Translation is the smallest part. Currency, payment methods and local price expectations matter more.
12 min read · Level 5
Translation is the visible part and usually the least important — what actually blocks a purchase is commercial. Someone who cannot pay by their normal method will not buy however well the checkout reads, and a price converted at spot rate ignores what the local market considers normal. Founders localise the blog and leave the payment method, which is precisely backwards.
Localisation is adapting the product and commercial offer to a market: language, currency, payment methods, date and number formats, local pricing, and local support hours.
Translation is the visible part and usually the least important.
Because the things that actually block a purchase are commercial rather than linguistic. Someone who cannot pay with their normal method will not buy, however well-translated the checkout page is.
And because pricing in a foreign currency at your home rate can make you either unaffordable or accidentally cheap, and both cost money.
What actually blocks purchases, roughly in order:
1. Payment method. Card penetration varies enormously. In several large markets, bank transfer, local wallets or instalment schemes dominate. If you only accept international cards, a large share of buyers simply cannot pay you.
2. Currency displayed. Showing a foreign currency makes buyers do mental arithmetic and adds perceived risk. Local currency pricing consistently converts better.
3. Price level. $99/month may be reasonable at home and far above local market rates elsewhere. Value-based pricing means the local value determines the local price.
4. Tax handling. Whether prices include local sales tax or VAT, and whether you must register locally. This is a compliance question, not a presentation one.
5. Language. Real, and generally less blocking than the four above — particularly in B2B software, where English is often acceptable.
⚠ On currency risk: if you price in a local currency and hold costs in another, exchange movements affect your margin directly. At small volumes ignore it; at meaningful volumes it becomes a real line item.
First-time founders often translate the website and change nothing else, then conclude the market does not want the product. The market could not pay for it.
The second mistake: converting home prices directly at the spot rate. That produces odd-looking numbers and ignores what the local market considers normal. Set the local price deliberately.
The third: not checking local tax registration thresholds. Many jurisdictions require registration once you pass a revenue threshold, and discovering that late means back-taxes.
Not what you assume. Payment norms vary far more than founders expect and are the most common blocker.
Even before you fully localise anything else. It consistently improves conversion.
Not a spot-rate conversion. What is this worth to a customer there?
Before you cross them. Retrospective registration is expensive and avoidable.
Checkout, pricing and onboarding. Not the blog.
Ignorable at small scale, a real margin factor at larger ones.
As soon as you have meaningful demand from a market, before investing heavily in it.
Do not fully localise for a market with three customers. Display local currency, take local payment methods, and wait for the volume to justify more.
In several large markets bank transfer, local wallets or instalment schemes dominate rather than international cards. A company accepting only cards excludes a substantial share of buyers, then concludes from the low conversion that the market does not want the product.
Find out how people in that market actually pay before drawing any conclusion from conversion rates. It is the first blocker, not the fifth.
Converting a home price at spot produces both odd numbers and a figure disconnected from what the market expects to pay. Value-based pricing applies per market, and the right local price is frequently well above or below the mechanical conversion.
Set the local price deliberately from local value. And check the tax registration threshold before you cross it, not after.
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