@bobbyD I really don't want to keep having to pay the Shopify exchange rates that the hubitat store is imposing.
I have means of international payments and want to pay in the correct currency or which I'm buying.
Is there any way I can pay directly for something without the shop converting the currency based on where it's going /please?
I understand the need for it to make it "simple" for some people who don't understand how this stuff works but the option to pay in vendor currency should be a option.
This currency thing is pretty much forced on us by Shopify, and we don't have a simple means around it. Shopify is going to pick the currency based on the shipping address.
Are you unhappy with the exchange rate? You believe you can get a better exchange rate? If so, what's the amount of the difference when buying a hub? Seems likely to measured in cents -- just saying....
No works out in £ (5-8 pounds) difference for us and in this case it would be quite a lot because with the discount currently it brings it under the import tax level by quite a bit. Where as with the currency that's forced it's borderline.
Been looking it up there is a way for you to force it to $ within your account (there are lot of complaints about it on their forums from customers and merchants) but it looks like it's a world wide change.
It's a all or nothing thing they don't give the option to pay in what you want.
Yes checked that last night and nope doesn't look like it. However I prefer to buy through HE directly then they get all the profits but hate forced exchange rates.
Also checked on the local European seller but they don't have the deal on.
I can tell you that most customers (choice of word 'most' intentional) prefer this approach for currency, as they can see the cost at purchase, not when their credit card bill arrives in the mail.
Would it make a difference if someone in the US just bought it on sale then sent it to you? Clearly I don't fully understand these, things, but just a thought ..
Yes I can't disagree, mostly people want a simple life and don't realise they are paying for it.
Which is why I can't expect you to change it across the board. It's a shopify issue just wish they gave you a option to choose when you ordered.
I am trying to understand why this is a issue. My understanding of a exchange rate is simply translate one currency to another. So weather you pay in USD or GBP or another currency it should be a wash. It may fluctuate throughout the day a little but not drastically from min to min. Is there something more then simply currency conversion at a given moment.
Currency exchange is a service. And there's a good chance that your bank or credit card will charge you less for it than an e-commerce vendor would. That cost gets built in to the exchange rate that they offer.
Most people who travel internationally or buy things internationally know that it is better to pay in local currency for the point of purchase and have the credit card company or bank make the conversion rather than having the vendor do it.
That's the issue it's not this. When company's do this, be it through your card machine or in this case shopify THEY set the rate as in shopify or the card issuer and because the rate fluctuates they always put a high rate on it so that they don't lose money and instead intend to make a profit on the side.
It's a well known system and its why you should ALWAYS chose to pay in the local currency. I have international cards which I use and there are no transaction fees you get the rate at the point you make the sell and so it can fluctuate throughout the day but you always get the correct rate.
To be clear this is not Hubitat making this extra money they will be paying shopify a fee to do the transaction already its shopify making even more money out of the purchase.
Then on top of this the icing on the cake is that they HE has a discount which is perfect because it brings the cost down so that i don't need to pay additional import tax which is quite a bit added but the exchange rate brings that very close to that so there is a risk that it will trigger it. Where as if i paid "my" exchange it would not.
This is also a grey area. So it would come down as a "gift" which then the customs duty is the same as it would be under but a "gift" more than £39 means you have to pay VAT.
It's a stupid system and it works both ways, I have family in canada and they used to try and get proper chocolate and try Cadburys dairy milk big bars sent over because the "cadburys" versions over their didn't taste the same, but the costs involved to to the tax's just made it stupid.
Somewhat similar, around thirty years ago, before I could find them in the US, my team and me would bring Coffee Crisp bars back from Canada to SoCal whenever we had the chance to go to our client's site in Ottawa. I'd bring a small box to stash in my luggage to keep the bars safe during travel.