Car headlamp bulbs cost double in UK - why?

24

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  • Joe_Horner
    Joe_Horner Posts: 4,895 Forumite
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    Agreed, nothing holds a candle to the MSE forum.
  • fivetide
    fivetide Posts: 3,811 Forumite
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    buglawton wrote: »
    :):)

    Yes, I think I'm beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel.

    I know watt you mean.
    What if there was no such thing as a rhetorical question?
  • forgotmyname
    forgotmyname Posts: 32,551 Forumite
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    Blindingly and Glaringly obvious thats not amazon selling them but a 3rd party,

    There are other sellers who are selling them cheaper.

    I just put OSRAM in the search on amazon.co.uk
    Censorship Reigns Supreme in Troll City...

  • maninthestreet
    maninthestreet Posts: 16,127 Forumite
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    Thanks for shedding some light on this subject.....
    "You were only supposed to blow the bl**dy doors off!!"
  • buglawton
    buglawton Posts: 9,235 Forumite
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    forgotmyname wrote: »
    Blindingly and Glaringly obvious thats not amazon selling them but a 3rd party,

    There are other sellers who are selling them cheaper.

    I just put OSRAM in the search on amazon.co.uk

    OK found it, so nearly £13 for a pair of Osram long lifes in UK, yet if shipped from Germany, about £11 inc P&P!

    £7.50 per bulb in the UK.

    Hmm.
  • londonTiger
    londonTiger Posts: 4,903 Forumite
    anyone been to halfrauds? £20+ for a single osram nightbreaker when I last checked.

    I would steer clear of the cheap £1 ones (unbranded), probably low QC - built to not last and it will be a matter of time where you have to replace them all over again. On my car you need very small hands to access the bulbs, or else get the skin on your knuckles cut up. So I'd rather pay the premium and have the bulbs last a good few years.
  • forgotmyname
    forgotmyname Posts: 32,551 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    buglawton wrote: »
    OK found it, so nearly £13 for a pair of Osram long lifes in UK, yet if shipped from Germany, about £11 inc P&P!

    £7.50 per bulb in the UK.

    Hmm.

    Yeah but when they send the wrong ones or they are faulty how much and how long will it take them to get returned inspected and replaced?
    Censorship Reigns Supreme in Troll City...

  • londonTiger
    londonTiger Posts: 4,903 Forumite
    forgotmyname wrote: »
    Yeah but when they send the wrong ones or they are faulty how much and how long will it take them to get returned inspected and replaced?

    hopefully tghe warranty will cover it and you can just post it to the UK shop. But Europe postahe isn't hugely more expensive than Uk mail (standard post). Registered/tracked is more expensive though.

    I bougt some ipads for business a while back. Bought it from Germany because when you buy oods from other EU countries VAT is deducted at source. So helped my cashflow to buy it from de Deutschland. If I bought it from a UK shop I would have had to pay for the 20% VAT and then reclaim it year end. bad for cash flow.
  • steve-L
    steve-L Posts: 12,981 Forumite
    The trick is to have the spare otherwise it's a panic buy

    As London tiger said, it depends on your car..... mine is skinned knuckles and swear words to change....
    Last time I ordered online and still ended up going to halfords and paying £7 or something for a dim standard H7.
    On the way home I was using the Morrisons fuel voucher (12p off) and the morrisons garage had a full set of fuses and bulbs for less than a fiver!

    As Golf Bravo say's in continental Europe you just buy at a supermarket.
    I've less experience in Germany but in France every hypermarket has pretty much a couple of aisles containing what Halfords would here.

    Norway is similar but starts off expensive for everything but it only seems to be the UK you need a 'specialist' to buy bulbs, tyres, wipers
  • jackieb
    jackieb Posts: 27,605 Forumite
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Post
    Buy and Audi and you'll be harking back to the time you only had to pay for a bulb. There was one side of our old car that we could never get into, and the garage charged £20 on top of the price of the bulb to change it.
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