Help! Ordering from amazon.co.uk

[tiggeray2000]

Hiya, I have a couple quick questions for people who have ordered from amazon.co.uk. I want to buy a couple of Johns CDs(Another Side and Music music music) from there... It looks like it's cheaper than buying them from amazon.com. I live in the US and have never bought anything from there before. If I use my debit card(as a visa) on Amazon UK

Comments

[jennetj]

I order from amazon.co.uk all the time, and you're right, it's less expensive than buying from amazon.com. You'll see the total of your order in pounds, but when it shows up on your bank statement, it'll be in dollars (make sure your bank doesn't charge a foreign transaction fee - mine never used to, but then it got "guppied" and now it does). Shipping, I've found, usually takes a week to ten days.

[tiggeray2000]

Thanks for the info. I'll have to check with my bank and see if they charge anything, even if they do it'd still be cheaper. The shipping doesn't seem to bad either. It's better than DeepDiscount :-)

[tiggeray2000]

That sounds very easy. Tis a good thing :-) I'll ask my bank if I need to inform them about foreign transactions. Thanks for the info!

[ragdoll]

I order stuff from Amazon.co.uk all the time, and yes, even with a crappy rate of exchange, it's always cheaper to order directly from them than buy imports on Amazon.com at nearly 1.5 times the price. I use a regular Visa vs a debit card, but yeah, the cost should automatically be converted from £ to $. However, some credit card companies and presumably some banks will charge a conversion fee for the privilege -- it's not terribly expensive though. The price on the Amazon site will be lower when you go to check out since you're not in the Uk and so they deduct the VAT. However, you'll have to pay for shipping which isn't cheap, but again, the total cost is always a lot less than buying from Amazon.com.

[tiggeray2000]

Thanks for the info. Shipping prices are almost always painful.

Question- I saw VAT mention on the Amazon.co.uk FAQ as well. What is it? Is it kinda like taxes? *am clueless on somethings*

[altorogue]

Value Added Tax. It's a very common thing in Countries Not The United States. :D

[ragdoll]

VAT is Value Added Tax which you have to pay in the UK on any material goods. It's something like 15% (down from 18%) and is the equivalent of regional sales tax. Since you're not in the UK, you don't have to pay it so they deduct it from the final price.

[princesspolaris]

I found Amazon UK to be cheaper than Amazon US or Amazon Canada, the shipping rates are very reasonable (I bought John's latest CD which only came to 12 pounds and change - the equivalent of 21 dollars and change Canadian) and they shipped really fast through standard international mail, I usually had to wait weeks or even months to receive orders from Amazon US or Canada - my CD came from Amazon UK a week after it was released. Thank goodness I have a re-loadable MasterCard, or else I wouldn't have been able to buy it (I probably would have had to wait a long time for a potential Canadian release like "Another Side")

If you need a good currency converter, I suggest checking out http://www.xe.com

[tiggeray2000]

I love my debit/check card. Online shopping makes me happy :-)

Thanks for the link *is bookmarked*

[tigress35]

Just chiming in to add that I've been very pleased with all my purchases from Amazon UK. And the shipping usually has taken less than the estimated time. My credit card doesn't appear to charge any fees for currency conversion.