Conor Pope
Woohoo! Amazon.co.uk has introduced its free delivery service for Irish customers who spend more than £25.10 (no, I have no idea why they’ve chose such a bizarre sum either). The site has also introduced Amazon Currency Converter which will allow customers using a Visa or MasterCard issued in euros pay in euros. As long as they don’t hike the prices for customers shopping in the Republic, then it’s all good news.
Caroline I’m pretty sure the price difference is down to adjustment in the rate of VAT. The price of £28.88 reflects the UK rate of VAT. Irish consumers must pay Irish VAT which is much higer.
Comment by AndrewProbably the Irish VAT being added on to be fair- UK VAT ~15% whereas Irish VAT is 21.5%
Comment by Tom EnnisAnother charge to look out for is on electrical goods- Amazon UK prices don’t include the WEEE recycling charge, but this will be added to the price if shipping to Ireland. I avoid all this though because luckily enough my girlfriend is from the North so get everything shipped free and at the lower VAT rate. I imagine this makes me super-unpatriotic by the Mayor of Dublin’s reckoning
Comment by Tom EnnisFor books, also check out http://www.bookdepository.co,uk
All their shipping is free.
Surely the whole purpose of buying from Amazon is that you pay British VAT. If you are in England and buy it there, they will not add on extra because you are Irish. I would imagine it is the credit card conversion charge.
Comment by EAMONAndrew is right, I’ve ordered many times from Amazon and noticed increases in the prices. Its down to the higher Irish rate of VAT.
Amazon also offer a “Euro converter” option, where they give you the price of your goods in Euro. Be wary of this as they may not be offering you as good a conversion rate as your bank/credit card is on GBP to EUR. Note this also applies to Paypall.
Comment by GrahamI have bought a number of cds from amazon and am curious. I buy from amazon .co.uk but the postage is with An Post so the item must be originating here so why was the postage never free as it’s not like they had to the British postal service and An Post.
Comment by ALANIrish customers who purchase products from a UK retailer’s outlet in the UK are only liable to pay the UK vat rate – Common market rules. Most likely vat is the excuse amazon.co.uk use, but I have no doubt that they pocket the difference.
Comment by JohnAndrew is correct Caroline, if you read the page on VAT rates for EU customers outside UK you’ll see. VAT in UK is 15% but irish shoppers have to pay irish VAT at 21.5%. See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=502576#eu
Comment by fanning sessionsI second the recommendation of The Book Depository (www.bookdepository.co.uk). As already noted, they deliver free worldwide and you don’t have to spend a minimum amount.
Comment by AdrianI got a reply from Amazon stating that it’s the VAT difference. An explanation actually on the page and not buried deep in the bowels of of their FAQ would be nice, though!
In all my dealings with UK companies, Amazon are the only ones who have charged the Irish VAT rate. Maybe Conor could ask Amazon about their VAT returns to the Revenue Commissioners…
Comment by Caroline O'ConnellAll EU retailers who do more than a nominal amount of business in another EU country are required to register for VAT in that other country, and charge that countries VAT rate for transactions with customers in that country.
http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/vat/leaflets/foreign-suppliers.html
(Why won’t Wordpress let me post these comments from Firefox? I had to fire up IE and copy everything over to post this comment).
Comment by Aengustook a look at Book Depository website and first two books on their website are substantially more expensive than Amazon:
Wolf Hall for €16.72 as opposed to €9.24 on Amazon and Defence of the Realm for €21.07 as opposed to €14.60. Amazon would have to really rip you off on the currency conversion to make Book Depository cheaper on those two examples. Granted these are both big current releases so perhaps Amazon is engaging in deeper discounting
Book Depository prices are always a bit more expensive than Amazon, but work out cheaper in the end as shipping is free. So they will still work out cheaper for smaller purchases where Amazon still charge for postage. With Amazon’s new rule they may indeed be cheaper now for purchases above £25.
Comment by JonathanVAT isnt charged on books in Ireland. You should only be paying VAT for things like DVDs, CDs etc. Not on books 
Fair point Jonathan, although just checked the cost of getting Wolf Hall delivered by itself and came to £13.52 (or €14.68 at current exchange rate) on Amazon as opposed to a current price of €16.69 on Book Depository. Amazon does engage in deeper discounting on big titles though so I did look at some others and seems like Book Depository would generally be cheaper for many titles if you’re only getting one book delivered and they deserve credit for applying pretty close to the correct exchange rate.
Áine- you’re quite right about books not attracting VAT. Same goes in the UK though so we don’t get a lower price unfortunately.
Comment by Tom EnnisThis is all too little too late from Amazon, I stopped using their site years ago when I discovered play.com – who have a great range of affordable books, cds, dvds, games etc, and they have never charged shipping to Ireland.
Comment by ShaunaAmazon now have an Irish distribution centre. That’s why items are being sent by An Post and also why Irish VAT is charged.
Comment by MickRegarding shipping to Ireland, amazon now also acts like a host to other independent sellers and I have found that a lot of these sellers do not ship to Ireland at all.
Maybe because of the VAT rates etc too much hassle for them. I wouldn’t blame them either
Comment by SheilaAbout time…
Comment by AlvaroOnce your sales to non vat registered customers in another eu country exceeds a certain limit (€50,000 I think) you must register for & charge that country’s vat.
If people have a complaint about this, then maybe they should refuse to take their very generous state pensions when they’re 65, refuse to take the 200% higher than uk jobseeker’s allowance, voluntarily pay €3000 per family to thier local council (council tax) and of course pay €400 a year for water.
Or pay the relevant taxes in the relevant country and take the benefits a fairer tax system than the uk brings – basically if you’re unemployed in the UK, you have not enough for food and lose dignity. I’d prefer to pay a little extra vat to know that if I was unemployed I’d have enough to keep my dignity
Comment by petemchis is all too little too late from Amazon, I stopped using their site years ago when I discovered play.com – who have a great range of affordable books, cds, dvds, games etc, and they have never charged shipping to Ireland.
Comment by Wooden FurniturePlay.com’s currency conversion is always mad – they charge ~+10% in Euro (+25% on PS3 Uncharted 2 bundle), which is why I never use them.
Stick with Amazon.
Comment by G SutherWooden Furniture- Play.com don’t officially charge shipping but they certainly apply a very unusual exchange rate if not. I just got four books delivered to me for €33.06 from Amazon ( £29.61 in sterling) with no postage charged. Just checked and the exact same four books were £35.96 on Play but their Euro price was €47.43! Even when Amazon where charging shipping I still found them better value than Play and a damn sight more honest
Comment by Tom EnnisI buy books & CDs on amazon.com in the US. The $ is so low that it’s far cheaper than buying in Britain. Doesn’t work for DVD’s because of the ‘Regions’ issue but a lot of DVDs are offered very cheap on ebay all over Europe. I rarely pay more than 6-7 Euro incl. postage for movies. Compare that to going to the cinema: 2 people = 16 Euro plus in our case a 40 mile return trip…
Comment by Ute BWhen submitted, your comment will be moderated and, once approved, will appear on the site.
The Irish Times reserves the absolute right not to publish comments.
12:28 pm
Before we all start to rejoice, check the pricing very, very carefully! After reading your blog, I went to order a DVD box set for £28.88 which qualified for free shipping. When I went to check out, the price had been upped to £30.51 (a 5.6% increase!) with no note or explanation. I’ve emailed amazon to find out why the price increased at the touch of a button and await their reply.
If I’m not happy, I’ll take my business elsewhere. I don’t like being ripped off!
Comment by Caroline O'Connell