# Amazon UK



## cruizes (Oct 9, 2011)

Recently arrived in Loulé permanently. There are a few things that I wanted to purchase from Amazon UK and wanted to know the latest policies and shipping costs involved. Do they stop in customs or bypass and shipped to my home directly. Thanks.


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## JohnBoy (Oct 25, 2009)

cruizes said:


> Recently arrived in Loulé permanently. There are a few things that I wanted to purchase from Amazon UK and wanted to know the latest policies and shipping costs involved. Do they stop in customs or bypass and shipped to my home directly. Thanks.


Nothing ordered from any country within the European Union will pass through customs and will be delivered directly to your door. Amazon UK delivery is usually by SEUR/DPD who are very good at communicating delivery dates. You will receive an email advising you of the expected date of delivery and a further reminder email on the day. If you live in a remote property it might help to include your phone number as a line in the text. The delivery driver can then call you if he cannot find the house. 

Postage costs vary from item to item and will be advised before you click 'buy' for the final time. 

Don't feel restricted to purchasing from the UK site, as items can be cheaper purchased on Amazon.de (Germany) or Amazon.es (Spain). The German website is now published in English and has postage charges. The Spanish site has to be translated and the Google Chrome add on works well. The main advantage to the Spanish site is that they now offer free delivery on most items on orders of €29 upwards. Remember, if you are ordering electrical items from the UK, they will come fitted with a UK three pin plug, whereas those from any site in mainland Europe will have the two pin plug used here. 

I always do a dummy purchase on all three sites and usually go for the cheapest. I have not needed to put it to the test yet but believe that, in the case of the need to return an item, purchases from the Spanish site might have a free return policy. Certainly that was the case when we used to have free postage from the UK. Sadly we lost that a couple of years or so ago.


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## MrBife (Jul 26, 2009)

Living where you do, you also have easy access to the excellent service from Algarve Express, if you get anything delivered to their Essex depot before Friday its here in the Algarve (Almancil) the following Tuesday. 

I use it for ebay purchases but there are regular situations where Amazon or other UK suppliers don't offer to ship outside the UK and this makes it possible.


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## travelling-man (Jun 17, 2011)

Just a slight correction (hope nobody minds?) 

Anything sent from an EU country doesn't incur tax etc but you need to check where the order actually comes from because some amazon & ebay & similar sellers are based within the EU but goods are sometimes sent from countries such as China & the USA etc & those items will incur tax & dreadful time delays if intercepted by Customs & Irritations. 

And it's a Royal PITA. 

Some sellers offer an 'International Shipping' option where you pay the tax with the purchase & they should not be intercepted by the Customs clowns.


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## JohnBoy (Oct 25, 2009)

travelling-man said:


> Just a slight correction (hope nobody minds?)
> 
> Anything sent from an EU country doesn't incur tax etc but you need to check where the order actually comes from because some amazon & ebay & similar sellers are based within the EU but goods are sometimes sent from countries such as China & the USA etc & those items will incur tax & dreadful time delays if intercepted by Customs & Irritations.
> 
> ...



You make a valid point TM though personally I have never come across an Amazon seller posting from outside Europe. Doesn't mean it cannot happen though. eBay is a different beast altogether and you need to be super careful when shopping on there. I have even noticed sellers claiming that goods would be sent from the UK when, if you dig deeper, you find it is actually Hong Kong or China. Buyer beware!

Back to a comment that I made in my previous post. Coincidentally, since writing that post, I have received a package from Amazon.uk that states on the address label, "If undelivered, return to Amazon Spain." It seems that Spain has taken over as our local distribution centre, so maybe we will be able to return goods via that centre free of charge as we used to do with Lisbon.


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