The U.S. dollar has hung on for far too long as the dominant currency offline and online. It’s not a good sign when oil producing countries stop selling oil in U.S. dollars, as it is the value is decreasing everyday - this just makes it worse!
Virtually all online business is handled in the U.S. currency, from advertising to purchasing. PayPal lets you set up which currency to accept payments in but it doesn’t help much since -
- The exchanges rates are horrible
- Most advertisers are U.S based, who pay in U.S. dollars according to their market rates - not the rest of the worlds.
$100 at the beginning of 2007 doesn’t buy you the same as it does at the end of 2007, especially not in Europe {where I reside}. I don’t expect it to get any better in 2008 either. Americans just need to get used to the fact they’re going to have to spend more - I’m sure you know who is to blame for that.
I’m going to start charging review orders, design orders and other business activites according to my living rates here, in Euros. Because frankly, the dollar just does not cut it anymore.
About the author
Hyder has been blogging for the past two years on this blog. He started Weborithm, his web company, in 2007 and along with designing blogs and websites also releases various web related products.
Robert on December 8th, 2007
1
Bad move.
Snubbing your US customer base is insane. So what if the dollar is declining? When your sales go down by 90% because you don’t accept the dollar you’ll be begging to get that business back…
Hyder on December 8th, 2007
2
Robert - I didn’t say I’m snubbing my U.S. customer base, I just said I’m going to be charging my rates in Euros according to the life that I need to live here. Upon conversion it will be in whatever dollars the current exchange rate is.
Face it, it’s not a dollar favored world anymore.
mercutiom on December 8th, 2007
3
Living in the U.S. I agree with you, Hyder. To be honest, when I’m looking for services from a European vendor I expect to be charged in Euros, Pounds, whatever, and am curious when people charge in U.S. Dollars.
While I’ll still charge rates in U.S. Dollars, with the current rates what they are, I’d rather be charging in Canadian Dollars. Living in Phoenix, that’s really not a good option, and well, Pesos just don’t carry the same recognition.
Zach on December 8th, 2007
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@mercutiom: I agree, lol
I think you have to do. I can certainly understand that.
Zach on December 8th, 2007
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*I think you have to do what you have to do.
Michael on December 13th, 2007
6
Your smart for switching currencies. I’d love it if I could do the same but it is a little bit more difficult since I live in the US. The drop in value of the currency is incredibly frustrating… I blame… The banks!