How to improve Logos' cash flow and do overseas customers a favour...

As an international Logos user whose savings are denominated in British Pounds (GBP) rather than US Dollars (USD), I have a suggestion. One of the major selling points of pre-pub items is that once you've placed your order, the price you pay is "locked in". But this only applies to the USD price.

Once a pre-pub item has acquired sufficient interest to go "Under Development", it would be helpful if Logos could accept payment at that point. This would allow Logos to receive positive cashflow up front during development while allowing me as an international customer to lock in the current GBP/USD rate.

This would be especially beneficial when customers suspect that their domestic currency is about to drop in value against the USD, an event which pushes up non-USD prices for overseas customers (sometimes dramatically so in a matter of days or weeks) while bringing no additional financial benefit at all to Logos.

As a former computer programmer myself, I doubt that much development work would be needed to create such a facility, and I for one would appreciate it very much in these cost-conscious times.

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Comments

Ted Hans

While i sympathize with the above comment from a fellow Brit, i am not sure about it. Some do have a lot of resources on Pre-order. To charge at the "Under Development" stage will result in a lot of orders being cancelled. Take the NICOT/NICNT,Baker product or Spurgeon Collection etc, all charge at the "Under Development" stage, now that will be a wallet breaker!

My suggestion would be if you are concerned about the currency exchange call a Sales Rep & purchase gift vouchers for the item you are interested in. Get the gift voucher to be credited to the resource you want. That way, it will be a win win for all & your currency difficulty would be solved. Am i saying through this method you can pay for any resource in advance before it gets to the development stage or before it ships, while it is still on Pre-pub gathering interest - YES. At any point while the resource is still on Pre-pub you can purchase gift vouchers & pay for the product in advance.

Hope this helps.

Ted

Bohuslav Wojnar

Once a pre-pub item has acquired sufficient interest to go "Under Development", it would be helpful if Logos could accept payment at that point. This would allow Logos to receive positive cashflow up front during development while allowing me as an international customer to lock in the current GBP/USD rate.

I am not sure it would be better. I think many times I would get less favorable price, if your suggested system were in operation. Always when I thought Czech Crown reached the highest rate against the US dollar already, it just surprised me then, showing the opposite. On one hand I would like to pay for, let's say, the NICOT/NICNT already, since the exchange rate is quite good right now, but who knows? It might be even better at the time of the release of the product. I stopped even looking at that. I just go with the rate in the moment of payment and it is OK. You might gain in one situation, you loose in the other one. That is just my experience.

The gift vouchers suggested by Ted are a good option, I suppose. You can decide the moment you think the rate is the best for you. I might consider using them sometimes also. Thank you Ted.

Ted Hans

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/6038#Comment_6038

Thank you Ted.

Hi Bohuslav,

If i were a critical scholar i would have cried someone is impersonating Bohuslav, thats not his avatar, is this a pseudo-graph?[:D] Your friend in the States gains a beard in his avatars & you loss yours.[;)] Kind Regards.

Ted

Bohuslav Wojnar

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/6047#Comment_6047

Your friend in the States gains a beard in his avatars & you loss yours.

Wrong. I have my beard... you just do not see it. It turned gray from using Logos every day [:)] Greetings to you Ted.

George Somsel

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/6038#Comment_6038

I am not sure it would be better. I think many times I would get less favorable price, if your suggested system were in operation. Always when I thought Czech Crown reached the highest rate against the US dollar already, it just surprised me then, showing the opposite. On one hand I would like to pay for, let's say, the NICOT/NICNT already, since the exchange rate is quite good right now, but who knows? It might be even better at the time of the release of the product

Precisely. All non-US customers should consider that their currency may very well become more valuable relative to the USD with the current President and Congress engaging in a spencing spree which cannot fail to devalue our currency. This means that you may end up paying less in your currency.

Mike T

Deleted... I saw the suggestion had already been made.

Christopher B

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/6035#Comment_6035

Thanks for the suggestion about Gift Vouchers, Ted.

My choice of words was very careful, though, and I'm not sure you understood me correctly.

I wrote "could accept payment" not "would insist on payment".

In other words, I'm talking about international customers being able, for instance, to click on a "Pay Now" button on each of their own Pre-Pub orders:

- if they so desire, and

- provided that the item has already acquired sufficient interest to reach the Development stage.

I don't see why having this option would lead to large numbers of cancelled pre-pub orders, and I think you'll agree it would be less cumbersome and time-consuming than ordering and applying Gift Vouchers every time.

Blessings,

Chris

Christopher B

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/6053#Comment_6053

Hello George, and thanks for your comment.

Yes, the exchange rate could improve later on, but if I were to exercise a choice to "Pay Now" for a pre-pub item under development, it would presumably mean that I was happy with the prevailing exchange rate in relation to what I have available to spend right now, versus what a future rate may or may not be in relation to resources I may or may not have at a yet to be determined point in the future.

While I agree that the current US Administration is devaluing the USD at an awesome rate by spending and printing an unprecedented quantity of new money, it's also worth pointing out that many other countries are (more or less) trying to race the USD to the bottom, ostensibly in order to keep their exports to the US going.

Much of the "skill" of modern central banking lies in internationally co-ordinating these print and spend binges in order to reduce the impact on any individual currency's exchange rates at any given moment in time.

Having the choice to "Pay Now" wouldn't change these FOREX based uncertainties, but it would give us international customers another way to manage our currency risks... while Logos would gain valuable pre-payments from people who chose to pay up front and lock in the current exchange rate.

The only people who would lose (if their home currency subsequently rose against the USD) would be people who clearly believed they could afford the risk of doing so.

Best wishes,

Christopher

Ted Hans

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/6074#Comment_6074

Thanks for the suggestion about Gift Vouchers, Ted.

My choice of words was very careful, though, and I'm not sure you understood me correctly.

I wrote "could accept payment" not "would insist on payment".

In other words, I'm talking about international customers being able, for instance, to click on a "Pay Now" button on each of their own Pre-Pub orders:

- if they so desire, and

- provided that the item has already acquired sufficient interest to reach the Development stage.

I don't see why having this option would lead to large numbers of cancelled pre-pub orders, and I think you'll agree it would be less cumbersome and time-consuming than ordering and applying Gift Vouchers every time.

Blessings,

Chris

Thanks Chris for the clarification i stand corrected. I now see what you mean, an optional payment service at the development stage. Sounds good, i had not thought of it the way you put it. Thinking of it, it could work to my advantage/benefit.[:D] Great idea & thanks for the suggestion.

Every Blessings,

Ted.

Stephen Thorp

I'd very much like to support this idea, as someone who has experienced major price increases between pre-pub and purchase/delivery stages. I would also like to see a possibility where gift/credit vouchers could be purchased at any point when the exchange rate is advantageous to the consumer which would surely be beneficial to Logos long term. Another but similar issue arises over postage charges. The price of postage makes a subscription to the Bible Study Magazine practically impossible for overseas users (the UK in my case). Equally buying books on CD becomes more expensive because of postage which has increased recently, and yet if we download what we can their are ownership/transfer issues as mentioned elsewhere on the forum - or is that cleared up now? [:)]

George Somsel

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/6100#Comment_6100

Equally buying books on CD becomes more expensive because of postage which has increased recently, and yet if we download what we can their are ownership/transfer issues as mentioned elsewhere on the forum - or is that cleared up now?

It is cleared up. There is now no difference in transferability between CD and download.

Bohuslav Wojnar

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/6074#Comment_6074

Thanks for the suggestion about Gift Vouchers, Ted.

My choice of words was very careful, though, and I'm not sure you understood me correctly.

I wrote "could accept payment" not "would insist on payment".

In other words, I'm talking about international customers being able, for instance, to click on a "Pay Now" button on each of their own Pre-Pub orders:

- if they so desire, and

- provided that the item has already acquired sufficient interest to reach the Development stage.

I don't see why having this option would lead to large numbers of cancelled pre-pub orders, and I think you'll agree it would be less cumbersome and time-consuming than ordering and applying Gift Vouchers every time.

Blessings,

Chris

Yes, I can see a benefit in your suggestion clarified this way. Thanks for that.

Christopher B

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/6100#Comment_6100

Thanks for your support on this, Stephen. I didn't think I'd be the only one who's seen prices rise when their home currency has depreciated against the USD during the pre-pub phase. You raise a couple of other interesting issues, too.

I take it that your gift voucher proposal would involve an automated option to buy a fixed amount in USD per month if the exchange rate moved beyond a user-specified level. Or have I misunderstood your point on that one?

I agree completely with you about the effect of postage charges on purchases of hard copy items from the US. What makes it all the more annoying is that the extra expense is largely unnecessary. I know at least one digital print-on-demand publisher in the UK who can simply print and mail out items on demand at UK postal rates from a pdf file. All the US-based publisher need do is send a pdf to the UK outfit as and when, together with payment and mailing address details.

What's more, I doubt the charges levied by the UK outfit to give them their profit margin would be anything like the current levels of US postal charges to overseas destinations. End result: UK and European subscribers to US publications could get their goodies cheaper and quicker.

God bless, and thanks for your support. Let's see if we can get that "Pay Now" button put on pre-pub orders "Under Contract".

Chris

Stephen Thorp

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/6286#Comment_6286

To be honest Chris I think I assumed that a number of pre-determined credit/gift voucher values might be offered by Logos but whether they be displayed in USD or pounds sterling doesn't really matter, but one would be able to choose to purchase or 'lock in' whenever the exchange rate was favourable. Now I guess it's possible that Logos might lose out over this but since any gift voucher would ultimately be spent with Logos I can't see that it could be too much of a problem. Your idea to 'pay now' on pre-pubs is a good one, but it's not quite the same as a gift voucher idea which would effectively allow users to 'bank' with Logos saving up for those larger and more costly items.

Your print on demand service is also a good idea. I didn't know that such a thing was possible but it certainly makes sense to me. Go for it!!!

Stephen

Bohuslav Wojnar

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/6412#Comment_6412

To be honest Chris I think I assumed that a number of pre-determined credit/gift voucher values might be offered by Logos but whether they be displayed in USD or pounds sterling doesn't really matter, but one would be able to choose to purchase or 'lock in' whenever the exchange rate was favourable. Now I guess it's possible that Logos might lose out over this but since any gift voucher would ultimately be spent with Logos I can't see that it could be too much of a problem. Your idea to 'pay now' on pre-pubs is a good one, but it's not quite the same as a gift voucher idea which would effectively allow users to 'bank' with Logos saving up for those larger and more costly items.

Your print on demand service is also a good idea. I didn't know that such a thing was possible but it certainly makes sense to me. Go for it!!!

Stephen

I think now is the time for us here in Czechia. Dollar is on a historical low against our currency. But will it go even lower? NICOT/NICNT is still one month to go. That is a dilemma (quite pleasant one). The series today is going to be 10 % cheaper than at the time I booked it on prepub. Good. In one month it might change of course.