Shopping at Amazon

[AliasAggers]

i have made several on-line purchases at Amazon, and have been pleased with
the products and with their service. However, there is one aspect that I feel is
not correct, and that is that they charge Purchase Tax on the whole price of the
purchase. including the packing and carriage/postage costs. This is not correct,
is it? I did send them an Email querying this, but received no reply.
What do you think?

[TheOstrich]

As far as I'm aware, if standard-rate VAT is correctly applied to the item being bought, Aggers, then it's also applicable to the carriage and packing charges, as they are effectively part of the "service".

[Workingman]

That was my understanding as well, Ossie.

Amazon is not a 'shop' where you buy 'things', it offers a 'service' through which things can be bought and so VAT encompasses all.

It is worth remembering, especially on some low priced goods. The overall cost might work out dearer per item than going into a proper shop.

[Diflower]

I find Amazon's usually cheaper, but you rarely have to pay postage.
Our dog food is always at least £8 cheaper per 12.5kg bag than the local pet shop, often more - always free delivery.
Too much I'm afraid for loyalty to local business.

Also, if you don't live near a large shopping centre, it's certainly easier.

[AliasAggers]

I guess that must be right, boys, I hadn't looked at it that way.

Now I don't have a car, shopping for larger articles does sometimes become difficult,
hence the convenience of on-line shopping in some cases, but, of course, the extra
cost of having delivered to my door is really comparatively negligible.

Di - I have notices that Amazon often offer free delivery, on condition that one buys
a quantity of books.

Thanks for your replies.

[JoM]

We took out a Prime subscription, simply because John and Joe wanted to watch the Grand Tour series, I was going to cancel it after that had finished but we've kept it going. There's plenty of good TV to watch through it, a music streaming service, book loans and free next day delivery, and on some items you can order before 1pm to get it delivered between 6pm and 10pm, for free, that same day. I think we pay £7.99 a month and certainly get our money worth.

Di, I'll check out Billy's dog food. I do the subscribe and save for my Tassimo coffee. It usually works out that I save just over £1 a pack on that.

[Kaz]

We use Amazon a lot, despite Gloucester having lots of shops and retail parks. It's the convenience - one click and it's sorted