[sabian1982]

For the sake of argument there are two companies that provide the same type of service; the main differences are:

Company 1
Based in america
Currency pricing in dollars ($)
Is slightly cheaper

Company 2
Based in the UK
Currency in sterling (£)
Is slightly more expensive

The service is run remotely (no face to face required) and communication is done primarily via email.

Does the location and currency of the business affect your choice of service provider or is your decision primarily based on pricing?

[Indizine]

If in every sense they are exactly alike, then there is no reason not to use the cheaper of the two.

[awebapart]

The type of service may have bearing on this too. If it is for say custom software development, or any service where a client-supplier contract is required, or any other type of contract, contracts have to made according to laws of a particular country. It is a lot easier to protect yourself if the client and supplier is in the same country, for example if things go wrong do you really want to go to the expense of taking them to court in the US.

The nature of the service will have some bearing too, whether it is a one-off piece of work, or of an ongoing nature. If it is of an ongoing nature, then prices will change as currency rates fluctuate (what might start off slightly cheaper could end up more expensive as currency rates change with time, for example a few months back it was nearly 2 dollars to the pound, now it is around 1.75 dollars to the pound, as this graph suggests). Even for a one-off piece of work, you could be quoted a fixed price at the start of the project, and a couple of months later when the work is complete and you have to pay, that price in real terms may have gone up because of changes in currency rates.

[Fuzzy]

I would prob choose company 2, but does depend on whether I wanted the product soon

[exotic detail]

The world is a very small place nower days, therefore the American company would be my choice

[Jeewhizz]

UK Company for me. It makes dealing with issues easier, and you are supporting the local economy

[openmind]

Depends if company 2 was vat registered which would influence my decision more.

[sabian1982]

To answer a couple of questions;

@ awebapart - the service is based on a per project basis although a client can obviously come back and use the service again and again if they so wish

@ fuzzy - there would be a couple of pricing options based on the period of time taken to complete the specific project ie if the client wants a turn around of say 48hrs as apposed to 5 or 10 working days, then the hourly rate would be larger

@ openmind - thats interesting, thanks for that... so if the UK company was not registered...?

[openmind]

If the quality of service was identical and the US company was cheaper, then I would go with the US company.

[boxby]

UK company, as you know the price isn't going to fluctuate with exchange rates, and i prefer to buy local whenever possible.