Purchase currency

[novaca]

I am from an EU country, but our currency is not the euro. Can I choose another EU country when making a purchase and pay in EUR? The reason is that the asking price in my currency is about 16% higher than if I pay in EUR and my bank does the exchange rate. I also think that Mario will not see this extra money...
My previous purchase was in USD, but now the custom region/currency combination is not available.
If I "stay" in the EU, everything should be OK for me from a tax and legal point of view.

[Mario]

I set two prices, one for US$ and  one for EUR. Because I have to pay different sales taxes and fees.
For all the other currencies, FastSpring sets the exchange rate I believe, based on official bank rates.

[novaca]

So I don't know what basis they are calculating it on.
To be specific, the exchange rate is about 1 EUR = 25.1 CZK
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/policy_and_exchange_rates/euro_reference_exchange_rates/html/eurofxref-graph-czk.en.html
Banks are of course less profitable to sell, but it's something like 1 EUR = 25.8 CZK
FastSpring wants to pay 4197 CKZ instead of 135 EUR, which is about 1 EUR = 31.09 CZK
In the end, the difference is not even 30 EUR. It's not a dizzying amount, but that's money that goes somewhere else than you and I would like...

I'll probably wait until our country switches to the euro... no, I'm kidding.
I was more interested in the system by which this happens than in the few euros.
I also understand that after the new version is released, you have more important things to deal with than this.

[Mario]

As I said, I set an US$ and EUR price and I try to make them as fair as possible. Sales tax deducted from the purchase price vary by country, or sometimes, even by city (!). The fees of credit card companies and other payment processors also vary by country and day! I don't understand most of this, I'm only me.

I'm not into exchange rates, country or city-specific sales taxes, surcharges depending on country of origin or current risk rates of fraud rates for specific countries and all that. That's why I don't sell IMatch to you - FastSpring does. They have the manpower, experience, connections and systems to deal with all of this.

I have enough to do with development and support. And after losing all my money since October 2024 because of the bankruptcy of MyCommerce and their US mother Digital River, I cannot be bothered to deal with any sales, taxes or currency rates. I understand that users always try to save some bucks, but that's FastSpring's problem, not mine. I don't care.

[novaca]

Mario, definitely don't waste your time on this.

In case anyone is wondering, I think it's because in the Eurozone the price is 135 EUR including VAT, while outside the Eurozone (even though in the EU) the price is equivalent to 135 USD excluding VAT...

[Mario]

I use gross prices, and FastSpring collects and distributes the VAT, depending on country and legals.

[PandDLong]

My previous purchase was in USD, but now the custom region/currency combination is not available.

I ran into the same.  I am in Canada but often pay in USD as the exchange rates provided by all shopping sites is terrible and is likely a money maker for them (not Mario in this case).

FastSpring rejected my USD credit card as my "zip code" is not a valid US zip code.  It looks like you can only pay in your local currency.  I went to their web-site and got caught in an endless loop of the same web-pages in trying to find out if there was an option or even a means to notify them so they can think about building that capability for the future.

Unfortunate, but still happy to get the upgrade even for a few more $$.

This is just FYI for others who may have the same issue.

Michael

[Mario]

https://fastspring.com/consumer-support/

There are tons of laws and regulations in place. CC companies or PayPal not accepting payments in certain currencies from certain companies. This is all very complex and I'm happy that FastString handles this for me.