--- org.el~	2008-05-05 23:09:50.000000000 -0400
+++ org.el	2008-10-28 22:50:18.204880700 -0400
@@ -8510,6 +8510,11 @@ are found, lines will be split on whites
     (insert-file-contents file)
     (org-table-convert-region beg (+ (point) (- (point-max) pm)) arg)))
 
+(defcustom org-table-export-delimiter "\t"
+  "The default separator for exported tables."
+  :group 'org-table-settings
+   :type 'string)
+
 (defun org-table-export ()
   "Export table as a tab-separated file.
 Such a file can be imported into a spreadsheet program like Excel."
@@ -8542,7 +8547,7 @@ Such a file can be imported into a sprea
 	    (delete-char 1)))
       (goto-char (point-min))
       (while (re-search-forward "[ \t]*|[ \t]*" nil t)
-	(replace-match "\t" t t))
+	(replace-match org-table-export-delimiter t t))
       (save-buffer))
     (kill-buffer buf)))