Online shopping in Malta

Online Shopping is king when living in Malta !

Almost everything is cheaper online than in local shops. Within the last 5 years, I found more and more companies, which offer delivery to Malta ... some of them send even free of charge.
Btw, the basic list I got from this forum 5 years ago extended it to 200+ Online shops, but finally found my 8-10 favourites.
Still a lot of shops do not deliver to Malta or only at very high shipping costs.

The drawback is not only because of the limited assortment here, but even the prices PLUS shipping costs are often muuuuuch cheaper when buying online.

Some articles with regulated prices, such as Apple or Bose products, are more or less equal in price, but still I prefer buying them online because of the miserable customer service in Malta - but that's a separate topic  .

Within the last 5 years, I bought 3 different eyeglasses here (2 of them bi-focal), and not one of them was correctly made (wrong cylinder/axes or eye distance). Now I prefer to buy them abroad - see next point - and at a cheaper price. Some people here buy online at Zennioptical, but for me, it is the same as with clothes/shoes - I need to try them if they feel comfortable.

Clothing/Shoes have to be bought locally unless you exactly know your size. Returning the goods from Malta costs money. Best option are short but frequent shopping-trips abroad (Catania is near and cheap)  - not possible during summer months due to the ridiculously high ticket prices.

Any urgent goods resp. low priced or everyday needs can be bought locally, but so far I have not seen anything that is seriously cheaper in Malta than abroad. Even local produced food is more expensive than imported goods e.g. available at Lidl ... and is much more toxic   

For many deliveries from outside EU, the import tax has to be paid, either to the postman directly (after submitting evidence of payment to Maltapost) or to the customs authority/courier service.

Well-known online shops are using courier services like DHL (Express or Deutsche Post) or UPS. Even shipping arrangements via Shiplowcost (for bulky goods) are reasonably priced and delivery time is short.
Parcels to be delivered by Maltapost sometimes get "lost" but will be found after some time    ... They always blame the foreign postal service, although the tracking number confirms a handover. Another procedure here on the rock, where you feel quite helpless and frustrated.

Another advantage of courier services are the opening hours when you can collect your package in case you have not been at home at the time of delivery. Maltapost is mainly open in the morning until noon, but in the early morning, the queue can be pretty long. Same on Saturdays. It's a huge advantage when you are working from home or can forward the delivery to your workplace.

MATM911, I am being lazy. What is this basic list you speak of? Is it published on the forum??

Until the fall in the value of the pound I found that very few items were cheaper to by from overseas by the time you have added silly delivery costs.
You also take a risk with the warranty with many items, apart from the added cost of returning goods back to where they came from.

Ray

Deleted as it was a duplicate.

I mainly buy from German Online Shops, since they have good prices and decent shipping costs. But I've also ordered from other countries such as Austria, France, Spain, Poland ... UK and China 

HERE's the post with the original links ... but in the meantime, many other shops deliver to Malta.

AHA

I rarely shop on line as I prefer to buy locally, mainly because of the delivery charges to here from the U.K., if I need something from Amazon I tend to use the German one and have it delivered to family there.  Some of the delivery charges are getting to be silly especially for things like cross stitch kits that are very light and postage can cost upwards of ten pound coming from the U.K.

I order online in and from different countries since years, but since I'm in Malta, I gave up and try to pick my orders up whenever I can in a other country during travelling. The reason is Maltapost. I tried it here in Malta 8 times, from this 2 arrived correctly (in 6-10 days), 3 arrived about one month late, 1 two month late and I just got a envelope from Germany, which was sent five month ago, the last one still didn't arrive yet, sent from over a year ... maybe next week

Shipping is expensive, but you can find more choice online that is for sure.  I'm looking at shipping Ikea items here via a third party system.  There, shipping will cost 30% of total cost.   I've looked at Amazon for other things but shipping is often equivalent to value of items.  It all depends on what you're buying.  Good luck!

If you have a good shop around here you can buy most things you need and quite often you can get a discount if you ask.

I already bought a lot of things online before coming to Malta, and I've just grown more and more used to it. I even order online for the monthly groceries. I only buy physically cloth and things such as vegetables or fresh fish.

Some electronics too, if i need warranty,which consideringthe quality of                                  modern technology is quite crucial.

Note that the book depository is cheap and has free worldwide shipping!