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.

[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.

[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.

[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?

[nametag]

Originally Posted by Brvtality

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

Last time I did it was £4.07 with the cheapest shipping option, which can take a few weeks. Axelmusic are almost always cheaper than Amazon if you want it in max 7 days, and you don't have to worry about keeping it below a certain price.

Adding items to your Amazon.com basket and going through to the checkout without buying is probably the best way for you to find out these things though...

[RuLeX]

Originally Posted by Brvtality

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

Heres my order for Platoon, ordered in GBP as my bank charges me for international debits (tsb are sh*t) as you can see works out the same as buying the UK version, but its got a well nicer embossed slipcase (and a free dvd frisbee)

Compared to Axelmusic £1.24 cheaper and thats before you add Axel music p+p so defo cheaper overall.

Items Ordered Price
1 of: Platoon (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo) [Blu-ray]
By: Charlie Sheen, et al
Condition: New
Sold by: Amazon.com, LLC
$15.49




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Item(s) Subtotal: GBP 9.84
Shipping & Handling: GBP 4.12
-----
Total Before Tax: GBP 13.96
Sales Tax: GBP 0.00
-----
Total for This Shipment: GBP 13.96

Hope this helps you out mate, obviously its still best to sweep around for the best prices but I tend to find its always amazon.

Plus I just ordered today Young Frankenstein & Last Of The Mohicans as they came up on my tacker and it works out £22 for the pair delivered, compared to Axel individual prices of £17.91 (mohicans) & £12.43 (frank) and thats before you even add postage, cant beat amazon 99% of the time

p.s amazon individual postage $5.80 but only $8 something when its 2.

[nametag]

^ Fair enough, but if you're ordering something above the £18 threshold or want the items to come faster than Amazon.com's slowest shipping speed then Axelmusic is probably the better option. For me it depends on these things as to which one I go for, for example I took advantage of Amazon.com's Criterion sale recently, and their $6 sale, but they were both films I knew I wouldn't be watching for ages so it was fine. But if it's something coming out in North America that I want ASAP, then I'll usually pay the extra couple of quid to get it from Axel or Blubastard.

[chip75]

I ordered a TDK Steelbook from Amazon.ca and it came to CA$31.47 that was expedited shipping which was $11.48 the Steelbook was $19.99 it was just under £21 with the exchange rate (it's under twenty quid with todays rate) and it arrived in three days. I'm not sure how long standard shipping would have taken.

One of the benfits with Amazon is you can use the same account whether you order from France, Germany, Canada, the US or our United Kingdom site.

[magnum_valentino]

Can I just have something clarified here please, I'm not entirely sure what to make of the above posts.

I bought something from Amazon.com last week that cost around £40. Of the three options, only the highest two (expedited and priority, I think it was) made any mention of a 'tax', whereas the cheapest option didn't so I went for it.

Does this relate to any extra customs charges I might have to pay when the DVD arrives?

Thanks for the help dudes.

[Hawthorns]

I love PlanetAxel <3

[Matman]

Originally Posted by magnum_valentino

Can I just have something clarified here please, I'm not entirely sure what to make of the above posts.

I bought something from Amazon.com last week that cost around £40. Of the three options, only the highest two (expedited and priority, I think it was) made any mention of a 'tax', whereas the cheapest option didn't so I went for it.

Does this relate to any extra customs charges I might have to pay when the DVD arrives?

Thanks for the help dudes.

You payed over £18 and choose the option were amazon doesnt sort the custom charges out for you.

So yeah, theres a big chance you will get slammed with custom charges, if you choose the expensive amazon options you pay custom charges there and then.

[Alex_DeLarge]

Originally Posted by magnum_valentino

Can I just have something clarified here please, I'm not entirely sure what to make of the above posts.

I bought something from Amazon.com last week that cost around £40. Of the three options, only the highest two (expedited and priority, I think it was) made any mention of a 'tax', whereas the cheapest option didn't so I went for it.

Does this relate to any extra customs charges I might have to pay when the DVD arrives?

Thanks for the help dudes.

For what it's worth I'd go for the cheapest option everytime. Those delivery times are only guide anyway just to cover themselves 'IF' things get really delayed. You'll still get the goods within a week give or take a few days. Patience is a virtue and your life don't depend on a couple of blu-ray's being delivered from the US in 4 days. At the end of the day you're still gonna get them and they ain't gonna be any better if they're delivered in record time. Even if it's killing you to get on here and say "look what I've got".

[BigNickUK]

blubastard are a relatively new online blu shop and they are based in the UK and send locally from the UK. They have a lot of Criterions
They are pretty good, I emailed them today and they are getting in Once Upon a Time in the West and The Man Who Would Be King this week

http://www.blubastard.com/

[magnum_valentino]

Originally Posted by Alex_DeLarge

For what it's worth I'd go for the cheapest option everytime. Those delivery times are only guide anyway just to cover themselves 'IF' things get really delayed. You'll still get the goods within a week give or take a few days. Patience is a virtue and your life don't depend on a couple of blu-ray's being delivered from the US in 4 days. At the end of the day you're still gonna get them and they ain't gonna be any better if they're delivered in record time. Even if it's killing you to get on here and say "look what I've got".

Did you even READ my post?

Stupidly, I presumed Amazon adding that tax thing meant that was what I'd get charged when the item was delivered.

So my next question is, given the price of the item bought (£55 or so all in), any idea what the customs charges will be.

Also, Alex, are you suggesting that rather than getting my item in five weeks like they told me I could get it sooner?