Domain resellers; currency conversion..?

[xtmhost]

Hi,

 

I have started offering domain names on my website through my hosting site, I am a reseller with ENOM and prices are obviously in USD $ and I am based on the UK so prices are GBP £

 

I am not quite sure how I should be dealing with the exchange rate? Especially with Brexit hanging over us the rate can quite easily go up and down. (more than likely down meaning it eats into my profit)

 

 

Should I set my prices in stone and stick with them for a predefined period of time and absorb the exchange rate myself? Until the next 'price refresh'.

 

Or should I be updating prices daily, weekly, monthly? I wouldn't want to confuse prices or want them to think they are being mislead by price changes, hopefully any changes will be tiny but in some cases can be more, I noticed a significant different after the Brexit result.

 

Finally, what about existing customers? (renewals etc..) is it best practice to allow them to renew at the price they purchase, or should their pricing be adjusted to current domain prices... I could be wrong but I am pretty sure WHMCS would charge renewals at date of purchase price.

 

Any advice is appreciated.

 

Thanks

[brian!]

I have started offering domain names on my website through my hosting site, I am a reseller with ENOM and prices are obviously in USD $ and I am based on the UK so prices are GBP £

I am not quite sure how I should be dealing with the exchange rate? Especially with Brexit hanging over us the rate can quite easily go up and down. (more than likely down meaning it eats into my profit)

before the vote, a $10 domain cost £6.81; after the result, they cost £7.33 - today, it's around £7.60 - that's a 12% increase in less than three weeks !

 

Should I set my prices in stone and stick with them for a predefined period of time and absorb the exchange rate myself? Until the next 'price refresh'.

Or should I be updating prices daily, weekly, monthly? I wouldn't want to confuse prices or want them to think they are being mislead by price changes, hopefully any changes will be tiny but in some cases can be more, I noticed a significant different after the Brexit result.

one option would be to add USD pricing for your domains, set USD as your base currency and update the currencies with the cron job nightly... if you do that, then the GBP price should fluctuate correctly with the USD->GBP exchange rate and all you should then need to worry about is price changes from enom affecting your USD base price.

 

if you have any existing clients who have ordered in GBP, they won't see the USD pricing, only GBP prices (once logged in) - so they'll always be charged in GBP... then it's a case of deciding if you want to show USD pricing in your WHMCS site.

 

Finally, what about existing customers? (renewals etc..) is it best practice to allow them to renew at the price they purchase, or should their pricing be adjusted to current domain prices... I could be wrong but I am pretty sure WHMCS would charge renewals at date of purchase price.

you are correct - the renewal price is set at time of purchase.

 

generally, we keep them at the original price - it's good for the customer relationship!... unless the base prices changes significantly, as per the Nominet 50% increase earlier this year... so we slightly increased our .uk renewals (nowhere near by 50% though!) and we didn't receive any complaints or cancellations.

[xtmhost]

before the vote, a $10 domain cost £6.81; after the result, they cost £7.33 - today, it's around £7.60 - that's a 12% increase in less than three weeks !

 

 

one option would be to add USD pricing for your domains, set USD as your base currency and update the currencies with the cron job nightly... if you do that, then the GBP price should fluctuate correctly with the USD->GBP exchange rate and all you should then need to worry about is price changes from enom affecting your USD base price.

 

if you have any existing clients who have ordered in GBP, they won't see the USD pricing, only GBP prices (once logged in) - so they'll always be charged in GBP... then it's a case of deciding if you want to show USD pricing in your WHMCS site.

 

 

you are correct - the renewal price is set at time of purchase.

 

generally, we keep them at the original price - it's good for the customer relationship!... unless the base prices changes significantly, as per the Nominet 50% increase earlier this year... so we slightly increased our .uk renewals (nowhere near by 50% though!) and we didn't receive any complaints or cancellations.

 

Thanks Brian, this helps