Importing & Weak U.S. Dollar - Page 1

How has the economic troubles across the worlld affected you if you are looking at importing dogs?  As we all know the U.S. dollar isn't very strong which means that it costs a lot more to get the import dog that you want.  Has this changed the way you look at dogs to purchase?  Are people not importing dogs as much anymore?  Are sellers in other countries having to sell dogs at a cheaper price or willing to negotiate prices with the economy that way it is?

This has been going on for awhile and there is no end in sight right now.....
How has this affected you?  Are dogs that you considered purchasing before now out of your price range?  Breeders willing to work out a more affordable price?

 You buy a dog, you send the money and it is no longer the correct amount.  They do not understand why it is some odd number like 111.38 short. They do not think about the dollar and the euro getting traded and fluctuating all day. That is what I have the biggest gripe about. 

Wire the money to their bank account, or flat out tell them that the dollar vs euro is at ________ amount and this is what I am sending you. Apparently the idea of money being traded does not translate very well. If you can get someone that speaks english well, you are WAY ahead of the game. : )

 I didn't have problems like Jeff is describing, but I ended up paying way more than I had bargained/budgeted for. I paid half, then months and months later, when it was time to fly her home, I had to pay the other half...well, the Euro was at $1.57. OUCH. Do the math. I ended up paying over 1/3 more than I said I would when I decided to import. But, the quality of the dog hadn't changed, and it wasn't like I found something better and cheaper here, so I sucked it up and sent the money. Hey, it wasn't the Germans' fault that our dollar isn't worth a damn. Why should they take less money for a dog they had plenty of offers on locally just to send it over here? 

It had been a little higher, and they did allow me to send it when it went down and they shipped her before they received the money, but I had very good contacts. I'm sure that is not a popular means of helping the buyer out, LOL. It did help though. She was bred and we didn't want to wait too long to ship her, but even with wiring, the money takes several days to a week and a half, IME, to be accessible to the seller. 

 Jacko, HUH? 

With my last import, the breeder was gracious enough to hold off for payment until two weeks before the ship date.  While the dollar was gaining value, the longer I held, the more I saved.

Actually, the money was working for me in a trading account and was doing nicely in the stock market (company that produced Modern Warfare, WarCraft, and Guitar Hero video games).

Then, my sudden relocation from the Denver area to Montana caused a 50% increase in airfreight, and an overnight layover that would otherwise not have been necessary.  And kennel cough affected half my dogs, probably from Detroit.

If you wanted to, you could always trade currency in advance, when the dollar is doing better, to lock in savings if you know you plan to import but just don't know what or when.

 It is making me look in the States more for dogs.

weak us dollar help me a lot since my canadian dollar went up  :P :P :P SUITS ME Perfectly

FRANK,ONE OF THE SMARTEST SENTENCE I HAVE READ TONIGHT!!! really, the best , if you buy over there,is to make the deal solid at point of buying.if you are buying a dog and leaving for training,pay for the dog and pay for the training and shipping when all is finished. there is good dogs here in U.S.