Amazon "Pay in euro" -Beware

Kristopherus

tallpaul wrote: »

Then you need to change bank!!! Absolutely no way I would put up with that nonsense...

All banks charge a currency conversion fee if you pay by cc in Sterling.

meathman0

Gaw_ wrote: »

Amazon don't allow you to pay using PayPal?

Just checking to see who's awake :-)

Doodah7

Kristopherus wrote: »

All banks charge a currency conversion fee if you pay by cc in Sterling.

Not as end of quarter transaction fees!

Caliden

Weathercheck wrote: »

It is just like on an ATM abroad, you never take the rate on screen as it is just a way to rip you off!

Ryanair often try it when youre booking a flight too.

Off topic but found this out the hard way when withdrawing large amounts abroad. 30 euro difference when withdrawing 400 quids worth of local currency in Croatia.

Streets_of Rage 2 Come_On

Corvus Libros wrote: »

There's a Firefox add-on called S3.Google Translator that you can set up to automatically translate whole sites.

Switch to Iron Browser, it's chrome without the google spyware. Translate is built in. Vids play better...lots of better stuff. Hell, even Ctrl+F is better.

Had used Firefox for years, for now Iron is better.

vienne86

Good advice OP. I find that not just with Amazon, when buying from a UK site it is best to take the sterling price.

Nollog

Streets_of Rage 2 Come_On wrote: »

Switch to Iron Browser, it's chrome without the google spyware. Translate is built in. Vids play better...lots of better stuff. Hell, even Ctrl+F is better.

Had used Firefox for years, for now Iron is better.

pretty far from the topic, but
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SRWare_Iron
"Iron does not provide extra privacy compared to Chromium after proper settings are altered in the latter"
A few sources actually say it mines more of your data than setting those privacy settings in chrome, but it was a long time ago since i read that and stopped using it.

That currency conversion though, madness. :pac:

Kristopherus

tallpaul wrote: »

Not as end of quarter transaction fees!

No, it will appear on you cc statement.

padyjoe

To add my input to the story: bought some stuff on Black Friday deals, total cost GBP365.5 was around €460 right after I had finished my order (xe.com). By the time Amazon charged my debit card it's gone up to €475. (I was offered €476.something rightaway by Amazon) Why it's gone up? Sterling got a bit stronger and my bank charges me 1%+1% foreign transactions. So €466 after conversion plus €4.66+€4.66 (don't mind the math). So I saved not more than €2. Still some savings but I hoped for more! :-(

pleasant Co.

padyjoe wrote: »

To add my input to the story: bought some stuff on Black Friday deals, total cost GBP365.5 was around €460 right after I had finished my order (xe.com). By the time Amazon charged my debit card it's gone up to €475. (I was offered €476.something rightaway by Amazon) Why it's gone up? Sterling got a bit stronger and my bank charges me 1%+1% foreign transactions. So €466 after conversion plus €4.66+€4.66 (don't mind the math). So I saved not more than €2. Still some savings but I hoped for more! :-(

Because your maths are based on an inaccurate figure (that xe.com rate)
Your bank statement will have a breakdown of rates and charges on the sterling amount paid.

_Whimsical_

pleasant Co. wrote: »

Because your maths are based on an inaccurate figure (that xe.com rate)
Your bank statement will have a breakdown of rates and charges on the sterling amount paid.

xe.com will always be more favourable than the rate that your bank and cc use.

NATLOR

Worth mentioning that if you pay in sterling and return an item you will be refunded in sterling which will mean a double hit on currency exchange

Pablo1802

Stinicker wrote: »

Always chose the Sterling Rate, also as a frequent traveler I know never to allow a Foreign ATM to charge me in Euro which is often offered as you will always end up with a worse rate.

The downside to getting charged in Sterling is that you will pay a cross-border handling fee if you are using a Credit Card. In recent times I have been ordering more from Amazon.de as I find they have slightly lower prices and you get charged in Euro as it is the German site. I saved over €15 compared to the amazon.co.uk price and the two hard drives I ordered still came from the UK the same as if I ordered from amazon.co.uk itself. Only downside was trying to navigate through the German site but my basic german and Google Translate allowed me to get around it.

Prices on amazon.de are not always more competitive to amazon.co.uk, but it is always worth to check different amazon sites

loki7777

NATLOR wrote: »

Worth mentioning that if you pay in sterling and return an item you will be refunded in sterling which will mean a double hit on currency exchange

It is not the truth with ptsb - i paid in usd+fee and got back fee and usd converted to euro.

mac.in

Also, to bear in mind is the minimum charge the bank levy if the transactions involve a smaller amounts (let's say £5). In that case, better to opt for Amazon currency conversion as bank's minimum charges would be costing you dearer than the Amazon conversion charges.

foggy_lad

NATLOR wrote: »

Worth mentioning that if you pay in sterling and return an item you will be refunded in sterling which will mean a double hit on currency exchange

but very few items will be returned.

danjo-xx

Taking advice from here, I bought an item in sterling, which in euro would cost me €5.40 but by paying in sterling has cost me €5.78:(

foggy_lad

danjo-xx wrote: »

Taking advice from here, I bought an item in sterling, which in euro would cost me €5.40 but by paying in sterling has cost me €5.78:(

That doesn't sound right at all. what was the item? presumably it was part off a larger order to avail of the free delivery?

TomCo

foggy_lad wrote: »

That doesn't sound right at all. what was the item? presumably it was part off a larger order to avail of the free delivery?

For low cost items it's usually better to pay in euro because of fixed rate bank fees.

foggy_lad

TomCo wrote: »

For low cost items it's usually better to pay in euro because of fixed rate bank fees.

Usually banks would only charge about 25-30cents on top of the conversion rate so it still seems like a mistake or mis-price?

clickhere

mac.in wrote: »

Also, to bear in mind is the minimum charge the bank levy if the transactions involve a smaller amounts (let's say £5). In that case, better to opt for Amazon currency conversion as bank's minimum charges would be costing you dearer than the Amazon conversion charges.

From a few posts back

red bellied

Sterling is hammering the euro at the minute, the dollar is also starting to bash at it.

danjo-xx

foggy_lad wrote: »

That doesn't sound right at all. what was the item? presumably it was part off a larger order to avail of the free delivery?

No it was a single order, the item was a pack of ten little string tie things you see on hoodies, you squeeze and slide em to adjust, those yokes.



So if paying in euro, what would ye suggest is the max limit, before paying in stg.

loki7777

I would say not less than 50 otherwise it is no difference(or little) or You will be paying more.

myshirt

Lads, there are people making huge money off trading currencies, and there always has been.

If Amazon take your euros, they can get more sterling for it than you. That's the idea.

Alternatively, getting euros off you is cheaper than getting it off the bank, Amazon can use those euros to pay the business costs that they incur in euros (instead of having to use sterling to buy some euro in order to pay their euro bills. This saves them money)

There is nothing controversial about it, they are just competing. If you don't like the rate they are offering, go with someone else. No need to create an alert.

keithclancy

I take the Amazon rate if its only a few Euros, if I need to get a refund I get back the amount I paid, not the difference between the exchange rate from when I paid until when I got the refund.

so pay in euro or not ?

mac.in

mac.in wrote: »

Also, to bear in mind is the minimum charge the bank levy if the transactions involve a smaller amounts (let's say £5). In that case, better to opt for Amazon currency conversion as bank's minimum charges would be costing you dearer than the Amazon conversion charges.

danjo-xx wrote: »

Taking advice from here, I bought an item in sterling, which in euro would cost me €5.40 but by paying in sterling has cost me €5.78:(

@danjo You forgot to see my previous post in this thread.

AlanS181824

I paid in £ for something and I got a refund for it a few weeks later and there was a good €0.20 in the difference which is something to bear in mind.

At least if you pay in € the refund will be for the full € amount paid.

damemcd

With theECB planning to start printing money ,euro shoppers are going to find buying from .co.uk amazon more and more painful.