When shoppers pay in a currency other than US Dollars (USD), they always have a choice: they can opt to pay for their product in USD and let their credit card company establish the conversion rate/fees; or they can opt to pay in their own currency and pay the converted cost, as it appears on the Plimus BuyNow page. Needless to say, whichever option they select, they will end up with a conversion rate and fees that are set up by the chosen service provider, and it is essentially impossible to tell on a consistent basis which will be the better deal.

Plimus works with a 3rd party vendor to execute all currency conversions. Essentially what happens is that the USD price is converted to the local currency,with all fees included; the shopper is shown that amount on the page; once they pay, Plimus receives the appropriate amount of USD to credit to your account. So, if your product is priced at $25, your account will be credited with $25, regardless of the currency the shopper opts to pay in.

If the shopper opts to simply pay in USD, your account is, of course, credited with the full amount (in our example, $25); the shopper will receive the charge on their credit card at whatever exchange rate the credit card company deems appropriate, and is also responsible for any charges the credit card company may or may not impose.

So, from the perspective of the shopper, the value delivered in paying the pre-converted cost from Plimus is security: they know exactly how much they are going to pay. Opting to stick with USD may result in a better conversion rate - but it also may result in a worse one...and they may not know which way it is going to end up until they get their month-end bill.

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Currency Conversion: Vendors

 As you know, Plimus does business in USD. As a result, the revenues we collect on your behalf are tracked, managed, and paid out with USD as the base currency. As you saw in the prior section, any USD base currency items will always be credited to your account at the base price. And of course, for vendors who also run their business in USD, there is no conversion necessary to receive revenues.

However, if you are having your revenues delivered outside the United States, you have a choice. You may either have funds delivered in your local currency (via wire transfer, for instance), or have a USD check delivered. If you select the initial option, Plimus will convert your currency based on our current rate, and the funds will arrive in your bank 'ready to go'. If you select the second option, you may simply bring your check to your local bank and have them run the conversion and apply the funds to your account.

Which is the 'better' option? This is almost impossible to say in the general, as it depends on a number of factors. For instance, if Plimus does the conversion, your money should, in principle, be available from your bank on the 15th or 16th of the month; if you have your local bank do the conversion on a US check, you may be waiting as long as 10 days to access your revenues.

To clarify the conversion rate used at Plimus, you should expect the rate to be equivalent to approximately the average between Buy and Sell rates you can find online (this is known as the Interbank rate) plus about 2%. Bear in mind that Buy and Sell rates change frequently, and we work with a downstream vendor who sets the exact conversion rates, so this can be only an approximation.

Your bank may have a more or less advantageous calculation of conversion rates; and may or may not charge a fee for executing the conversion. We strongly recommend that you check with your local institution to calculate the best option.

The most important thing we can tell you is that you are under no obligation whatsoever to have Plimus convert your revenues for you. We want you to get the most revenue possible, so will work diligently to support whichever option makes the most sense for your business.

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Using Different Base Currencies

As you'll see when you read the Implementing a global Pricing Strategy article, you have the option within the Plimus system to set different prices for different currencies. This can be a powerful marketing tool, increasing sales volume in countries where price sensitivity is high, and increasing revenues in countries where price sensitivity is low.

However, simply changing your base currency may not help you to improve your e-business results. Say, for instance, that you simply change your base currency from USD (the default) to Euros, and change nothing else.

Remember, Plimus manages our business in USD, so everything will be based on this currency. So if you set a base price at 50 Euros, all non-Euro shoppers will be charged an amount equivalent to the USD equivalent of 50 Euros, based on the conversion rate for that day. Euro shoppers will, of course, pay 50 Euros, and their revenue will be credited to your account as the appropriate amount of USD after conversion.

You are now, however, at the mercy of both the currency market (as conversion rates will tend to shift over time) and the need to convert your revenue back to Euros when you receive your revenue from Plimus (whether the conversion is executed by Plimus or your local bank). Given that all financial players along the way will likely charge a fee, it becomes very unlikely your eventual payout will be as high as you expected.

To offset this risk, we recommend you implement a global pricing strategy, which will allow you to set specific prices for a range of currencies, and help you hedge against currency conversion costs.