Shopping online in Hungary

ipon.hu, aqua.hu, these are some of the biggest retailers, they have a huge selection of products, their webshops are convenient and I have good experience with warranty issues as well. Their prices are good too, only much smaller, lesser known shops have better prices, but my time is expensive, I won't take chances with them to save 1-2000HUF.

We used aqua.hu a couple days back for a small purchase.
We walked into one of their pick up centers to see if it was in stock on their shelves and it was.
We actually have so far only ordered vitamins in Hungary online.

Unless it is second hand and cheap on Facebook I never buy anything electrical or computerised in hungary.
Items are far too expensive.  Probably due to import taxes and vat.  Also second hand items can be pricy.  I wanted a bread oven and it was cheaper to buy one in the uk from a charity shop than to buy a second hand one here. 
Because people can't afford new second hand items such as phones or lap tops are priced far too high.  Additionally mail order has a high postage charge and I have also been told a high risk of being taxed again or being stolen.
So just my view .. Not wishing to be too negative  but I prefer to purchase in the uk or during trips to other European countries.

anns wrote:

Unless it is second hand and cheap on Facebook I never buy anything electrical or computerised in hungary.
Items are far too expensive.  Probably due to import taxes and vat.  ....
So just my view .. Not wishing to be too negative  but I prefer to purchase in the uk or during trips to other European countries.

There would not be any import taxes as it's a single market, but the 27% VAT here is a killer.   There's 7% difference between here and the UK. I should think this difference will increase when the UK leaves the EU and no longer has to have minimum VAT (15%).  And once again we will be able to have VAT refunds on departure from the UK.  For large purchases it could be  worth looking in Austria (19% VAT?) but even that's totally weird pricing.  I regularly look at Ikea prices (could almost be a Big Mac index).  I want to buy some lights. They are cheaper here at normal prices than in the UK "sale price" for exactly the same lights.  Example pricing:

HU Priced Lamp - Priced at 11,990 HUF

UK priced lamp  Priced at 13,500 HUF (was actually 17,300 HUF originally before the "sale"!!!!)

AT priced lamp - Priced at 15,000 HUF

Not all of this can be explained simply by VAT differences.

I would recommend notebookspecialista.hu where you can browse their category pages, brand pages and you can compare laptop prices as well.

Yes.  I used to think ikea was slightly more expensive here compared to the uk but since britex  it is cheaper in Hungary and catalogue  prices are held for a year.
But that isn't mail order so sorry I am being a bit off topic.  I just go there and shop and buy some really useless items sometimes.  Fortunately  usually small things relating to cooking.  I am an ikea junky and  I hope to visit their new museum next year.

anns wrote:

Yes.  I used to think ikea was slightly more expensive here compared to the uk but since britex  it is cheaper in Hungary and catalogue  prices are held for a year. ....I just go there and shop and buy some really useless items sometimes.  Fortunately  usually small things relating to cooking.  I am an ikea junky and  I hope to visit their new museum next year.

I was there are the weekend.   I think some things have come down in price in Hungary, even with the 27% VAT.   

I'd have thought Ikea isn't ancient enough to have a museum.

Tell you one thing, energy saving light bulbs are pricey in Ikea.   

I also have  a beef with them over selling "standard sized plates" which do not fit in my standard sized dishwasher.  They also make glasses which do not fit in a standard dishwasher.

One interesting thing at my local Ikea (Budaors) -  Serbians drive to Budapest to do their furniture shopping.  Plenty of Serbian vans in the car park.

Someone told me Albanians also buy stuff in Ikea "mail order" by ordering with a van company which goes to Italy by ferry, collects the stuff whilst taking a fee.  Kind of mail order.

The Facebook page "Used stuff for sale in Budapest!" is really useful if you need to buy some daily stuff

I would like to find a company that makes long curtains.  An essential in budapest

Probably better to find a local individual who can make your curtains. There is probably someone like that in every street in BP.

I'm looking to buy either a tablet or a laptop at the moment but I'm also finding the prices too high in Hungary. If I get a laptop it will have to come from UK anyway, as I don't want a Hungarian keyboard. Prices in UK are lower but typically they charge £40 to post a laptop to Hungary, I notice some UK Ebay sellers of such gear are in Poland though, so prices must be low there.

Ann, there are places everywhere that make custom drapes up for you.
Most shops that sell cloth have a seamstress ready to take your order.
I know of several places, one is on King St., I'll have to show you one day.

fidobsa wrote:

.....but typically they charge £40 to post a laptop to Hungary, I notice some UK Ebay sellers of such gear are in Poland though, so prices must be low there.

Just to say that I buy a lot of IT gear and it's MUCH cheaper to arrange your own shipping. 

If you get it delivered free of charge in the UK to a friend or relative, you can then ship it yourself by using a parcel service (Royal Mail Parcels is one of the cheapest).  I do this some of the time as I compare against the pre-booked excess bag cost on a scheduled airline. But I have willing and organised relatives.   Amazon will deliver directly and it doesn't cost that much.  There's been a drop in rip off prices to HU from Western Europe.

If one goes to the UK,  as I noted, it's possible to just buy another inbound luggage allowance or do a "cheap" upgrade on the return. I will do this in a week or so.  I have done this many times - Air France was the cheapest for a while but awkward to fly from HU (CDG is a crap airport). BA has put prices up and is not so competitive. Lufthansa was the priciest.  I paid HUF

Some of the Ebay sellers are utter rip off merchants for transport costs. It's against the rules of Ebay but they still push the limits. Others are much more reasonable.

BTW, as an example.  I will get a bit of kit from Italy delivered directly to HU by carrier for 22 EUR.  And it weighs almost 40kg!!!