Potential booking - in Euros

[isplumm]

Hi,

So someone from Ireland has enquired about our gite for part of September 2015.

Our gite is based France, but we are in the UK, so GBP.

How do other people handle this - they want a reduction from £500 to something lower, as it will cost them 700 euros.

I could reduce the price by getting them to pay the cleaning charge (50euros) / security bond (100 euros) in Euros to my housekeepers. Cleaning charge is normally included in rate - but hidden I as I don't want to spell out how much it costs.

The other option is they pay direct to my French bank account.

I think PayPal will charge me a fortune for this? Should I suck up the charges?

Thoughts?

Mark

[Hells Bells]

Bank transfer in euros to French account.

[isplumm]

Bank transfer in euros to French account.

Wasn't sure they would be able to do this?? As they are in Ireland & my account is in France? Are there any charges for them?

Mark

[tavi]

Euro to euro online bank transfer - shouldn't be any charges - I do it often between Ireland and PT and return the damage deposit the same way.

You need to give the guests your IBAN and Swift/Bic code. One Irish bank asked for the postal address of myself and my bank but this seems to be rare.

[teba18]

I'm confused!
500 GBP is apparently 699.99 Euros today. So if that's the correct price, I don't understand on what basis they want it for less .....

[roxytoo]

+1 Teba

[tavi]

I'm confused!
500 GBP is apparently 699.99 Euros today. So if that's the correct price, I don't understand on what basis they want it for less .....

haha because, since she prices in £ the week will cost them €80 more now than it would have done 12 months ago!

[JP]

Hi
I don't know where most of your guests come from but if you advertise in GBP£ then the improved exchange rates make it more expensive for anyone in the Euro zone.
Most of our guests are from the country's using the euro so we charge in euro and get paid into our French account. As the money is spent in France even though we actually get less in £ it makes no difference. If we have UK customers they can transfer in euros and they are getting a very good deal at the moment even with bank charges. We seem to get a good share of US and Canadian visitors and they don't have a problem with paying into our French bank. Just make sure people don't transfer £'s as the bank charge you quite a lot to handle and convert it.
James

[isplumm]

Hi,

I can understand what she is saying - anyway I dropped the price a little bit - basically gave 8 nights for the price of 7. Got the booking - which is the main thing!

Going to pay direct into my French bank a/c. Happy with that.

As to whether I should quote in Euros - well this is only my 2nd booking, so will have to see how it goes - we only started this a few months back, as we have taken 3 years to get to this stage.

So you would advise me to quote in Euros? How will that impact UK guests - I assume they can pay the equivalent GBP?

Thanks for all your help - this is a great forum.

Mark

[JP]

Mark
I am no expert as this is our first year but I guess we must be getting things right as we are full and only had 5 empty nights since May.
We advertise in € and get paid straight into our French account but it depends where you want the money to end up.
We only rent to cover our costs and for spending money so the money stays in France, because of this the exchange rate doesn't matter.
If you were bringing it back to the UK and the rate changes it would affect the amount you have in your pocket.
The way the £-€ has been going advertising in £'s would be getting more and more expensive for euro zone customers and most of our guests are French, Belgium or Italian short term stays, the longer ones are British but they quite like prices in € as it looks good with the way the exchange rate is going.
The only advice I would give is that we are full when others around us are empty, we set our price low and accept booking of 2 nights or more (1 night covers the cleaning etc 2nd is profit) starting on any day of the week whereas most want Saturday to Saturday only.
James

[kevsboredagain]

You have a bank account in the UK and France so can accept either currency at the prevailing rate without any charges. If they wanted the exchange rate from 1 year ago then they should have booked it 1 year ago. I'm 100% sure they would not be offering to pay extra if the exchange rate has swung the other direction.

If you wanted to receive GBP, they could even pay with something like Transferwise for a tiny cost.

I refuse to play such games with people.

[KathyG]

I quote in sterling, but also in euros if they want, using the exchange rate according to xe.com, then I tell them what the balance will be in sterling, and for euros will be calculated according to the xe.com site on the day that I send a reminder (1 week before it's due).

[Hells Bells]

As I had mortgage and expenses in France, despite the fact that at first most of my guests were British, I decided from the start to have prices in euros. Only one objection, but it's a long story.

[e-richard]

So you would advise me to quote in Euros? How will that impact UK guests?

The answer depends on who you ask:
The economist will tell you that given all your costs are in Euros, you should price in Euros.
The marketing guru will tell you that to attract your predominantly UK guests, you should price in GBP and build currency fluctuations into your pricing.
The statistician will tell you whatever you want him to tell you - and prove it's the right answer.

[roxytoo]

I take the rate of the day and the booking is fixed at that rate