There are lots of reasons you might want to shop online from Iceland.
Maybe traveling to Iceland isn’t in the cards right now. You would love to roam the majestic landscapes, and you would love to see the Northern Lights. For those times you can’t get there in person, though, online shopping allows you to bring a piece of Iceland close to you and enjoy it in a highly personal way.
There are also occasions when you’re in Iceland, but your luggage can’t fit even one more souvenir! Those times call for some international shipping to get your treasure trove home.
Shopping online from Iceland is also a way to revisit your experience if you’ve been to Iceland already.
Whatever the reason, today you can enjoy exquisite and exclusive Icelandic products at the click of a button. Of course, shipping from one country to another always raises a few questions, but you’ll find all the answers you need in this article.
Icelandic Clothes: Buy Icelandic Wool Online
When you shop online for Icelandic wool, souvenirs, or any other products, prices are set in the Icelandic Króna (ISK).
However, on the Icewear site, you can see prices in your local currency by simply indicating the country you are shopping from. The Icewear site isn’t programmed with every single currency, but there will be a plethora of options to give you context about the price of items. Once you click on the appropriate language selector, the website gives you prices in that nation’s currency.
Prices on the Icewear site are often even more convenient than shopping in-store, since products sold in the shops are labeled in ISK. The number of zeros at the end of a figure in kronurs is enough to test anyone’s algebra!
How and Where to Buy Icelandic Wool Online from Iceland
We shop for products quite differently depending on what we’re after.
For example, if you’re online shopping for toilet tissue, your priority will be to find who sells it cheapest or who ships the fastest.
If you’re shopping for products like Icelandic wool online, in contrast, you’re not just trying to replace “any ol’ sweater.” You’re looking for those products because you want the specific advantages that Icelandic wool provides, or for the unique patterns that Icelandic wool products come in. You have an emotional motivation behind that purchase. That means your priorities are to look for quality or specific features.
Price and shipping do come into the equation, but first you have to ask, how and where can you buy Icelandic wool online?
Fortunately, just about every major Icelandic store or business has an online storefront now. Some of the smallest sellers might have limited global shipping options, but with the e-commerce market growing 14.8% from 2022-2027 in Iceland, this won’t usually be a problem.
For Icelandic wool products and outdoor wear, Icewear offers express global shipping that arrives in 3-5 days. Consider that a “gold standard” as you shop, because Icewear proves with its huge catalog of Icelandic wool products and outdoor wear that this level of speed and convenience is possible.
For other product you want to buy from Iceland, take advantage of search engines like Google and Bing to find products and online storefronts.
Shopping in Iceland as a Tourist
If you have the pleasure of shopping in Iceland during a trip, there are stunning shopping districts with extraordinary variety of products ranging from Icelandic wool to souvenirs and outdoor wear, tech products, and more.
Laugavegur is one of the oldest shopping strips in the capital city of Reykjavík. The street’s name translates to “wash road” because this road once led to the hot springs and famous outdoor wash area in Laugardalur. The whole city used to go there to bathe.
The popularity of Laugavegur as a shopping district today is well-earned, and you’ll see why as soon as you arrive. It has a famed collection of exclusive boutiques and stores. In the evenings, the local restaurants, bars and clubs attract just as many visitors.
Another strip of stores that’s gained popularity the past few years is Skólavörðustígur. This is considered one of the most aesthetically attractive streets in Reykjavík since it’s dotted with old homes, stores, cafés and even art galleries. Conveniently, it runs from the corner of Laugavegur up to the Hallgrímskirkja Church.
There are also two large shopping malls in Reykjavík:
- Kringlan Shopping Center: located east of the center of the city, Kringlan has as much social activity as it does shopping. There are over 150 shops and restaurants, plus a movie theater, food court, and a supervised children’s area with an indoor playground.
- Smáralind Shopping Center: nearby in the suburb Kópavogur, Smáralind is the largest shopping mall in Iceland. It holds more than 80 shops, some of them quite expansive.
Both shopping malls have the added appeal of weekend hours. The shops on Laugavegur and Skólavörðustígur each decide for themselves what their hours are, and while many stay open on the weekends, some do not.
Shipping: Shop Icelandic, Receive Iceland Home Delivery
Isn’t it a wonderful feeling to receive something in the mail? Like having an early birthday, you get to open the package with giddy anticipation.
Since we enjoy package tracking options on just about every shipment today, we’re usually aware of the arrival date of our packages. Nonetheless, the excitement of watching the parcel’s progress as it departs from one country and traverses another is truly something special!
Shipping Icewear products around the globe is fast, secure, and simple. Your shipment can cross borders, pass through customs, and arrive at your door in as little as three days.
How does that work, though? How much does it cost? How does customs work?
Keep reading to find out.
Cost of Shopping from Iceland
Reykjavík is a city that truly offers something for everyone. Its charming boutiques and bustling city center complement the larger shopping malls to create what has been called a “shopper’s paradise.” Nowadays, with just about every storefront offering their products online, the city’s charm is available to anyone in the world.
Iceland does have a reputation for being “expensive,” though. This is based on the cost of living, which is higher than some other EU nations. The cost of living does impact the price of its products and of shipping from Iceland, it’s true. The way pricing works surprise many international customers, however.
For starters, because international shipping is such a well-oiled industry in the Icelandic economy, regular massive shipments abroad facilitate lower prices for everyone (not to mention faster shipping times). This is due to the total volume of products leaving the country. Shipping costs to send products from Iceland to the U.S., Canada, other parts of the EU and elsewhere in the world can be as affordable as $5-10 dollars for smaller shipments.
Whether planning a trip to Iceland or your online Icelandic product shopping spree, start by understanding the cost of living in Iceland to properly budget for the items you want most.
Cost of Living in Iceland
The cost of living in Iceland is a little higher than in other EU nations because the standard of living is also higher. The standard of living includes refers to what services and goods are available, what housing options are available, and the ratio of those costs next to what someone in Iceland typically earns.
In other words, Icelanders typically live comfortably with access to what they want and the salaries to support them.
Keep reading to see a few more statistics to get an idea of how Icelandic prices compare to where you live. Everything has been converted from Icelandic Krónas to US Dollars.
Salaries In Iceland
The average salary in Iceland in the early 2020s climbed to around $66,000 a year. That averages about $32 an hour.
Interestingly, Iceland has no overarching, fixed minimum wage. Different talent markets simply demand certain salaries to attract the best employees. Certain industries do have base wages, though, such as teachers and servers.
Cost of Living and Goods in Iceland
The University of Akureyri in northeast Iceland has estimated that general housing and utility costs in Iceland can be as low as $700 per month, though they climb from there depending on the type of home someone lives in and its location.
The costs of daily basics like food, clothing and toiletries start around $350 per month and climb from there, according to the University.
With those numbers in mind, the minimum to live by while covering basic needs in Iceland is at least $1,000 per month. That gives you an idea what other goods cost, too.
For instance, how much does a meal cost in Iceland? Someone who wants to go out to lunch with friends might commonly spend $10 or $20. A trip to the grocery store each week for someone living alone might cost $50.
The cost of being a tourist in Iceland depends on where you stay and what activities you plan on. Spending a minimum of $30 per day on food (including eating out, at the grocery store, beverages, etc.) should be expected.
Iceland prices compared to US are often considered on-par or even more affordable.
Taxes When Shopping Iceland Articles
Just like when you go to the café and select that delicious looking cookie for $3.99, but end up paying $4.25 with tax, there will be a value added tax (VAT) added to most goods you buy from Iceland.
VAT in Iceland
There are different levels of VAT in Iceland:
- Hotel and restaurants carry 11% VAT (and foodstuffs just 7%)
- Most everything else carries a 24% VAT
The thing is, the VAT is there to support Icelanders and the systems and infrastructure they enjoy. Tourists can be exempted from paying VAT since they don’t live there and enjoy those benefits for more than a short time.
Tax Free Shopping in Iceland (VAT Refund)
If you are a permanent resident outside of Iceland, you aren’t obligated to pay the VAT. You can be reimbursed when you leave the country on your departing flight.
To validate your eligibility, you fill out the Tax Free Form. This can be done before you even start your trip, because once processed and issued, the stamped form is valid with no expiration date.
By presenting the Tax Free Form and receipts for all non-consumable goods that are physically in your personal luggage (in other words, not consumed during your stay in Iceland), your VAT on those goods will be reimbursed. Do note that “non-consumable” means that food, whether consumed in Iceland or taken with you back home, does not give you reimbursable VAT.
There are a few things to remember:
- Services have non-refundable VAT since they were all “consumed” during your stay
- Products purchased but consumed in Iceland are non-refundable, too
- When buying products online, no VAT will be applied if you ship abroad
- The minimum to spend to receive the Tax Free voucher is 6,000ISK, and receipts can’t be combined to reach that total unless items were bought from the same store on the same day
How Long Does It Take to Get my Order Sent from Iceland?
Imagine that you found the perfect Icelandic wool sweater on the Icewear website. As long as there aren’t any unexpected delays, you could receive your order within a few days of placing it. Icewear ships within 24 hours and then packages arrive around the world 3-5 business days later.
Track Package from Iceland
Icewear ships with the international courier service, DHL. This means you can track your order’s progress on the DHL website.
Whenever Icewear ships through the domestic post (for orders delivered within Iceland), sometimes ground shipping options are used. Tracking might not be available in these cases, but when placing your order on the website, this information will pop up in the shipping options.
There are, of course, some factors beyond Icewear’s control that sometimes slow shipments. Iceland’s harsh weather can sometimes be so severe that key highways become impassable or flights are delayed. In wintertime, on occasion airplanes are not able to land—the international airport has even closed in extreme cases.
Then, of course, there’s the occasional delay due to high volumes of orders. The holidays are a common time when orders might have additional delays before they can be shipped as local workers rush to get thousands of orders out the door. Purchasing items destined for gifts is best done a little early!
The final delay your package might have is when the receiving country decides to hold the package for inspection. Keep reading to learn a little more about customs.
Cost of Shipping and Customs on Online Purchase
All merchandise shipped from another country will have to pass through customs in the receiving country.
To be processed through customs, shipments from Iceland (or any other country) must be accompanied by the official invoice from the seller. That invoice must describe the merchandise and its selling price. The final recipient can present the invoice for customs clearance in cases that a package is held, but Icewear includes an official invoice with all its shipments.
When buying anything from abroad, it there are a lot of things to consider. Each market has its own pricing and its own currency. Then you open the can of worms of international shipping times, post tracking, customs and more.
It seems like a lot. But the market today has made it easy for you. There’s a reason why you’re shopping, and it’s an exciting time to live in with e-commerce so standardized—even for global shipments. Admit it, isn’t it nice to know that a cozy wool sweater of unique Icelandic qualities is right at your fingertips?
