Commission Pricing (Exchange rates)

[Mentis Soliloquy 3,025]

Now firstly I have no doubt that this issue has most likely been raised already but I suppose I want to bring more public attention to this issue, well thing I suppose. I've already had a chat to @Dark Horse about this but I'd like to get more input on this.

 

So as of this time all commission stores (think all) work in USD$ Now this for a good portion of users is quite alright all lot of you live in the US, but I speak for those who do not as I write this here are some exchange rates for those who don't.

 

22/04/2016 rates: (all these fugues buy $1US) 

AUS 0.75

CAN 0.78

NZD 0.69

 

There as some rates of users who are, well paying more than everyone else for commissions though exchange rates, others are paying less which results in the artists getting less money for their work (the idea works both ways).

 

Now I have not a clue about what is needed to make it happen but my suggestion is for users to buy a neutral site currency I.E something akin to like steam dollars which then can be used to buy art on the commissions sections or maybe even a points system like Deviantart then the artists being payed the equal value, then reversed on their end, a system like this would allow artists to be payed same rates and for those in, well lack of better word poorer countries to get more equal value for our money.

[Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,526]

We always charge customers and pay artists out in US Dollars. Any currency conversion is the responsibility of the customer (if buying something) or the artist (when receiving funds), and we encourage artists to consider this when setting their prices. How would introducing an intermediate "virtual currency" change the amount of money that artists receive or that customers pay?

 

The virtual currency would still need to have an exchange rate against at least one fiat currency - DeviantArt's points, for example, are priced at 80 points per US Dollar; they're not offered in any other currency.

 

I'm unfamiliar with Steam Dollars but Steam has region-specific pricing (I see Canadian pricing often being cheaper than US pricing after currency conversion), which means that the amount of monetary value that Valve and the developer receive depends on the customer's location. Is that what you're looking for?

 

Though this might seem more equitable to customers in various economic climates, I see it creating an accounting nightmare and being unfair to artists. And only switching the currency won't change how much you actually pay - if we were to switch to say, the Canadian Dollar, artists will adjust their prices to compensate for the CAD's lower value.

 

If it's currency conversion fees that are eating your money (ie. your bank or PayPal taking a 2.5% cut from the conversion), there are techniques to minimize those:

• maintaining USD bank accounts + debit/credit cards (these should be readily available in most countries since the USD is so popular)
• using a currency conversion service instead of your bank to buy USD (there should be a few exchanges in your city that offer better rates; there are also online exchanges like XE.com)
• using a technique like Norbert's Gambit to buy USD

[Mentis Soliloquy 3,025]

@@Feld0,

 

Surprised I got you of all people to respond to this. Honestly me and DH came to the same conclusion as you did Feld0, I was merely making a public post about, maybe someone out there who reads this might be able to do something? Shrugs 

 

Merely as started voicing yet another suggestion trying to help out.

[Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,526]

@@Mentis Soliloquy, I'm responsible for Poniverse's finances, so...

 

I understand the issue - I'm Canadian myself and always have to watch out for what currency every website is charging in. The reality is that, unless we introduce region-specific pricing (which I don't see happening), something has to serve as a common measure of value for all MLPF users.

 

We picked the USD for that because it's the local currency for ~70% of our users. The rest of us, when dealing with money here, have to consider how much USD is worth in our local currencies and do what we can to get the best conversion rates for it. To that end, I recommend researching the methods I listed in my last post - having a cheap way of getting USD is useful not only here, but all over the Internet.

[Mentis Soliloquy 3,025]

@@Feld0,

 

I know 'our' pain the Issue was not the fees or out just the actually price I mean if and work is $10US you pay 22% and I pay 25% it's just a little off if you catch my drift maybe...

 

Could there be different options on the prices pages? 3-4 listings for currencys?

 

like

 

6 GBP

10 US

12 Aus

13 NZD

 

But that really dose not help, eh you have me thinking about this now more is all.

[Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,526]

You mean showing an equivalent local price even when the official price (and the charge sent to your card) is in USD?

 

While that's difficult to achieve with our current billing system, I'd find that useful for when we upgrade/replace it (which will eventually happen).

[Mentis Soliloquy 3,025]

@@Feld0,

 

Well there is somthing in my ramblings then , but yeah why not? Would be helpful down the track for us non-US members. The payments are through paypal? Have you I don't know talked to them do they offer help and such to business? Maybe they could do things on their end?

Edited April 22, 2016 by Mentis Soliloquy

[Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,526]

Payments go through either Stripe or PayPal (Stripe is used for direct card payments).

 

PayPal does have a means of getting their exchange rate in an automated way, which we could use if/when this feature is implemented - I imagine that will give you a good idea of how much it'll actually cost you.

[Mentis Soliloquy 3,025]

Well that seems like a good Idea, for the Paypal part whenever you or who ever dose this update thingy, but I think that it would help us all a bit when it comes to commissions on here. I'd offer my help but I would not know how to.

Edited April 22, 2016 by Mentis Soliloquy