# Online Shopping



## emmamayb (Aug 19, 2015)

Does anyone have any particular ways of getting english brands and things you miss in spain? Ive seen a few sites which ship but it always seems extortionate! I dont know what works and what doesnt, what do you guys all use? Missing loads recently!


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

emmamayb said:


> Does anyone have any particular ways of getting english brands and things you miss in spain? Ive seen a few sites which ship but it always seems extortionate! I dont know what works and what doesnt, what do you guys all use? Missing loads recently!


It all depends what you're looking for.

You have Icelands (which includes items from Waitrose) in Benidorm and then you have Expats just up the road in Villajoyosa.

There are Primark and C&A stores for clothes. Ikea for furniture ....


What is it that you think you can't do without or is it just as a luxury?


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

There is an Iceland "overseas" in Mijas, Fuengirola, an M&S foodstore in La Cañada, Marbella (as far as I know its still there) and most Carrefours have an "international" Aisle with plenty of British favourites and actually, these days most popular food is sold in other countries as standard

Jo xxx


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## tonymar (Jan 29, 2015)

emmamayb said:


> Does anyone have any particular ways of getting english brands and things you miss in spain? Ive seen a few sites which ship but it always seems extortionate! I dont know what works and what doesnt, what do you guys all use? Missing loads recently!


Try Dealz in Alicante city , its the same as the UK poundland but every thing costs 1.50€ instead

Cheers Tony


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

We don't have any of those fancy Iceland and Primark stores, so we grow and make our own.

Parsnip, Leek and Parsley soup was the most recent, all home made even the chicken stock.


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## emmamayb (Aug 19, 2015)

snikpoh said:


> What is it that you think you can't do without or is it just as a luxury?


Nothing I can't do without i'm just convinced there has to be a way to get things online from the UK. Not so much food etc but shops such as Topshop or Boots...has anyone ever bought online and had it shipped from stores like this?


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## silverfox1 (Apr 24, 2013)

emmamayb said:


> Nothing I can't do without i'm just convinced there has to be a way to get things online from the UK. Not so much food etc but shops such as Topshop or Boots...has anyone ever bought online and had it shipped from stores like this?


We've had stuff from Boots delivered to us here in Spain
Boots | Health and Beauty | International Delivery - Boots


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## Tammydog (Mar 7, 2015)

Silverfox. Just was going to stock up today with loads of Boots stuff to bring over with me. Then saw this. So now I know I can order it on line. Sorry it's not my thread. But found the subject useful to me as well. Can you order from Amazon do you know?


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## Helenameva (Aug 15, 2014)

Debenhams deliver to Spain.

There is amazon.es for Spain.


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## emmamayb (Aug 19, 2015)

oh thats good news. Ill give boots a go, has anyone tried using cashback sites i think quidco and topcashback do really good deals in the uk but not sure if they work over here?


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

You will find that the quicker you start buying Spanish, the quicker you will feel settled.

Spain has all the modern amenities that you would expect including everything that Boots, Debenhams or the likes sell. The only difference may be that the makes and names you are used to may not be available. However, there will be similar products which are just as good.


I am still intrigued why people need (or think they need) so many products from UK when those in Spain are just as good - help the Spanish economy and buy local. 

[Please]


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

The Mercadona supermarket's own brand beauty products, shampoos, make-up etc are every bit as good as Boots, in my opinion.


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## silverfox1 (Apr 24, 2013)

We've had loads of stuff from Amazon (uk) but the Amazon.es site is hard to navigate.


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## emmamayb (Aug 19, 2015)

ive been here for 12 years and have definitley settled in to the spanish brands and only buy spanish products at the moment. however there will always be little things that i miss. as i said these items will be more of a luxury than a necessity


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## stefig (Jul 14, 2015)

snikpoh said:


> You will find that the quicker you start buying Spanish, the quicker you will feel settled.
> 
> Spain has all the modern amenities that you would expect including everything that Boots, Debenhams or the likes sell. The only difference may be that the makes and names you are used to may not be available. However, there will be similar products which are just as good.
> 
> ...


I think the poster who started this thread has lived in Spain most of her life and went to school there! I see what you mean about buying Spanish products. I like to do that when I'm in Spain, but there are still things I prefer from back in the UK.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Alcalaina said:


> The Mercadona supermarket's own brand beauty products, shampoos, make-up etc are every bit as good as Boots, in my opinion.


I use a lot of Mercadona own brand toiletries and some of their make-up, and I also find the Primor chain of shops very good for more expensive brands such as Clarins, Clinique, Estee Lauder, etc. They have discounts of between 25 and 35 % off these brands, making them quite a bit cheaper to buy here than they are in the UK. I bought a Lancome mascara today with 30% off. It cost me €19.80 here and the same one is 24.50 (pounds) on the Boots UK website.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

We had to go to Gibraltar today for a non-shopping related reason, but had a bit of a binge in Morrisons while we were there. Pork pies, a gammon joint, Polish dill pickles, white stilton with apricots, Blue Dragon creamed coconut, smoked mackerel fillets, hot mango chutney ... you don't know what you've missed till you see it on the shelf!


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Alcalaina said:


> We had to go to Gibraltar today for a non-shopping related reason, but had a bit of a binge in Morrisons while we were there. Pork pies, a gammon joint, Polish dill pickles, white stilton with apricots, Blue Dragon creamed coconut, smoked mackerel fillets, hot mango chutney ... you don't know what you've missed till you see it on the shelf!


I'm off there tomorrow and a pork pie is high on my shopping list! How were the border queues today?

I won't bother with creamed coconut as there is a Dutch owned supermarket in Nerja which sells coconut milk for €1 per tin, much cheaper than anywhere else I've found here, and red kidney beans for the same price. I know they sell those in Mercadona but the ones in jars I find very mushy and I am too lazy to soak the dried ones.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

If you are really desperate, find out if there is a "man'n'van" person who does regular trips to and from UK then you could have stuff delivered to his holding address and he could then bring it all over for you (for a fee) in one shipment.

But there are a number of companies that will ship to Spain with things that are difficult (or impossible) to find here, e.g. bras for the larger girl (Bravissimo), unperfumed deodorant (Boots), Cotton Traders (clothing for northern European shaped people), Pavers (footwear), etc. Many of those offer free delivery to addresses in UK.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

baldilocks said:


> If you are really desperate, find out if there is a "man'n'van" person who does regular trips to and from UK then you could have stuff delivered to his holding address and he could then bring it all over for you (for a fee) in one shipment.
> 
> But there are a number of companies that will ship to Spain with things that are difficult (or impossible) to find here, e.g. bras for the larger girl (Bravissimo), unperfumed deodorant (Boots), Cotton Traders (clothing for northern European shaped people), Pavers (footwear), etc. Many of those offer free delivery to addresses in UK.


Unperfumed deodorant? They sell that in Mercadona.


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## peedee (Aug 30, 2015)

snikpoh said:


> You will find that the quicker you start buying Spanish, the quicker you will feel settled.
> 
> Spain has all the modern amenities that you would expect including everything that Boots, Debenhams or the likes sell. The only difference may be that the makes and names you are used to may not be available. However, there will be similar products which are just as good.
> 
> ...


What's it like for organic food in the supermarkets? We'll be doing our own research on the ground later this month but in France earlier this year noticed it's a major feature in most of the supermarkets there.
Any particular supermarkets we should look at?


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

peedee said:


> What's it like for organic food in the supermarkets? We'll be doing our own research on the ground later this month but in France earlier this year noticed it's a major feature in most of the supermarkets there.
> Any particular supermarkets we should look at?


We don't buy fruit and vegetables in the supermarkets as it tends to be pre-packed. We use local grocers or even 'farmers markets' where most of it tends to be organic anyway.

We also prefer to use butchers rather than supermarkets.


Supermarkets can be quite regional - we have Vidal and Consum around here but you won't find them all over Spain. Mercadona is a pretty national chain. We have Aldi and a Lidl (about 20 minutes away) but they are very small and not really worth the effort. However, these are also quite national I'm told.


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## Chica22 (Feb 26, 2010)

As stated in a previous post, I have never used online shopping, but just recently have looked at different sites to compare goods that I buy here in Spain. In the past few weeks I have been quite shocked at how much higher the goods were online from the UK.

Two examples are
Estee Lauder Double Wear Makeup 29.50 euros in Spain
Boots online 30.00 pounds (not including delivery)

Phillips Steam Iron 150 euros from carrefour
Amazon UK 183 pounds


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Chica22 said:


> As stated in a previous post, I have never used online shopping, but just recently have looked at different sites to compare goods that I buy here in Spain. In the past few weeks I have been quite shocked at how much higher the goods were online from the UK.
> 
> Two examples are
> Estee Lauder Double Wear Makeup 29.50 euros in Spain
> ...


One of the advantages of buying goods in Spain is that you can take them back much more easily, in addition, if it is one of those transformer plugs, it will be a continental two pin and not a UK three pin requiring an adaptor.

For perfumes (for SWMBO, not myself) I use allbeauty 
Perfume, Aftershave & Beauty at Great Prices - allbeauty.com
Their prices are for the most part better than you can get in the high street and better than duty-free.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Lynn R said:


> I'm off there tomorrow and a pork pie is high on my shopping list! How were the border queues today?


No border queues at all, in or out. We arrived about 10.30 am and left about 1.30 pm.


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## Chica22 (Feb 26, 2010)

baldilocks said:


> One of the advantages of buying goods in Spain is that you can take them back much more easily, in addition, if it is one of those transformer plugs, it will be a continental two pin and not a UK three pin requiring an adaptor.
> 
> For perfumes (for SWMBO, not myself) I use allbeauty
> Perfume, Aftershave & Beauty at Great Prices - allbeauty.com
> Their prices are for the most part better than you can get in the high street and better than duty-free.


Thanks Baldilocks for the link to the site, interesting. Just searched for Estee Lauder Double Wear, 37.13 euros, so the local Douglas Store (30.00 euros) still wins by far on price!!!


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## emmamayb (Aug 19, 2015)

I always find it is really hit and miss, some things are sooo much cheaper in Spain and others are miles cheaper in the UK it really depends. Although i have to agree that Amazon.co.uk is way way better than .es and the shipping costs are usually worth it.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Hepa said:


> We don't have any of those fancy Iceland and Primark stores, so we grow and make our own.
> 
> Parsnip, Leek and Parsley soup was the most recent, all home made even the chicken stock.


Primark is a clothes store and anything but fancy. You can make your own, but not grow.
BTW has anyone seen the Sewing Bee? I'm hooked!


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

peedee said:


> What's it like for organic food in the supermarkets? We'll be doing our own research on the ground later this month but in France earlier this year noticed it's a major feature in most of the supermarkets there.
> Any particular supermarkets we should look at?


Carrfour is the only supermarket I've seen with organic food.
I have seen a lot more on offer in small herbolario shops. They are shops that stock organic and ecological products and vary enormously in the stock that they carry.
Another thing that's gaining popularity in Spain is the idea of a box of organic food delivered weekly. I think this is a national organisation, but there will be more local ones which would probably be better re delivery kms and sourcing local produce
Fruta y Verdura Ecológica Online | Disfruta y Verdura


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## Tammydog (Mar 7, 2015)

Okay what's the best for Gluten free food. Know they understand very well. As they would cook separate food when I was there and made me special fruit puddings in the Spanish restaurants. But where is the best place and prices to buy it? I know it's an arm and a leg but where can I get flour ect to make my own?


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Sorry, duplicate post


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Alcalaina said:


> No border queues at all, in or out. We arrived about 10.30 am and left about 1.30 pm.


It was just the same today, thankfully. We got there at 11.30 and left at 4.30. Came home a happy bunny with some clothes from M&S and a trolley load from Morrisons.

Plus a bottle of Woods Navy Rum (57%) for the OH, unbelievably cheap at 4.95.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Tammydog said:


> Okay what's the best for Gluten free food. Know they understand very well. As they would cook separate food when I was there and made me special fruit puddings in the Spanish restaurants. But where is the best place and prices to buy it? I know it's an arm and a leg but where can I get flour ect to make my own?


Mercadona and Hipercor are the best (the former being cheaper), and Lidl carry some g/f products. Both also carry sugar-free/no added sugars.


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## peedee (Aug 30, 2015)

Pesky Wesky said:


> Carrfour is the only supermarket I've seen with organic food.
> I have seen a lot more on offer in small herbolario shops. They are shops that stock organic and ecological products and vary enormously in the stock that they carry.
> Another thing that's gaining popularity in Spain is the idea of a box of organic food delivered weekly. I think this is a national organisation, but there will be more local ones which would probably be better re delivery kms and sourcing local produce
> Fruta y Verdura Ecológica Online | Disfruta y Verdura


Thanks PW and snikpoh we try to do the organic as much as possible though, as the OH will tell you, I'm not as good as I should be. 

Markets should be good for veg, the stuff in the supermarkets in the uk is not that good whether organic or not but I do make all my own bread and pasta - bit of a passion for newly baked bread - so good organic bread flour is on the list of things I need to source regularly.
Presently get from Waitrose in the UK so hoping I can find a reliable source in Spain. I've seen mention here of Iceland selling a mix of products from UK stores so that may be worth a look if we can't find the Spanish equivalent.


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## emmamayb (Aug 19, 2015)

So after digging this thread up and finding my old comment regarding cashback sites i can reveal that after using one based in the uk it worked! I used topcashback to buy some train tickets for my recent visit to the uk and i managed to receive two pounds back for my purchase. I know it isnt a lot but its a useful money saving tip for anyone who is strapped for cash like i am


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