Amazon "Pay in euro" -Beware

power101

Amazon now offer a pay in euro function when buying from Ireland. In my case I bought a phone for £134.35. They quoted €176.64 on amazon to Pay in euro, however I took the sterling price and was charged €171.26 on my AIB Visa Debit card. Saving of €5.38 or 3% off the exchange rate they offered.

Just something to keep in mind, especially at this time of year! Take the sterling rate on amazon!!

Kenny Logins

power101 wrote: »

Amazon now offer a pay in euro function when buying from Ireland. In my case I bought a phone for £134.35. They quoted €176.64 on amazon to Pay in euro, however I took the sterling price and was charged €171.26 on my AIB Visa Debit card. Saving of €5.38 or 3% off the exchange rate they offered.

Just something to keep in mind, especially at this time of year! Take the sterling rate on amazon!!

*Don't?

power101

Kenny Logins wrote: »

*Don't?

Nope it's correct. Take the sterling rate. Don't take the euro rate.

flowerific

Yeh noticed that before and always pay in gbp now. Good to spread the word. Thanks

The Backwards Man

Always try and pay in the local currency you are buying from as a general rule

Kristopherus

power101 wrote: »

Nope it's correct. Take the sterling rate. Don't take the euro rate.

Did you factor in the currency conversion fee that your bank will apply?

I get a lot of stuff from Amazon.uk and I have found that there's sfa difference whichever way you choose to pay

meathman0

I always use PayPal , and think they give a bad rate, would I be better paying by credit card direct?

Kenny Logins

power101 wrote: »

Nope it's correct. Take the sterling rate. Don't take the euro rate.

The Sterling price on Amazon, not the (exchange) rate, yeah? (Just to clear it up)

better call saul

Check out the visa currency conversion site it will tell you what you'll be charged, you can also input your banks conversion fee too. On mobile so can't link, but good advice OP, in general always charge to your card in sterling

ninebeanrows

It is just like on an ATM abroad, you never take the rate on screen as it is just a way to rip you off!

Ryanair often try it when youre booking a flight too.

Charlie-Bravo

My recent purchase on amazon was with a credit card...so out of 300 euro I saved 3 euro by selecting Stg. So 1% difference for me. Definitely go with Stg.

foggy_lad

Kristopherus wrote: »

Did you factor in the currency conversion fee that your bank will apply?

I get a lot of stuff from Amazon.uk and I have found that there's sfa difference whichever way you choose to pay

It is still usually more than a euro cheaper to pay in sterling when price is high unless you have several items and there is a suspicion that amazon in their wisdom split your order into a few deliveries costing you an extra 30cent charge per delivery on your card.

kn

power101 wrote: »

Amazon now offer a pay in euro function when buying from Ireland. In my case I bought a phone for £134.35. They quoted €176.64 on amazon to Pay in euro, however I took the sterling price and was charged €171.26 on my AIB Visa Debit card. Saving of €5.38 or 3% off the exchange rate they offered.

Just something to keep in mind, especially at this time of year! Take the sterling rate on amazon!!

Yip. I always click on the 'Pay in GBP' option on checkout and it saves a couple of percent or more.

TheDriver

This was done to death last week in black Friday thread....

liamog

I bought a pair of Sennheiser headphones from Amazon. £130 from .co.uk or €95 from .it didn't get free shipping but only cost me €5 and no currency fees.

There's a site called camelcamelcamel.com where you can set up price alerts, I set one up across all the EU amazon sites.

_Whimsical_

I bought something for 175 on amazon a month ago and chose the sterling rate. Amazon failed to deliver the product, it was returned to them for reasons unknown somewhere along the delivery chain before it ever got to me. Amazon refunded me no problem but my refund was €14 short. When I contacted them they said that as I'd chosen to pay in the sterling the 14 quid was the charge my credit card company had applied for currency conversion with them and it wasn't part of my refund.

I had to argue over it but I got it back eventually. Just thought I'd mention it in case anyones buying high value items over Christmas that might need a return- be sure to check your credit card statement once you're reimbursed.

red_bairn

_Whimsical_ wrote:

I bought something for 175 on amazon a month ago and chose the sterling rate. Amazon failed to deliver the product, it was returned to them for reasons unknown somewhere along the delivery chain before it ever got to me. Amazon refunded me no problem but my refund was €14 short. When I contacted them they said that as I'd chosen to pay in the sterling the 14 quid was the charge my credit card company had applied for currency conversion with them and it wasn't part of my refund.

That sounds wrong all together. You aren't choosing the conversion currency in Euro so they charge you the amount that the company has set up.

Stinicker

Always chose the Sterling Rate, also as a frequent traveler I know never to allow a Foreign ATM to charge me in Euro which is often offered as you will always end up with a worse rate.

The downside to getting charged in Sterling is that you will pay a cross-border handling fee if you are using a Credit Card. In recent times I have been ordering more from Amazon.de as I find they have slightly lower prices and you get charged in Euro as it is the German site. I saved over €15 compared to the amazon.co.uk price and the two hard drives I ordered still came from the UK the same as if I ordered from amazon.co.uk itself. Only downside was trying to navigate through the German site but my basic german and Google Translate allowed me to get around it.

ucd.1985

TheDriver wrote: »

This was done to death last week in black Friday thread....

So what?

The Amazon Black Friday thread is an awful pain to trawl through.

Thanks OP

Gaw_

meathman0 wrote: »

I always use PayPal , and think they give a bad rate, would I be better paying by credit card direct?

Amazon don't allow you to pay using PayPal?

Stinicker

Paypal give a really bad rate and I always allow eBay purchases denominated in Sterling to go through in Sterling and its a better rate than Paypal will give. You cannot pay on Amazon using Paypal however.

loki7777

But if something is cheap always pay in euro - PTSB charge .46 or 2% if i am getting it correct, so buying something for less than a dollar will save You more than 50% vs paying in USD.

Atomic Pineapple

Indeed, blanket advice of always select the sterling option is incorrect for all cases, generally for more expensive stuff you are better off but I've bought some cheaper books and blu rays and when adding in the conversion from my bank and handling fee the euro rate on Amazon was cheaper.

cruhoortwunk

Very sly that they convert by default now. It used to be offered to you at checkout, but now it's a default which will catch a lot of people

shamelessidiot

power101 wrote: »

Amazon now offer a pay in euro function when buying from Ireland. In my case I bought a phone for £134.35. They quoted €176.64 on amazon to Pay in euro, however I took the sterling price and was charged €171.26 on my AIB Visa Debit card. Saving of €5.38 or 3% off the exchange rate they offered.

Just something to keep in mind, especially at this time of year! Take the sterling rate on amazon!!

They've done it for over a year at least. Nothing new.

cruhoortwunk

shamelessidiot wrote: »

They've done it for over a year at least. Nothing new.

No they havent pushed it on people by default for that long. A few months at the most.

Nollog

They've offered that for years, rates change so often it's always better to just go by your own bank's rates
Also, Amazon would do the exchange on their end with a specialist, who would charge them more, or add extra costs for them, so they pass it to you.

shamelessidiot wrote: »

They've done it for over a year at least. Nothing new.

It was the default for me before even the 3ds came out, I changed it to gbp back then too.
I did notice they ignored my chosen default last time I was price checking something though, maybe that's what OP means?

deathtocaptcha

it's all fun and games until your bank issue you with end of month or end of quarter transaction fees for 'currency conversion fees'...

Allyall

meathman0 wrote: »

I always use PayPal , and think they give a bad rate, would I be better paying by credit card direct?

Yes. Always. There is no advantage to using paypal. There may have been originally, but you get the same consumer protection from your bank or credit card, without the charges/crazy exchange rate.

Corvus Libros

Stinicker wrote: »

Only downside was trying to navigate through the German site but my basic german and Google Translate allowed me to get around it.

There's a Firefox add-on called S3.Google Translator that you can set up to automatically translate whole sites.

Doodah7

deathtocaptcha wrote: »

it's all fun and games until your bank issue you with end of month or end of quarter transaction fees for 'currency conversion fees'...

Then you need to change bank!!! Absolutely no way I would put up with that nonsense...

Kristopherus

tallpaul wrote: »

Then you need to change bank!!! Absolutely no way I would put up with that nonsense...

All banks charge a currency conversion fee if you pay by cc in Sterling.

meathman0

Gaw_ wrote: »

Amazon don't allow you to pay using PayPal?

Just checking to see who's awake :-)

Doodah7

Kristopherus wrote: »

All banks charge a currency conversion fee if you pay by cc in Sterling.

Not as end of quarter transaction fees!

Caliden

Weathercheck wrote: »

It is just like on an ATM abroad, you never take the rate on screen as it is just a way to rip you off!

Ryanair often try it when youre booking a flight too.

Off topic but found this out the hard way when withdrawing large amounts abroad. 30 euro difference when withdrawing 400 quids worth of local currency in Croatia.

Streets_of Rage 2 Come_On

Corvus Libros wrote: »

There's a Firefox add-on called S3.Google Translator that you can set up to automatically translate whole sites.

Switch to Iron Browser, it's chrome without the google spyware. Translate is built in. Vids play better...lots of better stuff. Hell, even Ctrl+F is better.

Had used Firefox for years, for now Iron is better.

vienne86

Good advice OP. I find that not just with Amazon, when buying from a UK site it is best to take the sterling price.

Nollog

Streets_of Rage 2 Come_On wrote: »

Switch to Iron Browser, it's chrome without the google spyware. Translate is built in. Vids play better...lots of better stuff. Hell, even Ctrl+F is better.

Had used Firefox for years, for now Iron is better.

pretty far from the topic, but
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SRWare_Iron
"Iron does not provide extra privacy compared to Chromium after proper settings are altered in the latter"
A few sources actually say it mines more of your data than setting those privacy settings in chrome, but it was a long time ago since i read that and stopped using it.

That currency conversion though, madness. :pac:

Kristopherus

tallpaul wrote: »

Not as end of quarter transaction fees!

No, it will appear on you cc statement.

padyjoe

To add my input to the story: bought some stuff on Black Friday deals, total cost GBP365.5 was around €460 right after I had finished my order (xe.com). By the time Amazon charged my debit card it's gone up to €475. (I was offered €476.something rightaway by Amazon) Why it's gone up? Sterling got a bit stronger and my bank charges me 1%+1% foreign transactions. So €466 after conversion plus €4.66+€4.66 (don't mind the math). So I saved not more than €2. Still some savings but I hoped for more! :-(

pleasant Co.

padyjoe wrote: »

To add my input to the story: bought some stuff on Black Friday deals, total cost GBP365.5 was around €460 right after I had finished my order (xe.com). By the time Amazon charged my debit card it's gone up to €475. (I was offered €476.something rightaway by Amazon) Why it's gone up? Sterling got a bit stronger and my bank charges me 1%+1% foreign transactions. So €466 after conversion plus €4.66+€4.66 (don't mind the math). So I saved not more than €2. Still some savings but I hoped for more! :-(

Because your maths are based on an inaccurate figure (that xe.com rate)
Your bank statement will have a breakdown of rates and charges on the sterling amount paid.

_Whimsical_

pleasant Co. wrote: »

Because your maths are based on an inaccurate figure (that xe.com rate)
Your bank statement will have a breakdown of rates and charges on the sterling amount paid.

xe.com will always be more favourable than the rate that your bank and cc use.

NATLOR

Worth mentioning that if you pay in sterling and return an item you will be refunded in sterling which will mean a double hit on currency exchange

Pablo1802

Stinicker wrote: »

Always chose the Sterling Rate, also as a frequent traveler I know never to allow a Foreign ATM to charge me in Euro which is often offered as you will always end up with a worse rate.

The downside to getting charged in Sterling is that you will pay a cross-border handling fee if you are using a Credit Card. In recent times I have been ordering more from Amazon.de as I find they have slightly lower prices and you get charged in Euro as it is the German site. I saved over €15 compared to the amazon.co.uk price and the two hard drives I ordered still came from the UK the same as if I ordered from amazon.co.uk itself. Only downside was trying to navigate through the German site but my basic german and Google Translate allowed me to get around it.

Prices on amazon.de are not always more competitive to amazon.co.uk, but it is always worth to check different amazon sites

loki7777

NATLOR wrote: »

Worth mentioning that if you pay in sterling and return an item you will be refunded in sterling which will mean a double hit on currency exchange

It is not the truth with ptsb - i paid in usd+fee and got back fee and usd converted to euro.

mac.in

Also, to bear in mind is the minimum charge the bank levy if the transactions involve a smaller amounts (let's say £5). In that case, better to opt for Amazon currency conversion as bank's minimum charges would be costing you dearer than the Amazon conversion charges.

foggy_lad

NATLOR wrote: »

Worth mentioning that if you pay in sterling and return an item you will be refunded in sterling which will mean a double hit on currency exchange

but very few items will be returned.

danjo-xx

Taking advice from here, I bought an item in sterling, which in euro would cost me €5.40 but by paying in sterling has cost me €5.78:(

foggy_lad

danjo-xx wrote: »

Taking advice from here, I bought an item in sterling, which in euro would cost me €5.40 but by paying in sterling has cost me €5.78:(

That doesn't sound right at all. what was the item? presumably it was part off a larger order to avail of the free delivery?

TomCo

foggy_lad wrote: »

That doesn't sound right at all. what was the item? presumably it was part off a larger order to avail of the free delivery?

For low cost items it's usually better to pay in euro because of fixed rate bank fees.

foggy_lad

TomCo wrote: »

For low cost items it's usually better to pay in euro because of fixed rate bank fees.

Usually banks would only charge about 25-30cents on top of the conversion rate so it still seems like a mistake or mis-price?