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Same in Ireland. VAT on ebooks and zero rate on paper books.
But all the magazines and books distributed in Ireland from UK by Easons have a currency hedging surcharge. The Irish currency was an illusion from 1922 till 1979 when Ireland became more European and UK didn't, so though the Irih pound was replaced by the euro, the currency hedging by all UK->Ireland middle men has been since 1979. Some bookshops import from USA.
It started be significant in the reign of Elizabeth I because she blocked all mainland Europe trade to Ireland and insisted everything had to go via England.
It's got more complex with Brexit. Brexit hardly affects large companies like Amazon, but has almost killed all UK exports by small companies that mainly traded to EU. So though postage rates are similar for Germany to Ireland and UK to Ireland, English language books are mostly more expensive from Germany than UK. German Amazon prices for other goods mostly don't have Free Shipping, but the UK prince (free shipping over £20) can be more expensive in total.
Customs now from UK (unless it's Amazon and such like) is now like Customs from USA or China. Irish VAT at customs (on price inc Shipping) and some more expensive orders will have Duty too.
It used to be anything under €20 inc shipping was VAT & Duty free. That's gone.
Still, no gaps on shelves (except some British owned supermarkets) or lack of physical books etc.
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