[BangBangT-Shirts]

Re: € sales from a £ shop or AUS$ from a US$ shop

I've got a similar question.

I'm going to be using PayPal to process my transactions and am based in the UK. When the prices are currently converted to USD by PayPal they are quite high ($25-$30) as my t-shirts will be priced at around £15. When I look on US based t-shirt sites they are often pricing their tees at $10-$15. What would everyone advise I do when I convert my prices?

 

[Solmu]

Personally I'd do a straight conversion (maybe rounding the price a little to make it look neater). It may make your product too expensive for the US audience, but there's not much you can do about that. Presumably your price is set where it is in order to have the margin you need, otherwise it would be lower. If you could lower it, you might as well do it across the board to be more competitive in both markets. If the UK market finds out you're charging less in the US (and not just because of VAT) they'd be rather angry - I've seen similar things before as a customer, and it usually makes me furious.

 

[Adam]

Yes most people charge the same and pocket the VAT difference for sales to the US.

If you are going after the US market then price is a tougher consideration. The consensus of a t-shirt price seems to be some what lower than ours. If your t-shirt design is original, never to be found anywhere else, and sparks impulse buying, then you will find your market can tolerate a higher price. I've definately proved this with many designs I sell and also shop the same.

I was recently selling a black tee for $26.99 and it sold like hot cakes. It really does depend on the demand for it.

First question to ask yourself is, are your UK t-shirts priced correctly? How have you come up with the £13-16 figure? As long as you cover your costs, stay competitive, and make a profit then your price is correct. You may want to reconsider your profit margins if you are impeding on your competitiveness. Saying that, to me, it seems like a very fair price.

One way to really test it is to do some PPC advertising. Set up two campaigns targetted at the US. Make the page seem like a limited offer. Each page should sell tees at two different prices, high and low. The pages must be completely identical apart from the price. Now you can effectively work out the price toleration from the conversion rates. And you will know that "price" was the only factor that affected the outcome.

 

[BangBangT-Shirts]

I've been thinking about looking for a printer in the US. If I can find someone to print and send over the t-shirts I should, in theory, be able to spend less on them and as such, charge less. I would have to find someone who wouldn't charge a lot for shipping and hope I don't get stung on import tax, etc.