries of the market against me and create drama over it. Conversely, if I had priced in USD, I would have had a lot less $ in the end. Ie 6 of one/half a dozen of the other and keep an eye on the currency strength regardless what you chose.

If you price in your customer's currency, you make things easier for them and more complicated for you. You also have to add in some overhead to cover the currency transfer (around 3%) when you withdrawal to your bank.

If you price in your currency, you make things harder on your customers and easier on yourself. Which *can* result in less people buying. or might not. It really depends on how much they want what you sell.

TBH, I would expect the fact that you are overseas (relatively) to impact your bottom line with american customers anyways, due to extra shipping costs. So if you are already passing that test, then the currency doesn't matter too much.

I ended up switching to USD early on because I was buying many of my supplies in USD and it was handy to have a pool of currency to pull from. My CAD customers made sure I was always topped up with enough CAD to cover shipping via paypal and it worked out great.

[bladebandit.livejournal.com]

"If you price in your currency, you make things harder on your customers and easier on yourself. Which *can* result in less people buying."

Ugh, YES. That's my #1 worry. I want to make it equally easy for me AND the customer but...just as you said, I don't know/think that's possible.

Thanks for that though; a very helpful viewpoint - much appreciated!

[jesskat.livejournal.com]

My country's currency is the euro, but since I know most of my visitors on DeviantArt are American, I put the exact prices in euros and then an estimation in USD after it. Example:

"Sketches: 1 character 11 euros (about 15 USD)"

I inform my watchers that for more accurate conversion rates they should check out a currency converter.

If you want to be paid in GBP, you should put your prices in that currency. Some people will always be too lazy to go look for a currency converter when they're just quickly skimming through a post, so you can increase your chances of making sure they stay interested by putting an estimate in USD somewhere in the post, or at least a handy link to a currency converter so they can quickly check it themselves. It's just about making sure you grab as many potential customers' attention, and the best way to do it is to make things easy for them.

[bladebandit.livejournal.com]

That's quite a good idea. If I can't find a clear decision one way or the other, I'll probably do that. Cheers!

"Some people will always be too lazy to go look for a currency converter when they're just quickly skimming through a post..."

Pretty much this. |D I do link to a currency converter on my info page, but people still don't use it. Which is a shame. :(

[greenreaper.livejournal.com]

Clearly it is time for the fandom to invent its own internal currency! In the spirit of the Whuffie (//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whuffie), I propose we name it the Yiffy.

[bladebandit.livejournal.com]

Haha, never mind the fandom - make the world have its own universal currency! LOL

(Totally and utterly impractical. But we can dream. XD)

[fatkraken.livejournal.com]

I price in GBP (I make fursuits)


Two reasons.

First, a lot of my customers ARE British. I'm very active in the convention scene here and pretty well known as a maker (I do panels etc), plus lots of my suits are worn here so word of mouth spreads better in this country. I have a presence on British forums too. I'd say more than half my customers are in the UK anyway.


Secondly, currency fluctuations. Being high ticket items there is often a delay between furnishing a quote and taking the deposit, and between payments. If the dollar and pound are moving, a first installment of $400 might end up being £250, a second installment £220 and a third £200. There's also the fact that ALL my fixed costs (rent, bills, food etc) are in £, thus my per hour rate has to be in £. So the amount of $ I would need to charge for a particular number of hours work will vary with the exchange rate. To avoid having to constantly change my prices, I stick to the currency *I* need to earn.

[bladebandit.livejournal.com]

Totally offtopic (I hope that's allowed here? If not, someone let me know. ^^; ) but do you get a lot of custom from forums? If so, do you mind me asking which Forum(s) you use? o: I'm on UKFurs but I'm not really active there right now, lmao!

Still though, that's really interesting and something I never even thought of. Thanks very much!

[loganberrybunny.livejournal.com]

The furry commissions market is almost as (US) dollar-centric as furry itself is art-centric... and I say that as a Briton. It's got to the stage where I almost find myself blinking if I'm browsing an artist on FA and see them listing their prices in my own currency! But I'll happily pay in USD to an artist also in the UK; it's only a slight inconvenience to me, and other things (eg clarity about international shipping rates from -- usually -- the US) are much more of an issue.

[bladebandit.livejournal.com]

I noticed that too. D:

I just have my shipping rates at a worldwide rate...it's easiest for me that way. x_x

Thanks for your input!

[jakejynx.livejournal.com]

Have you considered listing your prices as both? I mean, list them first as GBP, then in parenthesis beside it put (~USD) And then just tell everyone that the to use the currency converter provided by paypal.

-shrug- Could work.

[bladebandit.livejournal.com]

Forgive me for replying with a link, but the two people here suggest a similar concept which seems like it could work: http://community.livejournal.com/artists_beware/431605.html?thread=15068405#t15068405

What do you think of that? o:

Thanks for your time and help!

[lilenth.livejournal.com]

Personally most of my customers are Americans so I price in USD for their convenience and factor in conversion costs for the price.

I will accept GBP from UK customers, and I'm flexible with payment, the only thing I refuse to accept is concealed foreign cash since it's a nightmare to convert (though I tend to refuse all concealled cash commissions because they're too big a risk).

[bladebandit.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm just the same! Factoring in the conversion costs seems to be the best thing to do so far - thanks for the help!

Eek, concealed foreign cash...I can only imagine how troublesome that would be! D:

[findmealone.livejournal.com]

I think it's best to market to whatever customer base you are heading for - if you are advertising on a UK site, got for GBP, but if it's something known for a larger American base you have to use USD. Make it easy for the customer, really - you don't want to put anyone off over something so easily converted by yourself.

Personally, I just round up USD so I know I won't be losing out in GBP. Use nice round numbers.

[bladebandit.livejournal.com]

That's really great advice - thank you so much!

Sigilgoat (Sorry, I don't know how to link to people. I'm such a LJ n00b) suggested something very similar, with regards to rounding up. :)

[mandyseley.livejournal.com]

I guess linking all customers to a suggestion for educating themselves (http://tinyurl.com/6hl78oh) would be bad for business, eh? Constant questions that can be solved with a five-second Google search really bug me, but then maybe I'm a cynic.

I think if you do list USD, go with the above suggestions of rounding up a bit to cover conversion costs and "pad" your profits a bit to compensate for potential currency fluctuations. By all means make sure you're not shorting yourself just to make things convenient for the buyers and/or keep them from whining.

[bladebandit.livejournal.com]

LOL. Oh, the amount of times I wish I could link people that. (Not just commissioners - people in general! XD)

Mmhmm, that's very true. Thanks for the advice!

[grygon.livejournal.com]

Wow, lots of negative and insulting comments about Americans so let me jump in to assure you! I am American and have never once balked about using a converter to see how much money id be spending. I even do it for a ton of clients (oh, you non-Americans can be "lazy" too! though I just assumed these clients didn't know about conversion calculators and such, not that they were lazy or acting stupid). And I've never baaaawed that 20(whatever currency) came out to like 150USD. If saying "oh sorry, I can't afford this now" = baaawing and acting stupid to some people then I guess so...

If I was in your position id just link people to a good conversion calculator, explain that paypal will do it automatically, and be very polite (in thought, action, and business) and wait for the clients to come in. :)

[feather-dancer.livejournal.com]

Personally you have two choices:

Go USD and really bulk the prices up so if the pound has one of it's infamous keel overs, you're not suffering for it.

Go Pounds for your own ease with a reminder when someone asks for a commission of the converter. This also means people can go for bargains when the pound sucks meaning both ends win out.

[karsenslater.livejournal.com]

If it were me personally, I would post in the currency that most of my clients use. I want to make their commission experience as easy as possible, even though it is indeed a simple task for them to convert the prices themselves.

It depends on how many clients you want to bring in, however. If you really need commissions, I would convert to USD. If you don't, it probably wouldn't hurt you too much to post GBP. My only concern would be confusing clients into thinking that you only accept GBP.

[coffeewolf.livejournal.com]

From my own experience; I'd go with GBP.

I used to go with USD, however the CONSTANT changing of prices to reflect currency rates annoyed my customers a lot more than them having to put the effort into using a currency calculator (paypal will actually tell you how much usd to gbp is before they send the money also).
I've not found a decline in customers over my choice of currency. Either way, they'd be paying the same regardless of how it's sent to me.
If I'm buying something from another country, I expect to have to use THEIR currency. I fail to see the big deal D:.

The only issue you WILL find, is that a lot of people, no matter HOW many times you type "GBP ONLY PLX", will send you euros -_-.

[thaily.livejournal.com]

I put my prices up in Euro, if anything because the dollar's been all over the place lately. I don't want to get paid less for my work because Americans ruined the economy.
It is cause for some confusion, fortunately Paypal will just let you pay in Euro (or Pounds) even if you're in the US. So I just tell them to do that.

[bladebandit.livejournal.com]

That's my worry - the economy meaning I'd get paid less. Bah. Thanks for the input!

[alex-dachshund.livejournal.com]

I say that you should put both! Just my opinion. :P

[bladebandit.livejournal.com]

Copy/pasted from the original entry:

"PS: I don't want to list prices in both currencies - if I did this I would have to be constantly editing prices to match exchange rates, or my pricing page would be misleading for customers! x_x"

So...yeah. :(

[lozpie.livejournal.com]

99% of my customers are from the USA, so I just list in US dollars. I just keep my prices static and keep an eye on the conversion rates. If it changed dramatically I'd edit them, but if its just moving about by 20p or so I leave it.

You can also set up a US dollar section in paypal so you can hold onto it until a day where the exchange rate is favourable and then exchange the lot in one go.

[bladebandit.livejournal.com]

Hmm, that's true. Thanks for the help!