What’s the status of Amazon in Taiwan? I’m a fervent Amazon Prime member here in the US, and I’m curious what is still available in Taiwan?
2-day free shipping?
Instant/Prime video?
Amazon Music?
The 2-day free shipping applies only to the contiguous U.S.
One option that I use is a Freight Forwarding service with a U.S. address. You can have your free-shipping items from Amazon or wherever sent to that address and they will hold the packages for a number of days or weeks (depending on the company and the plan you choose). If you, or your friends, order additional things you can have all of your items bundled together in one shipment to Taiwan, which lowers the cost considerably.
There IS some sort of AMAZON Taiwanese Scheme to get goods here at low prices. The way I heard it is that you order on the web or at one of those Kiosks in the 7-11 or Family Mart. Your order comes and you pay the store. I wanted to do it but I got too involved in things and lost the information. Can someone shed some light on this?
That might be Baidu, or some other Chinese website. I’ve heard about their new offerings in Taiwan, but never used it.
Edit: It was Taobao, not Baidu, and they are cooperating with FamilyMart.
I heard on the radio last year about a local online shopping company who was working with Amazon/Ebay to have items available to ship to 7-Elevens here.
Haven’t compared prices to see what they charge for the service/convenience.
Links:
News article about the service
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/business/company-focus/2015/11/25/451829/7-Eleven-and.htm
Myday website
myday.com.tw/a_myday/1-all-us.php
I think slowly, we’ll see Amazon be available in Taiwan. I mean, many sellers already ship to here, but not every item is available to Taiwan.
The big question is, all of us who grew up with and have used Amazon will flock to it because of the ease of purchasing. I know a few of us here are still a little upset that we cannot make direct purchases with Ruten because we do not hold a Taiwanese citizenship.
However, what about the majority of the population? Will they be open to the idea of Amazon over their pchome, yahoo and ruten?
[quote=“ranlee”]I think slowly, we’ll see Amazon be available in Taiwan. I mean, many sellers already ship to here, but not every item is available to Taiwan.
The big question is, all of us who grew up with and have used Amazon will flock to it because of the ease of purchasing. I know a few of us here are still a little upset that we cannot make direct purchases with Ruten because we do not hold a Taiwanese citizenship.
However, what about the majority of the population? Will they be open to the idea of Amazon over their pchome, yahoo and ruten?[/quote]
If amazon offers lower prices, then I would say yes.
I’ve ordered stuff from US Amazon and had it delivered here, but it is more expensive and delivery takes longer.
Was it your Fitbit? If it wasn’t, I hope it was worth the money and the wait 
There’s no free shipping. Book orders are typically USD5 per book, plus $5 for the package itself, for slower shipping. Orders for other stuff run the gamut - I guess a ballpark figure is 2/3 the cost of the item, but you’ll find $10 items that cost $5 for shipping, and others that cost $20 for shipping. Sometimes I’ve managed to combine items such that the total shipping is less than what the cost would be if ordered individually, but I still haven’t figured out how or when that’s possible. There’s usually no option for shipping for non-book/DVD items - you’re stuck with air, which means the package usually comes in around a week.
Import fees kick in when you’re over $100 or so.
Nevertheless, buying and shipping from amazon.com usually works out cheaper than buying the same item in Taiwan, assuming you can even find that item (itself a rare event). But then you’re stuck with limited return/refund options if something breaks.
[quote=“lostinasia”]
Nevertheless, buying and shipping from amazon.com usually works out cheaper than buying the same item in Taiwan, assuming you can even find that item (itself a rare event). But then you’re stuck with limited return/refund options if something breaks.[/quote]
That is one of many messed up things about Taiwan. It is cheaper to buy the same item in the USA even when you factor in air shipping charges than to buy it locally in Taiwan.
[quote=“nonredneck”][quote=“lostinasia”]
Nevertheless, buying and shipping from amazon.com usually works out cheaper than buying the same item in Taiwan, assuming you can even find that item (itself a rare event). But then you’re stuck with limited return/refund options if something breaks.[/quote]
That is one of many messed up things about Taiwan. It is cheaper to buy the same item in the USA even when you factor in air shipping charges than to buy it locally in Taiwan.[/quote]
Even more nuts when you buy something made in Taiwan or at least from a Taiwanese brand… sigh.
[quote=“nonredneck”]
That is one of many messed up things about Taiwan. It is cheaper to buy the same item in the USA even when you factor in air shipping charges than to buy it locally in Taiwan.[/quote]
Why is it a messed up thing about Taiwan? That’s just capitalism at work.
[quote=“GC Rider”][quote=“nonredneck”]
That is one of many messed up things about Taiwan. It is cheaper to buy the same item in the USA even when you factor in air shipping charges than to buy it locally in Taiwan.[/quote]
Why is it a messed up thing about Taiwan? That’s just capitalism at work.[/quote]
When you can pay air shipping charges for something and it still ends up being a lower price than buying it locally, there is something not quite right. You would think they would have cheaper prices locally since they import the goods in bulk and that fact that wages here are lower than the USA.
It’s like name brand clothes in the USA. I have a Mexican friend who swears that it is cheaper for Mexicans to drive into Texas, go to the factory outlets to buy clothes, shoes, watches, purses, etc., stay one or two nights at a hotel and drive back to Mexico than buying the same stuff in Mexico. Makes no sense.
I’d suggest to check also Amazon China and Amazon Japan.
Sometimes the shipping is even cheaper from there (if they have the product)
What exactly do you usually buy? My wife is a prolific internet and TV shopper. We get a lot of good products. Bookman books also have a lot of great mainstream books at discounts (If you happen to know someone who owns a language school). Books.com is a good source too.
I miss Costco’s book and DVD table. I used to get all the current DVD’s at good prices. Is there an online source for recent DVD’s in Taiwan? I like DVD’s because of the extras… And for special films I like a tangible product.
What exactly do you usually buy? My wife is a prolific internet and TV shopper. We get a lot of good products. Bookman books also have a lot of great mainstream books at discounts (If you happen to know someone who owns a language school). Books.com is a good source too.[/quote]
Typically books and kitchen stuff. Even seven or eight years ago, when Page One was both around and good and before I had a Kindle, I often went with Amazon because just-published books wouldn’t show up here for six or seven months - and then at a huge mark-up. I’ve also bought plenty of kitchen stuff from Amazon because it seems like every time I go shopping for that sort of thing in Taipei, I search a dozen department stores and then wind up ordering from Amazon anyway. Yeah, there’s stuff on Ruten too, or whatever the online stores are, and sometimes I’ll buy from them, but that’s only happened a few times - typically for products that Amazon won’t deliver to Taiwan (Lodge cast iron).
I’ve ordered from books.com but found that, on average, they’re going to cost about the same as Amazon - cheaper shipping but higher book prices, if I recall correctly. Of course deals can be found at either site.
For buying kitchen stuff, I’m probably too wedded to online reviews (mainly Cook’s Illustrated), but I like to buy with some foreknowledge of quality, and the review sites typically focus on American brands. Those aren’t that brands that are often imported here. Instead we seem to get high-priced Japanese or European stuff, which may or may not be any good, but is almost definitely overpriced.
I used to buy DVDs as well, but then when our first multi-region-hacked DVD player died and we had a significant amount of trouble getting a replacement, I basically stopped buying DVDs. For a while there I was really hopeful that Netflix would let me be semi-legit, but now with Netflix getting serious about region-blocking … oh well. I’ve taken to getting movies from the iTunes Canada store, but those very seldom have Chinese subtitles, which means for my wife watching a film is too much like homework. I haven’t yet dared also getting an iTunes Taiwan account, because I’m just not sure how my various Apple deices are going to react to jumping from region to region. This online world of region blocking is still hopelessly ill-suited to those who jump back and forth between countries.
How do Amazon services work like Video, Music, and Kindle?
On the video side you cannot “legally” or easily stream in Taiwan (yet). Like Netflix I’m sure that Amazon needs to make the necessary licensing deals.
For streaming music this is what Amazon says: To access Prime Music, you must have an Amazon.com account, a U.S. billing address, and a payment method issued by a U.S. bank. Prime Music is not included during the free trial period for Amazon Student memberships, or for invited household members on a shared Prime account. (If you want to buy mp3s I have done so many times on Amazon but I do have a USA billing address.)
(on a side note, I’ve been enjoying a lot of the Netflix Taiwan original shows and movies and even a few of the comedians and it is nice if you are watching with Taiwanese since there is subtitles for everything I believe)
For kindle, you need a billing address and credit card in one of the countries where Kindle books can be purchased.
For the others, I imagine you need a VPN if Amazon hasn’t blocked them.