Hi everyone, I just moved to Spain not long ago and was planning to buy some small appliances and daily necessities on Amazon. I quickly discovered there are many different Amazon domains: .es, .de, .fr, and some people even suggested using .com. I was totally confused about which one to use for my orders. After researching for an afternoon, I’ve finally figured a few things out, and I’m sharing them here, hoping it helps other newcomers!
What’s the Difference Between the Amazon Sites?
Simply put, if you’re in Europe, it’s best to use the European Amazon sites. Although they are for different countries, your account is often universal across them, but Prime memberships are not. The main differences lie in product variety, price, delivery speed, and shipping costs.
Amazon Spain (Amazon.es)
This is obviously our top choice in Spain. If you have a Spanish Prime membership, most products are eligible for next-day or even same-day delivery, which is incredibly fast and comes with free shipping. Returns are also super convenient; you can just drop off items at a post office or Celeritas point, often without needing to print a label yourself. The site is in Spanish, but you can usually switch to an English interface or use a browser extension to translate it. The downside is that for certain categories, like electronics or some German-brand kitchenware, the selection might not be as comprehensive, and the prices aren’t always the best.
Amazon Germany (Amazon.de) & Other European Sites
Why the special mention for the German site? Because Germany is a major industrial and logistics hub in Europe, Amazon.de’s product selection is incredibly rich, especially for electronics, kitchenware, and baby products. You can often find items unavailable on Amazon Spain, and sometimes at surprisingly good prices. The same logic applies to the French and Italian sites, which can also serve as good backups. However, note the following:
1. Prime memberships are not transferable: Your Prime membership on Amazon.es won’t get you free shipping on Amazon.de.
2. Longer delivery times: Since it’s international, delivery usually takes 3-7 days.
3. Shipping costs: There will be additional international shipping fees, but sometimes, even with shipping, it’s cheaper than buying in Spain. You’ll need to compare the final prices.
Amazon US (Amazon.com)
You can basically forget about this one. Ordering from the US site to Spain is standard cross-border shopping. Not only are the shipping fees exorbitantly high and delivery times often half a month or more, but more importantly, you’ll have to pay customs duties! Unless it’s a very specific item you can’t find in Spain or even in all of Europe, it’s not recommended at all.
Summary and Recommendations
To make it easier to understand, I’ve created a simple comparison table:
| Site | Main Advantages | Main Disadvantages | Best For |
|---|
| Amazon.es | Fast delivery, easy returns, free shipping (with Prime) | Smaller selection for some categories, not always the cheapest | Daily necessities, urgent purchases, most shopping needs |
| Amazon.de / .fr | Wider product selection, better prices on specific categories | Slower delivery, international shipping fees, Prime not transferable | Price-checking for electronics, kitchenware, specific brand items |
| Amazon.com | Extremely wide product selection | High shipping costs and customs duties, very slow delivery | Buying specialty items unavailable in Europe |
In conclusion, my advice is: Mainly use Amazon.es and get a Prime membership for 90% of your daily shopping. When you can’t find what you want on the Spanish site, or if you think the price is too high, then check the German or French sites and compare prices including shipping. This strategy should cover almost all your online shopping needs in Spain!
