Why do you import?

[Grubert]

(note: multiple-choice poll)

For me, importing is a natural thing from the years of DVD. I live in Europe, so choice and prices were often better when buying overseas.

But historically, people from North America have been reluctant to importing anything. Going from the posts here, it seems this might be changing. Of course, importing from, say, Canada is less daunting than going to an Italian site and using machine translation to navigate through the registering and ordering pages.

[brewp13]

I import mostly if the title is not released in the US but only from the UK, I worry releases from other countries will be dubbed in a foreign language. However, I will only order Brittish or Japanese movies, etc from UK like Layer Cake or The Death and Life of Bobby Z. If its a hardcore American Movie like Die Hard or something I just wait for US release.

[Blaumann]

I'm from Germany. I import from the UK, France, US and Canada. One of the more daring imports was the BD [REC] from Spain, as i can't read Spanish. Worked out ok though. lol

The reasons are simply price and title selection. I used to import a lot from the US, that has changed mostly to imports from the UK now.

It's only on rare occations, that a title is released outside the five countries mentioned and i really need to have it. A recent title i'm trying to track down is Inside (A l'intérieur) from Scandinavia. After one unsuccessful attempt with a webshop that turned out not to send abroad, this is now on hiatus for the time being. BD's from Japan would also be of interest, but somehow i fail at using my Amazon account there.

[Komakopf]

I am from Germany too.
Usually I import BR´s because many titles are either not available in Germany or they are cut.
Also one main reason is the price. German sellers demand a ridicously high price for BR´s. Mostly between 20-32 Euros (ca. 26 - 41 US-$).
That´s why I import from UK as the prices there are half of the German prices. Sometimes even less.

[md99]

I import pretty much everything. Here in Ireland the average price of Blu Rays discs off the shelf is €30 and I've seen some as high as €50 which is absolutely ridiculous. And they are single disc movies too, not even boxsets.

Importing from Amazon.com however I pay an average of something like €18 per disc. Older movies cost literally nothing, maybe even below €10. I've found plenty of bargains in the UK too.

[uk-guy]

i import mainly due to film titles not being available in great Britain or never seeing a release date at all. if its confirmed region free then i will go ahead and import. it can also work out cheaper however due to the weak pound imports from the USA are more expensive but if its a must have buy and the title hasent had a release date in britain i will import and not wait

[andyparhelia]

The prices in Ireland are mental, I saw The Brothers Grimm in HMV last week for €44!

I usually buy from the UK or America (depending on exchange rates) and don't think I've paid any more than €15 per disc in the past few months.

I also voted for 'Other' in the poll as the slim cases in the US are another reason for importing - I'm running out of shelf space with the thicker euro releases

[F-Man]

I live in Canada and hate to have the same things written twice on box art. I will however buy locally if it's a French movie, at least to get the original title.

[AikonEnt]

I will import if the price is significantly lower or the BD I want isn't available in the UK (5 disc version of Blade Runner for example). My importing at the moment though has pretty much come to a standstill because of a) more choice in the UK b) more offers like 3for2 or 2 for £22 and c) the UK pound is fairly weak against the US dollar (relatively speaking) which means that a lot of titles are actually now cheaper here than in the US (especially when you have to add on shipping etc).

[-Sandro-]

Italy here, I import for 3 main reasons:

- I want the original set (they often change titles and stuff) and since I only watch with the original sound it's a like a must
- Price often lower
- For DVDs I hate PAL speed up

[Blu_Ray_UK2007]

I don't import half as much as I used to.. but it's always been because of a title not being available over here.

[Rantlers]

I also imports for three reasons:

1. Better AQ/PQ
2. Uncut versions (without sacrificing AQ/PQ)
3. Compact Blu-ray cases for sets (see UK Planet of the Apes & X-men Trilogy )

[jw]

I buy for the titles not available locally and steelbooks. I just recently purchased a region B player so I am dual mode now So if anyone needs to verify region B playback on a disc Let me know, Ill check it if I have it

[richieb1971]

People will import to experience things first most of the time.

For myself, I will import sometimes because of the original studio release, maybe a boxset, a standalone, a steelbook, a special edition. But mostly its because I want something first.

[david2189]

i dont import much anymore, used to import loads for the special deals amazon.com had (buy1 get 1 frees mostly) and ofcourse thanks to the recession prices are now more similar..i also prefer the UK cases so i buy UK now when i can + im helping the british economy

[McCrutchy]

I'm a budding foreign cinema junkie from the USA, and I import titles (mainly from the UK, although I did import the Australian American Psycho BD and the Austrian Revanche DVD from ebay.at) because I know they will not be released here for years, and when they are, usually lack some/all of the extra features.

[laners]

Originally Posted by md99

I import pretty much everything. Here in Ireland the average price of Blu Rays discs off the shelf is €30 and I've seen some as high as €50 which is absolutely ridiculous. And they are single disc movies too, not even boxsets.

i agree, prices in ireland are ridiculous..... HMV are particularly bad i have found...

play.com, axelmusic.com and amazon are really the only places i buy blu-rays.

i bought quite a few in Zavvi when they were going bust but thats different!

[owa]

Mostly because of a title not being available locally.

[DCSholtis]

Cheaper usually due to the exchange rate.

[pro-bassoonist]

My library is built from arthouse/classics. I import heavily from France, undoubtedly the most diverse market.

Pro-B