Amazon FBA in Ireland

FreeFallin · 16-04-2022 7:59am #1

Hello,

Given that Amazon will open a large fulfilment centre in Dublin in 2022 (ref: announcements in 2021), does anyone have insight on how Amazon will operate in Ireland? Presumably with a fulfilment centre in Ireland, taking orders from Irish customers primarily via Amazon UK would make little sense from a tax perspective.

Will we see an Amazon Ireland site? If Amazon orders will still be placed through the UK site, or elsewhere, will only Amazon's 'direct' product stock be distributed from Ireland (instead of stock from third-party sellers)?

I am interested to understand the Amazon FBA opportunities which may emerge in Ireland. Any insights appreciated.

lawrencesummers · 16-04-2022 8:04am

The opportunities that exist currently will be the same when a center opens in ireland

Mister Vain · 16-04-2022 8:11am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118933922#Comment_118933922

It will be a lot easier though given that you no longer have to deal with all the brexit crap They were due to open in the spring of this year so it shouldn't be much longer.

FreeFallin · 16-04-2022 8:44am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118933922#Comment_118933922

How so? Is this fulfilment centre solely for direct sale use? I doubt it. There's a whole new scope for same-day / next-day delivery, along with the potential for Amazon to grow significantly in Ireland. More products will be delivered from Ireland to Ireland.

lawrencesummers · 16-04-2022 8:50am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118933993#Comment_118933993

Sorry, i thought you were asking from a sellers point of view not a buyer

FreeFallin · 17-04-2022 2:26pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118934001#Comment_118934001

I was!

Does anyone know if Amazon will launch an Amazon Ireland site?

macvin · 23-04-2022 4:39pm

It will be a very simple solution.

You will order from Amazon.ie, it will have a huge range of products. many items will be in Dublin and dispatched immediately and many items will be in other warehouses and will get bulk transported to Dublin, sorted and then dispatched.

That is how they operate elsewhere and its why you have delivery times from 1-2 days up to 10-14 days.

McBluffin · 28-07-2022 4:36pm

Has anyone heard when the warehouse on the N7 will be open. Last I heard was they were opening April 2022. I don't see much lorries going in and out so I assume its not open yet?

Mister Vain · 29-07-2022 8:06am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119399991#Comment_119399991

Apparently Amazon built too many warehouses during the pandemic and now the demand is no longer there. The opening of the new warehouses in America has been delayed until next year, so I assume its the same here. Some are saying it could even be 2024 before they're all fully open.

Edit: Actually I just had a look at the Indeed website. Two jobs were listed yesterday for Amazon warehouse workers in Baldonnell. Maybe it is open. I can't seem to find any other information on it.

Mister Vain · 05-08-2022 7:26am

It's officially open. https://www.thejournal.ie/amazon-fulfilment-centre-opens-5832783-Aug2022/

sugarman20 · 05-08-2022 10:31am

Does anyone know if we will still be charged custom charges from this new centre? Can't seem to find a definite answer online.

L1011 · 05-08-2022 10:39am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119431864#Comment_119431864

There is no way that you could be. The items are in Ireland.

Not everything that the totality of UK FCs have will be there though

dam099 · 05-08-2022 5:46pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119431894#Comment_119431894

Yea, I can't see that they could either, presumably even if we remain on .co.uk without getting a .ie site their backend systems will know what warehouse items are going to be fulfilled from and capture the import charges through the existing process if that's outside the EU but not include if coming from the new Irish warehouse.

One thing that has puzzled me with the existing charges on 3rd party country goods above €150 that have a duty rate applicable is whether either the consumer or Amazon is getting double charged somewhere along the line.

Many dutiable goods probably have the same rate in the EU and the UK as they haven't diverged that much yet and in some cases they are possibly WTO rates anyway.

So if I order something subject to import duty I can see a couple of scenario's applying all of which seem to result in a higher than warranted price to Irish customers unless I am missing something.

Item has come into the UK warehouse and Amazon paid UK import duty when they brought it in and this is reflected in the UK price. They then have to charge an Irish customer EU duty again and no adjustment is made to the UK duty already paid so its effectively paid twice once in UK and once in EU
Item has come into the UK warehouse and Amazon paid UK import duty when they brought it in and this is reflected in the UK price. They then have to charge an Irish customer EU duty but get a refund of UK duty on an item re-exported. As UK pricing is not adjusted to the Irish customer Amazon effectively make a higher margin on this item
Item has come into the UK warehouse under some sort of bonding scheme and Amazon only pay UK import duty if they ship to a UK customer, however they don't add it at checkout for UK customers so its already priced in to the quoted price. If they ship to an Irish customer they charge EU duty but have paid no UK duty which had been priced into their quoted price. Again as UK pricing is not adjusted to the Irish customer Amazon effectively make a higher margin on this item

So with an Irish warehouse (and site for simplicity) they would likely pay EU import duty when brought into the Irish warehouse (which is the same or a similar rate to what they pay for importing to the UK warehouses and site) and shouldn't have to increase the price for Irish customers.