£1 = $1.92.... and falling.

How are you dealing with the falling dollar?

[jasonlambert]

Yesterday the dollar fell to $1.92 to the pound.

As most (all) of my monthly cheques are in USD and I am a UK publisher, this is starting to hit me hard.

I've looked into setting up a seperate US dollar account with Citibank in the UK, but I dont particularly want to deposit £2,000 into it just to open the account without being charged $20 a month, and clause 1.4 in their Terms & Conditions says: "1.4. The Account must be for personal use only.", which rules out my internet transactions, monthly cheques, paying for hosting etc.

Im curious to know what other non-US publishers/webmasters in a similar position are doing (if anything) to deal with/minimise the impact of the falling Dollar?

Note: Try to keep the thread non-political - ie, no having a moan about George Bush etc. Thanks :)

[Macro]

As a UK based publisher I'm laughing at the dollar falling. This means I can afford to buy much more expensive sites, I can afford to upgrade my hosting services without it costing me any more in £, and I can pay pennies for my next US holiday.

What was that about problems being opportunities in disguise? :)

If the dollar rates means that much to you - and we're talking about a large enough monthly income - hedge your position on the money markets.

[dan_popescu]

I live in Europe too. There's really not much we can do other than exchange US$ for other currency and hoping it will stop falling one day. It's sad to see our income go down almost daily.

[jasonlambert]

Has anyone looked at putting some/all of their cheques into some sort of USD savings account, then withdrawing it in a few years when the exchange rate is more favourable? or putting it into a USD account to pay only US bill's (hosting, ppc & other advertising costs etc)?

Do any UK banks have an account type suitable for this arrangement?

As a UK citizen, can I open an account with a US bank?

[brotherhood of LAN]

With Google being a multi-billion dollar company, how about issuing checks in Euro's too.

They have offices in Ireland, god knows how much money is paid into adwords from Europeans....

[Macro]

>> withdrawing it in a few years when the exchange rate is more favourable?

Can I borrow that crystal ball sometime? ;)

[Leonidas]

Theoretically, the exchange rate now reflects the financial markets' views of what the exchange rate will be in the future (OK, I'm ignoring currency futures, but never mind). If this wasn't the case, speculators would pile in to profit from any anticipated change, and the rate would adjust appropriately.

In reality, central banks (particularly in Asia) seem to be intervening to prop up the dollar. To my mind, this and other factors like the expanding US deficit mean that it's likely to fall even further.

Am I right? Who knows. But I've liquidated my own dollar holdings, and will continue to do so as the dollars roll in...

And Macro, yes, it's getting so much cheaper to buy stuff!

(Incidentally, if anyone in London's on for a beer, sticky me!)

[phantombookman]

HI
thanks for posting this, I have been wondering myself as I have just decided to give adsense a go.

I wondered what the most cost effective way of banking a US $ cheque was in the UK. My business account, is of course, a complete rip off.

Any tips from UK publishers greatly appreciated
Regards
Rod

[nutsandbolts]

I have been putting my adsense cheques in my HSBC dollar account here in the UK. Makes more sense than getting them converted into UK pounds at the moment!

[trillianjedi]

How are you dealing with the falling dollar?

Outsourcing as much as possible to the US. Graphics, servers, the lot.

TJ

[luckychucky]

I'm an importer/wholesaler here in the USA. So far, my product costs have increased somewhat but all in all, prices are holding steady enough. International orders have been going through the roof! It's weird because my customers could just as easily import directly from India or Indonesia themselves, as I do. I mean it's pretty much the same kind of international transaction...but they seem to trust a company in the States more, so I'm still the middleman.

[topr8]

everyone must decide if they are in the international publishing business or the currency speculation business.

the dollar could fall a lot further or recover no-one really knows.

if you choose to deal in the us market expect to be paid in dollars, spread the risk by working other markets too, there are lots of others in the world spending money online.

as to those who keep wishing their adsense checks are paid in euros or pounds or any other currency, am i missing the point? because it doesn't matter what currency you are paid in, it would be converted from dollars anyway.

[Essex_boy]

I got hit hard last November 2003 when this first happened, My margins were around 30% then a 30% drop in the dollar meant I was stuffed, it took nearly 3 months to get our cheque from the card procesing firm.

All teh work id done was for nothing.

Currently changing dollars into sterling as fast as possible and have considered opening a spread betting account to manage any further falls.

On the plus side I can buy antique sterling silver pieces on ebay for nothing then selling them over in the UK in a shop a criminal markup.

So how do I manage the drop? I just change foot and wait, I think this the highest ive seen it.

[wanderlusty]

I also think it is going to continue to fall, because of the super high deficits we are running, import/exports, and like someone said above, the dollar is already being propped up and will that last forever?

Believe me, it is very frustrating for us Americans too!

I'd say try to spend dollars in the states if you can (outsourcing, for example to me :P) and the money you won't be spending get into your local currency or euros fairly quickly.