# Amazon and selling to Ireland



## Mumha (14 Feb 2008)

Does anyone know why so many electronics goods are unavailable for sale to Ireland on amazon.co.uk ?


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## euroDilbert (14 Feb 2008)

Because of weee

(they haven't worked out how-to, and/or won't comply)


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## Mumha (14 Feb 2008)

Ah ! Thanks, euroDilbert. I can get round it by getting it posted to by UK based sister and then sent on from there, but it's an unnecessary pain. So much for the Common market !


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## amgd28 (14 Feb 2008)

Thanks for answering a question I always asked myself but never asked out loud.........
It's mad - some items are only a couple of euro, yet still will not ship to Ireland. I mean why not charge the extra that the WEE directive imposes?

Having said that, I recently tried to order a Billy Connolly Box Set of DVD's, and got teh usual electronics message "will not ship to this destination". This is despite the fact that it was in stock, with delivery options to Ireland (and prices listed etc). Can't see how the WEE directive applies to this?


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## GA001 (15 Feb 2008)

Mumha said:


> Does anyone know why so many electronics goods are unavailable for sale to Ireland on amazon.co.uk ?


They will deliver to Ireland, just get them delivered to someone you know in the six counties of Ulster.


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## Sylvester3 (15 Feb 2008)

There is another issue here - Amazon is often just a marketplace, or front, for other companies, so it might not be Amazon.co.uk that is refusing to sell abroad in some cases but another company. I know I have had difficulty buying the oddest things, such as laser toner, so I end up using my parents address in Ulster. It is daft really, but there you go.


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## DoctorEvil (15 Feb 2008)

amgd28 said:


> I mean why not charge the extra that the WEE directive imposes?



The extra charge that the WEEE imposes is not the issue though - it is the directive that all old items must be accepted in return and recycled that causes the problem for amazon.

They would have to set up a method for achieving this to be WEEE compliant and it makes more sense for them just to block the sales instead.


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## truthseeker (15 Feb 2008)

They (they being amazon themselves  - not a marketplace seller) wont deliver PSP games to Ireland - yet if you checked the restricted delivery options on the games they state they DO deliver them to Ireland, but at checkout refuses to.


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## mathepac (15 Feb 2008)

Sylvester3 said:


> There is another issue here - Amazon is often just a marketplace, or front, for other companies, so it might not be Amazon.co.uk that is refusing to sell abroad in some cases but another company. I know I have had difficulty buying the oddest things, such as laser toner, so I end up using my parents address in Ulster. It is daft really, but there you go.


So it would appear that the bottom line is RoI-based customers are not important to amazon.co.uk and their partners.

That being the case, why bother jumping through hoops to facilitate sales from them and putting the burden of WEE compliance back on local retailers / councils for foreign sales?


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## Sylvester3 (15 Feb 2008)

If it isn't illegal to purchase items more cheaply 'abroad' (i.e. across that dotted line up North) and then importing it, then who isn't going to do that if they can?


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## amgd28 (15 Feb 2008)

Sylvester3 said:


> If it isn't illegal to purchase items more cheaply 'abroad' (i.e. across that dotted line up North) and then importing it, then who isn't going to do that if they can?



People who don't want the hassle or have no connections in the North. For any commercial transaction, there is always a cost-saving/effort tradeoff and similarly applies here


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## Sylvester3 (15 Feb 2008)

amgd28 said:


> People who don't want the hassle or have no connections in the North. For any commercial transaction, there is always a cost-saving/effort tradeoff and similarly applies here



Totally agree. Completely. No argument there at all.


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## Mumha (16 Feb 2008)

What I don't understand is why Amazon have taken this stand ? I've had other electronic stuff sent by other companies without any of this WEEE charge.

Surely it is anti-competitive ? e.g. a good is say €100 in Luxembourg but €110 here due to higher vat and WEEE. So how can the Irish Government enforce an extra tax in another member state ?


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## Guest124 (16 Feb 2008)

Dick Roche T.D. should hang his head in shame (weee and all that) and he wants a YES vote in the forthcoming referendum. I wont say anymore on the subject.


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## ang1170 (16 Feb 2008)

GA001 said:


> They will deliver to Ireland, just get them delivered to someone you know in the six counties of Ulster.


 
Surely there's nine counties in Ulster...


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## webtax (16 Feb 2008)

mathepac said:


> So it would appear that the bottom line is RoI-based customers are not important to amazon.co.uk and their partners.
> 
> That being the case, why bother jumping through hoops to facilitate sales from them and putting the burden of WEE compliance back on local retailers / councils for foreign sales?



Agree 100%. And their exhorbitant postage charges for delivery to the south while offering free delivery to the six counties illustrates this further.


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## shesells (17 Feb 2008)

webtax said:


> Agree 100%. And their exhorbitant postage charges for delivery to the south while offering free delivery to the six counties illustrates this further.


 
That's why where possible (obviously not electronics though) I buy from Amazon.com not .co.uk - I simply ignore all suggestions on the home page that if from Ireland I should log on to .co.uk


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## Mumha (17 Feb 2008)

shesells said:


> That's why where possible (obviously not electronics though) I buy from Amazon.com not .co.uk - I simply ignore all suggestions on the home page that if from Ireland I should log on to .co.uk


 
What's the advantage of that, shesells ? Isn't .com coming from the US, which brings its own issues ?


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## teachai (18 Feb 2008)

BroadbandKen said:


> Dick Roche T.D. should hang his head in shame (weee and all that) and he wants a YES vote in the forthcoming referendum. I wont say anymore on the subject.



I don't see the point in voting in the referendum. If they don't get the result they want , they'll just say we didn't understand the implications and hold another referendum in 6 months time


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## shesells (18 Feb 2008)

Mumha said:


> What's the advantage of that, shesells ? Isn't .com coming from the US, which brings its own issues ?


 
Sorry, yes indeed it is coming from the US but with the exchange rate in our favour at the moment and the lower delivery charges, I buy all my cds and books from .com


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## Mumha (18 Feb 2008)

Thanks, shesells.


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## Guest124 (19 Feb 2008)

Yes that is abit annoying pushing Ireland to use co.uk when .com is better.


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## Guest114 (28 Feb 2008)

This makes me so mad. I was trying to buy a pedometer for my wife. I managed to get one on Ebay but the seller wrote to me and told me that they couldn't ship to Ireland and gave me a refund. I have been getting similar messages from Amazon, Play and all of the usual electronic suppliers. So much for the EU. We get all of the responsibilities and none of the benefits !  It is nonsensical when you think of it. A pedometer is much smaller than a CD, the pedometer can't be shipped yet the CD can.
I kinda agree with them not shipping large electronic items but, c'mon, this is ridiculous. Small electronic goods are no threat to the environment.
I suppose having a Green in the Ministry For Environment makes things worse too....


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## redstar (28 Feb 2008)

I suspect that these retailers don't want to bother with the WEEE obligation to accept returns of old equipment. If I buy a fridge in DID Electrical, for example, they have to take back the old one. I doubt if Amazon or Play will take back old electronic goods, so they simply won't sell into Ireland to avoid the hassle.


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## xavier (28 Feb 2008)

Perhaps the WEEE was nothing to do with the environment and more to do with protecting electronic retailers from overseas competition


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## Markjbloggs (28 Feb 2008)

xavier said:


> Perhaps the WEEE was nothing to do with the environment and more to do with protecting electronic retailers from overseas competition



Exactly what I was thinking, Xavier.


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## ubiquitous (28 Feb 2008)

xavier said:


> Perhaps the WEEE was nothing to do with the environment and more to do with protecting electronic retailers from overseas competition



This conspiracy theory might hold some credence if WEEE was an Irish initiative. It happens to be an EU directive. If the EU authorities want to stifle imports of electronic goods or other items into the EU imports from the US and Far East, they can already do so by imposing tariffs.

The problem with WEEE from Ireland's point of view is that Ireland seem to have implemented it earlier than the UK and other major EU countries. Why this has happened is probably a matter of opinion. It is possible that this is a result of pressure from a self-interested electronic goods industry, however when one considers WEEE in the context of other initiatives like the plastic bag levy and the proposed ban on conventional lightbulbs, I think it is much more likely to be just another of these issues where our government loses the run of itself on so-called "environmental" issues, and implements "right on" solutions without thinking them through.

For more on WEEE see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_Electrical_and_Electronic_Equipment_Directive


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