Free shipping from Amazon on orders from £25

robinvn

Hi,
I'm quite new to this, so I hope this is valid as a BA:
According to the Irish Times, Amazon are doing free shipping for Irish customers.

Online retailer Amazon has announced that it it to introduce a free delivery service for customers in Ireland.

The service is eligible for goods on all orders costing £25 or more.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/1006/breaking25.htm

Could be interesting!

abelard

Fantastic news by the looks of it. Hopefully it's a long-term policy going forward

Soarer

Just tried it there with a couple of blurays that added up to £27, and there is definitely free shipping!
That said, you have to select free shipping. The default option you have to pay for. I like to call it The Ryanair Syndrome!;)

The Black Oil

Good news, thanks for posting it.

zzap64

Arse, just ordered a few things less than a week ago and paid around £10 postage!!

Still it's very good news . Was always very annoying seeing the ads for free posting etc. until you logged in and selected "Ireland" and got wacked with the postage charges.

loyatemu

cool - just checked and the super saver option is now available, also they will bill in Euro if you turn the currency converter on.

dudara

Feck, I just bought a £50 item recently and paid for the shipping.

Great news for us Irish consumers though. Thanks.

Vic Vinegar

That's great news! nice one.

dubmick

great news, Amazon will be getting a lot more business from me.

dmeehan

Soarer wrote: »

Just tried it there with a couple of blurays that added up to £27, and there is definitely free shipping!
That said, you have to select free shipping. The default option you have to pay for. I like to call it The Ryanair Syndrome!;)

the shorter the delivery option chosen, the more expensive it costs, with the longest time for delivery being free

Fingleberries

Nice one ... it's about time they started offering this outside the UK / US ... Pity I just bought a heap of stuff with 'em ... Typical, eh? :rolleyes:

Rsaeire

Finally; I have been waiting for years for Amazon to do this. Free shipping for orders over £25 and a lot of electronics eligible to be shipped to Ireland makes for a great service.

Macer123

Thanks OP - Had just ordered Disney Blu Rays in Amazon BOGOF yesterday. After seeing your post I changed the delivery to Free. The free delivery was accepted based I guess on the price of two Blu Ray ( as the BOGOF discount is taken off at the end). My overall order ended up costing £17 odd and I still received the free delivery.

The Sparrow

That's great news. Thanks OP.

What's the story with the currency converter? I assumed that they meant that it would be like Play.com and everything would be displayed in euro but I can't find that anywhere.

bk

A nice first step, but Amazon still have a lot to do to properly service Ireland.

Amazon.co.uk has a number of very serious usability issues for Irish users:

1) The price shown isn't the price you pay as they change vat from 17.5% to 21.5% at the very last step of the checkout process.

2) No idea if third party companies actually ship to Ireland until you get well into the checkout procedure.

3) No indication of how much shipping to Ireland will be for third party companies, anywhere.

Amazon really need to launch an amazon.ie site, where prices in euro (with a fair exchange rate), Irish VAT added on, only third party retailers who ship to Ireland shown on it and their shipping prices up front.

Rsaeire

bk wrote: »

A nice first step, but Amazon still have a lot to do to properly service Ireland.

Amazon.co.uk has a number of very serious usability issues for Irish users:

1) The price shown isn't the price you pay as they change vat from 17.5% to 21.5% at the very last step of the checkout process.

2) No idea if third party companies actually ship to Ireland until you get well into the checkout procedure.

3) No indication of how much shipping to Ireland will be for third party companies, anywhere.

Amazon really need to launch an amazon.ie site, where prices in euro (with a fair exchange rate), Irish VAT added on, only third party retailers who ship to Ireland shown on it and their shipping prices up front.

I completely agree with your points.

The VAT change at checkout had me stumped for quite a while, but I never really looked into it as it was such a small price difference.

noodler

Its so they can send electronics etc here isn't it? I know they recently opened up alot more of their lines for delivery to Eire.

I guess they could check our ISPs and know to charge us our rate of VAT (21.5%) straight away tho. (But then you could have someone in England or the North order for you?).

The Black Oil

All solid points there, bk. Frustrating..

RobertFoster

Get news on the free shipping, but the VAT issue can still rule them out competitively compared to other UK retailers. It's a pain to have to go through the checkout to see the final price - the cynic in me believes it's so people go "ah sure, I've come this far" and continue with the purchase.

quiche

So does this mean that getting an Amazon Prime account would make more sense now?

noodler

noodler wrote: »

Its so they can send electronics etc here isn't it? I know they recently opened up alot more of their lines for delivery to Eire.

I guess they could check our ISPs and know to charge us our rate of VAT (21.5%) straight away tho. (But then you could have someone in England or the North order for you?).

?

turgon

Yeah the ISP's can cause problems. As I detailed earlier, Book Depository charge prices based on ISP as they have free delivery (nearer to UK the cheaper). Its easy to use a proxy to get a better price, but its highly insecure and comes unrecommended.

Im logged into Amazon.co.uk and they know Im from Ireland yet they still dont change the price. Thats something they could do.

ShaneU

Do they still add on the Irish tax?

Drakus

I wonder how this effects those of us that pre-ordered Win 7 a few weeks ago as the item will not be shipped(and charged) untill the 22nd of this month.

noodler

turgon wrote: »

Yeah the ISP's can cause problems. As I detailed earlier, Book Depository charge prices based on ISP as they have free delivery (nearer to UK the cheaper). Its easy to use a proxy to get a better price, but its highly insecure and comes unrecommended.

Im logged into Amazon.co.uk and they know Im from Ireland yet they still dont change the price. Thats something they could do.

Good point, no real excuse if you are logged in (although, address can still be subject to change even if you are logged in).

ShaneU wrote: »

Do they still add on the Irish tax?

21.5%, which has been mentioned above about 6 times? Yes

ShaneU

Tried to order xbox 360 elite, postage and packing £6, VAT £36.50

There simply isn't a way of getting bargains from amazon.co.uk until they stop charging the 21% Irish VAT rate, there's too many alternatives, mainly the Hut group, where I can purchase things cheaper.

darraghn

Drakus wrote: »

I wonder how this effects those of us that pre-ordered Win 7 a few weeks ago as the item will not be shipped(and charged) untill the 22nd of this month.

I have two copies of Win 7 on order - just went in and updated the Shipping method to Free. saved approx £10. Thanks OP.

karlyk1

Amazon really need to launch an amazon.ie site, where prices in euro (with a fair exchange rate), Irish VAT added on, only third party retailers who ship to Ireland shown on it and their shipping prices up front.[/quote]


You would think this would solve the problem, but it seems when a UK company has a .ie microsite they just double the price of everything anyway.

noodler

ShaneU wrote: »

Tried to order xbox 360 elite, postage and packing £6, VAT £36.50

There simply isn't a way of getting bargains from amazon.co.uk until they stop charging the 21% Irish VAT rate, there's too many alternatives, mainly the Hut group, where I can purchase things cheaper.

The HUT is in Jersey though and even if they shipped a 360 (which I'm sure they wouldn't to Ireland) then you would most likely get hit with customs.

noodler

I believe HMV are a better bet. They do charge a small delivery but no Irish VAT.

Not sure why they can do it but Amazon can't?

I am guessing it means you will never be hit with customs on an Amazon order but since HMV is in the UK (and hence the EU) you shouldn't be hit with it there either tbh.

ShaneU

noodler wrote: »

I believe HMV are a better bet. They do charge a small delivery but no Irish VAT.

Not sure why they can do it but Amazon can't?

I am guessing it means you will never be hit with customs on an Amazon order but since HMV is in the UK (and hence the EU) you shouldn't be hit with it there either tbh.

It's not as if they send over the extra 10% VAT to our government, the company is based in the U.K. so it should charge U.K. tax rates. Until they drop it I can buy 99% of dvds, cds etc. cheaper elsewhere.

noodler

ShaneU wrote: »

It's not as if they send over the extra 10% VAT to our government, the company is based in the U.K. so it should charge U.K. tax rates. Until they drop it I can buy 99% of dvds, cds etc. cheaper elsewhere.

Actually it is my understanding that that is exactly what they do. They send over the difference in VAT and the Irish gov doesn't ever stop their packages at high value levels - I thought anyway.

Its more like 5% anyway, where are you getting 10 from?

ShaneU

noodler wrote: »

Actually it is my understanding that that is exactly what they do. They send over the difference in VAT and the Irish gov doesn't ever stop their packages at high value levels - I thought anyway.

Its more like 5% anyway, where are you getting 10 from?

woops, you're right, calculated wrong

noodler

Can you link me to that 360? Can only find one for 190.

Vic Vinegar

noodler wrote: »

I believe HMV are a better bet. They do charge a

HMV charge €2.50 per dvd, really expensive if you're getting a few!

ShaneU

noodler wrote: »

Can you link me to that 360? Can only find one for 190.

I was looking at the price before VAT before ordering, my mistake

noodler

Bombleswizzum wrote: »

HMV charge €2.50 per dvd, really expenisve if you're gettting a few!

Ouch, on the other hand though, to ship me the entire Blu-Ray series of Battlestar Galactica in a big tin (20 discs) they still only charge 2.50.

Vic Vinegar

noodler wrote: »

Ouch, on the other hand though, to ship me the entire Blu-Ray series of Battlestar Galactica in a big tin (20 discs) they still only charge 2.50.

Good point there!

On a side note, it won't be the complete collection for long because "The Plan" will be out soon and will be included in a later one!

noodler

Bombleswizzum wrote: »

Good point there!

On a side note, it won't be the complete collection for long because "The Plan" will be out soon and will be included in a later one!

If that ever happens, it will be absolutely ages away. I sincerely doubt they will change the Box Set in October just to accommodate one more disc.

Voodu Child

Had a preorder of Win7 on my account, signed in and changed to free shipping. Saved a few quid. Thanks OP

podge3

Voodu Child wrote: »

Had a preorder of Win7 on my account, signed in and changed to free shipping. Saved a few quid. Thanks OP

+1

Drakus

darraghn wrote: »

I have two copies of Win 7 on order - just went in and updated the Shipping method to Free. saved approx £10. Thanks OP.

Nice one, did the same. Only saved a fiver but still better in my pocket.

BTW I agree with ShaneU, this extra 6.5% Vat is a con. If I buy a product from a store in say Newry I am not liable for extra tax, ppl do it every day of the week. I really do not see why I am hit for the extra tax just because it is an online transaction. We're just an easy mark.

lindtee

Excellent stuff! Wish they had started this last week though as I'd have saved a few bob.

RobertFoster

noodler wrote: »

I believe HMV are a better bet. They do charge a small delivery but no Irish VAT.

It works out cheaper to get things from HMV in store, even with their exchange rate, than to pay £2.50/item to get it delivered. I didn't realise this until I bought a game recently from their website. With shipping it came to about €14 (£9.99+£2.50), but I saw it a few days later for €11.99 in store.

I know it's only €2, and you don't have to leave the house, but £2.50 on every item adds up. Of course, if there's no HMV near you, they can be cheaper than some other sites.

Macer123

It's my understanding that Amazon ship from Dublin and therefore charge the 21.5% VAT rate as does every other company based in Ireland. In this case the irish governement gets the full 21.5% VAT and not the difference between it and the UK Rate. VAT is an "ad valorem" tax, it is based on the value of the goods and the supplier only acts as a collection agent for the Revenue i.e. they add the % on to the goods and pay over this same amount to the Revenue.

Some of the other companies mentioned in previous post are not based in the UK e.g. HMV, they ship from the channel Island which is outside the EU and hence don't collect or subsequently pay over any VAT. Deliveries from these companies is the same as if you order from the US and therefore customs can collect the VAT & Duty at point of entry.

Some posters have expressed there dissatisfaction at Amazon because they don't get to see the actual price which needs to be paid until just before confirming the order. In reality this is better/similar that purchasing from sites outside the EU which may be cheaper initally, but if customs collect the duty & VAT a buyer may end up paying much more than they first realised.

Sorry for the rant !!

Cameraman

bk wrote: »

A nice first step, but Amazon still have a lot to do to properly service Ireland.

Amazon.co.uk has a number of very serious usability issues for Irish users:

1) The price shown isn't the price you pay as they change vat from 17.5% to 21.5% at the very last step of the checkout process.

2) No idea if third party companies actually ship to Ireland until you get well into the checkout procedure.

3) No indication of how much shipping to Ireland will be for third party companies, anywhere.

Amazon really need to launch an amazon.ie site, where prices in euro (with a fair exchange rate), Irish VAT added on, only third party retailers who ship to Ireland shown on it and their shipping prices up front.

I think part of the problem with (1) and (2) is that they don't know the shipping location until the checkout stage. I often use it to send gifts to other locations (including the UK) and this affects the VAT rate and whether or not they'll deliver. Also, books have no VAT, so I just mentally factor in a few extra % for the VAT for other goods sent to me here - I find it only a very minor inconvenience, as you still see the exact price before you confirm an order.

Regarding (3) - when you choose an alternative vendor - there is usually a link to delivery charges which lets you know the charge.

snubbleste

If a company based in the EU ships in excess of a certain volume of goods to another EU country, it must charge the destination country VAT.

jayteecork

How about they also start accpeting Laser since they dispatch from and have offices in Dublin?

This sucks though, I bought a camera and some blurays last weeks from amazon and paid a ****load in P&P.

Ogham

To get the free delivery you need to choose Super Saver Delivery

I notice they have also reduced the standard delivery charges slightly too - for items that aren't cd/dvd/gamesbooks - it was recently 4.50 per order plus 50p per kg. It is now down to 3.99 per order plus 49p per kg. Most large items are gonna be over £25 anyway - but it's going to be a bit cheaper for smaller items. . See Here
I know I will just be saving up orders until I need £25 quids worth.
Just in time for the Christmas shopping !

scorn

snubbleste wrote: »

If a company based in the EU ships in excess of a certain volume of goods to another EU country, it must charge the destination country VAT.

As far as I'm aware, as soon as any state outside of Ireland sell more than €35,000 worth of goodss/services into the republic, they are then obliged to register for Irish VAT at 21.5%

I'd say Amazon ships at least that to Ireland, based on the posts in this thread...

ShaneU

scorn wrote: »

As far as I'm aware, as soon as any state outside of Ireland sell more than €35,000 worth of goodss/services into the republic, they are then obliged to register for Irish VAT at 21.5%

I'd say Amazon ships at least that to Ireland, based on the posts in this thread...

Apparently amazon ship from the ROI for deliveries here, so makes sense they charge the Irish VAT rate