Erin,
Excellent question, while I do not have this issue my upcoming conference does have international attendees (hopefully!). We have not had complaints on changing of the costs as we need to ensure we get $X to cover the costs, but I can see this for international if it makes things ore expensive.
My thoughts would be:
1. Try to have an option for all the fees to be paid in international dollars. If that is an option, figure out what the cost would be in conversion and note any fees "you" may have. I like the idea of looking at the Cvent CPS so you can do this.
2. Look into the 3rd party merchant, we use touchnet and I think any international fees we may get are passed to us vs. the guest.
3. If you can do offline - maybe look at the option of a ACH to your bank account. This is a challenge if you are a big organization but I do this off/on with a PT job and normally the fees are minimal and I either eat them and/or pass this on.
Personally I think most international guests should be familiar with this but I do think some of the %s are high.
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Lesley Irminger
University Events and Office of Communication Events Coordinator
George Mason - Office Of University Events
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Original Message:
Sent: 09-23-2020 12:49
From: Erin Casey
Subject: GST/HST and Currency for Global Virtual Events
Hi all,
With the transition to virtual events, we're seeing attendees join our USA-produced events from all over the world. Traditionally, we charge fees based on the location that the live event takes place. For example, if the live event is in Mexico or Australia, we convert the USD amount and charge in Pesos (for MEX) or AUD (for AUS). We then charge a GST or HST based on the location. This is the required process set by our Accounting team.
Ideally, we would charge only in USD for a virtual event that's produced in the States. That way we only have to create one Cvent event. However, we're getting push back from our International attendees who prefer to pay in their currency. If they paid in USD, their bank would charge a conversion fee that I've researched to be about 2.2% of the fee. If we charge in AUD, they're paying GST/HST tax, which is sometimes as high as 13%.
The question is, how are you all charging fees for a virtual USA event? Are you charging international attendees in USD or their own currency?
Thank you!
#ManagingVirtualEvents
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Erin Casey
Communications and Registration Manager
SGII, Inc. dba SeneGence International
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