I just received some sheets that I bought from the UK. I had been loking for sheets big enought to fit out bed that were percale as I can't stand all of those 600 thread count cotton ones (yes I am weird) I wanted to write about how great this company was, great prices etc. and thought that instead we should have a section on the site with names of companies, what they offer, links to the site and a small review of how we found their services.

So if you have bought online from within Italy, please let us know in this thread and I will put together a section for the site.

King of Cotton http://www.kingofcotton.co.uk/index.php
Located in the UK
Products for sale: Bed linens, towels, drapes, pillow
Prices: Very reasonable. For a complete set for WONDERFUL sheets (top sheet, bottom sheet, 4 pillow cases) I paid around 45 pounds
Delivery: It takes 2 to 5 business days
Comments: I will be ordering from them forever.

I've mentioned this before - The Book Depository have a great selection, at good prices and ship free to Italy. Anything we have ordered has only taken a few days. I've also used them to ship presents to Australia and no problems. Also, you can't beat CD Wow for cheap CDs and DVDs. Not much use if you are looking for something obscure, but great prices and again, free shipping.

Kerry, sounds great. Could you give the info as I layed it out below so that we can have a ready to go blurb for each seller.

Name of Company:
Website:
Located in:
Products:
Prices:
Comments:

This is a bit of a niche market but considering the prices in Italian pharmacies it might be interesting for someone!

Name of Company:Access Diagnostics
Website: www.accessdiagnostics.co.uk/
Located in:UK
Products: pregnancy tests and similar items
Prices:very cheap!
Comments:quick, reliable service and great prices

edited to add space before the link

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Annika,

Great idea Cristina.
I think something should be added about delivery prices... This is because sometimes when browsing, prices look ok, but once you get to the check out, you see there's a 15euro delivery charge for a 5euro item . So if we could add something about delivery charges it will allow people like me not to get too excited only to be let down at the check out.
I'll add a few sites when I get chance.

Name of Company:Healthspan
Website: http://www.healthspan.co.uk/
Located in: UK - Guernsey, Channel Islands.
Products:Health vitamins and supplements.
Prices:Very inexpensive - Tax free products. Postage & Packing to Italy £2 sterling for any size order.
Comments:An excellent compay to deal with. Orders are despatched within 24hours and all customs paperwork is dealt with by them. All goods I have ordered have arrived within 9 days of placing my order.

edited to add space before the link

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Annika,

I swear by the White Company ( www.thewhitecompany.com ) for all my sheets and what I call my slobbing around the house gear (ie stuff that I’d wear in London to go get the papers but cannot in Italy!). I took my suocera to the shop in London and she loved it. Their sales are great – towelling dressing gowns for £ 25 or so – and their quality is on a par with Frette, IMHO. Not had delivery to Italy, as I buy on-line in London and then stuff my case with it to lug down to Lecce, but according to their website they do delivery overseas.

The website that C in Bo mentions – Access Diagnostics – is very good. I’ve used them in the UK and they delivery discreetly (ie no package marking) and very quickly – they even call you to ensure that you will be around to accept delivery. Plus they throw in all sorts of free stuff. I once had to buy a HPT in Italy (sadly –ve) and never again want to repeat that experience. Standing in line with all these old gossipy women hearing you having to ask the chemist for it – humiliating (so much so that I made DH do it!!). Not like in the UK when you can go to Boots for a sandwich and then stick a HPT in as well and no-one blinks an eyelid. I think it’ll be great when supermarkets etc can start selling this sort of stuff.

edited to add space before the link

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Annika,

I ordered a super king size duvet from the White Company, to Italy and after 6 weeks it still hadn't arrived. So I called them, and they sent out another one. The next day the first duvet arrived and four days later the 2nd one arrived too!
I am actually quite glad thet places like Topshop.com and M&S don't deliver abroad...I would be in serious debt if they did!

Wow ... "The Book Depository" looks awsome !!! I love how they make the immediate price comparison with amazon. Will surely try them.

Name of Company: The Book Depository
Website: http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/
Located in: England, but I think they must have distribution points in mainland Europe
Products: Books
Prices: Very competitive
Comments: Free, fast shipping.

Name of Company: CD Wow
Website: http://www2.cd-wow.com/
Located in: Hong Kong I think
Products: CDs, DVDs, gadgets, cosmetics
Prices: Very competitive
Comments: They have different sites for different countries. As shipping is free, it is worth checking prices on the different sites. I've heard the Hong Kong site is often the cheapest. Everything is shipped separately.

I have not yet ordered from this site, but I was looking for some hard to find spirits and through the German distributor of the fantastic South African liquor Amarula I found this one:

Name of Company: Spirituosen-Superbillig.de/
Website: http://spirituosen-superbillig.de/
Located in: Germany
Products: Spirits, liquor, wine, rare whiskeys
Prices: same or bit more than retail in Italy (don't order Martini from them .. much cheaper here)
Shipping cost to Italy: 19.50 EU for up to 17 bottles / 30kg
Accepted Payments: Visa, Master or Eurocard, with paypal or with international money order, check, in advance in cash or with bank transfer.
NOT possible is cash on delivery.
Comments:For hard to find things like Amarula, Cachaca (to make caipirinhas) it seems very reasonable. I am not sure if Italian customs would add some extra tax, but when coming from another EU country, should be ok, no?

German company, but website available in English and a bunch of other languages.

Hope this is helpful for those whiskey lushes hiding around here

If someone orders from them, please share the experience.

Oh, and I added payment methods. I found that many online vendors in europe do NOT like CCs and only do money transfers.

Name of Company: Play.com
Website: Play.com
Located in: UK, USA
Products: DVD, CD, games, books, electronics, gadgets (posters, t-shirts, caps,...), mobile phones and accessories
Prices: fairly less than in the stores, but with a lot of titles available before than in Italy. Huge deals on the sales and FREE SHIPPING on everything (also to Italy). Price both in £ and €, on the US website in $.
Comments: I bought a DVD from play.com and in a week it was on my doorstep. Love that site, although the full prices are not great compared to used items available on other sites (amazon, ebay, ioffer).

I have some bad news...

I just tried to order something from Access Diagnostics (recommended by C in Bo above) and they no longer ship to Italy.

I emailed them and they wrote back:
"We used to deliver to Italy until recently, but found the postal service to Italy so unreliable we stopped doing so."

This is a company I use frequently for cosmetics, skin care and fragrance. They do lots of items half price and deliver to Italy.

Name of Company: Cheap Smells
Website: http://www.cheapsmells.com
Products: Ladies and Gents fragrance, skincare, cosmetics
Prices: Really reasonable, eg YSL Touche Eclat normal price £22.00 sterling, you pay £11.30.
Delivery: To Italy £2.15 per item
Comments: Great site, fast delivery and some great bargains. Some items have only a small percentage off but other items usually half price.

quote:

I just tried to order something from Access Diagnostics (recommended by C in Bo above) and they no longer ship to Italy.

Oh no, how annoying! I was just about to put in an order too

Name of Company:jo jo maman
Website:www.jojomamanbebe.co.uk
Located in:uk
Products:baby clothing, maternity wear,toys, gifts and general baby stuff.
Prices:not cheap but cheaper than italian hiked up prices for kids wear.
Comments:good service, quick delivery (i waited 4 days for my delivery)and you will receive catalogue home every season.

P.S
Delivery charge was expensive. I paid £8 for one item. not sure if they charge per item or per delivery.
www.jojomamanbebe.co.uk

WOW! This thread is very informative...now I knwo where to get my books from. Thanks so much for starting this thread.

The Book Depository also sells used copies of books via Amazon.co.uk's marketplace, and I prefer to buy my books there. On the rare occasions when new books/DVDs/CDs have not reached me via Amazon from the UK, they always send a free-replacement of the items out no questions asked. Buying through their marketplace means that they guarantee the service of those third-party merchants.

Someone alluded to this earlier in this thread...how are taxes (VAT) handled? Is there a chance they will ask you to pay taxes when the items are delivered? Perhaps because it is coming from within the EU, it is not the same as say receiving something from the US? Does anyone know?
Monica

Any time I've ordered anything from the UK it's been delivered UPS and I have not had to pay anything extra since it's part of the EU.

By the way, I did order once from an Italian company and, while I did receive my order, it took 3 weeks before the first partial shipment and 2 months for the entire order to get to me. It wasn't big either, only 3 pieces in total. My orders from the UK have gotten here in 5 days.

Monica - you don't have to pay customs or VAT on shipments within the EU. Part of EU law is "freedom of goods within the EU", no tafiffs etc.

So it's always preferable to order things from UK or other EU based websites than to order things from the US.

I've ordered several things from the UK figleaves site and amazon.co.uk and never had a problem.

Name of Company: PicStop
Website: http://www.picstop.co.uk/
Located in: isle of Man and Jersey,UK [but there is also a website based in the USA, just add the suffix .com]
Products: digital memories and card readers, Batteries and charges for cameras and camcorder and usual batteries , Accessories (lens filters,card&battery cases and bags, usb cables, tripods, softwares), Gaming Memories, Ink cartridges, Recordable media (blank Cd, DVD), Mp3 players, Mobile phones and VoIP phones, Cameras and Film.
Prices: Definitely cheaper than in Italian shops, similar to other prices on the next but with a guarantee of a website and a fixed shipping (just from £1.99 to ship from Jersey to Italy, be sure to ask for an item to be shipped from Jersey which is cheaper!) shipping
Comments: I am waiting for my 4GB USB drive, bought for just 29 euros shipped.

Thank you MB and Ramona...I'm going shopping!
Monica