Amazon Germany is a multilingual site that’s not only available in German, but also in other languages like English, Dutch, Polish, Turkish and Czech. To change the default language from German into any of the other languages, simply head to Amazon.de and click on the globe that’s located just below the search box.
This changes everything into English – even your product searches will be translated from English into German. Sometimes Amazon’s automatic translation is a little off, but overall it works very well.
Unfortunately, the actual product page isn’t always translated into English. Often you’ll click on a product and all of the important information will be in German. Unless you already know that you definitely want to purchase this product, you’ll probably want to be able to read about it in English.
There are a couple of ways to translate the product page. Either:
- Paste the URL of the product into Google Translate.
- Use your web browser to translate the page.
Using Google Translate
Did you know that you can copy a URL and paste it into Google Translate, and Google will translate that entire webpage for you? This is much more convenient than highlighting the text, copying it, and pasting it into Google Translate. It’s also much tidier as well. By copying the URL as opposed to the text, Google will retain the shape and layout of the page you’re trying to translate rather than just showing you a huge block of text.
Translating Amazon using your browser
Rather than copying and pasting URLs or sections of text into Google Translate, many browsers allow you to click a button and do it within the browser.
Google Chrome
Google Chrome is by far the easiest web browser to use when it comes to translating webpages. Unlike Edge and Firefox, Google Translate comes pre-built into the browser and there’s no need to install any add-ons or plugins.
To translate a webpage, simply click the Google Translate icon at the end of the address bar.
Edge
Edge is Microsoft’s browser, and any laptop or desktop computer running Windows will come with Edge (or its predecessor Internet Explorer). Unlike Google Chrome, Edge doesn’t automatically come with a translation function. If you want to translate anything, you’ll have to install an extension like ‘Translator for Microsoft Edge‘.
Installing this will add an icon to the end of the address bar. Simply click this and Edge will translate the page.
Firefox
Like Edge, Firefox doesn’t have an inbuilt translation service. If you want to translate a webpage within the browser, you’ll have to download a Firefox extension. There are quite a few, including S3.Browser, and it only takes a couple of seconds to install them.
S3 adds a new icon to your browser, in the top right-hand corner. Simply click the icon, and you’ll be asked whether you want to translate the page.
Tips for shopping at Amazon Germany
- Amazon is just one of several ‘Amazons’ that delivers to Portugal. Portuguese residents also shop at Amazon Spain (which you can also translate into English), Amazon UK, and occasionally Amazon.com.
- Amazon Germany is the biggest Amazon in continental Europe. Even though Amazon Spain is closer geographically, often it’s cheaper to shop at Amazon Germany. Often Amazon Germany will be cheaper than Amazon UK as well.
- Some sellers on Amazon.de won’t ship to Portugal or, if they’re willing to, often they charge an exorbitant amount to do so. If that’s the case, take a look at the other sellers and see if anyone else ships to Portugal. Failing that, you could use a parcel forwarding service like MyGermany which gives you with an address in Germany and then forwards your package to Germany.
Do you shop at Amazon Germany? Have you switched your language settings to English or do you keep your account in German and just translate as you need to? Share your thoughts and reviews of Amazon Germany by leaving a comment below.
