Amazon Currency Conversion?

kerryked

Okay so I'm about to buy some stuff on Amazon, at the final page it asks whether I want to pay in GBP or Euro. Amazons currency conversion is a bit high so I want to know if I select to pay in GBP and pay with Visa will AIB do a proper conversion and charge me less? :P

snubbleste

Call AIB's helpline and ask.

nompere

I always buy in sterling and let AIB convert. Any time I've checked, and I can't always be bothered, paying in sterling costs less than taking the Amazon euro figure.

I've seen other posters in here say much the same.

recipio

Amazon also charge 23% vat where applicable. I'd love to know if the Vat is remitted to the Irish Government or 21% to the UK Treasury and the remainder to Amazon.?

rubadub

I use BOI & mastercard and it was invariably cheaper to pay sterling.

You can check rates here, need to know bank charges too
https://www.mastercard.com/global/currencyconversion/index.html

https://www.paypal.com/helpcenter/main.jsp;jsessionid=FsCDKwwLdkDspHhmD0W9VTX2c2n1hsBJPwVJpC1FQw18Kp3XHQl3!66163787?t=solutionTab&ft=homeTab&ps=&solutionId=163394&locale=en_GB&_dyncharset=UTF-8&countrycode=GB&cmd=_help&serverInstance=9006

rubadub wrote: »

I ordered some items on amazon on 30 april. Came to

-Order Total: GBP 93.48

using their currency converter it was

-Payment Total: EUR 112,43

I checked on XE at the time and it was

93.48 GBP=107.672 EUR

Of course nobody gets this and it is usually 2-3% more than this using CC or paypal so I chose to pay in sterling via CC.

My BOI mastercard statement was
93.48GBP RATE 0.8549 €109.34

So mastercard was only 1.5% more than XE
Amazon was 4.4% more
And I saved €3.09 by choosing to pay in sterling rather than use amazons converter.

My statement shows the payment on 4 May, so I wonder if it is taken on that date and if the XE rate would have been the usual 2-3% I would expect.

recipio wrote: »

I'd love to know if the Vat is remitted to the Irish Government

It is.

Kristopherus

Do you also get hit with a Currency Conversion Charge?

kerryked

I ended paying in Sterling on the Amazon site, it worked out cheaper alright, albeit only 2 or 3 euro, but still at least I'll know for future reference in case I'm ever ordering something which is dearer:)

LeftBlank

kerryked wrote: »

I ended paying in Sterling on the Amazon site, it worked out cheaper alright, albeit only 2 or 3 euro, but still at least I'll know for future reference in case I'm ever ordering something which is dearer:)

Did you factor in that your bank will charge 1.75% (or more) for the currency conversion?

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

nompere

LeftBlank wrote: »

Did you factor in that your bank will charge 1.75% (or more) for the currency conversion?

I just compare the Euro figure Amazon quote on the buying page with the final euro figure that appears on my Visa statement. I've never lost out buying from Amazon in sterling.

ElNino

recipio wrote: »

Amazon also charge 23% vat where applicable. I'd love to know if the Vat is remitted to the Irish Government or 21% to the UK Treasury and the remainder to Amazon.?

The Irish Government get it. Any foreign retailer exporting above a certain level of goods to Ireland has to register with the Revenue Commissioners for Irish VAT.

irishgeo

i thought the rule of thumb was to always pay in sterling as the bank rate is always better.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

dudara

recipio wrote: »

Amazon also charge 23% vat where applicable. I'd love to know if the Vat is remitted to the Irish Government or 21% to the UK Treasury and the remainder to Amazon.?

If they charge an Irish 23% VAT rate, then that is entirely due to the Irish Revenue Commissioners. Amazon do enough sales to this country to meet the criteria for inclusion under our VAT regime.

To answer the original question, I always take the rate from the credit card, and never from the retailer. I work on the assumption that the retailer has to finance the FX from a bank, therefore they will have added a little extra to cover their costs.