Buying from UK website and tax?

L

lozza

Registered User
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I recently bought a couple of items of clothing from a UK website, the prices automatically come up in euro for me but as I spotted one of the items in a magazine in the sterling price a lot cheaper I checked it out further and I paid €94 more than I would have had I paid in sterling?? I sent them a mail and this is the response I got, can anyone advise if this is true or if its Bull??

We can confirm that the UK taxes were removed
from the prices and the taxes for Ireland were
added to the price of each item.
Please accept our sincere apologies for any
inconvenience caused by this matter.
 
As far as I know if an online retailer does more than a certain amount of business (c. €50K p.a. if I recall correctly) into Ireland then they must charge Irish VAT. Otherwise they can charge UK VAT which is lower for some or all classes of goods/services.
 
Would it really be that much of a difference though? I paid €425 for an item that is £295 - thats a difference of €48??
 
€425 including Irish VAT of 21%?
£295 including UK VAT of 17.5% (?)?
Or are one or other of these prices VAT exclusive?
Perhaps you could just post a link to the item so that we can look directly?
 
here is link please don't slag me for spending so much on a bag, I had saved for ages!!!
 
if you click on the top of the page where it says you are currently in ireland you can change your location to the uk for the uk price
 
The Irish site gives:

€351 + €74 tax (21% Irish VAT) + €36 P&P = €461

while the UK site gives (using rounded figures):

£276 + £48 tax (17.5% UK VAT) + £10 P&P = £334

which roughly converted using www.xe.com is ...

€347 + €60 + €13 = €420

So the base price is in or around the same (allowing for foreign exchange margins over and above what www.xe.com might be using) and Irish tax and P&P charges inflate the Irish € price over the UK £ price.
 
Thank you for taking the trouble to explain it to me. i guess I ahve to find someone with an English postal address!
 
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