Amazon Currency Converter.

Dman001

So I was looking around Amazon UK and I put a Blu Ray player in my cart. Anyway, I went to check out to see how much it would cot altogether including shipping. Just before I got to the final part of confirming my order, Amazon converted my order to Euro for me and asked me did I want to pay in their Euro price or pay in Sterling. They calculated that the price of the BR Player was over €198 delivered (or £161.80). I converted the Sterling amount on Google and on XE.com and and it really converted to just over €189.

So just a quick warning not to use Amazon's Euro Currency converter.

Greenmachine

Agreed while you will prolly end up paying 1-2 euro over the xe price your shrewdness save you a tenner.

Nody

You are aware that you will never, ever, get the XE or google rates, right? By charging at GBP amount you'll take the credit card rate instead which is usually XE + 2 to 5%.

Honestly I'd say you may actually end up losing money compared to what Amazon offered between the fees and exchange rate. Feel free to post your actual once it shows up on your CC statemet (online).

jor el

Also, Amazon are obliged to charge 21.5% VAT to Irish customers, where as the UK price has 15% VAT applied.

No bank, shop or currency exchange will give you the XE rate, it will always be a couple of % off this, and not a fixed amount of 1 or 2 euro. The rate you got sounds about right.

Dman001

I didn't actually purchase the player, I was just checking how much it would be delivered. I know that Google and XE are a bit off but I thought it would be only €1 or €2 difference.

number10a

If you use a Bank of Ireland credit card anyway (not sure about the other banks) it's always beter to pay in sterling. Not sure why, but BOI will charge you a rate that's very similar to XE. I would have expected a margin, but there doesn't seem to be one.

rubadub

number10a wrote: »

If you use a Bank of Ireland credit card anyway (not sure about the other banks) it's always beter to pay in sterling. Not sure why, but BOI will charge you a rate that's very similar to XE. I would have expected a margin, but there doesn't seem to be one.

Strange, I'm with BOI and I am on average 3% more than XE. the exchange rate is poorer and then they put on a separate cross border handling fee (or some similar name).

I have a dual mastercard/visa so only pay one tax, you can check visas current exchange rate online, and it lets you input your banks fee (like the BOI one) and it outputs the real costs. It is invariably cheaper than paypal. When stores offer paypal I always use my CC, not just because it is slightly cheaper but since paypal screw the business you are buying from. I will be returning to these shops again, so the way I figure it is that if everybody used paypal they would have to increase their prices.

johnnycage2008

yes its a scam..

you NEVER get a better rate from amazon

and the fact they have it set to default is disgusting

you actually have to change it yourself to GBP so a lot of people getting ripped without realizing it

galwayjohn89

johnnycage2008 wrote: »

yes its a scam..

you NEVER get a better rate from amazon

and the fact they have it set to default is disgusting

you actually have to change it yourself to GBP so a lot of people getting ripped without realizing it

That's true but it does protect you from currency exchange differences if you return items in the future I would guess.

pleasant Co.

johnnycage2008 wrote: »

yes its a scam..

you NEVER get a better rate from amazon

and the fact they have it set to default is disgusting

you actually have to change it yourself to GBP so a lot of people getting ripped without realizing it

I do love scams that advise you EXACTLY how to opt out, providing links to help you do so :pac:

Forough

I used a BOI credit card for a purchase on Amazon , and payed in GBP. It showed as 86.36 Euro on my credit card statement. Amazon wanted to charge me for 90.03 Euro for that purchase if I had chosen to use their currency converter. As you see using BOI credit card is beneficial.

Fanny Wank

Forough wrote: »

I used a BOI credit card for a purchase on Amazon , and payed in GBP. It showed as 86.36 Euro on my credit card statement. Amazon wanted to charge me for 90.03 Euro for that purchase if I had chosen to use their currency converter. As you see using BOI credit card is beneficial.

Using Revolut would be even more beneficial