Should Japanese Vendors Always Use Yen?

[Kevangogh]

For my shop, I made the decision to charge in yen several years ago. At that time, it was not an easy decision to make because my biggest customer base was the USA and they're not used to making purchases in anything other than the mighty dollar. It wasn't the "norm" to charge in yen, if there were other shops doing that, there weren't many. However, we have to make all of our tea purchases in yen, and unlike the Japan based shops who are nothing more than a website hooked up to a PayPal account, our company is an actual Japanese corporation and all accounting, expenses, etc, are in yen - we are accountable to the Japanese tax authorities. Likewise, it was a pain to constantly change the prices of all of the products we carry based on the exchange rate. So we bit the bullet and changed to a yen based shop. We use software that detects what country the shopper is viewing the page from and gives the equivalent exchange rate. When I started charging in yen, the yen rate was in the 70's to the dollar so I carefully made sure my prices competitive at that time. Once the yen went weak a few months ago, the price the customers had to pay dropped like a rock. It was excellent for our customers, and it was excellent for us as it made us super competitive with those who use a dollar based shop, and we had to do nothing, the yen based prices were already set. Lately I'm seeing Japan based competitors who have been "inspired" by what we did years ago and have now decided that a yen based shop might not be a bad idea after all. Anyway, it's encouraging to hear that you don't mind a yen based shop.

[sherubtse]

Once the yen went weak a few months ago, the price the customers had to pay dropped like a rock. It was excellent for our customers, and it was excellent for us as it made us super competitive with those who use a dollar based shop, and we had to do nothing, the yen based prices were already set. <snip> Anyway, it's encouraging to hear that you don't mind a yen based shop.

Yes, not only are your teas as whole more competitive, but your "high end" ones are now much more affordable.

And no, don't mind a Yen-based shop at all.

Many thanks for the insights.

Best wishes,
sherubtse

[shinobicha]

... Anyway, it's encouraging to hear that you don't mind a yen based shop.

Wow... I hadn't considered that switching to Yen would have been a really major decision. I think I remember when you guys did switch, and I think I was actually glad to see it, because then I knew you didn't have to add anything extra to protect from fluctuation, but could simply charge the "real" price.

When the Yen was 70 to 1 USD, it was such an unreasonable level (all driven by speculation), that it was bound to come back. It took longer than it should have, but I'm glad it's back over 100... I'm sure you and all other Yen-based vendors are, too!

[robbie_olive]

I was in Japan just recently, and luckily for me the Aussie dollar was very strong against the Yen, so I got real value for money. From from experience, if you go to a larger tea store, like Ippodo, or a department store, like Isetan, you can pay by credit card, or cash, but if you go to a smaller tea shop, most likely you will have to pay by cash.

Unfortunately, the Japanese still believe in a cash based economy, and somewhat still have issues with foreign credit cards. Luckily, I always carry more than enough Yen in case of such encounters.

[JBaymore]

Unfortunately, the Japanese still believe in a cash based economy,.......

Personally, I think that they are very smart in this regard.

best,

..............john