amazon.de

I find the German Amazon site Amazon.de excellent for all sorts of European publications that are difficult or expensive to obtain from UK book or music sellers; for example, I'm a big fan of the Italian rock group "I Pooh" who have been around for at least as long as the Rolling Stones but are virtually unknown in Britain. I can buy their CDs easily on Amazon.de
It's also excellent for classical music and opera.
Last time I ordered a DVD it took 6 days to arrive.

Germany is also in Region 2 for DVD, and uses the PAL standard for videos, so unlike Amazon.com there's no problem with compatibility.

Amazon.de has recently improved its coverage of English-language books. In the Books (Buecher) category there's a radio button to select a search for "Deutsche Buecher" (German) or "Englische Buecher" (English).

The Amazon.de site is often much faster than the UK or US Amazon sites - maybe because the volume of traffic isn't as high.

I speak German, so I have no difficulty whatsoever in understanding any of the messages and instructions, however anyone familiar with the workings of the Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com websites will find everything works in exactly the same way and it's pretty intuitive.
Actually, the translation of the site into German is extremely good and professional, which makes a welcome change.

When you order something, you will get a confirmation e-mail in German. If you don't speak German don't panic - it says exactly the same as the confirmations you get in English when buying from one of the English-language Amazon sites.

Here's a short glossary for non-German speakers:
AKTUELL/AKTUELLES - New/News/Latest
ANMELDEN - Log in
BELLETRISTIK - Fiction, Literature
BESTELLEN - place an order
BESTELLUNG - an order
EINKAUFEN - Shopping
EINKAUFSWAGEN - Shopping cart
FACHBUECHER - Textbooks
GESCHENKE - Gifts (The German word "Gift" means "poison"!)
GUTSCHEIN - Voucher, gift token
KINDER - Children
LOS - Go
MEIN KONTO - My account
MwSt (Mehrwertsteuer) - VAT (when you reach the checkout they'll tell you that VAT is added to all EU purchases where applicable, and itemise it on your statement, but the German rate is lower than ours in the UK)
NACHSCHLAGEN - Reference
NATURWISSENSCHAFTEN - Science
SCHNELLSUCHE - Quick Search
SPIELE - Games
STOEBERN - Browse
SUCHE - Search
VERSAND - Postage & packing
WAEHRUNGSUMRECHNER - currency calculator (Step 1: log in; Step 2: choose your currency; Step 3: continue shopping)
WUNSCHZETTEL - Wish List
WEITER - continue/next
ZEITGESCHICHTE - Current affairs

And I'll translate the opening statement for you:

Willkommen bei Amazon.de. Sind Sie schon Kunde? Bitte melden Sie sich hier an, um Ihre persönlichen Empfehlungen zu erhalten.
Hier erfahren Sie, wie Sie bei uns einkaufen.

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