# Amazon purchases



## johnny2shoes (7 Sep 2020)

How will a 'no deal Brexit' affect us in the republic of Ireland for Amazon purchases in the event of a 'No Deal' brexit?
It looks like the Brits want to paddle their own canoe at all costs unless they are bluffing.
I don't know the size of this market but from conversations with friends and neighbours it appears to be significant.
My question really is " will my goods cost more if the Brits opt out or have Amazon ways and means to by pass Borris
and his hard liners?


----------



## RedOnion (7 Sep 2020)

johnny2shoes said:


> My question really is " will my goods cost more if the Brits opt out or have Amazon ways and means to by pass Borris
> and his hard liners


Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, etc.

Very little of what you buy from Amazon is made in the UK, and a lot of it is shipped from outside UK, so they should be able to avoid any impact.


----------



## Thirsty (7 Sep 2020)

Its the free UK delivery + parcel motel that makes Amazon.co.uk attractive.


----------



## Purple (7 Sep 2020)

PatrickSmithUS said:


> Do you not get free delivery if you sign up for Amazon Prime anyhow?


Quite a few items don't ship to Ireland but can be bought using Parcel Motel as they will ship to Northern Ireland.


----------



## Drakon (7 Sep 2020)

PatrickSmithUS said:


> Do you not get free delivery if you sign up for Amazon Prime anyhow?



AFAIK you do. 
But you have to pay for Amazon Prime instead!  
I check the Free Delivery box when searching.


----------



## InfoSeekerM (7 Sep 2020)

I have heard that Amazon sellers in the UK were being advised to take storage space in Amazon centres in mainland Europe. So you may see more goods ship from Germany etc. Some of the sellers you buy from now on Amazon.co.uk are often outside of the UK when you look at the detail.
Before buying on amazon check if an Irish online retailing has the same goods at similar price point.


----------



## odyssey06 (7 Sep 2020)

InfoSeekerM said:


> I have heard that Amazon sellers in the UK were being advised to take storage space in Amazon centres in mainland Europe. So you may see more goods ship from Germany etc. Some of the sellers you buy from now on Amazon.co.uk are often outside of the UK when you look at the detail.
> Before buying on amazon check if an Irish online retailing has the same goods at similar price point.



I do too for expensive single items.
Where Amazon cleans up is the free delivery for a few miscellaneous items in the €5 - €10 price range, as for such items the individual delivery charge can often be same price as the item.


----------



## peemac (7 Sep 2020)

Amazon are currently building a warehouse in greenogue. It won't stock items but will act as a consolidation warehouse.

So if you order a few things, they will all go there and packed together and sent out. 

Possibly it is part of their brexit plan for Irish customers


----------



## johnny2shoes (7 Sep 2020)

Many thanks for all the replies especially the last one from 'peemac'
I do use Parcel Motel for stuff because some UK companies won't ship to us lads for some reason.
My impression was that most if not all of their catalogue was UK manufactured so my question hinged on that assumption.
If this is not the case then we have no worries about Borris' tariffs and taxes  and my little orders won't be more expensive 
if the Brits ride off into the sunset?
All your replies are much appreciated.


----------



## Leo (8 Sep 2020)

johnny2shoes said:


> My impression was that most if not all of their catalogue was UK manufactured so my question hinged on that assumption.



Only a small fraction of what is sold on the .co.uk site is UK made. Much of what you buy from Amazon is supplied and invoiced by 3rd party market place sellers, it's likely most of those are based outside the UK. 

Back in 2006 Amazon switched the ownership of the UK operation to Luxemburg (you'll notice Amazon EU Sarl on invoices) and relegated the UK base to a fulfillment centre.


----------



## Drakon (9 Sep 2020)

Many of the sellers on Amazon.co.uk also sell on eBay and/or have their own e-commerce sites. Some that don’t deliver to Ireland on Amazon will do so on eBay, etc. 
Or just email them and ask if they could delivery your order to Ireland and how much postage would be. 

I’m very surprised that there is no Amazon.ie yet. 
It may happen soon as a Brexit dividend.


----------



## EmmDee (9 Sep 2020)

johnny2shoes said:


> My impression was that most if not all of their catalogue was UK manufactured so my question hinged on that assumption.
> If this is not the case then we have no worries about Borris' tariffs and taxes  and my little orders won't be more expensive
> if the Brits ride off into the sunset?



Amazon is essentially an agent - it isn't their catelogue it is an amalgamation of various sellers. Also the difference between ".co.uk" vs ".de" for a buyer is pretty non-existant. The UK site isn't a collection of UK sellers. Next time you're ordering, take a note of the seller - a huge amount of the time it is China originated. So Britain being in the EU or not shouldn't make a difference.

Other than for larger items, most of what I order through amazon.co.uk gets routed through their Brussels hub direct to Dublin. So Brexit custom delays wouldn't affect it. But where there could be an impact would be any deliveries by land through UK. It shouldn't affect the cost but could add days to delivery time from EU to Ireland


----------



## EO2020 (9 Sep 2020)

You're thinking of Amazon Marketplace, and fulfilled by Amazon. Thats only a small section of it...the bulk is sold by Amazon itself, not by a collection of sellers.


----------



## EmmDee (9 Sep 2020)

EO2020 said:


> You're thinking of Amazon Marketplace, and fulfilled by Amazon. Thats only a small section of it...the bulk is sold by Amazon itself, not by a collection of sellers.



The majority of activity is not sold by Amazon. Marketplace and "Fullfilled by Amazon" are bigger than "Sold by Amazon" (I think since 2018). But the remains - a lot of what I have bought in recent years (and I often choose the "sold by Amazon" option if I can) has routed through Brussels.


----------



## Early Riser (9 Sep 2020)

EmmDee said:


> The majority of activity is not sold by Amazon. Marketplace and "Fullfilled by Amazon" are bigger than "Sold by Amazon" (I think since 2018). But the remains - *a lot of what I have bought in recent years (*and I often choose the "sold by Amazon" option if I can*) has routed through Brussels.*



I haven't had that experience (the Brussels route). I nearly always use either "sold by amazon" or "fulfilled by Amazon" so maybe that is the difference.


----------



## Leo (11 Sep 2020)

EmmDee said:


> Marketplace and "Fullfilled by Amazon" are bigger than "Sold by Amazon" (I think since 2018).



Yes, Amazon reported that in 2018 that 3rd party sellers accounted for more than 63% of sales on the .co.uk site.


----------



## roker (11 Sep 2020)

PatrickSmithUS said:


> Do you not get free delivery if you sign up for Amazon Prime anyhow?


at approx €8 per month even if you do not buy anything


----------



## SparkRite (11 Sep 2020)

roker said:


> at approx €8 per month even if you do not buy anything



Below is the _usual_ and is not 'written in stone'.
Even subscribing to 'prime' does not give you free P&P to Ireland on all items in fact I would go so far as saying that it is the minority
of items. However these items are usually marked 'Prime' but then quite often will not be available to be sent to Ireland.

Also, AFAIK, even if you can sign upto 'Prime' on the other EU sites you will _generally_ not get free P&P to Ireland, thus we in Ireland
are somewhat disadvantaged in that we can only get the benefits of 'prime' ( and at that not even close to the full benefits ) from the .co.uk site.

To my mind, it is expensive for the casual buyer at £7.99 (note £) per month.


----------



## roker (11 Sep 2020)

I  inadvertently signed up to Prime and didn't know until I received my Visa statement. I promptly stopped payment and took all details of my CCard off the account. I am not using Amazon anymore because I do not know how I set it up.
Could there be one of those boxes that you must un tick rather than tick?


----------



## SparkRite (11 Sep 2020)

roker said:


> Could there be one of those boxes that you must un tick rather than tick?



You must actively opt in for prime and there are a few screens telling you that you have opted in and stating that you will be charged.
But there are more 'hoops' and screens to go through when you are cancelling.


----------



## Zenith63 (12 Sep 2020)

roker said:


> I  inadvertently signed up to Prime and didn't know until I received my Visa statement. I promptly stopped payment and took all details of my CCard off the account. I am not using Amazon anymore because I do not know how I set it up.
> Could there be one of those boxes that you must un tick rather than tick?


28% of people surveyed unintentionally signed up for Prime - https://www.which.co.uk/news/2019/07/accidentally-signed-up-to-amazon-prime-youre-not-alone/

You’re not alone. To be honest I don’t know how Amazon have been allowed away with it for so long. They take very deliberate measures on their site to trick you into signing up to it. I imagine they succeed in tricking older less tech savvy users particularly effectively.

FWIW they’re very quick to issue a refund if you contact them to say you didn’t want the service.

Note you do get the Amazon TV service with Prime, and there’s some good content on there, the price isn’t so bad if you use this.


----------



## roker (12 Sep 2020)

Zenith63 said:


> 28% of people surveyed unintentionally signed up for Prime - https://www.which.co.uk/news/2019/07/accidentally-signed-up-to-amazon-prime-youre-not-alone/
> 
> You’re not alone. To be honest I don’t know how Amazon have been allowed away with it for so long. They take very deliberate measures on their site to trick you into signing up to it. I imagine they succeed in tricking older less tech savvy users particularly effectively.
> 
> ...


I am afraid to go on Amazon site in case I sign up again, this could be counter productive for Anazon


----------



## hazelgreen (12 Sep 2020)

About 4 years ago I ordered a large item from Amazon to be delivered to a UK address.  I must have filled out form wrong as it came to my Dublin address.  No one was home so a note was left to say at local parcel post office. In fact I was in UK awaiting its arrival.  I left it 5 or so days to fetch same to be told it had been returned to sender!  When I enquired further they told me it had originated in Co Dublin and uncollected national parcels were returned in 5 days.  Foreign items were kept longer. It seems it had been sent to a warehouse (Amazon?) in Rathcoole and from there went  into the An Post system.  Well it saved me the bother and trouble of returned rather a large and heavy unwanted item and I was refunded the cost eventually.


----------



## SparkRite (12 Sep 2020)

roker said:


> I am afraid to go on Amazon site in case I sign up again, this could be counter productive for Anazon



Aw c'mon. If you can use AAM, then you obviously can control your mouse and click finger and can also read what's written on the screen.

As stated you have to actively 'opt in' for prime and in doing so this information is displayed clearly on the screen, including how much you will be paying and your renewal dates. You then go on to 'accept' this. To my mind it is quite transparent and is not in any way 'sneaky', unlike a well known budget airline where you used to have to 'opt out' of extras, up to a few years ago.
If people do not take the time to read what they are signing up for then it begs the question, should they even be on an E-Commerce site.

BTW the above linked Which 'survey' doesn't even constitute a 'straw' poll, while using the headline '28% of people....'. They interviewed 1199 people which represents  0.00038677% of Amazon customers.
Amazon have a customer base of over 310,000,000 so hardly counter productive as you opine.


----------



## roker (12 Sep 2020)

SparkRite said:


> Aw c'mon. If you can use AAM, then you obviously can control your mouse and click finger and can also read what's written on the screen.
> 
> As stated you have to actively 'opt in' for prime and in doing so this information is displayed clearly on the screen, including how much you will be paying and your renewal dates. You then go on to 'accept' this. To my mind it is quite transparent and is not in any way 'sneaky', unlike a well known budget airline where you used to have to 'opt out' of extras, up to a few years ago.
> If people do not take the time to read what they are signing up for then it begs the question, should they even be on an E-Commerce site.
> ...


the fact that I don't know how it happened worries me,


----------



## SparkRite (12 Sep 2020)

roker said:


> the fact that I don't know how it happened worries me,



Well, as they say, 'Once bitten, twice shy'.


----------



## Zenith63 (12 Sep 2020)

SparkRite said:


> Aw c'mon. If you can use AAM, then you obviously can control your mouse and click finger and can also read what's written on the screen.
> 
> As stated you have to actively 'opt in' for prime and in doing so this information is displayed clearly on the screen, including how much you will be paying and your renewal dates. You then go on to 'accept' this. To my mind it is quite transparent and is not in any way 'sneaky', unlike a well known budget airline where you used to have to 'opt out' of extras, up to a few years ago.
> If people do not take the time to read what they are signing up for then it begs the question, should they even be on an E-Commerce site.
> ...


All I can say is I think you’re dead wrong.

On the figures, I’m not sure what your argument is. Of 600 of their Prime users, ~30% had signed up accidentally. Unless you can make a clear case for why this is unlikely to be more widely representative of the UK/Irish market, then this is far more meaningful a figure than your 0.00038677%, conveniently underlined for us dullards who accidentally sign up to Prime subscriptions  .

The screenshots and detail in the article make it pretty clear to me there is an effort to pressure users into the service. For a non-savvy user you’re presented with a screen telling you you’ll get faster shipping with this thing called Prime, and if you choose it the Prime fee doesn’t show on your bill for that order, it pops up later on your credit card.

I would in no way trust that my elderly parents could navigate the payment process regularly without at some point signing up accidentally, it’s that simple really. Consumers should not need to be this much on their toes on a marketplace that has such a monopoly in online sales,


----------



## SparkRite (12 Sep 2020)

Zenith63 said:


> All I can say is I think you’re dead wrong.


I'm not going to argue with you. I just don't agree with you.




Zenith63 said:


> Of 600 of their Prime users, ~30% had signed up accidentally.



Quote from article:- _" 28% said that they had accidentally signed up to Prime,...." . (168 people) _A miniscule amount were initially involved
in the survey and an even smaller amount claim to have 'accidentally' signed up to prime. Hardly a basis to form any opinion.




Zenith63 said:


> and if you choose it the Prime fee doesn’t show on your bill for that order, it pops up later on your credit card.



But *IMMEDIATELY* on the screen. Even the article shows this picture, which clearly displays what the cost will be and a bright yellow box that states   "Sign up and *Pay*", which the user then has to select and click on. All this sits above even more text, *again* stating that it will cost  £7.99 per month. Surely it is the users responsibility to read what they are selecting to click on ?? I mean, it is in plain and simple English.








Zenith63 said:


> conveniently underlined for us dullards who accidentally sign up to Prime subscriptions  .



Just in case it was missed.


----------



## Drakon (13 Sep 2020)

IIRC I made my first Amazon purchase 19 years ago. I’ve never signed up for Prime, intentionally or otherwise. I’ve occasionally been offered Prime, but have rejected it with a single click.


----------



## Zenith63 (13 Sep 2020)

I haven’t signed up accidentally either, but I know my wife and our Business account were signed up accidentally, so two of the three accounts I’m involved in paying for have been caught. And there are countless articles of others in the same scenario.

This is a consumer rights forum and I’d hope our aspiration for the defence of those rights amounts to more than ‘buyer beware, suckers!’


----------



## peemac (15 Sep 2020)

hazelgreen said:


> About 4 years ago I ordered a large item from Amazon to be delivered to a UK address.  I must have filled out form wrong as it came to my Dublin address.  No one was home so a note was left to say at local parcel post office. In fact I was in UK awaiting its arrival.  I left it 5 or so days to fetch same to be told it had been returned to sender!  When I enquired further they told me it had originated in Co Dublin and uncollected national parcels were returned in 5 days.  Foreign items were kept longer. It seems it had been sent to a warehouse (Amazon?) in Rathcoole and from there went  into the An Post system.  Well it saved me the bother and trouble of returned rather a large and heavy unwanted item and I was refunded the cost eventually.


Rathcoole only has foundation laid. 

Amazon pick, pack and dispatch most irish orders from a massive fulfillment centre in Warrington.

Here they apply local irish an post labels. 

Amazon themselves send trucks of parcels from Warrington to anpost parcel center in Dublin and an post only take responsibility at that stage. Hence they are seen as "local" parcels.

The Amazon returns center is the an post mails center in portlaoise.

Amazon also use dpd. But this seems to be for goods dispatched from European fulfillment centers


----------



## EasilyAmused (10 May 2021)

RedOnion said:


> Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, etc.



I've found Amazon.de very poor.  I first used it about 15 years ago to get a camera and it was great.  But now it seems to be focussed on books.  I've browsed for t-shirts, fishing equipment, barbecue tools, etc, and it's not a patch on Amazon.co.uk

I recently made a purchase from a Dutch site.  "Ireland" appeared in the address dropdown menu along with about a dozen other European countries.  I also selected "Delivery" rather than "Collection" and paid for it.

A day later I got an email advising that my purchase was collection only.  I then asked how much delivery to Ireland would be.  The reply said they don't deliver to Ireland.  I then asked for a refund (but didn't point out their shoddy software issues).

I heard no more from them.  About a week after I got an alert from Revolut informing me that I'd received a refund,

Caveat emptor.


----------



## Purple (20 May 2021)

EasilyAmused said:


> I've found Amazon.de very poor.  I first used it about 15 years ago to get a camera and it was great.  But now it seems to be focussed on books.  I've browsed for t-shirts, fishing equipment, barbecue tools, etc, and it's not a patch on Amazon.co.uk
> 
> I recently made a purchase from a Dutch site.  "Ireland" appeared in the address dropdown menu along with about a dozen other European countries.  I also selected "Delivery" rather than "Collection" and paid for it.
> 
> ...


I agree that Amazon.de isn't a patch on Amazon.co.uk. 
I've pretty much stopped using Amazon since Brexit. I'll probably cancel Prime now as well, when I bother to get around to it.


----------



## EasilyAmused (20 May 2021)

I’ve actually went back to Amazon.co.uk twice this week. 

On of the items cost less with the additional VAT and free postage than it did from Amazon.de with paid postage. 

Then another item I wasn’t charged any additional VAT and got a message to say it was being shipped by Deutsche-Post. 

There’s a bit of a juggling involved...


----------



## Majka.21 (5 Jan 2022)

yep, i've had a similar experience.  It has been cheaper to shop on the .co.uk site than the .de even when all the added charges are added on.


----------

