Play.com FINALLY fixes their Euro conversion rate!

Basq

Oracle wrote: »

They're a new kid on the block if it's true, next question of course is, what will they deliver to Ireland? What types of items have you ordered from them? Thanks for the good news anyway, ei9go.

The reason you were unaware if because they don't have nearly as many bargains as you'd expect. The Wal-Mart affiliation is just a name.. don't expect to get stuff for that cheap in their online store.

DVDs, CDs, & Games all have free delivery.. but don't think they ship anything else outside Europe (similar to Amazon.co.uk).

Darwin

Asda - nice find! At least it gives us another site to price check when buying games etc other than the usual trio of blahdvd, sendit and play. Just picked up God of War for the PSP for 17.71stg (slighty cheaper than blahdvd, way cheaper than play)

Oracle

'Tis true what you say Basquille, just browsing through the DVD's I've seen most of them cheaper elsewhere.

therecklessone

shayser wrote: »

If I'm reading this right they might have to. Would have to register anyway.

My understanding is that regulation only applies to sale of goods within the EU, i.e. from one member state to another. Jersey is NOT in the EU.

A number of posters have been caught for VAT on play.com packages in the past, do a quick search.

shayser

So Play don't charge VAT? See same prices on Amazon and dvd.co.uk with VAT.

311

Surely if play can't ship electronic goods to Ireland ,they are obviously in contact with some sort of consumer agency here.

therecklessone

shayser wrote: »

So Play don't charge VAT? See same prices on Amazon and dvd.co.uk with VAT.

AFAIK, Play do not pay VAT to the Revenue Commissioners.

Amazon may charge the same for products, but will charge you for delivery. As I understand it, Play's offer of "free delivery" is covered by their pricing model, as are all of their overheads...you don't get free delivery, you pay for it everytime you purchase a product, it's just included in the item price.

RobertFoster

Darwin wrote: »

Asda - nice find! At least it gives us another site to price check when buying games etc other than the usual trio of blahdvd, sendit and play. Just picked up God of War for the PSP for 17.71stg (slighty cheaper than blahdvd, way cheaper than play)

Has the ASDA site any affiliation with TheHut (also mentioned here a few days ago)?

Any game I've looked at on the ASDA site is the same price as on the Hut. Like, Orange Box (PC) is £15.93 on both, and Metroid Prime 3 is £26.93 on both too. Even God of War is the same price.

Either they're connected, or they price match each other.

therecklessone

For clarity re. VAT:

http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/taxation/vat/consumers/mail_order_distance/index_en.htm

Goods

The rules applicable to mail order and distance purchasing are identical whether goods are ordered by telephone, from a catalogue or via the internet.

The general rule for supplies of goods to private individuals in the single market is the "origin" principle. This means that private individuals pay VAT in the Member State of purchase, and do not have additional VAT to pay on return to their own Member State .

However, for "distance selling" (where the supplier and the customer are located in different Member States , and the goods are dispatched to the customer), there are a number of different possibilities, all related to the level of trade of the supplier, which determines whether the "origin" or "destination" principles apply.

The general rule is that it is the VAT rate of the supplier which applies ("origin" principle). However, if the level of sales in any one Member State exceed a certain threshold (either €35.000 or €100.000 depending on the Member State), then the supplier must register for VAT and charge VAT at the rate applicable in that Member State ("destination" principle).

This means that distance sellers must charge the VAT rate applicable in the Member State of the customer where the supplies to all customers in that Member State exceed the relevant threshold.

Goods supplied from outside the European Union are subject to VAT on importation.

EdgarAllenPoo

I've just compared some of the £ to € prices on some games and books, for example the paperback edition of Lawrence Dallaglio's autobiography is £5.99 but is then listed in € as €8.49 when £5.99 is roughly €7.54. They're still screwing us.

Sarn

They're using €1 = ~0.714 GBP.

If I get stung for VAT and duty I'll be seriously paying over the odds.

rubadub

Originally Posted by eamon234 View Post
In fairness it does cost them more to send an item from UK to IE

machiavellianme wrote: »

They arent in the UK
Jersey is not even a member of the EU

It costs less for people/companies in jersey to post to the UK rather than Ireland or europe. They are close to the UK so I presume this is why. Just like it is cheaper to post from Ireland to the UK rather than the rest of europe. I expect they might have massive containers going daily to the UK so get a really low rate.

I would prefer if they openly disclosed the postage, and gave discounts on multiple items, by packing them all in one box.

There is no such thing as "free postage", I have never heard of volunteer postmen. Pizza places now do "free delivery" and "walk in discounts". The potential walk in discount is the delivery charge.

okidoki987

www.currency.ie will give you close enough to the "interbank" rate
(the rate that the banks deal with other at for the larger amounts).
Knock off approx 3% for the margins and the rate on the credit cards
will be about 0.7680, then there's a 1.75% foreign currency charge which leaves the rate at
approx 0.755, still a bit higher then Play's 0.7150!

Zaph

Slightly OT, but I was up in The Outlet in Banbridge the other day and went into Burger King for something to eat. Anything I bought up there I put on my credit card put I paid in Euros in BK. The rate they gave was 60 pence to the Euro, which was only pointed out to me after I'd handed the money over. Don't know if everywhere uses the same rate, but it'll be interesting to see what reply I get from the centre's management company to the e-mail I sent them. By comparison Play's rate seems extravagently generous.

loyatemu

its a burger joint - they're not obliged to take your euros at all.

plenty of places down here used to take sterling on a 1 to 1 basis before the euro changeover. needless to say this was not a good deal for our northern brethren.

Stephen

TheHut run the Asda entertainment site so the prices are the same and the stock comes from the same place. I've ordered a good bit of stuff from them (games and DVDs) over the last few weeks and all of it was delivered so I wouldn't pay much attention to their UK-only delivery policy.

steve 0

Why is the rate not the same across the site, the latest offer is 'everything for £5' or €7.49, if you dont mind

podgeandrodge

yeah that makes it a rate of .67. Still a total rip off.

311

Play.com don't put anyone under pressure to buy stuff ,but some of their stuff is still cheaper than other sites.

PWEI

Sorry to be bringing up and old topic but the play.com euro mark up has gone beyond a joke now.I'm encouraging people to avoid buying from play even
if it's cheaper than other sites.Just a few examples, Iron Man £10.99,current euro conversion €12.30 but play are selling it for €15.49 that's over a €3 mark up.The Dark Knight £11.99,current euro conversion is €13.41 but play's euro price is €16.99.I can buy it at that price in HMV.:mad:

Gran Hermano

No-one is forcing you to use Play.com. I mailed them months back and they explained they use the crazy exchange rate to cover the additional postage costs.

Even with their rate they can still remain cheaper than others on certain products - especially on their special deals (Rainbow 6 Vegas for PS3).
Just make sure to check the competition.

And bumping this thread will make many people think they've recently
fixed the rates again.

ciano1

Its an even bigger rip-off when buying games

Gears of war 2 is £39.99, converts to E44.79 on XE.com
Play charging E55.99 :eek:

Thats 11.20 Overcharged

Smoggy

It will cost play.com an extra 2euro to post to ireland instead of the uk.

jayteecork

Gran Hermano wrote: »

they explained they use the crazy exchange rate to cover the additional postage costs.

surely play's statement is one of the biggest gaffs of all time?
Blatant case of false advertising if there ever was one.

Onikage

Gran Hermano wrote: »

No-one is forcing you to use Play.com. I mailed them months back and they explained they use the crazy exchange rate to cover the additional postage costs.

Even with their rate they can still remain cheaper than others on certain products - especially on their special deals (Rainbow 6 Vegas for PS3).
Just make sure to check the competition.

And bumping this thread will make many people think they've recently
fixed the rates again.

Great post on all counts.

jenno86

I nearly jumped for joy when I saw this thread. Only to find it was yonks old. I did wonder how I didnt notice such a big thread b4!

FeelingTired

Heya,

Can the thread title or a warning put on it....gave me false hope too.:mad::mad::mad::mad:

Cheers,

FT

whiterebel

I know its an old thread, but Play were giving "free" delivery when the rate was worse for us for Sterling, so they are making a killing now. Haven't used them in months and won't go back until they bring their rate into line. CDWOW allow you to buy in Stg on the .com website.

psicic

/me spits out mouthful of hot port.

Egads! Another necromanced thread! How are these people doing this? If watching hundred of hours of anime has taught me anything, the laws of equivalent exchange cannot be bypassed merely by posting something remotely relevant to the original thread....

.... wait a minute.... the sentiments in this thread....

.... they're opposite to the original thread.... this is an anti- thread.... a zombie thread, if you will.....

KILL IT QUICK before it infects the board and starts raising other dead threads!

(On/T: Play is the same as Boffer or Amazon or any other place.... I personally take it for granted there are extra postage charges (and, indeed, admin charges) for a UK company to send abroad. Of course they have the right to charge us extra - even if it seems disproportionate or they don't explicitly separate out costs that are, evidently, shipping charges. The current system is far more preferable then them not shipping to Ireland at all (I still remember the days in online shopping when Ireland was isolated almost like a pariah in the far corner of Europe.) If the price still seems good with the higher prices we pay, then it is still a bargain. If these charges make it too expensive, then it's not. That's the cost of living on the far edge of Europe. Big whoop. To buy or not buy remains a personal decision on value.)

Nooow.... why do I suddenly have the urge to comment on a topical CD-WOW thread - or maybe even try and dig out a pre-2003 thread about the price of second-hand Atari Jaguars in Electronics Boutique....

Nody

ciano1 wrote: »

Its an even bigger rip-off when buying games

Gears of war 2 is £39.99, converts to E44.79 on XE.com
Play charging E55.99 :eek:

Thats 11.20 Overcharged

You will never, in your life, get the XE.com exchange rate so please don't qoute that exchange rate as the actual rate you'd pay.