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UK Adsensers and the US Dollar exchange rate

         

thewonderwall

4:26 am on Mar 4, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



My situation is this - I'm a UK advertiser and have a Google Adsense cheque sent to me every month (usually receive it the 1st of every month). I save up my cheques until I have 3 and then bank them

The best deal I've found so far is banking my cheques with Barclays (who I have a current account with). They charge me just £9 for as many cheques as I want (in this case three)

My question relates to the strength of the Dollar .. as I type the rate is £1 = $1.90691 ( www.xe.com )

Are there any economic forecasts as to whether the Dollar is expected to slide further or recover? Am I better off getting Google to hang on to my cheques and then bank them later in the year, when perhaps they will be worth more in UK Pounds Sterling?

Also, would it be to my benefit to open a US Dollar account with Barclays, and just stick my cheques into that?

mike schmitz

7:12 am on Mar 9, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



I think if you reapplied all the time you spend on currency conversions and applied it to getting more users to your site and making your Adsense more effecient, you'd be better off.

M

Freedom

10:40 am on Mar 9, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



Yes, but that budget deficit was caused by the US spending a lot of money on invading foreign countries. They are expecting a lot of exports to these foreign countries. I'm sure the ROI on the money spent will be very good indeed.

I'm sorry, but there is absolutely no logic in this whatsoever, no disrespect. $200 billion is down the tubes, so far, and the USA is never going to see any of it come back. I don't know of very many first world countries that could pay back that kind of money, oil or no oil.

The Bush administration just isn't clever enough to pull off an invasion as a good investment. They've already increased the debt by $2 trillion since taking office.

That may have been part of it, but tax cuts were the real culprit--and those won't improve the balance of trade or encourage foreign investment.

Exactly. That was the main part of the problem right there. The Republican party used to be the fiscal conservatives. Now they are not.

If Warren Buffet is betting against the dollar, I would too.

On the dollar, Mr. Buffett renewed his criticism of the nation's economic policies. "The evidence grows that our trade policies will put unremitting pressure on the dollar for many years to come,"

In '05, Buffett Says He's Still Betting Against the Dollar [nytimes.com]

Buffet on Gold [howestreet.com]

So when those google checks come, instead of saving them up, get them out of dollars as fast as possible, IMO.

mrMister

3:17 pm on Mar 9, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



I'm sorry, but there is absolutely no logic in this whatsoever, no disrespect. $200 billion is down the tubes, so far, and the USA is never going to see any of it come back.

The US is now the number one service exporter to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Infrastructure (telecommunications, fuel, water, electricity, roads, rail), construction (bomb crater repairs ;-) ), fast food, cola!

Most of these being are being provided by US companies. Sure the people laying the bricks, digging the roads, serving fries will be local, they'll be getting their 50 cents an hour or whatever, but the big money from the profits will be flowing straight to the US.

Lovejoy

4:16 pm on Mar 9, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



You must be trying to be funny ;~) the Usa controls who can operate in Iraq, of course they're going to be the biggest service provider ;~)

OptiRex

4:23 pm on Mar 9, 2005 (gmt 0)



With the Dollar still depreciating today I decided to move a little money around and it was quite interesting.

I have a Barclays business US Dollar deposit account and each inward deposit costs me about STG 16.00 (2 Google cheques). To convert my Dollars into Sterling the rate today was 1.9447 and this was done over the phone with the international department straight into my business Sterling account and will be available to me at close of business tomorrow, Thursday.

I then popped into Lloyds TSB to check what rates they offered and what they could do.

Cost of depositing £15.00
Rate of exchange $2.0513

The big difference in the exchange rates was simply that in Barclays I was getting the commercial rate whereas in Lloyds it would be the tourist rate since I would be paying it into a personal account.

More information as I experiment will follow.

OptiRex

4:25 pm on Mar 9, 2005 (gmt 0)



Oh, and can we keep this thread on track rather than USA policy bashing?

This is an important issue for all Adsense publishers converting their earnings.

Freedom

4:43 pm on Mar 9, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



but the big money from the profits will be flowing straight to the US.

Profit? What *&^% profit? For $200 billion, Saddam Hussein could keep Iraq.

While were at it, I want my money back on that Normandy thing too. Hitler can have France back as well.

Lovejoy

4:45 pm on Mar 9, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Why is it US bashing to mention problems with the dollar and what's causing it? The drop in the dollar affects all of us and it is important to be aware of factors that will determine future profitability. Anyone who projects a rosy future for the dollar within the next year is in serious denial, personally I'd follow Warren Buffet's advice on this issue and convert dollars as soon as you get them.

P.S. I've lost another 1.5 cents on the dollar in the last two days.

davelms

11:27 pm on Mar 9, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



It might be of some interest, but I went in to HSBC in the UK today and they said they basic charge had been increased from £5 to £10. There's other stuff they told me that I disputed with the cashier as being "rubbish" who then admitted she'd never handled a US dollar cheque before, so I wait to see if the above is true. She said the supervisor advised that this charging policy changed in the last three weeks. I don't know what changes apply to the £100 - £5,000 bands or whether they have also rebanded along with their charges. Certainly they were insisting the basic charge was now £10 no matter what I said in reply.

thewonderwall

7:21 pm on Mar 10, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Just out of interest, I saved up my Google cheques (dated 12-Dec-04, 25-Jan-05 & 24-Feb-05) and banked them with Barclays (where I hold a UK current account) on Wednesday last week

Checked my account today and money was in there. Apparently the cheque had been negotiated at an exchange rate of 1.9401, and I got charged £9 total for all three cheques - which I think it pretty reasonable

The next dilemma is whether to bank my future cheques as I receive them or save them up and bank them every 3 months.

(My reason for doing this is because Barclays charge £9 or 2.5% of the cheques total amounts, whichever is larger)

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