UK Anime Christmas Sales for 2024 [Anime Ltd's 12 Days of Xmas + More]

Very unlikely. Any other sales they have during the year are much smaller, and nowhere near as discounted as the Christmas sale.
 
Still waiting on my day 1 large £120 order to ship from ata all the other orders came - been just over 2 weeks since that order - contacted there email 5 days ago but no response hopefully it gets dispatched in the next few days as idk if i will get it for Christmas which is ashame if not as i did have a present in that order - and if they could not do it before Christmas they should of really said or at least get back to me on email after spending £700 this year with them
 
I'm still waiting on a £200 order from day 2.
I've used their contact form twice and still no reply. I get that companies are busy during this time of year, but it's been two weeks and they haven't even had to decency to reply to my email or even acknowledge me. Customers are waiting and want to know what the delay is, if it will arrive before Christmas for presents, etc.
I was going to say the customer service is shockingly poor, but I've not even received any service. It is utterly non-existant.
If I hadn't used them previously, I would be thinking this is a scam website.
If they can't even be bothered to respond, then I'll end up doing a chargeback, let them sort it out that way.
Terrible.
 
My day 2 order shipped this morning and I just got the DHL notification that it is arriving tomorrow. I was worried it wasn't going to arrive in time for Christmas as I have gifts in my order so I was going to cancel it today. I contacted them well over a week ago and never got a reply which is shocking, they should at least be sending out courtesy emails to let customers know if everything with their orders is ok and estimated delivery times.

They clearly are not equipped to do these big sales properly. The slow dispatch times wouldn't be completely unreasonable if there wasn't a total lack of communication. It is unacceptable to leave people who have spent hundreds of pounds left in the dark. I had to get reassurance on here that I would still get the sold out items in my order, it should have been Anime Limited giving those reassurances.

I was also very disappointed when items were being added early with no heads up unless you were on 3rd party outlets. I missed out on some things I really wanted because people on the discord got a heads up 30 mins early. Most of the good stuff was bought up before I even got the official notification email. The spreading out of all the offers while understandable in many ways caused a lot of people to miss out on things because they were trying to build bundles to avoid large postage costs, there were some great ideas on here on how to improve that next time.

This was my first year participating in a Christmas sale and it will definitely be my last, it just isn't worth the aggravation and worry.
 
I don’t think I’m alone in having something of a love-hate relationship with AL.
Part of it is down to the simple incompetence in retail/website, offset by this particular sale event. The original pricing (and srp) of the products being a different matter.
I’m quite familiar with the lack of communication at the best of times, and simply have no expectation of timely customer service without repeated effort from them: you’ll eventually get the most basic solution (or even a reply!).
And just to avoid leaving the (L-H) subject incomplete; I’m glad they offer products more than bare-bones in quality, but they equally seem to do the minimum in terms of ‘non-bare-bones’ by just shoving the Amaray editions into an art box (or otherwise being sufficiently lacking that you still need to import for some basics). Or just Netflix-it-up by some stupid omission or substitution (on top of any actual mistakes and errors).

And although I’m also miffed at the sale constraints and implementation/information, it’s not entirely their fault that modern times suffer an abundance of scalpers/resellers and such parasites. There didn’t appear to be any form of one-per-customer policy to help with this.
I’m currently quite fascinated by the increasing quantities of SWWTRH on CEX, where originally just one available now has over 40 (and counting) - suggesting that only a minority of those sold went to people who actually wanted the title.

FWIW: I’m still waiting for an order from the middle of the period to be shipped.
There’s no rhyme or reason to it, as they’ve sent bigger and smaller (size and value), earlier and later, and obviously same person/payment/address.
 
Googlyhead said:
I’m currently quite fascinated by the increasing quantities of SWWTRH on CEX, where originally just one available now has over 40 (and counting) - suggesting that only a minority of those sold went to people who actually wanted the title.
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This was one thing that was really annoying me. I have a copy in my order and I want it to keep. When I was toying with the idea of cancelling and buying elsewhere I looked it up on CeX and like you I noticed that it had gone from 1 copy to well over 20 then 30 with some stores suddenly having 4+ in stock.

I know this kind of thing happens all the time but it is has been so irritating knowing that people who are more interested in scalping were getting their orders before those who wanted to keep them.
 
It happens every year, some people see the chance of an easy profit by buying the title from a sale before flipping it to CEX before they get the chance to react and dropping the trade in prices.
 
Kite said:
It happens every year, some people see the chance of an easy profit by buying the title from a sale before flipping it to CEX before they get the chance to react and dropping the trade in prices.
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I imagine it still works out for CeX in the end since AL’s sale is time limited and the prices go back up again, or the titles go OOP and become worth even more. It’s probably not worth the hassle of changing the prices for two weeks.
 
Kite said:
It happens every year, some people see the chance of an easy profit by buying the title from a sale before flipping it to CEX before they get the chance to react and dropping the trade in prices.
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True, but that simply reinforces my point: scalper types’ greed and lack of morals.
  • It’s getting worse (they’re multiplying!)
  • There’s a greater impact on last-chance items (the quantities for Snow White as an example)
  • It doesn’t need to happen (I’d propose a reasonable limit of two copies per account, possibly just one for limited stock items?)
  • CEX obviously need some form of stock / intake monitoring, as they’re still offering high prices despite the quantity (there will be other outlets, but they’re not helping themselves).

I know there are occasions where you may want to buy more than one, as there are a couple that I’ve actually purchased a second for a gift. But you can’t tell me that AL is incapable of setting a quantity restriction?
 
Just received my day 2 order after waiting for it almost a whole week after UPS notified me for the first time that they were "coming today".

I clearly bought too much again (yay FOMO + "cheap prices") but I find it impressive that the only item I was really looking forward to on a sentimental level, the Black Lagoon CE, is the only damaged item in the whole order...
...and of course this tiny but highly visible dent on the edge of cover and spine was obviously already there during packing as the position of the CE inside the package made this damage entirely impossible to happen in transit -_-

Concerning my second order and message I still haven't heard anything from AL yet, naturally.
 
I'm not sure if Anime Limited would introduce a 1 per customer policy for products like Snow White. I think they'd rather just sell out of the product and take the money; it's not like they're selling PS5s during COVID.

My main criticism of the sale has already been mentioned: last chance to buy products going live before the advertised time - meaning that many did not have a fair shot of grabbing something they would have liked. As I mentioned a few days ago, if you are selling limited quantities of Taylor Swift tickets for example, and the sale of these tickets is advertised to start at 17:00, you don't suddenly start selling tickets at 16:30. I think this shows a complete lack of awareness and professionalism from Anime Limited.

Additionally, the following point isn't so much of a criticism but rather a suggestion. I don't think they need to stretch the entire sale reveal over 12 days. You don't need to have a vinyl day or an MVM day, for instance - reveal vinyl and MVM deals alongside B1G1F, CE deals, and mystery boxes on day one. The only things that I would say need a day to themselves are flash sales (naturally), last chance to buy products, and any brand new release unveilings (i.e., the big hitters that most people are waiting for). If you're going to have an MVM day or vinyl day, maybe try having something else happen on the same day, like a flash sale, just to bulk out the day a bit more and get through the sale quicker. If I'm Christmas shopping for example, I don't want it to last 12 whole days, I want to buy my stuff and be out as quickly as possible. However, I understand why they format it over 12 days, as that's 12 times customers are entering their virtual shop to see what the new reveal is at 17:00 (i.e., 12 opportunities for a customer to impulse buy something).

The addition of a £3.50 shipping fee seemed to cause a bit of mayhem; customers putting items in their basket and then waiting (sometimes days and at times those items would sell out) for something else to appear in the store so that they could get over the £50 free shipping threshold. I still hold that AL should increase the price of Anime Unlimited membership or even create tiered membership, and add reduced free shipping thresholds and/or free shipping for members as perks - akin to something like Crunchyroll's membership scheme.

On the subject of Anime Limited's customer service or lack thereof, this is what truly stuns me from a customer's standpoint. Yes, I know they're a relatively small company, but even small companies can have a phone number/email contact and at least someone that can deal with customer queries in a timely manner. I regularly buy from many retailers, large ones, medium-sized ones, and yes, even smaller ones; Anime Limited are the only company that regularly do not respond to customer emails in my experience. So, I'm inclined not to buy the fact that "they're a small company, it's hard for them to respond" as small companies seem to manage just fine in that department. Generally, the UK has a poor reputation for customer service and us Brits tend to have a stiff upper lip when it comes to raising an issue - we'll often quietly deal with poor service or just shrug it off and not say anything.

More positively, however, shipping from Anime Limited has been pretty timely. Although, I am aware that a few people are still waiting for larger orders to despatch. I also thought the flash sales were conducted quite well, in the sense that they appeared at the advertised times. Further, the prices for the last chance to buy products were very good considering that a lot of them are very to hard to find nowadays, so props to Anime Limited for the pricing there.

Overall, I thought the sale was decent. However, there are a few things Anime Limited could alter to make the Christmas sale experience a little bit more customer-friendly and efficient, in my opinion.
 
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BrokenPhoenix said:
I'm not sure if Anime Limited would introduce a 1 per customer policy for products like Snow White. I think they'd rather just sell out of the product and take the money; it's not like they're selling PS5s during COVID.

My main criticism of the sale has already been mentioned: last chance to buy products going live before the advertised time - meaning that many did not have a fair shot of grabbing something they would have liked. As I mentioned a few days ago, if you are selling limited quantities of Taylor Swift tickets for example, and the sale of these tickets is advertised to start at 17:00, you don't suddenly start selling tickets at 16:30. I think this shows a complete lack of awareness and professionalism from Anime Limited.

Additionally, the following point isn't so much of a criticism but rather a suggestion. I don't think they need to stretch the entire sale reveal over 12 days. You don't need to have a vinyl day or an MVM day, for instance - reveal vinyl and MVM deals alongside B1G1F, CE deals, and mystery boxes on day one. The only things that I would say need a day to themselves are flash sales (naturally), last chance to buy products, and any brand new release unveilings (i.e., the big hitters that most people are waiting for). If you're going to have an MVM day or vinyl day, maybe try having something else happen on the same day, like a flash sale, just to bulk out the day a bit more and get through the sale quicker. If I'm Christmas shopping for example, I don't want it to last 12 whole days, I want to buy my stuff and be out as quickly as possible. However, I understand why they format it over 12 days, as that's 12 times customers are entering their virtual shop to see what the new reveal is at 17:00 (i.e., 12 opportunities for a customer to impulse buy something).

The addition of a £3.50 shipping fee seemed to cause a bit of mayhem; customers putting items in their basket and then waiting (sometimes days and at times those items would sell out) for something else to appear in the store so that they could get over the £50 free shipping threshold. I still hold that AL should increase the price of Anime Unlimited membership or even create tiered membership, and add reduced free shipping thresholds and/or free shipping for members as perks - akin to something like Crunchyroll's membership scheme.

On the subject of Anime Limited's customer service or lack thereof, this is what truly stuns me from a customer's standpoint. Yes, I know they're a relatively small company, but even small companies can have a phone number/email contact and at least someone that can deal with customer queries in a timely manner. I regularly buy from many retailers, large ones, medium-sized ones, and yes, even smaller ones; Anime Limited are the only company that regularly do not respond to customer emails in my experience. So, I'm inclined not to buy the fact that "they're a small company, it's hard for them to respond" as other small companies seem to manage just fine in that department. Generally, the UK has a poor reputation for customer service and us Brits tend to have a stiff upper lip when it comes to raising an issue - we'll often quietly deal with poor service or just shrug it off and not say anything.

More positively, however, shipping from Anime Limited has been pretty timely. Although, I am aware that a few people are still waiting for larger orders to despatch. I also thought the flash sales were conducted quite well, in the sense that they appeared at the advertised times. Further, the prices for the last chance to buy products were very good considering that a lot of them are very to hard to find nowadays, so props to Anime Limited for the pricing there.

Overall, I thought the sale was decent. However, there are a few things Anime Limited could alter to make the Christmas sale experience a little bit more customer-friendly and efficient, in my opinion.
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I know what your saying, but customer service point, i dont buy "they are a small company",they are a decent size one, as mentioned before, if i was to email @MVM, they would probably reply back within 24hrs,and their is only 2 of them
 
Dave1988 said:
I know what your saying, but customer service point, i dont buy "they are a small company",they are a decent size one, as mentioned before, if i was to email @MVM, they would probably reply back within 24hrs,and their is only 2 of them
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Yes, whenever I've emailed MVM with a query they have always responded in a timely manner.

Obviously, I don't know Anime Limited's financial numbers in depth, but they've clearly been growing since they first started. The problem is they don't seem to be scaling up with that growth. They seemingly have a social media person, but no customer service team? Seems odd.
 
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xp_version1 said:
With no offence intended, this is a sentiment I’ve seen multiple times lately and isn’t really aimed at anyone;
I really wish people would stop acting like AL is a small indie company. They are not, those days are long gone.
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I get that. This is a sentiment I read a few times when I first joined this forum. I only have a small idea as to the actual size of Anime Limited (I did look up their accounts on Companies House, however, they seemingly aren't a large enough business to be required to post turnover figures. They have only submitted balance sheets), but since they were bought out by another company relatively recently, I can only assume they are a decent size now.
 
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Dave1988 said:
I know what your saying, but customer service point, i dont buy "they are a small company",they are a decent size one, as mentioned before, if i was to email @MVM, they would probably reply back within 24hrs,and their is only 2 of them
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Yes and after all this time I'm still here and breathing, taking care of the retail and social side.
 
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