Amazon.co.uk problem

[ryandubbz]

Hey guys im in the US, and i just ordered Oceans Trilogy and Mission Impossible trilogy for 29.58 gbp, Now ive ordered The matrix before and it converted the money to US dollar amount, but this time it didnt.

It says Price before VAT 29.58, and then total price 29.58.

Is this a problem, that it doesnt say what the US amount is in the order???

[jw]

http://www.xe.com

its 47.30+3%=48.72
its cheaper if you let your Visa do it anyways

[ryandubbz]

Originally Posted by jwbbud

http://www.xe.com

its 47.30+3%=48.72
its cheaper if you let your Visa do it anyways

what do you mean buy this? it was actually $47.63 charged to my account

[Dazza001]

Don't think there's a problem - it all sounds OK to me. Most importantly, as you're outside of the European Union you don't have to pay the tax* (VAT). So that seems all OK. Obviously, Amazon UK need to be paid in £GBP, and your credit card company will make the conversion into $USD for you. So it's no problem - your card company will just put it through at their exchange rate at the time of purchase.

You may have been shown the amount in $USD before simply for informational purposes, but obviously Amazon need to receive the exact amount in local currency so chances are it will be a few cents or so out. Although, I do know that a service exists (say, for someone in Sweden buying from France) that locks down the amount in your own currency at the time of purchase. As jwbbud says, you're best to just let it go as the Amazon option seems to give a poorer rate. Hope this helps.

* although, if buying certain items that are supplied by Amazon UK's Jersey merchant - Indigostarfish - you won't save VAT as there isn't any in the first place (Jersey is outside the EU.)

[quirkmanly]

Originally Posted by Dazza001

Don't think there's a problem - it all sounds OK to me. Most importantly, as you're outside of the European Union you don't have to pay the tax* (VAT). So that seems all OK. Obviously, Amazon UK need to be paid in £GBP, and your credit card company will make the conversion into $USD for you. So it's no problem - your card company will just put it through at their exchange rate at the time of purchase.

You may have been shown the amount in $USD before simply for informational purposes, but obviously Amazon need to receive the exact amount in local currency so chances are it will be a few cents or so out. Although, I do know that a service exists (say, for someone in Sweden buying from France) that locks down the amount in your own currency at the time of purchase. As jwbbud says, you're best to just let it go as the Amazon option seems to give a poorer rate. Hope this helps.

* although, if buying certain items that are supplied by Amazon UK's Jersey merchant - Indigostarfish - you won't save VAT as there isn't any in the first place (Jersey is outside the EU.)

Just to add that if the item isn't coming directly from Amazon(UK) but instead a preferred merchant, then the currency converter isn't available. At least it never has been in my experience.

[rdodolak]

This issue appears to be with the Ocean's trilogy boxset. I tried putting both items in my cart and the Amazon currency conversion option wasn't available at checkout. Next, I removed the Mission Impossible boxset from my cart and left the Ocean's trilogy boxset in the cart and the conversion still was not available. Finally, I removed the Ocean's trilogy boxset and placed the MI boxset in the cart and the currency conversion option was now available at checkout.

According to Amazon's site some items aren't eligible for Amazon's currency conversion service. Also, it doesn't appear to work for preorders.

Here's additional info on Amazon's currency converter:

Amazon Currency Converter
When you purchase eligible items from the Amazon.co.uk website, and your credit or debit card is denominated in certain currencies other than Pound Sterling (GBP), you may be able to pay in either the local currency of your card or in GBP. If you have never used the Amazon Currency Converter before, we will give you the option to switch it on during the ordering and payment process, provided your order is eligible. We'll show you the payment total in your local currency on the final checkout page so you won't have to guess the amount that will appear on your bank or credit card statement. In some cases your bank may still charge you a fee. Please contact your bank with regard to these fees.


Once you have the Amazon Currency Converter switched on, it will automatically give you the option to make future qualifying payments in your local currency. You can also turn the Amazon Currency Converter on or off at anytime through Your Account:

1. Click Your Account at the top of any page.
2. Click "View or change your Currency Converter settings" and sign in
3. Choose the "Yes, Turn Amazon Currency Convertor On" option.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/cust...deId=200224510

[RBBrittain]

Originally Posted by rdodolak

This issue appears to be with the Ocean's trilogy boxset. I tried putting both items in my cart and the Amazon currency conversion option wasn't available at checkout. Next, I removed the Mission Impossible boxset from my cart and left the Ocean's trilogy boxset in the cart and the conversion still was not available. Finally, I removed the Ocean's trilogy boxset and placed the MI boxset in the cart and the currency conversion option was now available at checkout.

According to Amazon's site some items aren't eligible for Amazon's currency conversion service. Also, it doesn't appear to work for preorders.

Here's additional info on Amazon's currency converter:



http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/cust...deId=200224510

This section from the help page explains it:

How do I qualify to use the Amazon Currency Converter?
To qualify to use the Amazon Currency Converter:

• Payment can include promotional offers or discounts, but cannot include gift certificates.
• The items covered by the total payment amount must be in-stock (if your order contains pre-order items or items that are out of stock, you won't be able to use the Amazon Currency Converter); and must not include gift certificates.
• Orders placed with 1-Click do not qualify for currency conversion.
• Orders placed on the Amazon Marketplace platform do not qualify for currency conversion
• You must use a Visa or MasterCard issued in a supported currency.

I believe the reason The Matrix didn't qualify for ACC is it's OOS; I noticed that yesterday (1-3 weeks) as I was finally ordering the Bourne trilogy. But then I generally don't use ACC because my bank passes thru Visa's 1% markup; ACC's is 3% or more.

[RBBrittain]

Originally Posted by Dazza001

Don't think there's a problem - it all sounds OK to me. Most importantly, as you're outside of the European Union you don't have to pay the tax* (VAT). So that seems all OK. Obviously, Amazon UK need to be paid in £GBP, and your credit card company will make the conversion into $USD for you. So it's no problem - your card company will just put it through at their exchange rate at the time of purchase.

You may have been shown the amount in $USD before simply for informational purposes, but obviously Amazon need to receive the exact amount in local currency so chances are it will be a few cents or so out. Although, I do know that a service exists (say, for someone in Sweden buying from France) that locks down the amount in your own currency at the time of purchase. As jwbbud says, you're best to just let it go as the Amazon option seems to give a poorer rate. Hope this helps.

* although, if buying certain items that are supplied by Amazon UK's Jersey merchant - Indigostarfish - you won't save VAT as there isn't any in the first place (Jersey is outside the EU.)

1. You forgot about (or if in the UK, aren't fully familiar with) ACC, which allows you to fix the charge in another currency (i.e., USD) upon ordering--though as I (edit: and jwbbud) pointed out, its markup may be higher than your bank's. (It could be lower too.) ACC is *NOT* just an estimate; it actually charges your card in its native currency, rather than charging it in GBP and letting Visa & MasterCard do the conversion (as with most international orders).
2. Amazon UK only uses Indigostarfish for normal orders from the UK, and usually only in packages of less than GBP18 (so customs won't add VAT); they essentially use VAT to pay for "free" UK shipping. All other normal orders are shipped from the UK, not Jersey; VAT is adjusted to local rates elsewhere in the EU, or deducted completely if going outside the EU (i.e., to the U.S. where the OP & I both live). Indigostarfish does *NOT* ship outside the UK & Channel Islands--either CDs, DVDs & BDs from Amazon UK (help, T&C) or other goods from its own website.

[rdodolak]

Originally Posted by RBBrittain

This section from the help page explains it:
I believe the reason The Matrix didn't qualify for ACC is it's OOS; I noticed that yesterday (1-3 weeks) as I was finally ordering the Bourne trilogy. But then I generally don't use ACC because my bank passes thru Visa's 1% markup; ACC's is 3% or more.

Thanks for the additional info. Although that helps it still doesn't explain the issue with the Ocean's triology boxset. When I tested it the title was in stock from Amazon.co.uk and would have shipped to the States.

Wasn't using a GC, not a preorder, not ordering from Amazon Marketplace, item was in stock, and using Visa/MC in supported currency. Although those requirements address most items, there still appears to be some reason why other items are excluded. Atleast that was my experience when I tried it yesterday.

For a bit of clarification, the way I interpreted the OPs post was that the OP previously order the Matrix boxset and the ACC was available. This time the OP placed an order for the Mission Impossible and Ocean's boxsets and the ACC was not available. I'm seeing the same issue and it appears the Ocean's trilogy boxset is the culprit.

[Monroville]

Has anyone else noticed that the currency conversions from http://www.xe.com/ and amazon.co.uk, amazon.de and amazon.fr do not match up?

[rdodolak]

Originally Posted by Monroville

Has anyone else noticed that the currency conversions from http://www.xe.com/ and amazon.co.uk, amazon.de and amazon.fr do not match up?

Yes. Amazon adds a service fee to the total for using it's currency conversion service whereas the conversion rate displayed on the xe.com site doesn't add any fees into the fix. Some card companies will also add a currency conversion fee to the total.

[jw]

Originally Posted by Monroville

Has anyone else noticed that the currency conversions from http://www.xe.com/ and amazon.co.uk, amazon.de and amazon.fr do not match up?

right, they wont, Amazon or your Visa/MC Charges a FEE to convert currency, Its a service

[JAYSONE]

Originally Posted by jwbbud

right, they wont, Amazon or your Visa/MC Charges a FEE to convert currency, Its a service

Just a heads up...if you have a Capital One Visa card use that. They don't charge a fee to convert the currency.

[Dazza001]

Originally Posted by RBBrittain

You forgot about (or if in the UK, aren't fully familiar with) ACC, which allows you to fix the charge in another currency (i.e., USD) upon ordering--though as I (edit: and jwbbud) pointed out, its markup may be higher than your bank's. (It could be lower too.) ACC is *NOT* just an estimate; it actually charges your card in its native currency, rather than charging it in GBP and letting Visa & MasterCard do the conversion (as with most international orders).

I said: "Although, I do know that a service exists (say, for someone in Sweden buying from France) that locks down the amount in your own currency at the time of purchase."

So that would be 'ACC' then; if the 'locks down' part sounds like an estimate I really don't know what to tell you. All I was missing was the name (or initialism) of this particular service.