How good is the online shopping in Hungary?

onlyablur wrote:

Hi all

We do more than half of our shopping online (food, clothes, books, electronic products etc).  We are moving to Hungary soon, and I wonder if the online shopping businesses are quite established in Hungary?  How does it compared to the UK?  and is there any popular established online retailers like Amazon, ebay etc?

Many thanks

It's rubbish here for online shopping but it's better than some places like Austria. You can get stuff delivered by Amazon here. There's no Ebay.hu worth anything but you can use other services like Teszvesz.hu if you can speak Hungarian. Expressz.hu is quite good for finding stuff. Ebay.at isn't bad if you can speak German.

This place is considered in "EU zone 2" by a lot of retailers which is a right nuisance. Means higher delivery costs. Some retailers will deliver free (Evans Cycles for example).

A problem is getting stuff delivered at a reasonable price and an even worse thing is returning stuff - e.g. clothes that are too big etc.

I go to the UK quite a lot - at least twice a year by car and probably 3 or 4 times by plane a year. I stock up on stuff when I go back.

On the other hand, there's Tescos and you can get some "essential" UK products there but there's a premium. I believe only a few Tescos around Budapest have UK products. We happen to live close to at least two of them that do sell UK products - Budakeszi and Budaors (HQ of Tesco). I think they sell the stuff at these places because the UK Tesco staff working in Hungary do their own shopping in the area.

Mrs Fluffy writes on a regular basis to Tesco asking for them to stock certain items but they never reply.  An interesting development is that Hungarians returning to Hungary after working in the UK are also starting to buy UK stuff here. Only a few weeks ago, a Hungarian was asking in these forums about gravy granules, and luckily I knew they had them at Tesco Budaors!!!

fluffy2560 wrote:

Ebay.at isn't bad if you can speak German.
This place is considered in "EU zone 2" by a lot of retailers

A problem is getting stuff delivered at a reasonable price and an even worse thing is returning stuff - e.g. clothes that are too big etc.

While you cannot expect the efficiency of the Hungarian version of market economy to compete that of the Great British Economy (hey, we didn't invent capitalism)still:

1. While there wasn't much of a tradition in terms of 'get home delivery & return what you don't like' during the socialist area, there are a growing number of internet shops in Hungary, e.g.:
green shop  zoldbolt.hu/
- not in english, so look at it through google-translate:
http://translate.google.hu/translate?sl … bolt.hu%2F

organic and health:
     http://www.biyovis.hu/tapolcai   
             (find the tiny english flag on the right!)
groceries:
     https://www.groby.hu/
      (a little less well hidden tiny english flag)

came immediately to my mind. I don't know about typical return policies. Probably not nearly as customer friendly as in US/UK.


2. instead of Ebay we have http://www.vatera.hu/  wll established , I couldnt find an english flag, so another case for translate.google.com  (I have never used this one myself)

3.  ebay.hu is pretty new. I am pretty sure all ebay sites are  available in english(on second thought, this is probably illegal in France , e.g. the hungarian one here:             
                      http://www.ebay.hu/index.en-US.html

I have been using the German ebay(as I lived in Germany) and I always understood, no matter which ebay site/country your  account/address is associated with, you can access data (=offers) from all countries, and also give any delivery address, as long as the seller is willing to ship to it. (I hope so as I want to get stuff shipped here). As Fluffy already said, we are often 'EU 2', so, shipping from western europe to Hu is slightly more expensive than shipping to Austria, say.

4. delivery using 'simple post parcel' is not too safe in Hungary, at least some tracking/insurance is certainly a good idea! But I expect Hungarian webshops to already have their established routines, e.g. 'pcik-pack-point' or whatever. (In germany it is the professional seller who bears the risk of postage, I'd expect hungarian regulations to be similar-in theory at least).

fireroller wrote:

....I don't know about typical return policies. Probably not nearly as customer friendly as in US/UK.

That would be true. The law in most of Europe is really awful compared to the UK's Sale of Goods Act. If you buy say, a stereo, and it breaks 2 days later because it's defective, either you'll be fobbed off, offered a repair, credit at the store but the last offer will be a replacement or money back.

For expensive items like say, a large flat LCD screen TV, it's better to buy in the UK and bring it back to Hungary in the car. Not only will it be cheaper (VAT difference is 7% anyway), but if it dies, UK retailers will usually swap without question if it's in warranty but here (and just about every other EU country), they will almost always decide to get it repaired. It's a massive annoyance. Not only is it the inconvenience of the item being defective and not usable, you have to wait weeks or even months to get the item back. Absolutely shocking waste of time.  My own experience of this nonsense includes items as diverse as shoes, car batteries (how can that be fixed?!), modems and printers.

fluffy2560 wrote:

On the other hand, there's Tescos and you can get some "essential" UK products there but there's a premium. I believe only a few Tescos around Budapest have UK products. We happen to live close to at least two of them that do sell UK products - Budakeszi and Budaors (HQ of Tesco). I think they sell the stuff at these places because the UK Tesco staff working in Hungary do their own shopping in the area.

Thank you Mr Fluffy for your reply!  We are not too bothered with not having 'typical/essential' UK products as we cook lots of oriental food.  But do you know whether Tesco in HU offers online shopping and home delivery?

Thanks!

fireroller wrote:

4. delivery using 'simple post parcel' is not too safe in Hungary, at least some tracking/insurance is certainly a good idea! But I expect Hungarian webshops to already have their established routines, e.g. 'pcik-pack-point' or whatever. (In germany it is the professional seller who bears the risk of postage, I'd expect hungarian regulations to be similar-in theory at least).

Fireroller, thanks so much for your reply - so informative! 

Good to know of many of the inconvenience of buying online in HU - I can expect to do much less impulse buying when I'm there

Thanks again!

onlyablur wrote:

..But do you know whether Tesco in HU offers online shopping and home delivery?

Thanks!

Not to my knowledge. They only just introduced the self-scanning check outs.

When I mention essentials I'm talking about decent teabags, porridge and Marmite.

You should also know that there's some odd things that happen in Hungary. Sometimes there are shortages.  In our local Tesco, there weren't any cucumbers or bananas for several days after Christmas.

For a company as sophisticated as Tesco, you'd think they could get that right. 

We find that Aldi is more reliable on fruit and veg and they also seem to have the freshest stuff. 

So we tend to split most of our shopping between Aldi and Tesco.

You might find it quite difficult to do oriental stuff. Some spices are unheard of here unless you go to the specialist shop next to the large market in Budapest. I had to bring lemon grass, thai curry paste and shallots back from the UK the other day. No chance of finding those things here in Tesco or Aldi.

onlyablur wrote:

Good to know of many of the inconvenience of buying online in HU - I can expect to do much less impulse buying when I'm there
Thanks again!

Hi and welcome - but I hope you don't see it that negatively when you are here. After the first overtly negative responses (imho, partly resulting from slight lack of experience), I attempted to demonstrate that Hungary *does* have an existing online-shopping culture -  of course all things are relative, this is a mid-income 10M country, not a highly developed 60M market as GB.
The problems with the crappy state post are easily solved - meaning you pay a bit more for tracked delivery or choose a private shipper(DHL,DPD etc.) (Post is crappy when compared to western european countries, not when compared with, say,...uhm, somewhere more 'east', let's leave it at that:).
So, my bottom line, just do lots of impulse buying, if you can afford it, with normal caution you will learn the rules quickly. And I will look up one day if the seller bears the risk of postage...

fluffy2560 wrote:

You might find it quite difficult to do oriental stuff. Some spices are unheard of here unless you go to the specialist shop next to the large market in Budapest. I had to bring lemon grass, thai curry paste and shallots back from the UK the other day. No chance of finding those things here in Tesco or Aldi.

Uhm no offence, but Aldi&Tesco is not for gourmets. It is the mainstream, aiming to be the cheapest place to get ok quality  -and maximise profits very professionally. I disagree with 'not finding in Tesco' being equivalent to 'unheard of'.
Sure, Hungary is not Britain, here Asian food is slightly more exotic, especially in rural areas. Why exactly should we expect a Tesco to stock more than most basic british/asian-ish stuff, i.e. waste money to serve a few anglophiles? (Britain certainly usually offers more variety in most realms, but, say, finding good, fresh, hungarian-style paprika or Bread(capitalised!) was impossible/unaffordable in Swansea in '98, let alone a good gulyás soup, as I recall)

But yes, this is mostly in Budapest, and mostly in Hungarian(Did I mention google translate..don't expect wonders though!) and some of it is probably pricy:
oh, look what I have found for you (webshop):
                         http://www.britishstore.hu/



I quickly found this shop, also operating a WEBSHOP
http://www.azsiabolt.hu/

Here a...howdoyousay... 'offline-shop' in Budapest:
http://www.azsiabt.hu/

here a list of 'exotic shops' in Budapest:
http://www.nlcafe.hu/gasztro/20101118/a … udapesten/

and another list:
http://www.diningguide.hu/toplistak/ett … macio-5683


(Ázsia=Asia
bolt=shop
Szír=syrian
török=turkish
etc.)

fluffy2560 wrote:

If you buy say, a stereo, and it breaks 2 days later because it's defective, either you'll be fobbed off, offered a repair, credit at the store but the last offer will be a replacement or money back.

With in store purchases, this is often the case. But the question was about online purchases. There the laws are different, and a web site is suppose to inform you of your consumer purchase rights (i.e. you may return most items within 7 days without reason). So one needs to know their consumer rights and make sure the online site you deal with informs you of such rights as they are required to do by law (if they don't, I recommend not doing business with them):

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP … ?locale=enhttp://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-09-379_en.htm

klsallee wrote:

.... inform you of your consumer purchase rights (i.e. you may return most items within 7 days without reason). So one needs to know their consumer rights and make sure the online site you deal with informs you of such rights as they are required to do by law (if they don't, I recommend not doing business with them):..

Yes, these are the EU distance selling regulations. However, nearly all consumer protection laws in the EU allow for repairs to items (that includes the UK). However, the key differences with the UK are:

1) Sale of Goods Act says goods must be of "merchantable quality" - a catch all which just about covers every aspect of an item from reliability to manufacture (but not aesthics of design of course). It's such a pervasive law retailers just do not even argue these days.

2) Differentiator in a market of many players is customer service so all large retailers will just give in and swap or refund in order to try and maintain customer loyalty.

3) In a lot of cases, for example with electronic goods, there's no mechanism or method for repairing items. Faulty goods are returned to the manufacturer while the consumer gets a replacement there and then.

We've all got used to the way it works in the UK and we get surprised if it works another way elsewhere.

fireroller wrote:

Uhm no offence, but Aldi&Tesco is not for gourmets. It is the mainstream, aiming to be the cheapest place to get ok quality  -and maximise profits very professionally. I disagree with 'not finding in Tesco' being equivalent to 'unheard of'.

I wouldn't say a few spices equal gourmet foodstuffs. It's mainstream now to use Asian spices in daily cooking.

fireroller wrote:

Sure, Hungary is not Britain, here Asian food is slightly more exotic, especially in rural areas. Why exactly should we expect a Tesco to stock more than most basic british/asian-ish stuff, i.e. waste money to serve a few anglophiles?

Because there are a lot of us here and quite a lot of Hungarians over there. People will bring back home newly acquired tastes and export others from their home country.  We're now "exporting" paprika and gyulas cream to the UK. I think that's great to do that.

fireroller wrote:

(Britain certainly usually offers more variety in most realms, but, say, finding good, fresh, hungarian-style paprika or Bread(capitalised!) was impossible/unaffordable in Swansea in '98, let alone a good gulyás soup, as I recall)

You can buy things like that but you have to look around, just like here. The main Eastern European imports in the UK seem to be Polish. Some towns now have Polish shops. Hungary has many good things but the variety is much less than in the UK, France etc.

As the economy improves, maybe international "imports" and "exports" of cultural/culinary icons will improve also as people's disposable cash increases.

fireroller wrote:

But yes, this is mostly in Budapest, and mostly in Hungarian(Did I mention google translate..don't expect wonders though!) and some of it is probably pricy:....

Yes, they are pricey. Cheaper in Tesco for the basics. Or bring it on the plane.

Just curious, what do you consider "pricey" for some of these items you're referring to?

EuropaExpat wrote:

Just curious, what do you consider "pricey" for some of these items you're referring to?

You can check prices via tesco.com

Example 1: 80 PG Tips tea bags. 

www.britishstore.hu price is HUF 1390 (£3.77).

UK Tesco price is HUF 916 (£2.49).

I think the HU Tesco price for the same is around HUF 1000 - don't remember exactly.

Example 2:  6 pack Walker's Salt and Vinegar crisps

www.britishstore.hu price is HUF 749 (£2.03)

UK Tesco price is HUF 581 (£1.58) (Note: UK has special unit offer HUF 430 (£1.17) per pack if you buy 3 of them for £3.50)

Don't remember the Tesco HU price.

Point is that you pay a premium for these mainstream items. It might be expected to pay a premium for some "exotic" items so I'm not begrudging their service or profits.  The Tesco HU prices are very similar to the Tesco UK pricing which might be explained away as VAT differences. It might not seem so much of a premium, just a few HUF but it all adds up and some items are very difficult to find without a special trip.

EuropaExpat wrote:

Just curious, what do you consider "pricey" for some of these items you're referring to?

My favourite breakfast cereal is Shreddies, although in UK I buy the Aldi version which are just as good but cheaper. Order them online from Tesco in UK and they cost £2.09 (when not on special offer). Order them online from British Pantry in Hungary and they are about £5
http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/ … =258221504http://www.thebritishpantry.hu/index.ph … /shreddies

I know this is not the Asian spices mentioned but it is an example of a product you can't find in the supermarkets.

fidobsa wrote:

....I buy the Aldi version which are just as good but cheaper. Order them online from Tesco in UK and they cost £2.09 (when not on special offer). Order them online from British Pantry in Hungary and they are about £5....
I know this is not the Asian spices mentioned but it is an example of a product you can't find in the supermarkets.

Good example. I think the premium price paid does not reflect the exclusiveness of the goods. These are ordinary and basic foodstuffs.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Yes, these are the EU distance selling regulations.

Which is all that is relevant to the original question. You may return an item without reason within 7 days. End of story. All other issues regarding repair versus replacement are not germane for distance selling (i.e. online orders).

klsallee wrote:

Which is all that is relevant to the original question. You may return an item without reason within 7 days. End of story. All other issues regarding repair versus replacement are not germane for distance selling (i.e. online orders).

Well, I'd disagree with that.

The issue extends over the EU distance selling regulations and more importantly into warranty periods. 7 days is some EU fudge. Consumer protection obviously extends to longer periods than 7 days. If someone wants to return something in 7 days then OK but what happens if an item becomes defective on day 8?

It does not matter how the item was sold, online or otherwise.

Obviously warranty clicks upon purchase but what are the terms of that warranty or if there is no result from that contract, what would be the remedy in the law?

Consumer protection is part of the Acquis (body of EU law) but states are free to interpret the Acquis into their own law with local variation. So in essence, the EU regulations are the same everywhere but local variations cause differing outcomes for the consumer.

fluffy2560 wrote:

It's mainstream now to use Asian spices in daily cooking.

But mainly only in those countries that have a history or immigration from Asia. Such as the UK, US, France, etc. Otherwise, no, don't agree they are mainstream in Hungary yet. Becoming more common for reasons you said, yes. For example, it may be more common in some parts of Hungary, or in your social circle, but not mine (from dining with many Hungarians, I would not say such spices are even present in their kitchen). So, not so universal to be be really mainstream yet. Perspectives differ.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Because there are a lot of us here

Business ventures like large super markets are based on economics of scale. "A lot" does not mean "economically sufficient" to justify the expense of importing and taking up shelve space.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Well, I'd disagree with that.

Not an issue of disagreeing or not. It is EU law. Follow the links I posted.

fluffy2560 wrote:

what happens if an item becomes defective on day 8?

I was of course only responding to your original post :

fluffy2560 wrote:

If you buy say, a stereo, and it breaks 2 days later because it's defective, either you'll be fobbed off, offered a repair, credit at the store but the last offer will be a replacement or money back.

So 2 days was wrong if you purchased online, and it broke, you may return it under the "for any reason" terms. This is not about warranty, it is simply a legal right you have when you distance purchases in the EU. I have done it. Within Hungary. And, yes, even one product broke within those 7 days, and I got a full refund (minus shipping costs back of course).

If you want to now slide that scale out to 8 days, that is a completely different issue/discussion, now isn't it? But to answer you on that, then what you said generically about replace versus repair is correct.

fluffy2560 wrote:

It's mainstream now to use Asian spices in daily cooking.

klsallee wrote:

But mainly only in those countries that have a history or immigration from Asia. Such as the UK, US, France, etc. Otherwise, no, don't agree they are mainstream in Hungary yet. Becoming more common for reasons you said, yes. For example, it may be more common in some parts of Hungary, or in your social circle, but not mine (from dining with many Hungarians,

yes, alright, I give in. "Mainstream" in countries where there is immigration from across the world and that only includes minor diaspora of Hungarians returning from other countries etc etc.

I dine with Hungarians all the time (I'm married to one!) and many of them are internationalised. They are familiar with Asian or other food - e.g. pizza. It's not unusual to know about say, oregano on pizza or fresh basil. What we ought to see is more home cooking with other more exotic ingredients. Sausages, potatoes and paprika only goes so far.

There are a huge number of Chinese restaurants in Budapest and a lot outside of the city as well - plenty of Chinese people came over here during the 1990s. I was here when they arrived and started setting up shop. The Chinese market seems to still be going as well and they sell cheaps stuff to the masses.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Because there are a lot of us here

klsallee wrote:

Business ventures like large super markets are based on economics of scale. "A lot" does not mean "economically sufficient" to justify the expense of importing and taking up shelve space.

I don't see the problem. Matter of education, advertising and marketing. Look at the other brands here - Auchan, Decathlon, Baumax, Obi etc. These are all imports. They can create their own markets.

There's quite a lot of international stuff in Tesco (all their own brand packets are in English on the front, with Polish, Hungarian, Slovakian etc on the back) and for that matter in Aldi too.

My guess 75% of the stuff in Aldi is imported from Austria or Germany. The packets usually are in German and Slovenian with Hungarian stickers stuck over the top. It's not all exclusively Hungarian. It's all euro-normalised.

EuropeExpat have a look at this website: Culinaris.hu

Kettle chips are 799 HUF (2.71 Euro) and the Tyrrells veg chips a whopping 1690 HUF( 5.7 Euro)

fluffy2560 wrote:

Well, I'd disagree with that.

klsallee wrote:

Not an issue of disagreeing or not. It is EU law. Follow the links I posted.

Yes, and ?

fluffy2560 wrote:

what happens if an item becomes defective on day 8?

I was of course only responding to your original post :

fluffy2560 wrote:

If you buy say, a stereo, and it breaks 2 days later ....

klsallee wrote:

So 2 days was wrong if you purchased online, and it broke, you may return it under the "for any reason" terms. This is not about warranty, it is simply a legal right you have when you distance purchases in the EU. I have done it. Within Hungary. And, yes, even one product broke within those 7 days, and I got a full refund (minus shipping costs back of course).

Yes, alright, cross out 2 days (it was just a number), replace with 8 or a number of reasonable days you fancy.

One thing which would be different (I hope) would be that if the item was defective, you would not have to pay for shipping costs back. In the UK, collections are usually free (they give you a pre-paid label which you can use with an RMA - Return Material Authorisation - number).

klsallee wrote:

If you want to now slide that scale out to 8 days, that is a completely different issue/discussion, now isn't it? But to answer you on that, then what you said generically about replace versus repair is correct.

I don't think it really matters that much but technically you are also correct about the 7 days and the EU regulations. However, this is a forum for discussions and a wider question is equally of interest to many. After all customer service in HU (and worse AT) is a bit hit and miss. Mrs Fluffy always does better than me.

I would hypothesise the online shopping experience is variable here because it is relatively new to most people in Hungary, whereas in the UK, USA and other places, it's well entrenched with very high expectations.

I heard today on the radio that Amazon was particularly highly rated in the UK for it's delivery service over the Xmas period. I don't know if such surveys are carried out here in HU.

In Hugnary 3 days is a return with no explanation.
More is warranty related.
There is a website in English for businessmen and customers in Hungary, it's official, http://www.magyarefk.hu/en/useful-information.html...

Ikinoki wrote:

In Hugnary 3 days is a return with no explanation

Curious.... Where do you see 3 days as the defined time period at this site?

Following the topic from your own link one may find this:

Can I exercise the right to withdrawal when I purchase a product from abroad?

Yes, if we purchased the product from any Member State of the European Union due to the harmonization of laws we are also entitled to this right. It is important to know that the time period of this right differs from one country to another, but it is not less than 7 working days.

That's what they tell in the malls, I've never exercised 7 day returning...

Ikinoki wrote:

That's what they tell in the malls

On site purchases are not distance selling and do not necessarily have the same free return time period. The "logic" being you can try the device out on site to see if it works or not.

I would say online shopping is pretty good in Hungary. I do almost all my shopping online, except food. And even if I miss ebay and amazon, there are good places to shop from. For example: "ecipo.hu" if you want to buy shoes. I don't think there is any big stores to order everything from, rather you need to find individual products from different stores. Shipping is prompt and surprisingly smooth. In 5 years only one case when an Ikea sink was broken and they sent me another one. I regularly get shoes from ecipo.hu and if it doesn't fit or I don't like it, they exchange it, no question asked, and they even send you the return box an stiker.

Livia Kretsch wrote:

I would say online shopping is pretty good in Hungary. I do almost all my shopping online, except food. And even if I miss ebay and amazon, there are good places to shop from. For example: "ecipo.hu" if you want to buy shoes. I don't think there is any big stores to order everything from, rather you need to find individual products from different stores. Shipping is prompt and surprisingly smooth. In 5 years only one case when an Ikea sink was broken and they sent me another one. I regularly get shoes from ecipo.hu and if it doesn't fit or I don't like it, they exchange it, no question asked, and they even send you the return box an stiker.

Fully agree - online shopping is excellent here. You need to look for products in Hungarian in many cases, but this is not a problem with online translators.
I must proudly say that ecipo is in fact eobuwie - Polish like me .

The range of goods is not sufficient here and the prices are too high with the 27% VAT.   Small market, small number of goods. 

There are so real annoyances too even with big chains. We want some shelves from Ikea but they don't have those ones here.  But they have them in Austria.   It's not the first time we've had to go to Austrian Ikea before to get stuff they don't stock in HU.  We'll just have to wait until the quarantine is over before taking a day trip. 

Some things like car parts and IT gear are much cheaper in German online stores than here.   Only downside is waiting for it to arrive and the environmental taxes they can charge for delivery.  Easier to get small stuff from China on Ebay and no surcharges.   

We used to buy stuff from the UK but post-Brexit that's over.

fluffy2560 wrote:

The range of goods is not sufficient here and the prices are too high with the 27% VAT.   Small market, small number of goods.

Interesting. This is an old thread. History and experience is wonderful and of value. So I am interested, compared to your 2013 comment:

fluffy2560 wrote:

It's rubbish here for online shopping but it's better than some places like Austria. (snip)

In your humble opinion. Has anything fundamentally changed? Gotten better? Worse?

Thanks.

-- RP.

I am happy with Amazon, I do not order very often, but if I do it is massive (delivery prices will decrease accordingly).
Locally we order meat and wine online (good quality and good prices), wool, technical items,  Blairs sauce is via Amazon.

To go to Austria is minimum 100 km, I count EUR 0.25 per km going there and back is EUR 50. If we would go it would have to be for massive shopping. Still it might make sense in certain circumstances.

radiumpotato wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

The range of goods is not sufficient here and the prices are too high with the 27% VAT.   Small market, small number of goods.

Interesting. This is an old thread. History and experience is wonderful and of value. So I am interested, compared to your 2013 comment:

fluffy2560 wrote:

It's rubbish here for online shopping but it's better than some places like Austria. (snip)

In your humble opinion. Has anything fundamentally changed? Gotten better? Worse?

Thanks.

-- RP.

I haven't really changed my opinion.

Hungary has always been a small economy and always will be.  It's just too small to have diversity in goods and there are only so many people looking to buy.  So there's little economy of scale. Nothing special to say about it.  If you want a croissant, then the market is large but if you are searching for a special battery for your electric car, the market is small.

Some things have changed.  I think the logistics are better and more companies are selling online and payment systems have improved.  So overall it's somewhat easier to have efficient delivery and market information on prices.  But it's still quite difficult to find more unusual things which are easily available in larger markets.   

There is still somewhat a perception in EU based companies further West that "the West" stops at Vienna - logistics prices still jump at the border.

The VAT is a killer.  For really expensive things, it's worthwhile thinking of going to Austria to take advantage of the lower prices.  There's also something of an economy of scale in DACH (Deutschland, Austria and Switzerland).

cdw057 wrote:

I am happy with Amazon, I do not order very often, but if I do it is massive (delivery prices will decrease accordingly).
Locally we order meat and wine online (good quality and good prices), wool, technical items,  Blairs sauce is via Amazon.

To go to Austria is minimum 100 km, I count EUR 0.25 per km going there and back is EUR 50. If we would go it would have to be for massive shopping. Still it might make sense in certain circumstances.

I think it's OK to go there.  It's not that far and it's quite nice to go for the day and have some lunch and look around a bit.    We just make it a day trip with shopping incidental.  Kids like the different shops and Mrs Fluffy likes some of their stores.  All this pre-COVID that is.

I would not go to Austria for normal shopping. I did petsitting there and found food prices very high. For example, pastries that were 99 ft in Lidl Hungary were 99 Euro cents in Lidl Austria. Cars can be cheaper there but you do need to be able to calculate the overall price including registration etc.

I would only be interested in online shopping for clothing.
I'm afriad nothing would actually fit without trying on frist so no, never do online shopping.
Did it in the US with a few shops where I had been able to go in person beforehand and try on their sizes.
My fave clothing store is in the US and they have mail order to HU but the Vat and shipping makes everything to expensive.
Have a swimsuit co. based in the US where I used to buy Speedos and other higher end suits for a good discount. Bummer about the shipping and vat.

fidobsa wrote:

I would not go to Austria for normal shopping. I did petsitting there and found food prices very high. For example, pastries that were 99 ft in Lidl Hungary were 99 Euro cents in Lidl Austria. Cars can be cheaper there but you do need to be able to calculate the overall price including registration etc.

Why would you go food shopping in Austria? It's Austrians that go to Hungary to go shopping.

SimCityAT wrote:

fidobsa wrote:

I would not go to Austria for normal shopping. I did petsitting there and found food prices very high. For example, pastries that were 99 ft in Lidl Hungary were 99 Euro cents in Lidl Austria. Cars can be cheaper there but you do need to be able to calculate the overall price including registration etc.

Why would you go food shopping in Austria? It's Austrians that go to Hungary to go shopping.

It's not that cheap here any more for food shopping.   Some things are cheaper - the basics - but prices are creeping up all the time.  It's becoming very noticeable.   Some people say material costs are rising.

Nut there are other reasons than food to go to Austria - some products aren't available here.  Can be worth visiting Ikea (House Furnishings), Hornbach (DIY), Zgonc (Tools) and Primark (Clothing). 

As for cars, cheaper to go to Germany where there's a bigger choice and more diverse market.  And the famous Jahreswagen availability.

I did manage to get a box of Shreddies in Austria, I've never seen those in Hungary.

fidobsa wrote:

I did manage to get a box of Shreddies in Austria, I've never seen those in Hungary.

Hmmm.....for a moment there I was thinking of the other Shreddies (the military slang version but the link will do).

Was that purchase recently? 

We have no idea where to buy Marmite and PG Tips.    We used to be able to buy them in Tesco but they've lost their marbles and stopped selling this vital reminder of Blighty.  I should complain.