I'm probably not alone in being one of the many (international and non-int'l) DVDers who used to employ the BFL/Reel combination to receive shipping costs back, and then had to switch to a BFL/DVDExpress combo when Reel went bust.

However, with BFL *doubling* their minimum spend to $50 last week, they have not increased the amount you can claim back as shipping - it is still only $20.

So, if you buy 3 x $21 DVDs to reach the $50 minimum, and if these will all ship separately (to try and avoid customs), then the total shipping costs come to 3 x ($6 + $1.95) = $23.85, but you "lose" $3.85 (less than £3, I know).

The point I'm trying to make is that I've actually started looking for alternatives to BFL/DVDExpress. I've placed about 5 or 6 orders with DVDBoxOffice and A&B Sound (both Canadian e-tailers). I've used both in the past, and their service has been acceptable (not brilliant, just okay).

The 2 Canadian online stores I mentioned above had a total (DVD + shipping) price comparable to DVDExpress, so the cost is about the same as using BFL/DVDExpress. There is also less hassle getting the $US cheques cashed.

So until BFL start letting us claim more than $20 (they could increase the max. to $30, perhaps), I'll be using other companies for the time being.


ajaxfan

May I ask if you always got your free shipping even if you did split up the order in 2 or 3 seperate shippings?

Some friends of mine say that is not possible (BFL honouring 3 seperate shippings!).

Thanks for your help!

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With love from Woschele

woschele - when Reel were still operating, and there were, say, 3 DVDs in your order, you could have all 3 shipped separately (if they had different release dates, for example).

The total shipping costs to Europe were $6 + (3 x $1.95) = $11.85.

BFL did indeed pay for all the shipping costs, despite the fact that the 3 DVDs were dispatched seperately.

AFAIK, using BFL+DVDExpress will still work for seperately sent items; I did check with BFL Customer Service about this.


ajaxfan