Currency choice problem: A solution is needed

Discussion in 'Bug Reporting' started by 3401_deleted, Dec 16, 2012.

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  1. 3401_deleted
    3401_deleted Well-Known Member
    I would like to be able to choose EUR or USD currency by myself, like I did before when I bought something at Shapeways. I would guess 99% of the online venues allow to do this.
    I've got a shop, my markup is paid in USD. My Paypal account then shows a USD balance. If I buy something at Shapeways, why I'm forced to get through an additional step and lose money using the *great* PayPal exchange rate to pay a Shapeways order ?

    Edit: I wanted to put this suggestion on your uservoice feedback system, but it's broken. Can't log-in.
     
    Last edited: Dec 17, 2012
  2. Magic
    Magic Well-Known Member
    Yes I totally agree.
    I would not have cared some years ago, when I used to have a EUR only Paypal account, but I had to transform it in EUR/USD account in order to refund Shapeways the day they paid our markups twice.
    This means that now, the markups (that are in USD) go to the USD balance, but when i order models for myself, the money is taken from the EUR balance, and thus the exchange rate is applied. So for me, there is an inconsitancy here: if I am paid in USD I should be able to pay in USD (at least until Shapeways will allow us to be paid in "Shapeways voucher" credits - without going through the Paypal process, and the 3.5% fee).
     
  3. stop4stuff
    stop4stuff Well-Known Member
  4. stannum
    stannum Well-Known Member
    Yes, the SW email is in euros... and the Paypal email and balance you get is in dollars. Everything here is USD based, markups are paid in dollars, per cm3 is tied to dollars, shipping in dollars, etc. All the other currencies are secondary (fluctuating exchange) or tertiary (not supported). Before summer Shapeways accepted USD as payment, now it just forces people into one or another currency.

    Some numbers, based in exchange rates from a couple of weeks ago:

    You earn 103.63 from markups or from designing models or from Ebay or whatever, SW related or not. Paypal does not force you to convert currency until needed, they will just keep their fee (3.5%); you end with exactly 100 dollars in your account (which will simplify the maths). Then you want to invest in new models at SW. You know, "print one to test, take photos, promote it" etc. If you are in a non-euro forced location, you have the full 100 dolars to spend. Fine.

    But if you are in one of the euro forced places, Paypal will give you 73.53 euros, at the rate of 1.36, for the 100 dollars in you account. And SW will apply 1.297 as ratio when billing, which means it's like if you only had 95.39 dollars. If you live in the "wrong" place, you just lost more than 4 dollars, for nothing. Yeah, peanuts, but peanut after peanut, you get a truck load of discarded peanuts "just because this one was in the wrong side of the bag".
     
  5. bartv
    bartv Member
    Thanks guys,

    I'll bring this up in today's product meeting and get back with an answer.

    Bart
     
  6. mkroeker
    mkroeker Well-Known Member
    How about a markup payment option that does not use that shady shadow bank, i.e. SEPA transfers at least within EU ?
     
  7. Magic
    Magic Well-Known Member
    And what about adding the monthly earnings to our credit as an option?
    https://www.shapeways.com/credits
    We would get rid of the 3.5% Paypal fee.

    Currently i spend more money than I earn (at Shapeways I mean :)) So for me this would be very convenient.

     
  8. bartv
    bartv Member
    So I asked around yesterday: the currency selection was lost during our transition to our new internal system, 'Inshape'. It wasn't a design decision and there weren't any financial reasons behind it. The team is aware and will bring the option back, although they can't give ETA yet..

    Other banking options are definitely being looked in to.

    I'm currently asking about why we don't allow you to store your markup in credits. Will get back to you on that asap ;)

    Bart
     
  9. virtox
    virtox Active Member Moderator
    Please, please make this very HIGH priority!

    I just payed 5% more than I should have too for an order :evil:

    $1.00 at shapeways translates to €0.77 on the site.
    That €0.77 at paypal exchanges at €1.00->$1.37
    Result I pay : $1.05 for $1.00 :S

    To be clear: I want to see and handle everything in dollars on the site.


     
    Last edited: Dec 20, 2012
  10. bartv
    bartv Member
    Yikes! Okay, we'll push it some more.
     
  11. 3401_deleted
    3401_deleted Well-Known Member
    Hello,
    Any news ? Any ETA for a dropdown box which allows any buyer to choose either € or $ ?
     
    Last edited: Jan 22, 2013
  12. virtox
    virtox Active Member Moderator
    Yes, any news?

    If it should matter, I am not likely to order (much) until this has been fixed and I can choose to pay in dollars again...
     
    Last edited: Jan 22, 2013
  13. stop4stuff
    stop4stuff Well-Known Member
    Pretty much the same here.

    Paul
     
  14. 7943_deleted
    7943_deleted Member
    Hi guys

    To add to Bart here we hear you and we're pushing hard for this. Now we have resources to work on improvement projects rather than bugs fixes we can tackle important issues like this one (and dare I say it...shipping)

    Thank you for the detailed examples you've all listed here it makes it easier to argue the case.

    Ill post an update by the end of the week!

    Best
    Natalia
     
  15. stop4stuff
    stop4stuff Well-Known Member
    This started in August last year when there was an overhaull of Shapeways website, it is not a bug, neither does the 'bug' need fixing, all that is simply asked is please put it back to how it was before, i.e. the choice of Euro or USD

    Cheers,
    Paul

    [hr][hr]
     
  16. stonysmith
    stonysmith Well-Known Member Moderator
    When you hae moved to an entirely new software platform, such items have to be treated as a "bug".
    You can't "go back" without losing all the benefits that the new platform brought with it.

    The public may veiw it as "restoring function", but it was actually something left out of the new version by accident.
    It requires NEW code to add it.
     
  17. stop4stuff
    stop4stuff Well-Known Member
    Thanks for sharing that info stony - in all of the messages, emails & forum posts about this issue, this is the first time that information has been conveyed.

    Cheers,
    Paul
     
  18. 7943_deleted
    7943_deleted Member
    Hey guys,

    I just want to update you on our progress on the currency options

    First step is going to be to display the currency conversion rate used on the Model Edit page

    This will show the current Exchange rate between USD and EUR on both the shop inventory markup modal as well as the edit model set-markup locations for your convenience and reference.

    Hurray!

    Stay tuned for the next phase...

    Natalia
     
  19. stannum
    stannum Well-Known Member
    Something already changed. The email with payment info matches the Paypal one, both are in dollars.
     
  20. 3401_deleted
    3401_deleted Well-Known Member
    Any news on this important topic? Last week, I uploaded a model and setting a markup in USD when you are forced to use EUR is really painful and unefficient. It's important to freely allow the customer or designer to select the currency he wants to use, when setting the markup AND in the checkout.
    Making an API is a nice thing (although of limited use for non-programmers), but what about sorting out the long standing issues first ?
     
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