Euro to US Dollar Exchange Rates and Share-it

dstong

I was all set to purchase the Trombone, but found that Share-it is showing a price, before the 10% discount (which is very much appreciated) for prior customers of $199 US, rather than $188 according to the current exchange rate.



With the 10% discount they show $179 US, rather than $169 US. This difference of $10 seems hardly worth worrying about except on principle.



I was unable to find any way to contact them via phone or e-mail. The e-mail contact turned out not to have any place for a message, it allows only to choose from a set of generic questions about purchasing.



If they are charging a $10 fee, that's fine, but most other companies simply show this as a separate transaction fee, and that's a more transparent way to do this. Also, they should make an e-mail inquiry available so you can ask a specific question. I don't think that is asking too much and just about all legitimate companies provide such contact information.

(after going back, I found a way to ask specific questions, but it is hard to find this)



I'm going to make the purchase anyway, but, as much as it pains me, I'm going to wait a couple of days to see if I can clarification about this.



Any insights into this issue?



Dan



PS Along with the normal e-mail contact I also found (in the e-mail contact form only) a hard to find US phone contact information 800-406-4966 in case anyone needs it)

dstong

I called Share-it (Digital River) and was told the problem must be with the vendor's pricing. I told them that was incorrect, when I switched the order page to show Euro pricing it was 149 Euros.



So, I asked what the exchange rate was and was told it was currently 1.2267 (some sort of monthly average) as opposed to the current rate of 1.2571 (google) on 22 May 2010, but I must have heard that wrong. Possibly it was 1.2667 which still should work out to $189 US.



They also said the do not charge a transaction fee.



After I got off the phone I decided to check the numbers and found that when you multiply 1.2267 with 149 you get $182.78 rather than the $199 that Share-it computes on their order page.



If I'm not making a mistake to get $199 US means the exchange rate of around 1.3356 (monthly average back around April value).



Added after EDIT:



After talking to some more people at Share-it (Digital River) I was told that the pricing is higher because of the VAT. However, I was told they could send me a non-binding price quote using the current exchange rate. When I received that it showed the VAT as separate line, and in my case equal to 0.



In conclusion, they are mixing VAT pricing into the calculated price, rather than showing the VAT as a separate charge. It looks like they do not have to charge the VAT to customers in the US (?), but often do.



It is not worth the $10 savings to spend nearly 2hrs on the phone, but at least now I we know what is going on.



Thanks,



Dan

Giorgio Tommasini

Hi all,



here’s the explanation.



We are a company acting in Europe. Hence, our expenses and profits are in EURO.



Samplemodeling ™ policy always was to keep prices fixed, despite inflation.

For example, The Trumpet is, and always was, 149 EURO.



When we started (about 2 years ago) our prices were in Euro only. At that time, payment in other currencies was subject to some (quite high) ShareIt fees. However, fulfilling the request of several customers, we managed to extend the (fee-free) currency options to USD and GBP.



Unfortunately, due to economic and technical reasons, including the very volatile currency rates, we cannot adjust the prices in USD or GBP more frequently than once a month.



BUT: nobody is compelled to purchase in other currency than Euro. As mentioned above, the Euro prices are fixed. If you pay in Euro, your credit card will be charged according to the daily exchange rate, plus a small credit card fee (usually 1 - 2 %) which you would pay, for example, during your vacation abroad anyway. There is no reason to pay in USD or GBP, if the price is disadvantageous due to the current exchange rate. This may obviously occur, despite the fact that our USD and GBP prices were recently lowered twice.



As to the VAT - ShareIt is a worldwide acting transaction provider that was chosen for our sales after careful consideration. They have something like 100 thousand transactions per day (!), so they cannot be expected to mess up with VAT issues. The rules are clear: ShareIt is based in the European Union. If you purchase from outside of the EU, the VAT will not be charged. There is just 1 exception: 2 States in the USA, in which ShareIt is also active and has their representatives. According to the applicable tax laws, purchasers in those states could be charged. But all the other purchasers (outside the EU) buy VAT-free. This is at least the information we received time ago from ShareIt.



Concluding the above: pay in Euro, and you will avoid any possible exchange rate disadvantages...



Best



Peter & Giorgio

dstong

Thanks for the clarification.



I did not know that the purchase could be made in Euros regardless of where we live, so that is good to know.



In any case I bought the Trombone, and I am very delighted with how superbly it works, with the EWI Wind controller, right out of the box, just like the Trumpet. I've made some progress on the Saxes, but I still find that it requires a lot more tweaking than the Trumpet or the Trombone.



Also thanks for the 10% discount for prior customers, it is much appreciated as my income is at an all time low currently.



I'm saving up my money, and selling off my hardware synths so I can purchase the samplemodeling once it's available.



Thanks so much for creating these incredible virtual instruments and making them work with Wind Controllers.



Dan