Wow! Despite Italy’s decidedly dodgy postal service, Amazon has finally set up shop in Italy. Hello Amazon.it! Amazon.com Inc even visited BlogfromItaly.com in May 2010 to read my How to Post things to Italy post, according to BlogfromItaly.com’s Google Analytics data. Very interesting.
Not sure who is handling deliveries for them, but if it’s the Italian post office, Amazon will need to keep an eye on things, as they will know after having read my post, and the comments. Amazon has done business in Spain, France and Germany for a few years, but seemed to have steered clear of Italy. Until now that is.
Not a Fake!
I admit that when I first saw the Amazon.it web site, I thought it might be a fake, but a quick Whois search revealed that the Amazon.it domain is indeed owned by Jeff Bezos US based Amazon.com Inc. Have no fear that your credit card information will be used for illicit purposes – provided Amazon.it employees are not ex-Italian post office workers!
Free Delivery – with Amazon Prime
Stop reading, start speaking
Stop translating in your head and start speaking Italian for real with the only audio course that prompt you to speak.
I suspect Amazon will have engaged the services of another courier such as Fed Ex, TNT or Italy’s own Bartolini to deliver items, but this is not clear. Other online shops in Italy do use Italy’s postal service, but many offer alternative courier based delivery services. Anyway, Amazon.it is promising speedy and free delivery on purchases of over €19 for a month. Pay €9.99 and you get free 2-3 day delivery in Italy for one year with the Amazon Prime service, which is available pretty much all over Italy, but not in the organised crime strongholds of Sicily and Calabria. Although Naples does get Amazon Prime – a sign that the camorra is being beaten? Possibly.
The Amazon.it site is mono-lingual for the moment, being only in Italian. This is a slight shame as the expat community here will be very happy to save lots of money on postal charges which are high from the UK and from the USA, not to mention possible customs hold-ups.
I suppose you clicking finger is itching to visit Amazon.it, so here you are: Amazon.it Just in time for you to do some Christmas shopping too. Excellent timing Amazon!
