# Online gift ordering in the E.U.? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 6, 2015, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-gift-ordering-in-the-e-u/739622 "2015-12-06T16:42:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2015, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-gift-ordering-in-the-e-u/739622/1 "2015-12-06T16:42:21Z")
My in-laws live in Cyprus, and we would like to send them some Christmas presents. If we have something shipped from within the E.U., they won’t have to pay import duty on it (and presumably it would be a lot faster and probably cheaper than shipping from the U.S.). We had a disastrous experience with Amazon UK (the package, which was sent with plenty of time, arrived weeks late after a prolonged sojourn in Germany. Amazon sent a replacement package, which also arrived late, and asked me to have the in-laws ship the late package back at their own expense. Which I thought was kind of rude for something that wasn’t their fault at all!). So what are some other options for places where one can order online and have packages shipped to Cyprus? Ordering in English would be ideal, but I guess we could also do it in Spanish or French. I did poke around for places in Cyprus, but either there just isn’t the same level of Internet presence, or it’s all in Greek. Thoughts? I am guessing the UK is going to be our best bet - Brit Dopers? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2015, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-gift-ordering-in-the-e-u/739622/2 "2015-12-06T17:12:07Z")
[Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/cyprus/comments/2fm9iw/how_do_you_order_online_in_cyprus_do_you_use_one/) to the rescue. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2015, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-gift-ordering-in-the-e-u/739622/3 "2015-12-06T17:25:13Z")
Hmmm, [The Spicery](http://www.thespicery.com/) looks intriguing - they are big foodies and have lived all over the place, and there are lots of ingredients for cuisines that they love that aren’t easily available in Cyprus. Anyone have experience with this company? ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2015, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-gift-ordering-in-the-e-u/739622/4 "2015-12-06T17:54:07Z")
If you’re ordering from the UK I would go with [Amazon.uk](http://Amazon.uk). There are alternatives like Argos, but don’t expect them to be more reliable or quicker than Amazon. When ordering from Amazon UK make sure the seller is Amazon as in my experience they usually ship items far quicker than other sellers. I also expect they ship a reasonable amount to Cyprus because of the large British army bases there. If you know enough German to get by, you might consider [Amazon.de](http://Amazon.de) as it is closer to Cyprus. When I was in North Cyprus everyone used Amazon, but that was a while ago. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2015, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-gift-ordering-in-the-e-u/739622/5 "2015-12-06T17:56:09Z")
Assuming that you have no problems paying by credit card, I see that they say they ship all over the world (except Oz) and add the appropriate Airmail charge. I am not sure how these things are dealt with at the Cyprus end. It might be a good idea to check with your relatives first. The exchange rate is moving in your favour too. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2015, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-gift-ordering-in-the-e-u/739622/6 "2015-12-06T17:59:08Z")
> [@Asympotically\_fat](#): > > If you’re ordering from the UK I would go with [Amazon.uk](http://Amazon.uk). There are alternatives like Argos, but don’t expect them to be more reliable or quicker than Amazon. When ordering from Amazon UK make sure the seller is Amazon as in my experience they usually ship items far quicker than other sellers. I also expect they ship a reasonable amount to Cyprus because of the large British army bases there. I did use [Amazon.uk](http://Amazon.uk). It was a train wreck, and I would like to avoid doing it again. It was also a pain in the neck to figure out what items could actually be shipped to Cyprus. I went through the entire order selection process several times, only to find out that what I had chosen could not be shipped to Cyprus for unspecified reasons (an espresso maker? Really?). And their customer service was not helpful - I e-mailed them to say that my package had been sitting in Germany for 2 weeks when it should have been delivered already, and their “solution” was to ship a replacement package (which was also late to arrive) without clearing it with me first, and then have the recipient make a trip to the post office to ship back the even later initial package at their own expense. No thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2015, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-gift-ordering-in-the-e-u/739622/7 "2015-12-06T18:14:36Z")
> [@Eva\_Luna](#): > > I did use [Amazon.uk](http://Amazon.uk). It was a train wreck, and I would like to avoid doing it again. It was also a pain in the neck to figure out what items could actually be shipped to Cyprus. I went through the entire order selection process several times, only to find out that what I had chosen could not be shipped to Cyprus for unspecified reasons (an espresso maker? Really?). > > And their customer service was not helpful - I e-mailed them to say that my package had been sitting in Germany for 2 weeks when it should have been delivered already, and their “solution” was to ship a replacement package (which was also late to arrive) without clearing it with me first, and then have the recipient make a trip to the post office to ship back the even later initial package at their own expense. No thank you. I am very conservative about shopping online and there’s only a few places I will use. If you don’t want to use Amazon, John Lewis is certainly somewhere I would order from and [I see they deliver to Cyprus](http://cy.johnlewis.com/). I would expect good customer service from John Lewis as they have a reputation for focusing on customer service and quality rather than low prices. That said when I have used them myself I usually go and pick the stuff up from their depot across town. Many moons ago whilst at University I used to work for them.