The Amazon Ireland website is coming, but it’s not here yet. But I know lots of people are asking about whether or not they should shop on Amazon UK in Euro or Sterling. The short answer is, never shop on Amazon UK using Euro because the exchange rate is awful, but it comes with a big “but”. Here’s what you should do instead.
Update: Amazon.ie is now live, giving shoppers in Ireland access to 200 million products from the Irish distribution centre with faster deliveries and easier returns
Shopping on Amazon UK in Sterling or Euro
When you shop on Amazon UK from Ireland, you’ll be give the choice to choose which currency you pick from. This is common with UK online retailers servicing Ireland. ASOS was the classic example, but it has since started only offering Euro shopping, something Amazon will likely move to soon too.
For now, however, you can shop on Amazon UK from Ireland and checkout while paying Sterling, which is what I recommend you do too, but only if you’re paying with Revolut.
The reason for this is because Revolut with automatically do all the exchange rates for you without charging a fee. Traditional Irish banks will charge you for the service.
You should always try to avoid checking out on Amazon UK from Ireland when paying with Euro. This is because Amazon has a really poor exchange rate that covers their risk more than yours. on a €20 transaction, you could pay nearly €5 over the odds purely based on how they calculate the exchange rate. So don’t let them.
That means in order to get the very best prices on Amazon UK when shopping from Ireland, you should only shop in Sterling and use Revolut for all transactions.
Amazon UK Alternatives in Ireland
Of course, it’s even more important that you generally shop around. Amazon UK won’t always have the best price. Sometimes Amazon Germany has the best prices and on that site you’ll transact in Euro with no additional exchange rates.
Beyond Amazon, there are often better deals to be had in general with other retailers too. Shop around and shop smart.
