And then there's the probability that some prices will be dictated by deals made many months ago and a change in the exchange rate won't make any difference. (As a not exactly relevant example, last winter gas pirces in the UK were hiked up because of deals made during the summer... although the price of gas had fallen considerably in the intervening months).
And if people are trying to pay in US funds, are they taking into account the commission fees for a shop converting those funds? People seem to have the odd idea that once into a till money turns into electrons, but a shop has to collect that cash and transport it to a bank -- in a form the bank will accept. There are some shops in the UK accept euros because they have special banking arrangements -- mostly because they're heavily into airports or have branches abroad, but nothing a bank does for a business is free.
And, so far as Amazon goes, possibly US Canadian credit card transactions don't have an attached fee, but the majority of credit cards in the UK charge currency conversion fees or simply have a conversion rate which is slightly higher/lower than the market's -- like paypal. So there's the possibility of the Amazon price being exactly the same in both currencies, but the credit card billing amount *not* being entirely equivalent anyhow.
I get more annoyed by *Amazon* hiking prices up for no reason but that their postage prices are exhorbitant, so directly ordering the book at the cheaper price from the US doesn't save as much money as it should (and since Amazon must be importing in bulk... they really can't justify mark ups that appear to have them sending each book to the UK as if it were going media mail in it's own box). Err, yes... that does irk me :)
Yes, sometimes yelling at the man standing next to you is the right knee-jerk reaction to having your arm jostled and your drink spilled... but if he stumbled against you because the local rugby club are doing a conga on his toes...
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2007-09-27 12:11 am (UTC)And if people are trying to pay in US funds, are they taking into account the commission fees for a shop converting those funds? People seem to have the odd idea that once into a till money turns into electrons, but a shop has to collect that cash and transport it to a bank -- in a form the bank will accept. There are some shops in the UK accept euros because they have special banking arrangements -- mostly because they're heavily into airports or have branches abroad, but nothing a bank does for a business is free.
And, so far as Amazon goes, possibly US Canadian credit card transactions don't have an attached fee, but the majority of credit cards in the UK charge currency conversion fees or simply have a conversion rate which is slightly higher/lower than the market's -- like paypal. So there's the possibility of the Amazon price being exactly the same in both currencies, but the credit card billing amount *not* being entirely equivalent anyhow.
I get more annoyed by *Amazon* hiking prices up for no reason but that their postage prices are exhorbitant, so directly ordering the book at the cheaper price from the US doesn't save as much money as it should (and since Amazon must be importing in bulk... they really can't justify mark ups that appear to have them sending each book to the UK as if it were going media mail in it's own box). Err, yes... that does irk me :)
Yes, sometimes yelling at the man standing next to you is the right knee-jerk reaction to having your arm jostled and your drink spilled... but if he stumbled against you because the local rugby club are doing a conga on his toes...