Why two shops?

I have two handmade jewelry shops:

• Handmade Jewelry - for international customers (prices in US$)
• Handmade Jewellery - for Australian & New Zealand customers (prices in AU$)

History

Although I am based in Sydney, Australia, I originally started selling my handmade jewellery online in US dollars as initially I was selling primarily to the US market, with a large number of sales also going to Europe and an increasing number to Australia and New Zealand.

For my online prices, it made sense to use a currency which American buyers are of course very familiar with, but which is also familiar around the world. With the Australian dollar very strong against the US dollar, it also meant that Australian customers were paying a similar amount to that listed in my shop.

However, with the volatility in the markets came an Australian dollar which couldn't stand still! My Australian customers were faced with never knowing how much my jewellery would cost them until they went to pay - and with the AU$ suddenly plummeting, it could result in a nasty shock. Of course this also created problems for me in terms of not having control over what people were paying in my own currency.

A better solution for Australian and NZ customers

So the solution was to set up a second shop in Australian dollars which is open to Australian and New Zealand customers only.

For this shop I have created a fixed pricelist for online sales (meaning that it won't change every time the AU$ changes) and have calculated the conversion from US$ at a currently very favourable rate for my local customers.

Allowing locals to purchase in Australian dollars also means they aren't hit with extra bank fees for currency conversion, which can't be a bad thing!

Which shop to use

My Australian dollar jewellery shop only allows delivery to Australian and New Zealand addresses.

If you live elsewhere, but are sending a gift to someone in either of these countries, you may purchase through the Australian shop, however, note that payment will need to be made in Australian dollars.

My international handmade jewellery shop will allow delivery anywhere in the world, including to Australian and New Zealand addresses should you prefer to pay in US$ for deliveries to these countries.

If you are an Australian or New Zealand resident and wish to purchase an item using Australian dollars, but which is to be delivered to another country as a gift, please contact me to organise this.

How do I know which shop I'm in?

The easiest way to tell is by looking at the web address in your browser address bar. The address www.shop.simonewalsh.com is my main shop with prices in US$, while the address www.shop-aud.simonewalsh.com is my Australian shop.

Additionally, firstly if you look at the main menu bar of the website which runs beneath my shop banner, you will see the 'shop' item listed - if instead it says 'shop (au)', you'll know that you're in the Australian shop.

Secondly, near the top of the main content section on each page in both shops you will see two square icons - an Australian flag and a US flag. Whichever one is shown first and is not greyed out tells you which shop you are in.

Finally, the currency of my prices is always indicated - in my main shop, all prices have 'US' before the dollar symbol to indicate US dollars. In my Australian shop the letters 'AU' will appear there instead.

Oh no! I've started my purchase in the wrong shop

Unfortunately the only solution is to go to the correct shop for your delivery destination and start over, as much as I wish that I could make this easy!

The two shops are operated entirely separately from each other and shopping carts cannot be transferred from one to the other.

The set up of both shops is identical, however, so it should be easy for you to find what you wish to purchase.