Online Shopping In The Algarve
I have blogged a lot in recent months about my love for online shopping from UK companies and getting items shipped to Portugal via top class removals companies. I love online shopping and to be honest it really doesn’t feel any different doing it here than it did when I resided in England.
The top shops that I do my online shopping with includes Asda, Tesco’s, The Body Shop, Next, Argos, Play.com, Amazon.co.uk and HMV.
I don’t do all my weekly shopping from Asda like many expats do that I have met over the past couple of years. But I still do my fair share. I have added it up during 2011 and I have now had 8 supermarket deliveries to Portugal which makes you realise just how easy and hassle free it is.
I tend to fill up on things such as cupboard basics. Which on my shopping lists often includes baked beans, sweet and sour sauce, oxo cubes, herbs, stuffing mixes and not to mention the mincemeat to make the mince pies over the Christmas season.
I also order quite a lot of cheese from Asda. Though be warned if you are planning on this kind of online shopping in the summer months go and collect your order with a cooler bag. Otherwise your cheese will look horrible by the time you get home.
I have only ordered twice from Tesco’s and that is because they are a serious pain. It takes me twice as long to put in the order and they only allow deliveries to one of the removals companies in the Algarve (Algarve Removals).
First of all the navigation of the site is much easier at Asda (and cheaper) and they accept all cards. Because I do a lot of shopping online I use a visa electron because many other companies charge a fee for a proper visa and it saves me money. However at Tesco’s who have the slogan “every little helps” don’t always like to help!!!
I would probably use Tesco’s more if they were easier to use but unfortunately they aren’t. And because I have to use a different removals company to get a Tesco’s order it seems like it is more hassle than it is worth.
I am expecting a new Tesco’s order on Monday and what I have learnt is just to chase their offers. The one plus side to Tesco’s is that you can view all their special offers and if you chase just their BOGOF’s (buy one get one free) you can save a fortune. Also if you shop around there are some fantastic voucher codes for Tesco’s. The value of my trolley at Tesco’s was actually over 60 pounds, but by the time I had deducted the special offer deals and the vouchers and added the delivery charge my shopping came to less than 40 pounds.
The thing about Tesco’s is that the products can be over priced compared to other supermarkets but if you catch everything on special offer it is a real bargain.
My dream come true would be if all four of the major supermarkets could offer online shopping. Then I would chase all four of the places for their special offers and it would be wonderful. But at the moment I don’t think it will be a reality!!!
I am also a huge DVD addict and have a collection of over 350 DVDs and the prices for them in Portugal are huge. So I always buy my DVDs from Play.com, Amazon.co.uk and HMV. They charge a fortune to deliver to Portugal and this is if customs don’t withhold them so I often add this to my online shopping order.
Depending on the companies of where you want to buy the products from I rotate my deliveries between Algarve Freight Centre and Algarve Removals, both of which offer a first class service.
So if you have not taken advantage of the great online shopping opportunities then this is your chance.
You can do it in these very easy to follow steps
Complete your shopping online
Order your shopping online as you normally would via the internet at as many or as few online retailers as you like.
Then at checkout change the delivery address to the address of the removals company that you are using. Remembering to keep the name as your own.
Here are my favourite two delivery companies
Algarve Removals
Chantry Lane
Chantry Farm,
Boreham,
Chelmsford
CM3 3HJ
The Algarve Freight Centre
Unit 1 Basildon Business Centre
Bentalls
Basildon
Essex
SS14 3BX
Contact The Removals Company
After you do this you need to contact the removals company with your details so that they know that you are having a parcel delivered to their warehouse. I find that you only need to do this once as they will then have your email address and name on record and will automatically let you know when future orders arrive.
www.algarveremovals.com/shopping-delivery-service-to-portugal.html
www.algarvefreight.com/Contact.aspx
Collecting Your Delivery
Now once you have done this all you have to do is wait for an email from the company on delivery day and collect your items. Then you can enjoy your goods that you have just had delivered. And look forward to following the system again and again. You will find that there will be a few companies off limits as some insist on delivering to the billing address, but on the whole there will be a lot of companies available to you.
I have saved a fortune since I started doing online shopping and now you can too.
