E-book stores in the UK

[tompe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

No, Tommy, as a general rule it's correct. There are very few bookstores who are sufficiently large companies to fall under that particular law - Amazon is probably the only one. I operate a VAT-registered company myself, so I am aware of the rules.

The limit is not so high. It is 35000 euro or 100000 euro depending on country. I think Blackstar or whatever there name is now is another example. There are electronic shops in Germany that sells directly to other countries cheaply that probably fall under this rule. And so on.

99% of things I buy from abroad is from Amazon so I would say that as a general rule it is from my prespective incorrect.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by GeoffC

Which , therefore , makes the US a more economical source for e-books ?

Generally yes. Helped by the fact that, for people outside the US, the value of the US$ against both the Euro and the Pound has fallen dramatically in the last few months. Stores which price books in US$ have become very cheap for us as a result.

[Halk]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Generally yes. Helped by the fact that, for people outside the US, the value of the US$ against both the Euro and the Pound has fallen dramatically in the last few months. Stores which price books in US$ have become very cheap for us as a result.

Hope this doesn't come across as pedantic...

The value of the dollar against sterling, while of course fluctuating has remained more or less static for a long time. Both the dollar and sterling have been devalued, which is why there has been no overall change.

However sterling and the dollar have dropped significantly against the Euro.

It means that for UK residents buying from the US has been "cheap" for a while, but buying from the EU has become more expensive.

For US residents it means buying from the UK is expensive and has been for a while, but buying from the EU is becoming more expensive.

And for Eurozone residents it means buying from both the UK and the US has become cheaper.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Halk

Hope this doesn't come across as pedantic...

The value of the dollar against sterling, while of course fluctuating has remained more or less static for a long time.

I suppose it depends what you mean by "a long time".

Two years ago, for example, the exchange rate was £1 = US$1.75. Today it's £1 = US$1.99

You're right, though; it's been pretty static for the last year and both have dropped against the Euro.

[Halk]

Bought my first book in US currency there. I opted for Booksonboard since I like their straightforward and honest pricing. However when I went to pay I had the option of paying by Credit Card or Paypal. Both of these incurred a currency loading percentage. In other words the foreign exchange rate was $1.94 for £1 rather than the $2.00 it should have been.

This is because my credit card loads by 2.75% on foreign currency, and so does Paypal.

I had a look around and there's 3 credit cards that don't.

Nationwide Gold, Thomas Cook and Post Office Platinum.

I went for the Thomas Cook one since they give me some kind of rewards thing that I didn't look into in the slightest. Since I won't be paying any interest on the cards and they all don't charge me a loading fee it was the only real factor between them.

I'd suggest that anyone who is going to make purchases in foreign currency from the UK have a check to see if you're being charged a loading fee. Generally speaking if you can't easily find out then you are.