Etsy and currency convertion?

[little.fox]

So, I am trying to set up my Etsy shop, and right now I'm having trouble choosing currency.. I'd like to just use USD as I expect to have more international customers than swedish. But Etsy tells me it's a bad idea because paypal will automatically convert my payments into swedish currency. Is that really right? I mean I've been paid in USD before and that money just sits in my PP account as USD, which is fine by me as that's the currency I deal in.

Advice please?

[archidraca]

If you've set up your PayPal to have payments sit in it rather than going to a bank then you're probably fine setting your Etsy to USD. If it goes to a bank the local currency conversion has to happen. Etsy is probably leery of allowing it in case of user error causing conversion charges.

I'd ask PayPal for clarification, myself, as they'd have the last ruling on the matter. Hope that helps. 

[pinkkittywinks]

Personally, I suggest having everything in your shop in your native currency.

My Etsy shop is all in UK GBP (my native currency), however people over seas see my listing in their native currency as I ship world wide. All payments go to my bank account in GBP as I accept all types of payment along side PayPal. When I print out invoices it shows what the customer paid in their currency, but the money on my part of the paper work is in GBP. This makes things much more straight forward from a tax point of view as well.

Like you I can accept USD to my PayPal account, but it mostly just sits there!

Love pkw xxx

[Sebby6]

If you have an open USD currency in your PayPal, then it should only convert if you withdraw into your bank account. I have balances in several currencies in my PayPal, but you need to manually open that balance or it will convert