How to buy a 120/220v power transformer in France?

[mechantbruce]

Hello,

We are moving into our new (200 year old) house in the Pyrenees next week

We moved from the USA, and have bought many household gadgets with us (including my beloved espresso machine and burr grinder). Foolishly I did not get around to buying transformers before I left, so now I need to source them (~4) here.

We have been in Paris for about 6 months while we were searching for a house and I have only ever seen very small, underpowered transformers (mostly 40W perhaps up to 150W) here. I have looked in Darty, Castorama, and BHV.

Is there anywhere in France where I might find more powerful transformers for sale?

If I cannot find anything with at least 1500 Watts, I think I will have to buy transformers from a web site like this one; <<I am not allowed to paste a URL yet, but the site was dvdoverseas(point)com>>

I called them up and for the AR5000 product, they are quoting ~120 $US shipping per unit.... it seems such a shame that they are probably shipped halfway around the world to get to the USA, just to have them shipped halfway around the world back to me.

I doubt I can avoid this, but you never know, worth a try!!

Thanks for your help
Bruce

[Bevdeforges]

Take a look at amazon.fr - search for "transformateur" and see if there is anything there you can use.
Cheers,
Bev

[dijid]

You buy one off Amazon.com and have it shipped to the home of the first person coming to visit you in your new home in France.

It's been over a year since I looked, but we never found anything here in France.

[rynd2it]

Originally Posted by mechantbruce

Hello,

We are moving into our new (200 year old) house in the Pyrenees next week

We moved from the USA, and have bought many household gadgets with us (including my beloved espresso machine and burr grinder). Foolishly I did not get around to buying transformers before I left, so now I need to source them (~4) here.

We have been in Paris for about 6 months while we were searching for a house and I have only ever seen very small, underpowered transformers (mostly 40W perhaps up to 150W) here. I have looked in Darty, Castorama, and BHV.

Is there anywhere in France where I might find more powerful transformers for sale?

If I cannot find anything with at least 1500 Watts, I think I will have to buy transformers from a web site like this one; <<I am not allowed to paste a URL yet, but the site was dvdoverseas(point)com>>

I called them up and for the AR5000 product, they are quoting ~120 $US shipping per unit.... it seems such a shame that they are probably shipped halfway around the world to get to the USA, just to have them shipped halfway around the world back to me.

I doubt I can avoid this, but you never know, worth a try!!

Thanks for your help
Bruce

Try this:

Transformateur 2000W 220V 110V 100V US JAPON REVERSIBLE | eBay

Very expensive - I got mine from Region Free DVD Players, MultiSystem LCD TVs, Region Free DVD Recorders, Multi-System Plasma TV, multi-system TVs, PAL LCD TV, PAL TV, Step Down transformer, Step up transformer, Chicago before I left - you might check their current shipping prices

Cheers

[Bevdeforges]

Amazon.fr*: transformateur 220v 110v
There are 500W, 750W and 1000W versions available. And "livraison gratuite"

Amazon.fr is getting better and better at offering stuff that expats want and need, with shipping prices for France factored in.
Cheers,
Bev

[rynd2it]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

Amazon.fr*: transformateur 220v 110v

There are 500W, 750W and 1000W versions available. And "livraison gratuite"

Amazon.fr is getting better and better at offering stuff that expats want and need, with shipping prices for France factored in.
Cheers,
Bev

That link was broken - try this:
Amazon.fr*: transformateurs 2000W
The price is horrible - that's only $79.99 in the USA

Ah well

[Bevdeforges]

Originally Posted by rynd2it

That link was broken - try this:
Amazon.fr*: transformateurs 2000W

The price is horrible - that's only $79.99 in the USA

Ah well

Oddly enough, your link is "broken" when I try to use it. Perhaps the searches don't transfer on Amazon.

But I do note (when I find the one you cited) that it's livraison gratuite. How much is shipping from the US? Those transformers are heavy. And at least on Amazon, they say they can't ship to France. Then, don't forget that you pay 19.6% VAT on both the product price and the cost of shipping. (And you get your transformer in something less than 6 weeks.)
Cheers,
Bev

[rynd2it]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

Oddly enough, your link is "broken" when I try to use it. Perhaps the searches don't transfer on Amazon.

But I do note (when I find the one you cited) that it's livraison gratuite. How much is shipping from the US? Those transformers are heavy. And at least on Amazon, they say they can't ship to France. Then, don't forget that you pay 19.6% VAT on both the product price and the cost of shipping. (And you get your transformer in something less than 6 weeks.)
Cheers,
Bev

Hi Bev,

Yes the links don't seem to save correctly - anyway we found them. I would not recommend shipping one, as you say it'll probably be a wash with the VAT & carriage costs. Exactly why I bought ours before leaving (6 months before)

Cheers

[emilymathews]

We did the same thing- I had the exact same one in my cart at Amazon.com and forgot to order it before we left, so now I'm stuck paying 99 euro for the exact same one from Amazon.fr. UGH! Oh well, love and learn- everything here like that really is a lot more expensive.

We just moved into a 200+ year old house, too- love it!