Importing to UK

[Brvtality]

Hey guys,

I recently ordered a few Criterions from the US and they arrived without problems; the site I ordered from had mentioned that they were customs friendly so I was put at ease by this and sure enough there was no issue.

However I am skeptical to buy from sites such as Amazon.com... should I be worried? What are the good site to import cheap BDs from with no customs concerns?

Thank you all very much in advance

[Yami]

Generally the sites based in Europe such as Axelmusic and Movietyme have higher prices. You'll get no customs charges but if it's below £18 I'd say just go with amazon.com.

[Matman]

Axelmusic are custom free.

IIRC you only get charged custom fees for items over 18quid, so if its under you shouldnt need to worry.

No idea if that 18 includes p&p though so id try keep it under that with postage.

[Alex_DeLarge]

Originally Posted by Matman

No idea if that 18 includes p&p though so id try keep it under that with postage.

P&P is 'NOT' included. Only the value of the merchandise.

[nametag]

Amazon.com will take the customs and import fees if you select one of the faster shipping options so you'll not get any delays, but you'll know what you're paying.

Generally Axelmusic, movietyme or, despite their limited selection, blubastard.com are your best bet for customs free titles regardless of price.

[The Driver]

Originally Posted by Yami

It does include P&P

If you mean the £18 includes any shipping/postage charge it definitely doesn't.

That would be silly and you should check the facts first http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/post/internet.htm



I use lots of places for importing: Amazon.com, DVDEmpire.com, a US mailing address, eBay, http://www.PlanetAxel.com -all depends on what you want.

Amazon's expidited shipping option can be excellent as there's no agent fee UK-side ie the Royal Mail steals £8 if they deal with the Customs duty etc.

[Yami]

Originally Posted by The Driver

If you mean the £18 includes any shipping/postage charge it definitely doesn't.

That would be silly and you should check the facts first http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/post/internet.htm



I use lots of places for importing: Amazon.com, DVDEmpire.com, a US mailing address, eBay, http://www.PlanetAxel.com -all depends on what you want.

Amazon's expidited shipping option can be excellent as there's no agent fee UK-side ie the Royal Mail steals £8 if they deal with the Customs duty etc.

Thanks for that. I was certain it did include P&P, I've forgotten where I read it but obviously the HMRC are correct.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by Yami

Thanks for that. I was certain it did include P&P, I've forgotten where I read it but obviously the HMRC are correct.

HMRC are always correct, always! They have ways of making us disappear. Or our imported Blu-rays at the very least....

[RuLeX]

In my opinion you'd be better using Amazon.com, the only other 'importer' i've used was movietyme and I paid around £4 more than Amazon would have cost me and after that I thought 'nah i'll save my money thanks'

Amazon is great if your not absolutely desperate to have the disc within a few days. Also put the films your after onto your price tracker and you'd be suprised how much you can save when they have a sly 24hour price drop etc.

All my US discs bar one are from Amazon and every single one has cost me cheaper than any of axel/movityme/blubastard so the way I look at it is if your going to be buying all your imports from amazon every 4 or 5 maybe your basically getting one free.

Let me give you an example axelmusic US single editions Alien + Aliens £17.99 EACH then including postage, I ordered from Amazon US back end of last month, took near 3 weeks delivery but came in @ £24 delivered for BOTH.

I dont see the point in paying more just to have something quicker, its not as if anyones life depends on having a film in your collection is it

Another one I got was Apocalypse Now, worked out just over £12 delivered now I bet no other importer can beat that.

Also i've never had a import charge on anything and lately i've been ordering them in 2's & 3's.

[Brvtality]

How much does the postage end up costing if I was to buy say one bluray from Amazon.com?

[Brvtality]

Thanks for the interesting replies guys - very helpful.

General consensus seems to be Amazon is worth using despite waiting a short while. Just one last question that confused me - to avoid custom charges which delivery option is advisable on Amazon? Or is it not worth the risk of going over £18?

Cheers

[RuLeX]

As has been said before, if its valued over £18 the potential is there to get a import/vat duty charge but it just depends if they get you. Plus i'd say it also depends on the item, perfumes & electrical goods i'd say are gonna get pulled, but cd's and br's not so much.

I have never had a import charge and as i've said I had bought plenty of things from the US, not just br's from Amazon.

I suppose one way to see is give it a go and see if you get one, as maybe some areas are more stringent than others. Bear in mind that £18 is roughly $30 worth of blu's and obviously postage is not taken into that so i'd say unless you buying mega expensive titles you'll be fine.

[RuLeX]

P.s Seven Samurai on a price drop atm, $28.99 amazon, $5.80 postage ya looking @ around £21.20 delivered, compare that to Axelmusic price of £25.12 and then add postage and your looking at saving maybe £6+ on one disc alone.

As I said before, if your not desperate to have in your hand, you'll be quids in

[Alex_DeLarge]

Here's one example of mine. I bought an autographed photo from a MAJOR Star Wars company in the US for $450. It sailed through without charges.
Then I've also bought blank photos from the same company at around $60 cost and got stung.

[Brvtality]

Originally Posted by RuLeX

P.s Seven Samurai on a price drop atm, $28.99 amazon, $5.80 postage ya looking @ around £21.20 delivered, compare that to Axelmusic price of £25.12 and then add postage and your looking at saving maybe £6+ on one disc alone.

As I said before, if your not desperate to have in your hand, you'll be quids in

Thanks for the heads up. Never seen Seven Samurai so might grab that one!

[mrpants]

I'm looking at importing some blu's myself for my collection, I've got some questions and searched for some answers, hopefully someone can clarify this info.

Q. Best way to avoid charges that come with paying in a different currency?
A. Unsure, did someone just say amazon.com let them pay in GBP? Does that apply for amazon.ca and amazon.de too? That would be very helpful as it looks like my bank (lloydstsb) charges both a standard charge and a percentage.

Q. NTSC/PAL a problem?
A. Not for HD content, extras could be a problem.

Q. Region coding a problem? (for me with just a UK PS3 in particular)
A. UK PS3 won't play any other region than B, do your research and check that the blu-ray is ABC.

Q. Do I have to sign up to each amazon flavour?
A. I can use amazon.co.uk account to purchase from any of them.

Q. Scratched/damaged items in transit a problem? (especially for steelbooks)
A. Possibly, but sticking with amazon is a good idea, patience is the key thing.

Q. Hard coded subs in foreign language? (wouldn't be ideal)
A. Unsure. Best to do research for individual disc?

Q. Why are people being charged £4 odd for amazon shipping when their site says $4 for a blu ray, shouldn't that be £2.50-ish?
A. ??

Any other questions I should be asking?

[chip75]

Originally Posted by mrpants

I'm looking at importing some blu's myself for my collection, I've got some questions and searched for some answers, hopefully someone can clarify this info.

If you order from Amazon.com it's shows your order in GBP, the same with Amazon.ca (it gives you the option to change currency as well).

Shipping is usually about 4-5 pounds for the standard method (a Steelbook is 4.53 for example).

Damaged goods shouldn't be a problem Amazon will pay P&P to return (they do in the UK anyway).

Hardcoded subtitles are something you need to research first. Canadian releases should be bi-lingual. If you order from France or Germany research to make sure the titles have English audio some will have subs you can't disable even if they're not hard coded or burnt in.

Not 100% put all UK TV's should play 60hz and 50hz material it's the US players that have problem with our 50hz content.

One account is good for all Amazon sites, some only except certain credit cards though.

Do your research on region coding. A lot of studios put out region free discs.

[Poshteh1]

I've found myself importing way more titles recently (from the US), Amazon.com are the way to go, cheap prices and great service. Only problem I find is that quite a few Blus I order arrive damaged! It took 3 attempts to finally get a mint copy of The Bridge on the River Kwai, and more than a few standard Blus arrive with cracked/chipped cases, which is really annoying as I can't find replacements for the slim US cases (which are of inferior quality to the standard UK Amaray cases).

However, Amazon are great when dealing with damage problems, when I report damage items, they just tell me to keep the item and then they sent me a replacement, so I can't really complain.

I usually manage to keep orders at £18 max, most releases won't cost over that price (unless it's a box set/limited edition set). I recently had an order which had a value of around £19-20 and it arrived fine, no customs fees.