Amazon Spain vs Amazon UK: what Prime costs and what Brexit adds to your order

In the Amazon Spain vs UK comparison, Spain wins on the fee: Prime costs €49.90 a year there, against £95 in the UK. The catch comes after the move. Every order you still send from amazon.co.uk to Andalusia is an import, and since July 2021 even a cheap parcel pays Spanish VAT.

Amazon Spain vs UK: the numbers side by side

You have just moved, your UK Prime account is still running and the first boxes are heading to your new flat in Málaga or Seville. Should you switch to amazon.es or keep ordering from the store you know? Seven numbers answer that, and five of them come straight from Amazon.

The fees are published on the company press sites for Spain and the UK. VAT rates come from the Spanish tax agency and GOV.UK. Euros and pounds stay as they are: a converted figure is wrong the day after it is written, so the table compares structure, not exchange rates.

Amazon Spain and Amazon UK compared. Status 28.09.2026. Sources: Amazon press sites for Spain and the UK, Agencia Tributaria, GOV.UK. Amounts in their own currency, not converted.

Where Spain is cheaper

The annual plan is where the gap shows. In Spain it costs €49.90, exactly 10.0 times the monthly fee of €4.99. In the UK the annual plan is £95 against £8.99 a month, which works out at 10.6 monthly fees. Paying yearly saves you two months in Spain and not quite one and a half in the UK.

Prime Student follows the same pattern. Spain charges €2.49 a month or €24.95 a year, for a maximum of four years according to Amazon. The UK version costs £4.49 a month or £47.49 a year, which Amazon itself describes as 50 % off. Both countries give you a free trial of 30 days before the first charge.

Where Spain is more expensive

VAT works against you. The standard rate in Spain is 21 % according to the Agencia Tributaria, while GOV.UK puts the UK rate at 20 %. That is 1 percentage point more on every standard-rated purchase you make in Andalusia, and it eats into the saving on the membership fee.

Speed is the other trade-off. Amazon offers same-day delivery in more than 80 UK towns and cities, compared with 16 cities in Spain, so more than 64 fewer places qualify. For a feel of which other everyday costs will surprise you, read our guide to real prices in Spain.

Who should switch

1. The household that orders every week

Here the case is clear. If your parcels go to a Spanish address every week, the Spanish plan at €49.90 a year is the obvious choice, and orders placed on amazon.es are no longer UK imports. How small items like this add up in a monthly budget is covered in our overview of the cost of living in Andalusia.

2. Parents with children at university

With a student in the family, Prime Student in Spain costs €24.95 a year and runs for up to four years. Everything else that changes when you move with children is in our guide to moving to Spain with children.

3. Snowbirds who keep a UK home

If you only spend the winter in Andalusia and keep your main home in the UK, your UK Prime account stays the simpler choice. No need to switch. Order to your UK address before you fly, and use amazon.es for the odd item you need on the spot. When Spain starts to treat you as tax resident is explained in our guide to the 183-day rule.

What tips the balance

Brexit is the real cost driver. Since 1 July 2021 the EU has abolished the VAT exemption for small consignments up to €22, according to the European Commission. For goods up to €150 from outside the EU, sellers can collect that VAT through the Import One Stop Shop. Either way, a UK order delivered to Andalusia carries Spanish import VAT, even a €15 phone case.

Inside the EU the rule points the same way. VAT on distance sales is now paid where the goods are consumed, so buying from another EU Amazon store does not avoid the Spanish 21 %. Sending things the other way has its own rules, explained in sending a parcel to Spain. The fees on this page are as of 28.09.2026 and Amazon can change them.

Our advice: keep the UK account for gifts delivered in the UK, and move your own orders to amazon.es as soon as Andalusia is home. That way the import VAT stops being a surprise at the door.

Then there is the card. If your salary or pension still arrives in pounds, every euro order runs through a currency conversion, and your bank decides what that costs. Until your Spanish bank account is open, that conversion is worth a closer look.

Frequently asked questions

Prime is a small line in a new monthly budget. Our budget calculator shows in a few steps what rent, utilities, insurance and daily life add up to in the part of Andalusia you have in mind.

Verdict

Prime costs €49.90 a year at Amazon Spain and £95 at Amazon UK. The Spanish annual plan equals 10.0 monthly fees, the UK plan 10.6, and the UK reaches far more places with same-day delivery, over 80 against 16.

The most expensive mistake is to keep ordering from amazon.co.uk out of habit. Since 1 July 2021 every UK parcel to Andalusia pays Spanish import VAT, however small it is. Switch your own orders to amazon.es once you live here, and keep the UK store for presents that stay in the UK.