What Currency Should You Sell In?

December 10, 2009 by Janet Beckers
Filed under: Internet Basics, Where to Start

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This is a question I get a lot. If you’re based in the US this is not a problem. The currency of the Internet is the US dollar so you’ve got it easy. If you are outside of the US this is a question you really need to think about.

If you thought this was a question that only newbies struggled with – you’re not alone. I have been asking this question to my very successful Aussie internet marketing friends and they are all divided in their choices. It’s a tough decision. In the ideal world you could sell in both currencies through the one shopping cart (without rediculous fees that are charged at the moment for this).

I’ll talk about it from an Australian perspective here but if you are in another country (such as European or Asian countries or South Africa) you face the same problems. To keep it simple I’ll use dot points and talk about pros and cons.

Selling in US dollars instead of Aussie

Pros:

This is the currency people are used to on the Internet
A lot of people have an idea of what their currency converts to in US dollars (if they’ve bought on the Internet before)
You could be selling a $27 product but really getting over $30 in your bank account
If you have customers worldwide it shows you are an internationally thinking company

Cons:

You are limited in the choice of the merchant facilities you can use that can sell in US dollars and pay into your Aussie bank account
Apart from PayPal, facilities that you can use to accept US dollars have really high fees
Aussie customers can get really annoyed if you are an Aussie company selling in US dollars
You can lose Aussie customers if your dollar bottoms out because your products can get much more expensive overnight

My recommendation

If you are an international company, in that you target customers in all countries, then sell in US dollars. It is a good idea if you also have a way to accept payment in Aussie dollars – maybe by direct deposit or separate payment processor.

If the majority of your customers are in Australia (substitute your home country here) then stick with your home currency. Make sure you put a note there about the estimated conversion to US dollars or you will lose overseas customers.

Ah, the challenges of running an international business from a country other than the United States.

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