Monday, October 13, 2008

Visual FX Converter

Welcome back!  Ah, holidays.  A marvellous invention, especially in spring.  But now, back to work...

My favourite online currency converter tool for those tricky decisions (eg. is that expensive but beautiful Tord Boontje design book cheaper from Amazon.com, which discounts but charges freight/postage, or from the Bookdepository.co.uk, which often discounts but has free worldwide postage?*) is the OandaVisual FXConverter.  Oanda has other online converters, but this one's the quickest.  Useful for Maths, Business Studies etc.

Find it here: Visual FXConverter.

Actually, I usually buy school/library books from local suppliers - I'm blessed by a brilliant local independent bookshop.  For myself, it depends on the book and price (see the calculations below).

* Amazon.com is $US47.25 + $US9.98 shipping for a total of $57.23 and 18-32 business days (or 3-6 weeks, which I think is a clearer way to say it).  Bookdepository.co.uk is £32.35, free postage and delivery of 7-10 days.  Wrangling this through the converter: for this item, Amazon is a dollar or so cheaper but a lot slower.  Last few I checked, Bookdepository won on price (it always wins on speed).  (Oh, and in case you're wondering, the Australian price for this book is around $130, not counting any postage, and it would be hard to find outside bookshops with depth in design books.)

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