Overseas Steelbook purchases and customs charges question?

[crashkelly]

Hi all,

I am just looking for a bit of advice/information from a few of the seasoned steelbook collectors on the site.

I live in Canada and I am looking at ordering a couple of titles from places like amazon.de, amazon.fr, hmv.com, play.com, ..... but I have no idea how badly I will get stung, if at all, by customs and the like for ordering from places like that.

I ordered a couple of Wanted Blu-Ray Steelbooks from hmv.com yesterday as they were on for a decent price and I am hopeful the extra charges will not be too bad.

Ordering from amazon.de worries me a little as I cannot speak German and they ship internationally via DHL.

Any info greatly appreciated
Cheers and thanks
crashkelly

[Kynch]

Well what is it you're really asking? Besides alternatives, the way Amazon are worldwide cannot be changed, it's their way of being, you know?

I like ordering online because prices are cheaper but I sure prefer to get copies directly off people as they have it in hand and can answer any question you ask them.

[Xboxbydegrees]

Amazon is easy to order from. Their site is almost exactly the same in every language/country. You can also use google translate. (porbably not for ordering but to check some of the text)

[crashkelly]

Hi and thanks for the replies.

Kynch: Sorry for not being clear. What I was really asking was the experience people had had interms of ordering online for shipping to Canada from the stores I mentioned in terms of duty/brokerage/tax. I notice that amazon.de ships via DHL and I am wondering if they are like other couriers, FedEX, UPS, in terms of stinging you with massive brokerage charges for bringing the items into the country.

Xboxbydegrees: Thanks for the tip. I have used Google translate on some of the amazon.de pages to get extra info, but it fails a bit when coming to actually placing the order. Worried I am missing a huge chunk of info about the order.

Thanks again for any assistance
crashkelly

[Travis Bickle]

It sounds like your worried about Canada Customs imposing duty/taxes on your potential shipment. I've ordered many times from Amazon.uk, Amazon.de, and yesasia and have rarely paid duty/taxes on the my orders.

[Kynch]

Sorry if I came off as a dick. I just wanted to know precisely how I could help you out.

Sadly I cannot help you as I'm from France and the stuff I order from .co.uk, .de and .fr is mostly tax-free and doesn't take long.

You should ask Gui (tiger_qc) he's ordered countless times from countries in Europe. He should be able to help you out the most.

[Travis Bickle]

Originally Posted by crashkelly

I notice that amazon.de ships via DHL

I may be mistaken, but I don't think this is true. I always get my orders from Canada Post not DHL. Maybe DHL is an option that Amazon.de uses for faster (express) delivery.

[crashkelly]

Hey,

Kynch: No apologies necessary and you did not come off like a dick. I should have clearer about what I was asking. It is a long way from my brain to my fingers and sometimes the details get lost in transit . Thanks for the tip regarding Gui (tiger_qc). I may send him a quick PM regarding.

Travis Bickle: I will check out amazon.de for CanadaPost. When looking at at item it states:

Auf Lager.
Verkauf und Versand durch Amazon.de. Geschenkverpackung verfügbar. Zustellung durch DHL

Which translates to

In stock.
And sold by Amazon.de. Gift wrapping available. Service by DHL

Now granted I have not created an account and/our gone through the checkout process so maybe it, CanadaPost, shows up there.

I generally shy away from courier shipping as I have been stung for massive brokerage charges before.

Thanks for the info
Cheers
crashkelly

[Travis Bickle]

Well, maybe DHL has some sort of cooperative postal agreement with Canada Poste?
Anyway, I do know that in the last few months I received German steelbooks of Deathproof, Der Nebel, Zimmer 1408 and Hellboy II. All arrived through Canada Poste and I think I paid duty/taxes on 1 shipment.

[apsmith21]

Originally Posted by Travis Bickle

I may be mistaken, but I don't think this is true. I always get my orders from Canada Post not DHL. Maybe DHL is an option that Amazon.de uses for faster (express) delivery.

Actually, it is DHL or Deutche Post until it gets to Canada. Just like for us in the US - DHL / Deutche Post passes it over to the USPS or Canada Post in your case.

That's why you can sometimes put the tracking # in from DHL / DP and have it show up in the USPS site (and adding a "DE" to the end).

[Travis Bickle]

Originally Posted by apsmith21

Actually, it is DHL or Deutche Post until it gets to Canada. Just like for us in the US - DHL / Deutche Post passes it over to the USPS or Canada Post in your case.

That's why you can sometimes put the tracking # in from DHL / DP and have it show up in the USPS site (and adding a "DE" to the end).

There ya go! Another mystery solved!

[crashkelly]

apsmith21: Thanks much for the clarification.

I can feel my credit card getting warm already.

Thanks to all for solving the mystery

Cheers
crashkelly

[nycomet]

Hi Crash,

Nice to see you here at blu-ray.com.

I have ordered twice from amazon.de, once from amazon.fr and once from amazon.uk. All three experiences were flawless. They were for two or three steelbook blu-ray disc purchases - there were no additional custom charges in my case.

France and UK shipments arrived on Long Island, NY fairly quickly (about a week). The shipment from Germany took substantially longer: just over 2 weeks. The steelbooks arrived in good condition. However, no bubble wrap or extra packing material was utilized to protect the steelbooks in any of these amazon shipments from France, UK and Germany. Good thing they arrive undamaged.

[crashkelly]

Hey there,

Thanks for the welcome and the info on the shipping.

It is great to be here, I think. In browsing the threads I am feeling like there is going to be a large decrease in the bank account funds over the next sort perod of time

Really going to have to work on the "I want them all" mentality I have about collecting these steelbooks, or at least find a good way of hiding them from the wife!

Cheers
crashkelly

Originally Posted by nycomet

Hi Crash,

Nice to see you here at blu-ray.com.

I have ordered twice from amazon.de, once from amazon.fr and once from amazon.uk. All three experiences were flawless. They were for two or three steelbook blu-ray disc purchases - there were no additional custom charges in my case.

France and UK shipments arrived on Long Island, NY fairly quickly (about a week). The shipment from Germany took substantially longer: just over 2 weeks. The steelbooks arrived in good condition. However, no bubble wrap or extra packing material was utilized to protect the steelbooks in any of these amazon shipments from France, UK and Germany. Good thing they arrive undamaged.

[Transporter]

I would assume Canadian customs have a homepage with all the information you need. Guess it's always better to consider local VAT & toll b4 ordering. If they let it pass thru you're a winner.

As for the German Amazon if you need any assistance with translation send me a PM. Ordering is quite easy if you're familiar with the US or Canadian site. You don't even have to sign up since you may use your Canadian account. The only difference to us Germans is you can't chose other method of payment but CC.

[American Baron]

Hey Crash and welcome to the Mad House!!

I know from Tigre and also from another Canadian Member (howwon) that they order from European Onine Stores quite frequently and without hastle. I have also sent several Steelbooks to Canadian Members and also with no hastle.

I think USA and Canada are alot more "Trade Friendly" than the European Countries!! I live in Germany and have to worry about ALL Packages I receive from abroad that are valued more than €22.

AB

[crashkelly]

Hey Transporter.

In general Canada Customs is hit and miss. If your item comes through customs via CanadaPost then the worst I have ever had happen to me is a $5CDN handling charge and 5%GST (tax) so I lways try to ensure my orders of whatever come via CanadaPost. If it comes through via courier then the sky is the lmit on the charges. Most of the time if you item is under $50US you don't get charged anything through CanadaPost.

Since I started this post I have gone through the checkout process and found that it was very similar to amazon.com/.ca and is quite simple. Tried a couple of time with differing numbers of items, steelbooks, and saw no change in the S&H rates so I think I will browse a little more before pulling the trigger.

Thanks for the info Transporter
cheers
crashkelly

Originally Posted by Transporter

I would assume Canadian customs have a homepage with all the information you need. Guess it's always better to consider local VAT & toll b4 ordering. If they let it pass thru you're a winner.

As for the German Amazon if you need any assistance with translation send me a PM. Ordering is quite easy if you're familiar with the US or Canadian site. You don't even have to sign up since you may use your Canadian account. The only difference to us Germans is you can't chose other method of payment but CC.

[crashkelly]

Hey American Baron and thanks much for the welcome.

Mad House, yes, but it already feels like home

Thanks for the info on your shipments and others "ease-of-use" of European Online Stores. I am pretty confident now that the charges and shipments will be about what I expect so it won't be long before the trigger is pulled. I have a few titles in my cart on amazon.de already that I think will be ordered by end of day cause I just know I won't be able to say no

Cheers and thanks again for the welcome
crashkelly

Originally Posted by American Baron

Hey Crash and welcome to the Mad House!!

I know from Tigre and also from another Canadian Member (howwon) that they order from European Onine Stores quite frequently and without hastle. I have also sent several Steelbooks to Canadian Members and also with no hastle.

I think USA and Canada are alot more "Trade Friendly" than the European Countries!! I live in Germany and have to worry about ALL Packages I receive from abroad that are valued more than €22.

AB

[DutchBoy]

Originally Posted by crashkelly

Really going to have to work on the "I want them all" mentality I have about collecting these steelbooks, or at least find a good way of hiding them from the wife!

Cheers
crashkelly

Don't we all???

Welcome aboard, Crash. Glad to have another member in the this insane family.

You'll find as you go along, too, that a lot of the steelbooks you buy might in fact be from other members, here. My collection (although fairly small at this point) has almost no steelbooks that I ordered myself through any online location. The only exceptions being 'Sweeney Todd' and 'Wanted'. Every other SB there (at least the foreign ones) have all been from other members here. There are a lot of good people here (on the other side of the pond) that do group buys for us and help us out with our addiction. Keep your eyes on the 'Trading Forum' and you will find a lot of buys there, as well.

Good luck to you and welcome to the fold!

[crashkelly]

Hi DutchBoy and thanks for the welcome.

It is good to be in a place where my insanity actually puts me on a level playing field with everyone else

As I read through the posts I am seeing that there is a lot of trading and group buys that I will more than likely get in on, and being in Canada I am almost sure I can be a resource for the FutureShop exclusive titles, although they have been few and far between lately.

Still looking for the trading thread though as all I can see/find is the sticky at the top directing you to the trading area. I am probably just totally blind and am missing it

Anyway, thanks again for the welcome
cheers
crashkelly

Originally Posted by DutchBoy

Don't we all???

Welcome aboard, Crash. Glad to have another member in the this insane family.

You'll find as you go along, too, that a lot of the steelbooks you buy might in fact be from other members, here. My collection (although fairly small at this point) has almost no steelbooks that I ordered myself through any online location. The only exceptions being 'Sweeney Todd' and 'Wanted'. Every other SB there (at least the foreign ones) have all been from other members here. There are a lot of good people here (on the other side of the pond) that do group buys for us and help us out with our addiction. Keep your eyes on the 'Trading Forum' and you will find a lot of buys there, as well.

Good luck to you and welcome to the fold!