Lately I’ve spoken to people who feel that they were ‘caught out’ when they ordered from a website that ended in ‘.ie’. They presumed that the ‘.ie’ meant that they website had to be from an Irish Company only to find that it was in fact from a UK business.
This means that they had to pay for custom duty and tax and also that it took many weeks to arrive.
Just because you’re buying from a .ie domain name doesn’t mean that you’re buying Irish.
Many companies with a .ie website get their products from the UK. Currys/PC World customers in particular have been grappling with Brexit-related woes in the last few weeks. Long delivery delays, unexpected Vat bills, and cancelled orders led to a flurry of complaints against the retailer.
In order to register a .ie domain name, commercial applicants must provide a ‘real and substantive connection to the island of Ireland’.
If they’re not resident here, they may still be eligible to register if they sell goods or services to consumers or businesses in the island of Ireland and can provide evidence of this.
To find out where the business behind the site is based/registered, check the business’s registered/postal address in the ‘About Us’ section, the ‘Contact Us’ section or in the terms and conditions.
If you just get a blank form…Leave!
If not, delivery times are always a giveaway. If you’re looking at a two-week wait, it’s unlikely they’re shipping from here, or indeed from within the EU.
If you’re looking at one to two months for delivery, the order will almost certainly be shipped from outside the EU.
While under EU law, businesses must provide customers with delivery information, they are under no obligation to legally state where they are shipping from.
Be Safe and Shop from an Irish Company this Christmas
