[jock]

I have a question to anyone in australia who is buying blanks from the us. I am about to place an order for my second run of t shirts. I have a childrens line. Since my last order the Aus dollar has dropped from 95cents to 80.
Is everyone just passing on that extra cost? I hate to put the price up but it seems there is no choice.
How great would it be to be blanks in Australia. There is really nothing here in childrens sizes that have the cool colours and styles. I would love some input on this topic.

 

[utemtu]

Question:

Did you lower the selling price as the AUD rose against the USD over the past year?

sorry, just saw that it is your second run of shirts. I would suggest that you factor your costs with a buffer on the exchange rate

 

[Solmu]

The AUD hasn't fallen as much as the USD has risen. AUD:GBP has been fairly stable. CAD:USD has also dropped. Really, you should have seen this coming and factored it in with your initial pricing. The heady days of a 95c exchange rate were previously unheard of, and it's hardly a surprise we're back down to more realistic levels. It was fun while it lasted, and with any luck we'll see it again one day, but when exchange rates are involved it's always good to have a buffer in your prices. It's only "extra cost" if you have a short sighted view of exchange rates' stability - "extra" implies that 1:0.95 was a baseline.

Depending on your industry segment (print services, retail clothing line) you might be better off always reflecting current cheapest possible pricing, or you might be better off having consistent stable pricing. It's up to you really. For a children's line though, my opinion is that you should work out a price that takes into account a reasonable amount of expected exchange rate fluctuation, set it there, and keep it there. In this case, that will likely mean a one-off price increase.

 

[jock]

Thanks. Lesson learned.