Buying from Germany

Kuly
Kuly Posts: 56 Forumite
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in In my home (includes DIY) MoneySaving
Hi - Looking to refurbish my bathrooms and found that sanitary ware and Showers etc are over 50% cheaper on German websites than in the UK.

Has anyone bought anything from either reuter-shop.com or megabad.com or have any views on pros/cons buying from abroad?

Just as an example, Villeroy & Boch Subway 2.0 washbasin white with CeramicPlus without tap hole 550mm is €156.31 (£120). On a UK website it is £247!!!!!!!

How come it costs so much more over here! Ripped off as usual or am I missing something?

For the whole bathroom, including shipping costs, I am saving over £600 than buying in UK!

Thanks,
Kuly

Comments

  • phil24_7
    phil24_7 Posts: 1,535 Forumite
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    The Euro is weak at the moment (has been for a while) so it makes the price disparity much greater than normal.

    I recently bought some car parts from Germany for £140 that would have cost me £240 here as it seems even though the suppliers here buy straight from the manufacturer in Germany, this price doesn't reflect this at all so the manufacturer/wholesaler in Germany must be pocketing the extra!

    If it's identical kit then there should be no worries, I suppose it all depends what waste pipes, water pipes etc are used in Germany as I have no idea if they are the same.

    Keep in mind that any returns would work out costly.

    Regards
    Phil
  • Kuly
    Kuly Posts: 56 Forumite
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    Thanks for your reply Phil.

    Same product code as in the UK so not too worried about sizes.

    Returns is a good point. I am making a detailed list of everything I need. Only reason for return would be damaged items, in which case I think return costs will be covered by distance selling regs which are now europe wide?
  • phil24_7
    phil24_7 Posts: 1,535 Forumite
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    This may be the case, but I still wouldn't like to have to return anything. Language and distance barriers will probably make the whole process much more difficult than it needs to be!

    It's whether the risk is worth the reward for you. If it is, go for it!

    Regards
    Phil
  • DigForVictory
    DigForVictory Posts: 11,905 Forumite
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    how will you get it all into the UK, & what will shipping insurance cost?
    But hurrah for a low Euro & well done thinking outside the UK for suppliers - we're not nicknamed "the Golden Isles" by accident.
  • chappers
    chappers Posts: 2,988 Forumite
    I very much doubt the shipping cost would come anywhere near the savings. I bought a very large tent from Germany, around 30 Kg, the shipping was 15 euros and it arrived within 3 days.
  • Kuly
    Kuly Posts: 56 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper Combo Breaker First Post
    I stand to save around £1000 (in total 5k cost in germany, 6k cost in UK) ordering from Germany. Shipping costs is £100, all in, including insurance.

    I'm even considering driving there myself, make a long weekend of it!

    I have spoken to them and emailed them and their English is very good (more than I can say for my German!).
  • jakemillspaek
    jakemillspaek Posts: 173 Forumite
    Good for you thinking outside the box.
    I would check ebay and amazon 1st.
    I wanted a car part for our Hyundai.Dealer cost £130,direct from Korea £100,scrap yard £75 and found it on ebay £30 new delivered.
  • phil24_7
    phil24_7 Posts: 1,535 Forumite
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    edited 31 January 2016 at 6:31PM
    Kuly wrote: »
    I stand to save around £1000 (in total 5k cost in germany, 6k cost in UK) ordering from Germany. Shipping costs is £100, all in, including insurance.

    I'm even considering driving there myself, make a long weekend of it!

    I have spoken to them and emailed them and their English is very good (more than I can say for my German!).

    This was the same for me. When I was in email conversations with them only the technicalities of the different tax systems caused any confusion. This was easy sorted with a link to the EU website with the info I was talking about!

    They were quick to reply and quick to send. I was told 2 weeks by a UK company and for the same part from the manufacturer (baring in mind it went from the manufacturer to the German seller before coming to me when the one in the UK would have been sent straight from the manufacturer to me) it took 4 days and only cost 15 Euros for a compete set of van suspension!

    Regards
    Phil
  • chappers
    chappers Posts: 2,988 Forumite
    They used villeroy and bosch tiles throughout on a development I worked on last year, the tiles for all 13 houses came to over £80k from a UK supplier, even though they were delivered direct from a German wholesaler. The Uk supplier had nothing to do with it after the sale, we had to deal and co-ordinate direct with the German wholesaler.
    For the second half of the development, a mirror image of the same 13 houses they ordered direct from the wholesaler, the tiles were a staggering £30k cheaper.
  • Bertu
    Bertu Posts: 1 Newbie
    I was a very good customer of reuter-shop but they lost me as a customer.
    Got too many bad experiences at the end (returning product and their handling of issues in general).

    Very interesting price on paper, but you lose all benefits if you start to have to deal with their customer support. They will find any reason to avoid dealing with issues or reimburse returned products...
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