The value of Anime (Un)Limited hasn't changed at all - that discount remains the same. Any timing there is also entirely coincidental - we weren't in a position to announce these changes prior to MCM otherwise we would have, but aligning everything plus event preparation took us into this week.
Beyond that specific point, these changes are nothing to do with ownership, or any other conspiracy theories - they're simply a product of the current state of the world. Costs have been increasing markedly since the pandemic in particular, and after a decade of absorbing those costs we simply can't do so any further for our TV series Collector's Editions without either raising the prices or reducing the quality of our releases, and the decision there is a no-brainer for us.
Similarly, shipping costs have been on the rise for years now, and recent analysis showed that we simply can't sustainably continue to offer the same shipping options as before - splitting shipments is not only a major expense to try to absorb, our research showed that the vast majority of our customers dislike split shipments and want an order to be dispatched in one go. We are actually the only company who insisted upon splitting shipments at our current fulfilment centre (and caused them to have to set up special processes to accommodate us!), so this is really a reversion to normal shipping behaviour for most businesses operating at our scale. And when it comes to EU shipping, what we're charging is in line with the costs we sustain per order shipment, such is the landscape at this point in time.
We do hear folks when it comes to Christmas in particular - I will say we're looking to do things a little differently this year, so watch this space as we move closer to that period in terms of product offerings, and we'll consider potential strategies around sale-specific discount codes to see what's possible there, as it's as important time for us as it is for you folks!
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