Need advice on first-time purchases from the US
05-06-00, 10:50 AM
#1
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I've finally decided to get over my fear of buying from America. So far, I've been paying somewhat over the odds buying DVDs in the UK, and the time has come to start saving money. But, I haven't got the faintest who to go to. So, I need reccomendations about US shops; particularly importnat points are:
Thanks a lot, I want to start buying from overseas, but if it's gonna be more trouble than it's worth, I'd much rather pay a few pounds extra and buy from somewhere in this country...
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(insert amusing signature here)
ICQ# 61040969 Me and my DVDs...
- Which store has the fastest and most reliable shipping?
- Which has the most reasonable shipping costs?
- Which has the best record for "customs dodging" with their deliveries?
- Which is generally more reliable if I want to buy DVDs and not have to piss about for weeks with backorders and emailing CSRs?
- And who's generally highly commendable on the whole for overseas customers?
Thanks a lot, I want to start buying from overseas, but if it's gonna be more trouble than it's worth, I'd much rather pay a few pounds extra and buy from somewhere in this country...
------------------
(insert amusing signature here)
ICQ# 61040969 Me and my DVDs...
05-06-00, 12:29 PM
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hi,
this is my first post and i hope it's a good one. I have purchased many DVD's from a lot of the online retailers and so far the quickest has been video-now. It has free shipping for international customers when purchasing 2 DVD's but as a result not the cheapest prices. Pre-orders
are shipped almost a week before release and are received on average 5-6 days after being shipped. They say that they will wait until both disc's are available before shipping but on all of mine they shipped them seperately as soon as they had them. The disc's work out at around £12 or £13.
For a little bit of work you earn free gift certificates for Amazon.com at firstlook, freeride and jaboom that will end up as free DVD's. For more information look on the DVD Bargains Forum.
this is my first post and i hope it's a good one. I have purchased many DVD's from a lot of the online retailers and so far the quickest has been video-now. It has free shipping for international customers when purchasing 2 DVD's but as a result not the cheapest prices. Pre-orders
are shipped almost a week before release and are received on average 5-6 days after being shipped. They say that they will wait until both disc's are available before shipping but on all of mine they shipped them seperately as soon as they had them. The disc's work out at around £12 or £13.
For a little bit of work you earn free gift certificates for Amazon.com at firstlook, freeride and jaboom that will end up as free DVD's. For more information look on the DVD Bargains Forum.
05-06-00, 01:01 PM
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I have tried four different stores myself: Reel, Amazon, (DVD)Express and CDUniverse.
I have had no problems with any of these, although I've only placed one order at CDUniverse and the general opinion seems to be that CDU sucks.
In my experience Reel has the fastest shipping, and there are two very big advantages to using Reel: First, they will ship your DVDs individually for the same price if some of them are not in stock. Second, you can go through BrandsForLess to get the shipping costs reimbursed, and they often have other promotions as well. Check out the Bargains forum for more on BFL.
As far as I can remember, the shipping costs are pretty much the same, but it seems that Express.com will charge shipping for each disc in a box set individually, which is pretty bloody stupid and pointless.
I've never had to pay customs for any of these. I'm not sure about this, but some say that reel ships DVDs to Europe from Europe. What I do know is that if you place your order so that for example no more than two discs are shipped simultaneously, the price should be low enough to dodge customs(at least in Finland). You might want to order two DVDs that are available right away, and two more preorders.
I have had no significant problems with any of the stores I mentioned, but I would have to say that I have received the best customer service from Amazon and Express.
Reel.com's live customer chat is an excellent feature though, if you want to get something cleared up right away. There is no point in calling them and paying more in phone bills than you do for the DVDs
I have had no problems with any of these, although I've only placed one order at CDUniverse and the general opinion seems to be that CDU sucks.
In my experience Reel has the fastest shipping, and there are two very big advantages to using Reel: First, they will ship your DVDs individually for the same price if some of them are not in stock. Second, you can go through BrandsForLess to get the shipping costs reimbursed, and they often have other promotions as well. Check out the Bargains forum for more on BFL.
As far as I can remember, the shipping costs are pretty much the same, but it seems that Express.com will charge shipping for each disc in a box set individually, which is pretty bloody stupid and pointless.
I've never had to pay customs for any of these. I'm not sure about this, but some say that reel ships DVDs to Europe from Europe. What I do know is that if you place your order so that for example no more than two discs are shipped simultaneously, the price should be low enough to dodge customs(at least in Finland). You might want to order two DVDs that are available right away, and two more preorders.
I have had no significant problems with any of the stores I mentioned, but I would have to say that I have received the best customer service from Amazon and Express.
Reel.com's live customer chat is an excellent feature though, if you want to get something cleared up right away. There is no point in calling them and paying more in phone bills than you do for the DVDs
05-06-00, 02:09 PM
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I too have ordered from Express, Reel , Amazon,B&N ,and once with CDUniverse..which they totally lost the whole order.But the fastest of them all is between Express and Amazon. For Reel orders my recent 2 dvd's came from Amsterdam.So i guess they do ship from there to all the Europe and Asia countries.
And they ship each orders seperately so you dont wait for another preorder to come out.Other retailers stack your order then wait for it to be completed then ship it like Amazon and Checkout com. So play safe with Reel , Amazon or Express.
[This message has been edited by Kumar J (edited May 06, 2000).]
And they ship each orders seperately so you dont wait for another preorder to come out.Other retailers stack your order then wait for it to be completed then ship it like Amazon and Checkout com. So play safe with Reel , Amazon or Express.
[This message has been edited by Kumar J (edited May 06, 2000).]
05-06-00, 04:45 PM
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Not strictly what you asked for but I have found that B&N label their UK-bound CD packages (and perhaps all packages?) as "Books". As you know, books aren't subject to Import Duty/VAT, whereas CDs are.
Having said this I have never ordered more than two at a time so won't have gone over the $30 Customs limit. If the $20 off $40 B&N coupon still functions I might risk it this weekend!
Having said this I have never ordered more than two at a time so won't have gone over the $30 Customs limit.
If the $20 off $40 B&N coupon still functions I might risk it this weekend!
05-06-00, 05:13 PM
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I have ordered from:
Express.com, Reel.com, Amazon.com, DVDBoxoffice.com and a few others I cannot recall......
I have bought over 50 region 1 DVD's from these stores, and never once have I had a package intercepted by costoms...
As of the fastest, I would say DVDExpress...
Cheapest I would say Reel (using trivia bucks & coupons), although they have all been superb so far!
Express.com, Reel.com, Amazon.com, DVDBoxoffice.com and a few others I cannot recall......
I have bought over 50 region 1 DVD's from these stores, and never once have I had a package intercepted by costoms...
As of the fastest, I would say DVDExpress...
Cheapest I would say Reel (using trivia bucks & coupons), although they have all been superb so far!
05-06-00, 05:21 PM
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Forgot to mention B&N. No problems there either, but they don't have a very large selection and their prices are pretty high.
I also ordered the Alien box set from Total Action Universe from Canada. That was the only time I've had to pay customs. Their customer service was great though.
As welshlad said, the cheapest is still probably Reel.com if you use a trivia credit and especially BrandsForLess.
That is if you don't count "free" Amazon GCs earned through firstlook etc.
[This message has been edited by Jusa (edited May 06, 2000).]
I also ordered the Alien box set from Total Action Universe from Canada. That was the only time I've had to pay customs. Their customer service was great though.
As welshlad said, the cheapest is still probably Reel.com if you use a trivia credit and especially BrandsForLess.
That is if you don't count "free" Amazon GCs earned through firstlook etc.
[This message has been edited by Jusa (edited May 06, 2000).]
05-06-00, 08:30 PM
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OK, I agree with most of the above, but my thoughts are:
Fastest/Reliable Shipping: Probably Reel, closely followed by DVD Express. Total Action Universe is also worth a mention.
Cheapest Shipping: Definitely DVD Box Office (free!) - but this is reflected in the price of their DVDs. When a DVD is reduced or on special offer at DVDBO then buy it, because you know that its shipped free. Most shipping costs are around $7 (about £4.50) so it's not too bad.
Custom Dodging: Any DVD retailer with stockists in Europe. I could be wrong here but I think Reel and DVD Express both now ship from Europe rather than the USA (please correct me if I'm wrong). You don't really have to worry about single DVD purchases (and try and get it labelled as a gift if your ordering 2!) it's really only the box sets you get stung on. I found out this with my very first international purchase, the Kubrick box-set (from DVD Express), which hot me a hefty charge.
Reliability : Again Reel and Express, but it really depends on the DVD - older/rarer stuff is always more likely to be on backorder than DVDs like the Matrix.
Commendable : All in all Reel gets my vote, I tend not to order too much from DVD Express due to the lack of promotions/coupons. Total Action Universe also deserves a shout.
The only one I would advise you to steer clear of is the much maligned CD Universe. I've made 4 orders from them (due to the availablity of coupons and GCs - never again), 1 was shipped 26 of March (still not here), 1 has been on backorder for 7 weeks, 1 was cancelled due to credit card refusal (problem with their software - asked me to send my number by E-mail (?!?)) and the other one was overcharged by $10!
The other main reason for buying from the USA is the standard of Region 1 disks, which sometimes are better - but not always - check Rewind for details.
Hope this helps, and you won't regret it.
Foxy
Fastest/Reliable Shipping: Probably Reel, closely followed by DVD Express. Total Action Universe is also worth a mention.
Cheapest Shipping: Definitely DVD Box Office (free!) - but this is reflected in the price of their DVDs. When a DVD is reduced or on special offer at DVDBO then buy it, because you know that its shipped free. Most shipping costs are around $7 (about £4.50) so it's not too bad.
Custom Dodging: Any DVD retailer with stockists in Europe. I could be wrong here but I think Reel and DVD Express both now ship from Europe rather than the USA (please correct me if I'm wrong). You don't really have to worry about single DVD purchases (and try and get it labelled as a gift if your ordering 2!) it's really only the box sets you get stung on. I found out this with my very first international purchase, the Kubrick box-set (from DVD Express), which hot me a hefty charge.
Reliability : Again Reel and Express, but it really depends on the DVD - older/rarer stuff is always more likely to be on backorder than DVDs like the Matrix.
Commendable : All in all Reel gets my vote, I tend not to order too much from DVD Express due to the lack of promotions/coupons. Total Action Universe also deserves a shout.
The only one I would advise you to steer clear of is the much maligned CD Universe. I've made 4 orders from them (due to the availablity of coupons and GCs - never again), 1 was shipped 26 of March (still not here), 1 has been on backorder for 7 weeks, 1 was cancelled due to credit card refusal (problem with their software - asked me to send my number by E-mail (?!?)) and the other one was overcharged by $10!
The other main reason for buying from the USA is the standard of Region 1 disks, which sometimes are better - but not always - check Rewind for details.
Hope this helps, and you won't regret it.
Foxy
05-06-00, 11:34 PM
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Amazon is probably the most reliable shipper. If you're package is missing all it takes is a single email to get them to reship and also they will reship via International Priority, 2-4 days. Although Express and Reel will both reship, they usually go by standard mail and also I've read of experiences on this board where people have had to jump through hoops to get a Reel CSR to reship their stuff.
Chris D
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05-07-00, 05:41 PM
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I have used Express, Reel and Amazon for international orders. All have been very reliable, although I would say the speed of Reel has been the worst, but is improving...with around a 10 to 14 day arrival time.
I've had damaged cases from all three, but probably only one from each.
As I tend to order my DVDs singly, I never have customs problems.
I personally like Reel because you can have an online chat to a rep on their website, and that's handy for checking returns, order status etc.
I've had damaged cases from all three, but probably only one from each.
As I tend to order my DVDs singly, I never have customs problems.
I personally like Reel because you can have an online chat to a rep on their website, and that's handy for checking returns, order status etc.
05-08-00, 11:28 AM
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Reel and Amazon both have despatch points in Amsterdam, thus avoiding the Customs man. DVD Express, whilst having a European offering, still ship US orders from the US.
Also, DVD Express did a bit of a dodgy on customs about a year or so ago, mis-declaring the prices of DVDs etc... and as such, customs are still vary wary of DVD Express packages. If you order a big bulk order from them, chances are you will get stung.
Also, DVD Express did a bit of a dodgy on customs about a year or so ago, mis-declaring the prices of DVDs etc... and as such, customs are still vary wary of DVD Express packages. If you order a big bulk order from them, chances are you will get stung.
