How can I see Shopify store rates in US dollars? (I'm seeing them in yen)

[douglerner]

While I do live in Japan, I was thinking of opening a store and charging the costs to my US credit card. I have a US address as well. Shopify used to show me the costs in dollars, but when I went to check today it was only showing me the rates in Japanese yen. 

Is there a way of switching the currency I see?

Thanks.

[Ashraful]

Here are the steps on how to do it:

Log in to your Shopify admin panel.
Go to Settings > General.
In the General section, you should see a setting for 'Currency'. The exact location of this setting may vary slightly depending on your Shopify theme.
From the dropdown menu, select the currency you want to see prices in (USD in this case).
Click 'Save' to apply your changes.
Once you have completed these steps, Shopify should start displaying prices in your chosen currency.

[douglerner]

It says, "Your number, time, date, and currency formats are set for American English." However, if I go to  the shopify home page, all the prices are still in Japanese yen. 

I remember seeing them in US dollars in the past. So I don't know what's different or how to fix it. Any other ideas?

Thanks.

[Ashraful]

The fact that your admin settings say "American English" for currency
format but the storefront shows prices in Yen suggests there could be a
couple of reasons why your desired change isn't reflected. Here are some
additional things to check:

Multiple Currencies: Shopify allows enabling multiple currencies for your
store. It's possible your store is set up to show prices in Yen by default,
even though your admin settings are in USD.

Here's how to check:

-

Go to your Shopify admin panel and navigate to Settings > Markets.
-

If you have multiple markets set up, click on the relevant market.
-

Look for the Pricing section.
-

Check if "Show prices to customers in their local currency" is selected.
-

If it is, you can try deselecting it and saving. This will force all
customers to see prices in your store's base currency (which you can set in
the same section).

Theme Code Override: In some cases, your theme's code might be overriding
the currency settings. This is less likely, but worth checking.

-

If you're comfortable with code, you can try looking for places in your
theme's code that might be displaying prices and see if there's any
hardcoded currency symbol or conversion logic.
-

Alternatively, you can try switching to a different theme temporarily to
see if the problem persists.

Browser Cache: Sometimes your browser might cache the old currency
settings. Try clearing your browser cache and cookies, then revisit your
Shopify store.
If none of the above solutions work, it's best to reach out to Shopify
support directly. They can access your store's backend and investigate the
issue further.

[douglerner]

Thanks for your reply. But please note this is not a question about seeing currencies in my shop. I don't have a shop yet. I want to see the pricing of creating and operating a shop in my currency: US Dollars. But they keep showing up in yen. This didn't use to happen.

doug

[douglerner]

Anybody have any idea? I'm interested in starting a Shopify store, but I'd like to the the prices of running a store in US dollars. I have my region set to US, but the prices are shown in Japanese yen. They used to show in dollars, but now they aren't. There is a region selection, but not a currency selection. Thank you.

[douglerner]

I have to admit I'm getting frustrated. I can't get support unless I have a store. But I don't want to create a store until I see the pricing in US dollars. Even if I set my region to US the shop subscription costs don't display in US dollars. I keep going in circles. Can anybody help? Thanks.

[Summer]

Hey, @douglerner! 

It is definitely possible to change your billing currency back to USD. This is an option available to all the stores with the ability to pay bills in the relevant local currency. Please feel free to refer to this page for the steps on changing your billing currency. Let us know if you have questions about this process!

[douglerner]

Thanks for your reply. I still can't seem to be able to get my question across though.

I would like to know the costs in USD before signing up. I don't have a store yet. The plans are all showing in English, and my country is set at the bottom to USA, but the plans are displaying their monthly and yearly costs in Japanese yen. 

In the past it didn't used to be that way. So I think there is a bug at your site. I would like to know the costs in USD before entering a trial and signing up and registering my credit card. But I don't see the price plans in USD anywhere. Just in Japanese yen.

Is there anything I can do?

Thank you.

[Ollie]

Hey @douglerner.

Thanks for the response and providing that feedback.

The Shopify pricing page will display your local currency. However, I can certainly see the benefit of allowing you to see the various prices in different currencies. I will make a mention of this to our developers and provide this feedback. Here are the following prices for the plans in USD:

Basic Plan

• Monthly: $39 USD/month

Shopify Plan

• Monthly: $105 USD/month 

Advanced Plan

• Monthly: $399 USD/month

Keep in mind that when you create your Shopify store - new stores will receive a 3 day free trial and $1 USD for the first month for the plans listed above.

Let us know if you have any questions.

[douglerner]

Thanks. Somebody else pointed out that if I use VPN I can see the USD prices as well. The VPN used to not be required - I could simply set the region on the page . Anyway, thanks.

[Imogen]

Thanks for following up, @douglerner! This geolocation feature that shows pricing in a user's local currency based on their region is expected behaviour for impacted regions, with the reasoning being that folks from specific regions benefit from the pricing being shown in their local currency to avoid confusion around the costs of what they're subscribing for.

I just wanted to make sure I provided that context for you around the page behaviour that you've been experiencing.

[douglerner]

Hello. I'd like to followup with a clarification about the costs of credit card processing (so I can best figure out my product pricing).

On the pricing page, since I am located in Japan right now, it says the monthly fee is ¥4,850 and the card rates are 3.55% + ¥0 JPY online.

If I switch to VPN to check the US rates (I'm still deciding whether to do this all my my U.S. or Japan credit card) it says the monthly fee is $29 and the card rates are 2.9% + 30¢ USD online.

The monthly store price is currently is bit less in US dollars because of exchange rates. But for an item that sells for, say, $30 or less the card rates might be better in Japan pricing because the 30 cents per sales charge can result in more than an extra 1% charge. So in that case 3.55% with no per sale fee might be lower. It depends on the sales cost though of course.

One question I have is if I sell items to the U.S. market and also to the Japan market do the card rates depend on the purchasing customer and if they are purchasing in yen on their Japan credit card or dollars on their US credit card? Or does it just depend on which currency I set up my shop in?

I hope my question makes sense.

Thanks,

doug

[Imogen]

Hey again, @douglerner! Thanks for taking the time to follow up on our your thread here with your question!

The Shopify Payments Card Rates you will be subject to depend on the region that you are operating your business from, and not the region of the customer. If you set up a Shopify Payments Account for a business in Japan, then any orders you incur via this store processed via Shopify Payments will be subject to the rate shown for Japan, so 3.55% + ¥0 JPY. If you're setting up a Shopify Payments Account for a business operating out of the United States, you'll be subject to the rates for a U.S Payments Account, so 2.9% + 30¢ USD.

I hope this answers your question! Feel free to follow up with us here if you need more clarification!

[douglerner]

Thanks for that explanation. Just a couple of more points if you don't mind!

1. If it's a business set up to operate out of Japan or the U.S. do we register a bank account in that country and settlements are paid to that bank account?

2. If the customer's payment currency is different from the registered settlement account payment currency, how much is charged for currency conversion?

Thanks,

doug

[Sophia]

The bank account requirements for Shopify Payments typically require that the bank account is in the currency and location of the country you operate the business in. For example, setting up a Shopify Payments account in Japan requires a JPY bank account located in Japan, and setting up a Shopify Payments account in the United States requires either a Shopify Balance account, or a USD bank account located in the United States.

Regarding currency conversion, the foreign exchange rate used is always the rate at the time of the transaction. I recommend reviewing our guide on currency conversions and exchange rates for details.
 

[douglerner]

Thanks for your reply. My company operates both in the US with a USD bank account there and in Japan, with a JPY bank account here. So I just have to decide which to use. 

I wish I knew if your conversion rates were competitive. 

Thanks.

doug