Foreign currency transactions

[Iain41]

Hi,

I'd like to add my voice to the foreign currency request. It seems that it is collecting a few votes now in the 'make your voice heard forum', but things further down the list with less votes are leapfrogging it.

So... here's a plug for the link for all us foreigners to vote it up the charts. Should I organise an X-Factor (American Idol) type popularity contest for it as well ;-) ?

I promise to die my hair green and wear my trousers up around my chest like Simon Cowell does if we get to the top of the charts !!!

Use this link below to vote :thumb !!

http://smugmug.uservoice.com/forums/17723-smugmug

Cheers,

Iain
:-)

[TalkieT]

Hi,

I'd like to add my voice to the foreign currency request. It seems that it is collecting a few votes now in the 'make your voice heard forum', but things further down the list with less votes are leapfrogging it.

So... here's a plug for the link for all us foreigners to vote it up the charts. Should I organise an X-Factor (American Idol) type popularity contest for it as well ;-) ?

I promise to die my hair green and wear my trousers up around my chest like Simon Cowell does if we get to the top of the charts !!!

Use this link below to vote :thumb !!

http://smugmug.uservoice.com/forums/17723-smugmug

Cheers,

Iain
:-)

Good to have your voice added, but as you observe, there are numerous requests from lower on the list that have been started or planned.

Smugmug has said before that supporting anything but USD isn't in their even medium term plans.

It's a shame but unless Smugmug thinks they can make more money than the development costs then they shouldn't do it - and it looks from their incredibly non-commital comments in the past, like that's where they currently are.

I wish I had a better answer for you, I really do.

Cheers - Neil Gardner
www.nzsnaps.co.nz (http://www.nzsnaps.co.nz)
New Zealand, where we use $NZD

[Roytp]

Hi,

I'd like to add my voice to the foreign currency request. It seems that it is collecting a few votes now in the 'make your voice heard forum', but things further down the list with less votes are leapfrogging it.

So... here's a plug for the link for all us foreigners to vote it up the charts. Should I organise an X-Factor (American Idol) type popularity contest for it as well ;-) ?

I promise to die my hair green and wear my trousers up around my chest like Simon Cowell does if we get to the top of the charts !!!

Use this link below to vote :thumb !!

http://smugmug.uservoice.com/forums/17723-smugmug

Cheers,

Iain
:-)

I have given up trying.

We do get lots af fancy things like more detailed stats ( in Beta) and more fancy sales oportunities for US customers but others the rest of the world?
NOTHING

I asked for more levels which would benefit everyone.

Nothing.

I accept Smugmug for what it is now with no expectation of solutions to the above problem or anything else I have requested in my lifetime.

Roy

[Squeezer]

Yeah its very dissapointing. I renewed my Pro account in October 2009. But enough is enough. The fact that it's not even on the Radar means I'll be dropping down to a Power user come renewal time.

[Andy]

I wish I had a better answer for you, I really do.

So do I!

[Roytp]

So do I!
Andy
You could do it if you really wanted to.

You have a very clever team about you.

At least give us more levels. please??

[JanWill]

For more than a year now I am waiting eagerly for smugmug to introduce foreign currency and to offer the ability to order through German labs. I would be willing to talk to German labs and know specifically of lab who is willing to collaborate with a service like smugmug. I would also spread the word about smugmug to other professional photographers. There is so much potential here, and I believe lots of money for smugmug as well. Every couple of month I will come back to check this thread, if Smugmug finally willing to provide the service to its non-US clients.
I am not only asking for service but I also want to help smugmug in any way I can to make this happen.

Thanks for listening and let me know if I can be of help in bringing Smugmug to Germany.

[Roytp]

For more than a year now I am waiting eagerly for smugmug to introduce foreign currency and to offer the ability to order through German labs. I would be willing to talk to German labs and know specifically of lab who is willing to collaborate with a service like smugmug. I would also spread the word about smugmug to other professional photographers. There is so much potential here, and I believe lots of money for smugmug as well. Every couple of month I will come back to check this thread, if Smugmug finally willing to provide the service to its non-US clients.
I am not only asking for service but I also want to help smugmug in any way I can to make this happen.

Thanks for listening and let me know if I can be of help in bringing Smugmug to Germany.

Keep waiting. You will have to wait a very long time.
Smugmug is very good at what it does, I am afraid you have to accept what it is and find a way to work arround your problem.
I offered to help in the UK but the silence.........

[PhotoLouis]

I too have been hoping that foreign labs/currency would come but alas nothing. Having used Smugmug for nearly 4 years, I have decided to move over to Zenfolio who now provide various foreign currency/labs and now also allow customisation.

The customisation is not as extensive as that provided by Smugmug but it is certainly easier without having to drop into Javascript etc.

It is a shame as I think Smugmug is a great site that has done a lot for photography on the net, a great bunch of people, unfortunately insufficient focus on the world outside the USA. I will regretfully, therefore, not be renewing my membership when it comes up in May, sorry guys.

Louis

[Craig Ridley]

Even just the ability to display the price to customers in a local currency of choice would be a good first step. Bill in US$ if you have to, but allow customers to get an approximate price in their own currency.

We dont need to solve everything overnight, but acknowledging our international customers with this simple change would be much appreciated.

[JanWill]

It seems that the European lab partnership is the most wanted according to smugmug users. See here: http://smugmug.uservoice.com/forums/17723-smugmug
Are you listening Smugmug :ear

[SteveM]

It seems that the European lab partnership is the most wanted according to smugmug users. See here: http://smugmug.uservoice.com/forums/17723-smugmug
Are you listening Smugmug :ear

Always!

[FrankC]

Always!

When I lived in London - one phrase often irritated me. That phrase was - "I hear what you're saying"

I think all of you from this side of the Atlantic will know what I mean :wink

[Roytp]

I have been looking at them.
Not as flexible on the front end but does all we have been asking for for years otherwise. I am told they are very good in search engines.

At a third less!

I have just paid my next payment for a year.

[JanWill]

I have been looking at them.
Not as flexible on the front end but does all we have been asking for for years otherwise. I am told they are very good in search engines.

At a third less!

I have just paid my next payment for a year.

I have been looking at them too, I actually have an account with zenfolio as well. But after using it for a while I must say it is by far not as good as smugmug, especially with customization. They may offer features smugmug does not have. But even their self-fullfillment I cannot use, because they still does not offer the possibility to change the language in the ordering process. Quality , the final look of the website and customizeability are still more important for me. And at least you hear Smugmug support saying something, even if it is not what you want to here. My impression of zenfolio is that they are less responsive.

If only smugmug would start to implement the foreign currency and foreign labs thing...

[Roytp]

If only smugmug would start to implement the foreign currency and foreign labs thing...

And greater file depth.
If they would do this the world would be a wonderful place.

[Athena]

oh yes, yes, yes. European printing and currency please. :)

[sameerhere]

I read all the treads and looks like smugmug has some business reason for not allowing international payments. I think they get enough American business so they dont need outsiders.
Putting a simple payment gateway is not a great deal. But it looks like this thing is purposely kept aside.

[Roytp]

I read all the treads and looks like smugmug has some business reason for not allowing international payments. I think they get enough American business so they dont need outsiders.
Putting a simple payment gateway is not a great deal. But it looks like this thing is purposely kept aside.

I agree.
It seems that they can do realy difficult things, for the usa, but when it comes to what appears to be very simple things like increased file depth and GBP they aren't interested.

[Andy]

But it looks like this thing is purposely kept aside. This couldn't be further from the truth :evil

[Manfr3d]

What usualy happens is that things simply don't make it to the top
of the priority list for one reason or another. Considering how few
people want those features versus the time and money that needs
to be invested in order to make it work seems a bit out of balance.
If u ask me, I think it's not gonna happen unless there is a strategic
interest for sm to enter eu market.

But we'll see how this one plays out ... :jose

[Roytp]

This couldn't be further from the truth :evil

Then prove it!! Please.

[Andy]

Then prove it!! Please.
Hi Roy- thanks for all your posts. We don't talk about stuff we're working on. But we do know how important this is to you and many of our customers.

[Kenny]

This couldn't be further from the truth :evil

I'm going to take a guess and say (based on the emoticon Andy used above) that things might be (finally) getting a bit closer!?

[JanWill]

I'm going to take a guess and say (based on the emoticon Andy used above) that things might be (finally) getting a bit closer!?

That would be awesome! And it should be smugmug's current priority right? I mean the foreign lab is the most wanted feature from smugmuggers and goes along with foreign currency :)

[Roytp]

That would be awesome! And it should be smugmug's current priority right? I mean the foreign lab is the most wanted feature from smugmuggers and goes along with foreign currency :)

And increased file depth....

Please!!

[FrankC]

I'm going to take a guess and say (based on the emoticon Andy used above) that things might be (finally) getting a bit closer!?

Maybe, but to be sure you'll have to wait until it reaches :deal stay tuned status :D

[blackshadow]

What's happening with electronic payment for those of us outside the US?

[R.Leonardo]

If you look at this thread that quetion is answered several times. It is on the list of improvments to do, but no time frame is given.

[Andy]

What's happening with electronic payment for those of us outside the US?

We've got some things to do before this - but it's gonna happen :)

[Squeezer]

We've got some things to do before this - but it's gonna happen :)

A few posts up I got excited/hopefull that it was finally on the Radar ( This thread request is now 4 years old ) but this last statement doesnt give much hope for anything in the near future given smugmug have been "listening" for 4 years.

When it actually makes the agenda I might quieten down again, but with the $AUD bouncing around the $USD currently it makes it hard for people to know what they are going to end up paying without carrying out conversions.

The people that browse and will potentially buy photos from me get paid in $AUD, Buy their Groceries in $AUD and their petrol and Beer in $AUD and if they want a photo they want to pay in $AUD... Simple as that

[Malte]

...but this last statement doesnt give much hope for anything in the near future given smugmug have been "listening" for 4 years...

If you mean this:

We've got some things to do before this - but it's gonna happen :)

I think Andy's referring to non-cheque payment to the photographer, not the payment method used by the customer ordering prints.

Malte

[Andy]

If you mean this:



I think Andy's referring to non-cheque payment to the photographer, not the payment method used by the customer ordering prints.

Malte

Mmm... sort of...

[photobanks]

As a short term solution for us "foreign" currency users, could you implement something like http://www.yourcurrencyconverter.com/ into the cart? Add 1 little bit of coding for us? Would help to keep us happy for a while!!

Michael

[BobT]

Put me on the list of requesters as well and please, please up the priority of this issue. The world is bigger than the USA and getting more so day by day. Unless this is fixed, as soon as someone puts up a comparable site in Australia, I'm afraid I will have to leave :s85

[TalkieT]

Put me on the list of requesters as well and please, please up the priority of this issue. The world is bigger than the USA and getting more so day by day. Unless this is fixed, as soon as someone puts up a comparable site in Australia, I'm afraid I will have to leave :s85

A few weeks ago Andy slipped up and admitted that something may be happening on this front... Now I wouldn't get my hopes up and we all know how long some features take to get developed (over a year!) but I now believe that they actually want to provide alternate currency support as opposed to not caring about it.

I guess in another 18 months we'll have it.

Cheers - N

[FrankC]

A few weeks ago Andy slipped up and admitted that something may be happening on this front... Now I wouldn't get my hopes up and we all know how long some features take to get developed (over a year!) but I now believe that they actually want to provide alternate currency support as opposed to not caring about it.

I guess in another 18 months we'll have it.

Cheers - N

Don't forget that 3 related requests are in the top 6 requests here :

http://smugmug.uservoice.com/forums/17723-smugmug

Namely : European Lab, multi-currency and self-fulfilment.

Presumably these will need to have their status changed to 'planned' and then 'started' before we can actually start to hope...

[PixelPie]

I have to add to this thread too. I love Smugmug. I love sooo much about it but sitting up north, here in Canada, the whole 'business' aspect of my company is taking a hit. I'm losing out on orders and customers because of this. Not only am I losing out, but so is Smugmug.

No where in Canada is a service being offered on par with Smugmug. There is an entire market of photographers that are looking for this exact service BUT want it Canadian or at least be able to make our customer transactions in Canadian funds. I have referred some, if not a dozen, other photographers to Smugmug, but they all turn their nose down because of two things.

1) No electronic transfer via bank accounts or Paypal for sales.
2) No foreign currency transactions.

So they instead turn to shopping cart systems. Another company has just started here, Zoomphoto that are in the beginning stages, no where near Smugmug BUT are bending over backward helping out photographers to integrate the above, with self-fulfillment options and whatever else that makes their short list. Simplephoto also offers a Canadian Lab at least. And not to mention Zenfolio and the countless others that are offering to sell globally.

I have used Smugmug for a while now and I am really teetering on the edge as to whether or not I am going to renew this fall or not. For as much as I love Smugmug, if it's not helping my sales, then I'm seeing very little point in keeping this up. I hate to say it but I really feel like I'm being 'forced' out. :cry

[Andy]

1) No electronic transfer via bank accounts or Paypal for sales.
2) No foreign currency transactions.

I hate to say it but I really feel like I'm being 'forced' out. :cry


Want to do both. Lots of work. Beginnings of infrastructure being laid right now. Hang in there.

[PixelPie]

Hang in there.

I still have a little bit left before I renew. I do like all the other updates Smugmug has made within the last few months so I am really hoping to see some progress on this front too. Otherwise I will have to make some changes. I really hope not though. Thanks.

[campo]

Unless this is fixed, as soon as someone puts up a comparable site in Australia, I'm afraid I will have to leave

A service has recently come online in Australia and price is comparable to smugmug. In my opinion smugmug still has some advantages over such competition especially in regards to storage/bandwidth and server performance, but once these competing services gain some momentum, they will steal customers. I know 2 smuggers that have already jumped ship to this new service basically due to the lack of foreign country support (labs/currency) etc.

[xiaoying]

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May I ask what service this is campo? (you can email me if that's easier).
I'm from Australia and I love the interface of smug mug too, but if it displays in USD instead of AUD, this will effect my sales too.

[R.Leonardo]

A service has recently come online in Australia and price is comparable to smugmug. In my opinion smugmug still has some advantages over such competition especially in regards to storage/bandwidth and server performance, but once these competing services gain some momentum, they will steal customers. I know 2 smuggers that have already jumped ship to this new service basically due to the lack of foreign country support (labs/currency) etc.


If you have read the posts in this thread, you will note you are not saying anything that has not been said multiple times. It is coming, is on the list and we ALL must wait.
:deadhorse



Given that SM is innovative in all other areas, is listening and responding to the customers (also noted a number of times in this thread), I am confident they will add this feature; though it is never fast enough for those of us in another county. We all (myself included) need to be patient.

Those that leave to go to another service, I am certain, are not representing a mass exodus trend and thus a reason for SM to bump this on the list. If it was such an issue, based on many encounters I personally have had with SM team, it would have been done already.
The fact is they are an amazing team and I am certain will deliver all the value-added tools that are wanted by their customers... in due time.

Hold steady.

[campo]

If you have read the posts in this thread, you will note you are not saying anything that has not been said multiple times. It is coming, is on the list and we ALL must wait.


Sorry, but where did someone mention the fact that competitive non-US centric services are now starting to fill the niches SM has so far be unable to address??

In the past such services could not offer what SM did for the same price, but now the gap is closing rapidly. As I mentioned, the new service in my country is one such business. It has associated itself with the major professional photographic bodies, is growing, gaining momentum, offers choice of labs, self fulfillment, multiple currency options and all quite similar in terms of overall cost. What's more is they're now opening up to the US photographers...

It's only a matter of time before such services will potentially start to eat into SM's revenue base.

[R.Leonardo]

It's only a matter of time before such services will potentially start to eat into SM's revenue base.

Well of course. That is is part of the struggle of commerce with any market, product or service... survival of the fittest.
I think we best let SM worry about revenue and as the customers choose what we want now; glad we have a choice in such a growing and lucrative market. Without knowing there financial statements and statistics, I think it unwise to speculate.
Pick the service that suits you and your business. If it is not SM for this reason (or others), then that is... well what it is.
My point is that the thread is the same theme for a long time. We want, they say they will (in due time), we say it is not soon enough, they say we are working on it and the cycle repeats it self.
It seems that is not really working to expedite the change. Like any work load, items are on the list-- it is up to me to prioritise the entire scope of my business.

[Justiceiro]

Let me put my 2 pfennig in about this.

Smugmug needs to address the issue sooner rather than later. The reason for this is that the market serviced by Smugmug, and sites like it, will soon be saturated, if it isn't already. This means that in order for smugmug to grow it will need to take market share rather than build market share, and taking share away from competitors is always harder than expanding naturally into a growing market.

Smugmug has an amazing opportunity in Europe (at least in Germany) that it is completely ignoring.
One of the first things I noticed about Germany when I arrived here is the profusion of photo shops. It looks like the USA did 15 years ago, with one notable exception— There are no, nor have there ever been as far as I know, any of the Kmart style bargain bin photo processors. Germans seem to regard photography, or at least the printing of photos, as something that should be handled professionally. They are very quality oriented, and in love with technology. Thus there are lots of shops that sell film, and develop photos of the mom and pop type, and there are far more professional studios. My city has 300,000 people, and I pass 5 photo studios on my way to work, a journey of 15 minutes by tram and foot, every day. There must be countless more as well in parts of the city that I don't normally go to. Good photos are something that Germans seem willing to invest money into.
But Germans, despite the fact that they are technology fetishists, tend to be provincial and untrusting when it comes to money. E-commerce pretty much doesn’t exist in a serious way here. This is beginning to change, as everyone under 25 is well familiar with the internet, as are all the photographers I know, and readers (who like Amazon). But most German companies have websites because they feel they ought to, not because people use them. All you can do is get locations and opening times. Even the German equivalent of BestBuy (Saturn) offers no pricing information, and doesn’t even indicate what it carries, other than a few featured items.
Does this mean that people won’t buy over the internet? No. But it does mean that they will do so less willingly than American customers. And they certainly won’t buy from a foreign country in a foreign currency. It simply isn’t going to happen. Germans are a strange lot— they will spend a ton of money on a car or a camera, but they are cheap at heart, so they’re likely to balk at transaction fees.
At the moment there is nothing like Smugmug here. But there will be. Hell, if I had the technical know-how I would have set it up myself already. But there are tons of gearheads, and computer geeks, and great labs that are set up or could be set up to receive files over the internet. (e.g. www.quixilver.de (http://www.quixilver.de/)) It will happen, and soon. Smugmug needs to get a system in place, and people to promote it, and soon. The question they should be asking themselves is the following one: Would I rather be starting up Smugmug now, or 10 years ago? Because in Germany, it still is ten years ago. At least in this market.

[Manfr3d]

Your view of Germany made me smile a bit.

Actually you can get prints from your digital files in nearly any smaller
mart (dm, Schlecker, Rossmann just to name a few) and in every big
store as well (Saturn, MediaMarkt and all the other big Electronics stores)
and thats where most people go to get their prints. It is not like the small
photostores are the backbone of german picture supply. They usualy do
portrait or passport shootings I hardly know anyone who gets their
pictures developed there (too expensive and slow) Dropping your
files off at one of the above mentioned store while shopping however
is a convenient way of getting your digital prints because you know you'll
come back next week to shop your box of corn flakes and can take your
prints with you.

There are numerous online photo printing services availabe, one of them
is from HP (www.snapfish.de) and they print good quality (not gallery
quality of course) but you can get accurate colors prints from an sRGB
version of your files. Currently there is also fotocommunity.de on the rise.
It's a huge site where photographers and amateurs put their pictures
online (like smugmug in a way) where they pay for storage and features.
They have just connected to a professional printing lab where you can get
high end prints in any format you want. If they hadn't this annoying
feature where every dick and harry would comment and rate your photos
I might use my account there. But then they are heavily community centered.

Also Germans won't pay more than anybody else in the world for high
quality prints. The average joe doesn't care if he gets kmart or gallery
quality. It's the small fraction of photo enthusiasts who care for the
difference but those have already discovered their lap. Either there already
exists a high end local store where everything is colorproof or they use
an online service such as the ones we mentioned. Little or no prosumer
photographer

What is really missing is something where you can sell prints of your
pictures professionaly. This is the only thing I see right now that smugmug
offers and that I haven't found on the german market yet. (maybe somebody else has?)

[cabbey]

As a short term solution for us "foreign" currency users, could you implement something like http://www.yourcurrencyconverter.com/ into the cart? Add 1 little bit of coding for us? Would help to keep us happy for a while!!

Michael

One minor problem with this... the rates fluctuate between when they place the order, and when the order is captured. My bank at least uses the rates at capture time, dunno if that's "standard" or not. The charge isn't captured until it ships out.... that could be several days in the case of some complex products.

[Justiceiro]

Actually you can get prints from your digital files in nearly any smaller
mart (dm, Schlecker, Rossmann just to name a few) and in every big
store as well (Saturn, MediaMarkt and all the other big Electronics stores)

Really? Maybe my town is different. I haven's seen anybody with in house film processing capability in Mannheim other than the small guys. Granted, I imagine that a Saturn in Munich or Berlin has to be bigger than a Saturn in Mannheim.

[Manfr3d]

Really? Maybe my town is different. I haven's seen anybody with in house film processing capability in Mannheim other than the small guys. Granted, I imagine that a Saturn in Munich or Berlin has to be bigger than a Saturn in Mannheim.

I live in a 250.000 pop city, but things can be different from city to city.

[Squeezer]

If you have read the posts in this thread, you will note you are not saying anything that has not been said multiple times. It is coming, is on the list and we ALL must wait.




Its been a request for 4 years now and up until very recently was not even touted as something of "importance". Even now it is not officially on the planned Radar as far as I know. If there was say a commitment that something would be in place by the end of 2010 for instance a lot of people would at least have something to plan with. With my renewal coming up in just over a months time ( I think ) A drop down to Power user is certainly on the cards.

I think those that dont live in the USA have been VERY patient thus far

[caroline]

Its been a request for 4 years now and up until very recently was not even touted as something of "importance". Even now it is not officially on the planned Radar as far as I know. If there was say a commitment that something would be in place by the end of 2010 for instance a lot of people would at least have something to plan with. With my renewal coming up in just over a months time ( I think ) A drop down to Power user is certainly on the cards.

I think those that dont live in the USA have been VERY patient thus far

I follow this thread as a UK SmugMug user who doesn't use the cart option on my site, I also down graded to Power User and then back to Pro.

There's a lot of pompous talk in the thread about what SmugMug should do and when, how it will affect their business etc if they don't do whatever the latest demand is and when they should implement it by.

There are plenty of solutions, many of which have been mentioned before - it makes no difference what currency is quoted in the cart, the bottom line is your orders will still come from the US and you will pay a premium (however small) for that either in delivery costs, delivery time, currency rates, conversion etc. Is it really such a big deal? As business professionals surely you can provide your customers with a satisfactory solution?

SmugMug is still the best, has the best customer service, and does its best to please it's customers. We can't have everything we want, when we want it, if you can find a better service - which I doubt - then walk don't winge.

Squeezer, this isn't aimed at you personally :-)

Rant over,
Caroline

[Manfr3d]

Is it really such a big deal?

Actually yes, because not everyone who wants pictures is as internet savy as we are and will suspect something irregular is going on if his shopping car is not in his currency and the photos are supposed to be shiped from another country.

[jogle]

One minor problem with this... the rates fluctuate between when they place the order, and when the order is captured. My bank at least uses the rates at capture time, dunno if that's "standard" or not. The charge isn't captured until it ships out.... that could be several days in the case of some complex products.

I've ordered things from several quite large shopping sites that use RBS Worldpay as the processor, they handle multiple currencies really nicely (apparently 120 different ones)
http://www.rbsworldpay.com/

The card companies will also let you put a pre authorization on the card and then put the charge through several days later. If you're wanting to handle it inhouse and you're worried about fluctuations, banks or other currency services will let you hedge or place forward currency orders so that you could set your exchange rates month to month or even six months ahead if you wanted to. Manufacturing exporters (essentially what smugmug is) deal with these things daily and have been doing so for decades. I'd be surprised if smugmug's current payment processor doesn't already have a handful of solutions for this kind of stuff.

[Montec]

Read the message below. It is exactly why we need to have foreign currency transactions available to us, and to have the sale be as seamless as possible. This client did not return to get the extra prints once he found out it was shipped from the US and in US funds. He was not pleased about the entire transaction to be honest. I usually get this question before the order is placed and they don't order. I do 95% of my printing locally after the client views the images on SM.

"Hey Monte, Joy and I did up a$200.00 order last night for grad pics. SmugMug just sent this to me. I was without internet today and wanted to talk to you about this and adding a pic before the order was processed. The site would not let me add a photo last night so I tried to buy it alone and would be billed more freight from USA?? I am certainly confused by this SmugMug stuff? Will these pics come from the US? Thanks Ric"

[TalkieT]

[snip]
SmugMug is still the best, has the best customer service, and does its best to please it's customers. We can't have everything we want, when we want it, if you can find a better service - which I doubt - then walk don't winge.
[snip]
Caroline

I agree their customer service is great, and I don't know of any other provider that gives as much customisation capability.

But the lack of foreign currency support is a total killer. I enable it once a year for the one international event I travel to, and then disable it for all other galleries and make people buy digital prints only through Paypal (in New Zealand dollars)... It sucks that I can't offer prints locally (not without doing everything myself).

On most events, I now make more about twice as much through paypal digital DL sales than I made in total using Smugmugs own print and Digital DL solution.

I still love SM for the support and the customisation, but I've totally given up on them catering to non-US pros. I don't care what they say they are thinking about - I will continue to judge them on their actions (or inaction).

Regards
Neil G

[Andy]

Read the message below. It is exactly why we need to have foreign currency transactions available to us, and to have the sale be as seamless as possible. This client did not return to get the extra prints once he found out it was shipped from the US and in US funds. He was not pleased about the entire transaction to be honest. I usually get this question before the order is placed and they don't order. I do 95% of my printing locally after the client views the images on SM.

"Hey Monte, Joy and I did up a$200.00 order last night for grad pics. SmugMug just sent this to me. I was without internet today and wanted to talk to you about this and adding a pic before the order was processed. The site would not let me add a photo last night so I tried to buy it alone and would be billed more freight from USA?? I am certainly confused by this SmugMug stuff? Will these pics come from the US? Thanks Ric"
This happens to US folks, too, Monte - and our Support Heroes routinely handle the request to add an additional item, if we're asked. Did you or the client think to email our Heroes? We do this stuff all the time.

[Andy]

I will continue to judge them on their actions (or inaction).

Regards
Neil G
Good, we'd not have it any other way. But this isn't happening in an instant. We have to first change some payment infrastructure at SmugMug, this process is in place (it's not a trivial task at all!) and this lays the groundword for us to be able to offer other currencies. I've posted this before. We are working on it!

[Art Scott]

Read the message below. It is exactly why we need to have foreign currency transactions available to us, and to have the sale be as seamless as possible. This client did not return to get the extra prints once he found out it was shipped from the US and in US funds. He was not pleased about the entire transaction to be honest. I usually get this question before the order is placed and they don't order. I do 95% of my printing locally after the client views the images on SM.

"Hey Monte, Joy and I did up a$200.00 order last night for grad pics. SmugMug just sent this to me. I was without internet today and wanted to talk to you about this and adding a pic before the order was processed. The site would not let me add a photo last night so I tried to buy it alone and would be billed more freight from USA?? I am certainly confused by this SmugMug stuff? Will these pics come from the US? Thanks Ric"

here is where you and everyone needs to go and vote on the multi currency and also the foreign labs request. (http://feedback.smugmug.com/forums/17723-smugmug)..........

http://feedback.smugmug.com/forums/17723-smugmug

I really doubt it will do a lot of good as the foreign lab one has been at the top of the list for quite sometime and ther are still apps and other stuff being released for crap like iphones, ipads kotex mini pads, facebook and twitter and the likes...

I was asking for this stuff almost as soon as I got my SM acct over 5yrs ago ( and I have lots of sales from people in Czech Republic, Germany, South Africa, Lativa, Slovakia, Austria Flanders and norway just to mention a few.......) and was told then that it prob would never happen...even tho I sent links to show mom and pop flower shops in Prague and Tabor in the Czech republic that had multi currency right on their sites...all you had to do was clik the flag on the top corner of the sites and all the currency was transformed into your currency and that was long before the Euro........

I am looking for a Central European site similar to SM that has printing thru a localized lab...........

[Montec]

I really just wanted to point out with the quoted message how confusing and unfriendly purchasing prints are for non-US residents. The foreign currency idea would go a long ways to eliminating this. How hard can this be? It is prolific on the Internet...from much smaller services.

I don't really expect a lab here in Canada anytime soon and although it would be the perfect situation I am not banking on it.

[FrankC]

Good, we'd not have it any other way. But this isn't happening in an instant. We have to first change some payment infrastructure at SmugMug, this process is in place (it's not a trivial task at all!) and this lays the groundword for us to be able to offer other currencies. I've posted this before. We are working on it!

So - is it time to update the status on the feature request(s) to 'Planned' :andy

[Art Scott]

The Foreign Currency Feature Request NeedS MORE VOTES from every person that it can benefit......It doesnot matter if you live in the U.S. or Spain....you can benefit from this feature......it opens your doors up aq whole lot more to people ordering from you, than if they have to go to a currency converter and back to you to place the order....simply put they will not do it............

Follow the link below to the feature request page and sign up and vote.............


http://feedback.smugmug.com/forums/17723-smugmug

[freelancephoto]

I have to say after reading this thread, that it is annoying that the feature to show multi currencies or bill in multi currencies or print by local labs(Oz) has not been implemented. I certainly understand that it may be a huge project requiring much careful planning and testing, but it has been several years coming, not weeks or months.

As a pro user, I like many have lost sales as soon as people see that they are being billed in US$ by an Aussie photographer and that the product will ship from the USA. I have had a number of inquiries as to why I do things this way, and it is tiresome and frustrating trying to explain it repeatedly to potential buyers. The greatest issue of all though, is that Aussie credit card issuers usually charge an FX conversion fee as a % of the amount charged in the foreign currency, and that extra $1-2 is chump change to most, but sure leaves a sour taste in the mouths of many Aussie buyers who will never visit your site again.

When my subscription is up, I will certainly be looking at a local solution with direct fulfillment or at worst a site to display works with manual fulfillment by me. SM is a wonderful platform, and it has the greatest feature set and support, however for non-US pro's this one lacking feature is a very sore point.

[Andy]

The Foreign Currency Feature Request NeedS MORE VOTES from every person that it can benefit......

It really doesn't :D We know it is important! Thanks Art :)

[FrankC]

It really doesn't :D We know it is important! Thanks Art :)

Yes - but it's not even showing up as 'planned'.

Just wanted to say that if it wasn't for people like you (Andy) and the great options SM offers - that I would have left long ago.

But, maybe you can't appreciate just how frustrating it is to have a great service like SM, but for practical purposes not to be able to use it for sales outside the US. Hence the regular 'reminders'.

[Andy]

Yes - but it's not even showing up as 'planned'.

Just wanted to say that if it wasn't for people like you (Andy) and the great options SM offers - that I would have left long ago.

But, maybe you can't appreciate just how frustrating it is to have a great service like SM, but for practical purposes not to be able to use it for sales outside the US. Hence the regular 'reminders'.

I'm not gonna mark it planned until we get closer. It's a huge deal. Thanks.

[Light_prod]

I'm not gonna mark it planned until we get closer. It's a huge deal. Thanks.

So what's happening with this?

Nothing related to the shopping cart (currency, self fulfilling orders etc) has been set as "planned" I'm sure they are all to be implemented together but gees, how much longer?

[TalkieT]

So what's happening with this?

Nothing related to the shopping cart (currency, self fulfilling orders etc) has been set as "planned" I'm sure they are all to be implemented together but gees, how much longer?

I think they need to wait for the development team working on Duke Nukem Forever to get that out the door and then stick those guys on the foreign currency feature.

Cheers - N

[Andy]

I think they need to wait for the development team working on Duke Nukem Forever to get that out the door and then stick those guys on the foreign currency feature.

Cheers - N

now is that helpful? :D

I'll say again: we have to do some major underpinnings to our payments infrastructure. That work is underway. Once complete, we then have the basis on which we can build out foreign currency.

This is something we want and plan to do. Thanks everyone for your patience, I know it's taking a lot longer than any of you care to think about.

[Furono]

To everyone asking - It won't happen at all in the next 5 years so I suggest moving along.

I'm a 5 year plus pro account holder living in Japan.

This has come up again and again and then again with all the empty promises that they are working on it.

It won't happen in the next 5 years, maybe not in the next 10.

Smugmug likes to tell you everything is on the table but this is a different story. I like everybody else hung on listening to that hoping it would be next year, then the next. Guess what? Never happened.

I'm a programmer and system admin by day so it hurts that they can't program something that I've had to program many times for foreign companies in Japan. It costs me money and my friends here because I can't offer to sell online digital downloads to the many events I have done in Japan.

They actually don't need the business and don't feel it's part of what they want as a business because that's just the way it is. It a business decision.


I love Smugmug but after discussing with my fellow photographers here we are moving along, because we have to. 5 years is enough. I suggest you do the same.





now is that helpful? :D

I'll say again: we have to do some major underpinnings to our payments infrastructure. That work is underway. Once complete, we then have the basis on which we can build out foreign currency.

This is something we want and plan to do. Thanks everyone for your patience, I know it's taking a lot longer than any of you care to think about.

[FrankC]

Couldn't agree more with you (including the "I love Smugmug" part).

However, while I expect that it will happen sometime - it's not on a basis on which I can plan a photos sales business around. Accordingly, I am exploring all the alternatives - as I can't afford to wait any longer.

To everyone asking - It won't happen at all in the next 5 years so I suggest moving along.

I'm a 5 year plus pro account holder living in Japan.

This has come up again and again and then again with all the empty promises that they are working on it.

It won't happen in the next 5 years, maybe not in the next 10.

Smugmug likes to tell you everything is on the table but this is a different story. I like everybody else hung on listening to that hoping it would be next year, then the next. Guess what? Never happened.

I'm a programmer and system admin by day so it hurts that they can't program something that I've had to program many times for foreign companies in Japan. It costs me money and my friends here because I can't offer to sell online digital downloads to the many events I have done in Japan.

They actually don't need the business and don't feel it's part of what they want as a business because that's just the way it is. It a business decision.


I love Smugmug but after discussing with my fellow photographers here we are moving along, because we have to. 5 years is enough. I suggest you do the same.

[Roytp]

I am moving to Zenfolio.
I have waited for more levels (Available on Zenfolio)
I can have prints made in the UK with Zenfolio.
Sorry smugmug.

[Andy]

They actually don't need the business and don't feel it's part of what they want as a business because that's just the way it is. It a business decision.


We do need and want your business - yes - and it's taking way too long for us to do this, we know. I'm sorry for that!

[PhilDaPhot]

I just lost $500 in sales recently because of this. Hopefully it will happen soon. (cough)

[shfaya]

Dont sell through the Smugmug. Or ask your client to send you thumbnails of photos they want through e-mail. Recently this way I have sold more than 140 photos without Smugmug even knowing that.
I use Photoshelter for all other internet activity, as they know already about euro and other curencies. They also did, find out that some use centimeters, instead of Inches.
Such a nice site like Smugmug
I know GTA, but learned through live that out of New York there is still civilization. Someone should explain that, on the next meeting of, Smugmug managers.

[shfaya]

By the way. Dont talk to ANDY. I think he is, a answering machine.

[Andy]

By the way. Dont talk to ANDY. I think he is, a answering machine.
Ouch! I can assure you, I'm real, I'm a photographer like you, and that foreign currency on our site is a big priority. Is it taking too long? You bet. But know this: we'll get there.

I wish you all the best this holiday season!

Andy <--- who is decidedly a real human being :D

[TalkieT]

Ouch! I can assure you, I'm real, I'm a photographer like you, and that foreign currency on our site is a big priority. Is it taking too long? You bet. But know this: we'll get there.

I wish you all the best this holiday season!

Andy <--- who is decidedly a real human being :D

Heh - we all know you're a real human Andy :-)

Can you explain why if foreign currency is a big deal, that while 3 of the top 5 requests on the uservoice feature voting site relate to foreign curreny of foreign print labs, none of them are even planned?

You have an item at position number ELEVEN which is started, and one at FIFTEEN which is planned.

(I know some are more difficult than others, but come on!)

Cheers - N

ps. I still love Smugmug, but this year I have had 2 more local friends let their accounts die because they can't easily sell locally (and aren't prepared to put the effort into supporting Paypal like I have)

[Andy]

Heh - we all know you're a real human Andy :-)

Can you explain why if foreign currency is a big deal, that while 3 of the top 5 requests on the uservoice feature voting site relate to foreign curreny of foreign print labs, none of them are even planned?Sure. I've answered this a few times, both here and on our feedback site. We love being transparent, but we won't open up every bit of our company to folks out there that we compete with. I have said here and on uservoice, that we've begun the critical underpinnings some time ago for this feature, and that's the absolute truth. We'll get this done! Thanks!

[freelancephoto]

I'm hoping Andy that it is sooner rather than later. I have again received emails asking why I am in Aus, yet bill US$ and print there. The Smugmug offering is everything any photographer selling images/prints will ever need............. as long as you are in the USA.
If you guys get this up and running and especially if you offer printing from Australian based labs, you will get so much new business from Aus that is currently going to your competitors. I know many photographers who love SM, but the first thing that comes out of their mouths when we discuss it is the sole US based billing and fulfillment quickly followed by the statement that it is why they use an alternative.

[Andy]

I just want to know, are we talking months, years, decades or centuries?

As others have said, it is hard to plan a business model around "We'll get this done!".

I'm really not going to say. But it's a huge high priority project for us.

[FrankC]

I'm really not going to say. But it's a huge high priority project for us.

It's good to hear that - and it's a LOT more positive than back at the start of this thread (in 2006).

So - it only remains for me to wish you and all at SM a Happy Christmas/Happy Holiday.

[PierreB]

Here's hoping it will be sooner. Its been my main worry when debating between SM and other sites (or my own, which I have now).
SM has some nice features, and I'm in for a year of pro. We'll see after that.

[Erkki]

We need the euro for this to be anything serious!

And what is this about sending checks to international smugmug pros? If I go to the bank with a check here in Finland they will laugh me out! I remember my mother used checks in the 1970's - after that we have not seen them.

[Andy]

We need the euro for this to be anything serious!

I agree!

And what is this about sending checks to international smugmug pros? If I go to the bank with a check here in Finland they will laugh me out! I remember my mother used checks in the 1970's - after that we have not seen them.
We're going to pay international pros electronically in 2011.

[blackshadow]

We're going to pay international pros electronically in 2011.

Early 2011 I hope!

[Photobycate]

I'm really not going to say. But it's a huge high priority project for us.

Any updates on this yet?

Thanks,

[Andy]

Any updates on this yet?

Thanks,

Only that we're absolutely not ignoring this. LOTS is happening on this but I won't get into details until we're further along. Thanks.

[Light_prod]

this bugs me daily.

[Manfr3d]

this bugs me daily.

I just realized that this thread was started on Jul-13-2006 ... :cry

[Opps]

I just realized that this thread was started on Jul-13-2006 ... :cry

There, there, have a biscuit :hide

[Light_prod]

got any choc chip? I love choc chip....

[Andy]

I just realized that this thread was started on Jul-13-2006 ... :cry

Good thing we don't give up!

[FrankC]

Good thing we don't give up!

True !

Still looking forward to a few of the relevant Uservoice items reaching 'Planned' status - then I'll really start believing :wink

[TalkieT]

True !

Still looking forward to a few of the relevant Uservoice items reaching 'Planned' status - then I'll really start believing :wink

I think Andy's been pretty clear that the uservoice site doesn't actually reflect what Smugmug are working on. The only thing you can rely on (it seems) is that some stuff will be released at some stage, and you'll know about it when it's released.

Cheers - N

[FrankC]

I think Andy's been pretty clear that the uservoice site doesn't actually reflect what Smugmug are working on. The only thing you can rely on (it seems) is that some stuff will be released at some stage, and you'll know about it when it's released.

Cheers - N

Well, he said in an earlier reply to me that the status would be updated to 'planned' when it was getting closer to release.

That reply, of course, gives no indication of when the status might actually be updated, or the changes delivered.

[Andy]

I think Andy's been pretty clear that the uservoice site doesn't actually reflect what Smugmug are working on. The only thing you can rely on (it seems) is that some stuff will be released at some stage, and you'll know about it when it's released.

Cheers - N

Hm, I'm not sure I've said that - what it is, is a very good way for us to hear from customers about what they want. It's one of 4 major sources of input we get, along with Dgrin, Our Help Desk, and social sites (Facebook & Twitter).

The input is VERY IMPORTANT, but we won't always mark something as "planned" or "underway" or even comment on some things on our feedback site - it's a public site, and we're a business - we do aim for transparency on many things but we don't lay out our product plans for the world to see :D

[Andy]

If you won't always mark something as "planned" or "underway", why bother to even have the indicators in the first place.
It appears that the uservoice is a pacifier. When someone suggests something in the forum the response is "add it to the uservoice". Where the idea sits and sits and sits.... with no indication of whether the item has even been considered, none the less being worked on. I find that frustrating. As for business, many other sights offer foreign currency already. Once again this is no big secret!
I digress, just let me know if and when the foreign currency issue is in place.
I am not bothering to go look at the uservoice to find out if or when it will be worked on.

Thanks for your passionate feedback, we really appreciate it :thumb

[Art Scott]

To add to my frustration I just got 2 emails.....1st (2:08pm) say this Foreign currency went from NO STATUS to PLANNED and the 2nd email (2:46pm) now states it went from PLANNED back to NO STATUS....all in 38 minutes .....so it is planned or is it actually back to NO STATUS??????....where it has been for over 5yrs.......

[Andy]

To add to my frustration I just got 2 emails.....1st (2:08pm) say this Foreign currency went from NO STATUS to PLANNED and the 2nd email (2:46pm) now states it went from PLANNED back to NO STATUS....all in 38 minutes .....so it is planned or is it actually back to NO STATUS??????....where it has been for over 5yrs.......

Sorry for the feedback forum glitch. It's at no status. But it's something that I hope we'll have some news on soon enough.

[Robinivich]

Sorry for the feedback forum glitch. It's at no status. But it's something that I hope we'll have some news on soon enough.
That's a shame, I was coming out of lurking for I don't know how long to celebrate that e-mail! Just in case you were wondering...

I count myself a very happy customer, but you should really get on this one! And thanks for listening!

[Andy]

I count myself a very happy customer, but you should really get on this one! And thanks for listening!

We have been 'on it' - promise :thumb

[Squeezer]

Sorry for the feedback forum glitch. It's at no status. But it's something that I hope we'll have some news on soon enough.

And here I was thinking that FINALLY something was in progress :rolleyes

[Andy]

And here I was thinking that FINALLY something was in progress :rolleyes

I marked it as Planned. I'm not gonna give up any more than this: we've been doing a lot more than planning :thumb

[Andy]

To add to my frustration I just got 2 emails.....1st (2:08pm) say this Foreign currency went from NO STATUS to PLANNED and the 2nd email (2:46pm) now states it went from PLANNED back to NO STATUS....all in 38 minutes .....so it is planned or is it actually back to NO STATUS??????....where it has been for over 5yrs.......

Check again :) Thanks!

[JanWill]

Andy, thanks so much!!!

[Light_prod]

....... this is getting ridiculous. I've been losing so much money from this! My account is up for renewal soon though so see if anything changes before then. This and lack of international labs is easily out weighing the benefits that's smugmug has over other sites.

[Andy]

....... this is getting ridiculous. I've been losing so much money from this! My account is up for renewal soon though so see if anything changes before then. This and lack of international labs is easily out weighing the benefits that's smugmug has over other sites.

We're working hard on this - wish it would be faster for you and everyone! I promise we're not ignoring this very important feature :deal

[essaytee]

We're working hard on this - wish it would be faster for you and everyone! I promise we're not ignoring this very important feature :deal

Any updates?

[Andy]

Any updates?

Yup. Small one, but read this and watch the video.
http://news.smugmug.com/2011/12/13/why-pricelists-will-change-your-life/

[Andy]

Woop, we shipped this last Thursday, here's the announcement (http://smu.gs/znkNht) :D
And to be clear, since this thread has many requests in it, I'm talking about Foreign Currency Transactions.

Yup, more to come, too!

[vince71]

Thank you!!!!!!!!! It's finally here!

[caroline]

Woop, we shipped this last Thursday, here's the announcement (http://smu.gs/znkNht) :D
And to be clear, since this thread has many requests in it, I'm talking about Foreign Currency Transactions.

Yup, more to come, too!

Excellent news :clap:clap:clap

[TalkieT]

I applaud the effort, but seriously, you guys just don't get it.

You've gone from one currency to a small number of currencies.

I have accused you before of building features that suit you from an engineering or development point of view, and I'm going to do it again.

I even posted somewhere months ago that I feared you were going to build a system that only worked with a small number of currencies and that mine wouldn't be included. I remember wondering why you wouldn't use an external payment processor that does this as their core competency but no...

I know you've going to say that you have more plans but the fact remains, you guys just don't get customer focussed requirements and development. It just so happens that your core product is excellent, but I'm afraid that's not due to listening to your customers, it's because your customers happen to like what you wanted to build.

Cheers - N

[Sheaf]

I know you've going to say that you have more plans but the fact remains, you guys just don't get customer focussed requirements and development. It just so happens that your core product is excellent, but I'm afraid that's not due to listening to your customers, it's because your customers happen to like what you wanted to build.

We couldn't add all the currencies initially. We added the ones where the overwhelming majority of our customers are and where print orders go to. I'm not sure how that amounts to not listening to our customers.

I realize that it doesn't yet meet your needs and I apologize for that. But it's a big step in the right direction.

[TalkieT]

We couldn't add all the currencies initially. We added the ones where the overwhelming majority of our customers are and where print orders go to. I'm not sure how that amounts to not listening to our customers.

I realize that it doesn't yet meet your needs and I apologize for that. But it's a big step in the right direction.

I know I sound negative, and it's after many years of wanting this feature - and you go and build a bespoke system limited to currency support instead of using an industry standard payment processor.

WHY did you have to do it the hard way? There are better ways to do it that wouldn't have taken 6 years to do.

Cheers - N

[Sheaf]

I know I sound negative, and it's after many years of wanting this feature - and you go and build a bespoke system limited to currency support instead of using an industry standard payment processor.

WHY did you have to do it the hard way? There are better ways to do it that wouldn't have taken 6 years to do.

I can't really speak about the details, but we looked into the industry standard payment processors. It was not a feasible solution and required a great deal more involvement and sacrifices than you may think. Even then, it only solved part of the problem (accepting payment) rather than an entire solution.

[Justiceiro]

I'm lucky enough to live in the Eurozone (until it all melts down in a blaze of Greek tragedy, at least), so I greatly appreciate this. I have been over here for almost four years now, and haven't really been using my Smugmug account as a sales tool at all. Europeans, particularly Germans, simply don't do transactions outside their currency. So thanks for the new tools. I wasn't about to give up my pro account (I'm sentimental, and have been cleverly grandfathered in at 2005 prices, kudos to your marketing department). But I feel as though I can now direct potential customers to smugmug without the inevitable groaning that always resulted before.

That being said, because no good deed goes unpunished, I have a few questions:

1- do you have a printing center in Europe, or are the prints shipped from the US?


2- When are you guys going to do an IPO? (not at all related, but I thought I would ask anyway)


3- How dare you refuse to ship to the myriad customers I have in Sikkim, as well as Afghanistan?!!

Cheers,

Ryan

[Andy]

That being said, because no good deed goes unpunished, I have a few questions:

1- do you have a printing center in Europe, or are the prints shipped from the US?


2- When are you guys going to do an IPO? (not at all related, but I thought I would ask anyway)


3- How dare you refuse to ship to the myriad customers I have in Sikkim, as well as Afghanistan?!!

Cheers,

Ryan

1- stay tuned, we have just shipped Part 1 of our International features. The blog posts even alludes to things that are coming. A lab in your neighborhood is also our #1 feature request on http://feedback.smugmug.com We're not ignoring it.

2- no such plans, sorry!

3- :lol3

[darklightphotography]

Woop, we shipped this last Thursday, here's the announcement (http://smu.gs/znkNht) :D
And to be clear, since this thread has many requests in it, I'm talking about Foreign Currency Transactions.

Yup, more to come, too!

Awesome!!!:clap

[Andy]

An item of interest was just posted today (http://news.smugmug.com/2012/03/04/coming-soon-uk-print-lab-loxley-colour/) :smo

[Manfr3d]

Niiiceeee!!!! I hope they ship to Germany at a reasonable price.

[Art Scott]

wonder what shipping to mainland Europe will be...Germany, Czech Republic, Italy, Austria....etc...???

[Andy]

Niiiceeee!!!! I hope they ship to Germany at a reasonable price.

Stay tuned and you'll see @ launch time, there will be competitive shipping, promise!

[Furono]

We couldn't add all the currencies initially. We added the ones where the overwhelming majority of our customers are and where print orders go to. I'm not sure how that amounts to not listening to our customers.

I realize that it doesn't yet meet your needs and I apologize for that. But it's a big step in the right direction.

I thought some Asia countries were part of the overwhelming majority.... I've been a 7 year customer and was hoping for the main Asia currencies, at the very least Yen. We had voiced our need since the beginning of the thread for this.

Please keep us in mind for the next round. Trying to hang on.....10 , 20 years?

[Andy]

I thought some Asia countries were part of the overwhelming majority.... I've been a 7 year customer and was hoping for the main Asia currencies, at the very least Yen. We had voiced our need since the beginning of the thread for this.

Please keep us in mind for the next round. Trying to hang on.....10 , 20 years?
Hope to add the Yen, thanks.

[FrankC]

Great news Andy.

Loxley are the lab I use anyway - they will make a great match for SM in terms of quality and Customer Service.

One point to consider - I would still like to have access to US labs - a certain amount of my work is for people who live in the US (and fly in here for events like weddings) - and they would probably prefer to buy from a local lab. Once again - I'm asking for the best of both worlds.

[Sheaf]

Great news Andy.

Loxley are the lab I use anyway - they will make a great match for SM in terms of quality and Customer Service.

One point to consider - I would still like to have access to US labs - a certain amount of my work is for people who live in the US (and fly in here for events like weddings) - and they would probably prefer to buy from a local lab. Once again - I'm asking for the best of both worlds.

Pros will have Loxley as another lab choice, like Bay or WHCC. With our launch, each image/gallery can have a single pricelist (and thus a single lab outside of merchandise) applied. I don't know if that solves your problem or not (for US events you shoot, just choose a US lab, otherwise choose Loxley).

There are a number of difficulties with allowing more than one lab per image/gallery unfortunately.

[FrankC]

Pros will have Loxley as another lab choice, like Bay or WHCC. With our launch, each image/gallery can have a single pricelist (and thus a single lab outside of merchandise) applied. I don't know if that solves your problem or not (for US events you shoot, just choose a US lab, otherwise choose Loxley).

There are a number of difficulties with allowing more than one lab per image/gallery unfortunately.

That should work for some cases. But there'll always be a workaround - even if it means creating a duplicate gallery.

Thanks, Frank

[Biscut]

This site looks great, but I've got the same concerns as many have posted here. I'm not signed up for SM but am looking for a good way to sell pictures and I like this site. My customers would all be purchasing in Japan (and in Japanese). There doesn't seem to be a viable option for me here. What can I do?

How about a sign-up sheet or something? Could someone let me know when you'll be able to support yen transactions and make things more affordable by having the processing done locally? Seems like you are taking steps that way, but I'd like to set things up for my business now. Maybe if you let me know when you can do it I could switch over in the future.

[Andy]

That should work for some cases. But there'll always be a workaround - even if it means creating a duplicate gallery.

Thanks, Frank

Frank, lovely to meet you at our stand today at FOCUS on Imaging :smo Thanks for sticking with us :D

[Andy]

How about a sign-up sheet or something?

Yup, be sure to subscribe to our news blog, http://news.smugmug.com :thumb

[FrankC]

Frank, lovely to meet you at our stand today at FOCUS on Imaging :smo Thanks for sticking with us :D

Great to meet you too Andy - and the rest of the SmugTeam :-)

http://photos.frankcourtney.com/photos/i-NTkMTDJ/0/M/i-NTkMTDJ-M.jpg

[Andy]

Great to meet you too Andy - and the rest of the SmugTeam :-)

http://photos.frankcourtney.com/photos/i-NTkMTDJ/0/Ti/i-NTkMTDJ-Ti.jpg

:clap :clap :clap

[e**]

Almost all of my clients are in Canada, and I am so happy to see the new foreign currency rollout!

However, I have a couple of questions:

- Is it possible to set a currency (e.g. CAD$) to show up as the default whenever a client clicks on the shopping cart?

- You mention in the release notes that you will be adding 'currency support' to pro pricing in the future. I just wanted to clarify - will this allow me to set my prices in Canadian Dollars, so that the Canadian price will not fluctuate with the exchange rate? I would love to see this feature.

Thanks for the update -

[Andy]

- Is it possible to set a currency (e.g. CAD$) to show up as the default whenever a client clicks on the shopping cart?
No, not right now.

- You mention in the release notes that you will be adding 'currency support' to pro pricing in the future. I just wanted to clarify - will this allow me to set my prices in Canadian Dollars, so that the Canadian price will not fluctuate with the exchange rate? I would love to see this feature.

Thanks for the update -
Working on it, stay tuned http://news.smugmug.com subscribe to our news blog, thanks!

[e**]

No, not right now.
Working on it, stay tuned http://news.smugmug.com subscribe to our news blog, thanks!

Great - thanks for the quick reply Andy!

When the feature to set prices in a given currency rolls out, it would be great to have the default currency matched to the one in which the prices were set.

Cheers,

[Sheaf]

Great - thanks for the quick reply Andy!

When the feature to set prices in a given currency rolls out, it would be great to have the default currency matched to the one in which the prices were set.

Cheers,

What we do now is make our best guess, based off browser information, as to what currency they most likely use and show that initially.

[paulbrock]

coupon support in foreign currencies is coming right? Or am I missing the option that sets it.... seems a bit silly having a USD coupon for UKP prices!

[e**]

What we do now is make our best guess, based off browser information, as to what currency they most likely use and show that initially.

Oh, that's good to know that the default currency does vary. It came up as USD for me, and I'm in Canada, so I just assumed it was static.

Thanks,

[Sheaf]

coupon support in foreign currencies is coming right? Or am I missing the option that sets it.... seems a bit silly having a USD coupon for UKP prices!

:thumb

[cabbey]

Oh, that's good to know that the default currency does vary. It came up as USD for me, and I'm in Canada, so I just assumed it was static.

Thanks,

And for a given browser, you only have to update it once. If it defaults to USD and you wanted CAD, just change it once and we'll cookie that and remember it as your preferred buyer currency.

[paulbrock]

*checks calendar* ;)

Yeah, I know, it's why you normally don't pre-announce stuff. Any chance of an update on the UK lab please?

edit: ah, jumping the gun. Early start for me today - just seen your maintenance window is about to kick in. Good luck :)

[Andy]

*checks calendar* ;)

Yeah, I know, it's why you normally don't pre-announce stuff. Any chance of an update on the UK lab please?

edit: ah, jumping the gun. Early start for me today - just seen your maintenance window is about to kick in. Good luck :)

Yup, we're live. Enjoy, folks!

http://news.smugmug.com/2012/03/23/welcome-loxley-colour/

and

http://news.smugmug.com/2012/03/23/pros-now-sell-in-currency-near-you/

[paulbrock]

Looks good, and foreign currency coupons too! :D Had a bit of difficulty at first but the Support Heroes helped me out; unfortunately it seems there's no way of using a coupon to pay for 100% of a Loxley order as it won't be applied against the sale tax/VAT. Was hoping to give a handful of prints away now I'm offering printing through the site finally! Ah well, they'll have to make do with 95% off ;)