UK anime releases from Funimation/Anime Limited unavailable for purchase on Amazon Europe

M

Monokuma

Completely Average High School Student
I may be a bit out of topic but please bear with me.

It's been more than a year since Amazon UK apparently stopped selling anime Blu-Ray and DVD to all European countries (obviously outside the UK) regardless of them belonging to the European Union or not. When your account delivery address is inside Europe Amazon removes the "Add to Basket" and "Buy Now" buttons from their listings. I can't find a way to post screenshots but I posted one on a reddit post with the same issue here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/AmazonUK/comments/tktnbz

The strange thing is that this ban is only for Europe. When you go to Amazon's top bar on the upper left and click on "Deliver to" it opens a new window that allows you to select your location. If you choose any other country outside of Europe (Canada, Nigeria, Thailand doesn't matter the continent) the buttons are activated again and you can see the price etc. But if you add it to your basket and then try to go to checkout it is automatically removed.

The other weird thing is that this ban is only for Anime Blu-Ray and not for movies and TV shows on Blu-Ray.

So why is that? Is that a new policy? Why only Anime Blu-Ray? Is it something temporary? Does it have to do with the pandemic? I've been collecting anime for decades but since Brexit Amazon UK is the only place I can buy anime since they use pre-paid import duties. And now for some reason they stopped selling!

I can't find any mention about it anywhere online which is strange. I can't be the only person in Europe buying UK Anime Blu-Ray, right? I tried posting on Reddit and no one has replied. Obviously I have contacted Amazon UK and they said they will look into it but nothing from them since.

Do you guys have any insights about what is going on? Are there any alternatives to Amazon UK that use pre-paid import duties (hugely important for various reasons)?
 
Monokuma said:
I may be a bit out of topic but please bear with me.

It's been more than a year since Amazon UK apparently stopped selling anime Blu-Ray and DVD to all European countries (obviously outside the UK) regardless of them belonging to the European Union or not. When your account delivery address is inside Europe Amazon removes the "Add to Basket" and "Buy Now" buttons from their listings. I can't find a way to post screenshots but I posted one on a reddit post with the same issue here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/AmazonUK/comments/tktnbz

The strange thing is that this ban is only for Europe. When you go to Amazon's top bar on the upper left and click on "Deliver to" it opens a new window that allows you to select your location. If you choose any other country outside of Europe (Canada, Nigeria, Thailand doesn't matter the continent) the buttons are activated again and you can see the price etc. But if you add it to your basket and then try to go to checkout it is automatically removed.

The other weird thing is that this ban is only for Anime Blu-Ray and not for movies and TV shows on Blu-Ray.

So why is that? Is that a new policy? Why only Anime Blu-Ray? Is it something temporary? Does it have to do with the pandemic? I've been collecting anime for decades but since Brexit Amazon UK is the only place I can buy anime since they use pre-paid import duties. And now for some reason they stopped selling!

I can't find any mention about it anywhere online which is strange. I can't be the only person in Europe buying UK Anime Blu-Ray, right? I tried posting on Reddit and no one has replied. Obviously I have contacted Amazon UK and they said they will look into it but nothing from them since.

Do you guys have any insights about what is going on? Are there any alternatives to Amazon UK that use pre-paid import duties (hugely important for various reasons)?
Click to expand...
This has been happening for a long time, as far as I’m aware the issue is with the way the items are setup, Mvm blurays for example can be ordered. Anime limited in the past has had success asking amazon to fix it for older titles but newer ones are blocked and amazon won’t fix it.
 
ussjtrunks said:
This has been happening for a long time, as far as I’m aware the issue is with the way the items are setup, Mvm blurays for example can be ordered. Anime limited in the past has had success asking amazon to fix it for older titles but newer ones are blocked and amazon won’t fix it.
Click to expand...
Actually I can't order MVM Blu-Rays either.
For example the Kakegurui Season 1 Collector's Edition Blu-Ray (ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09PMFVD6Q).
I got price 48.40 euro and it says:
Dispatches from mvm_entertainment
Sold by mvm_entertainment
Which means that Amazon will act only a third party and MVM as a marketplace seller therefore I will have to pay import taxes and VAT and duties etc. No other option is available.

When I change the "deliver to" country to Algeria (for example) which is outside Europe the price gets 21.94 euro (less than half) and I get the options:
Dispatches from Amazon
Sold by Amazon

Marketplace sellers work OK, but then I don't get the Amazon shipping which gives me the pre-paid import duties and VAT. Also our customs are ridiculously slow. My "record" is 4 months and 2 days in customs for a single paperback book. Amazon on the other hand delivers to my door within 10 days without any hassle and extra cost so it is currently my only realistic option.
 
Last edited:
Kakegerui's an Anime Limited release, MVM in their Anime Online guise stock it, and hence it sells though Amazon Marketplace. Try some MVM label titles like Girls und Panzer das Finale or Is the Order a Rabbit?
 
Just Passing Through said:
Kakegerui's an Anime Limited release, MVM in their Anime Online guise stock it, and hence it sells though Amazon Marketplace. Try some MVM label titles like Girls und Panzer das Finale or Is the Order a Rabbit?
Click to expand...
You are right about Kakegurui.
And also for the Is the Order a Rabbit? you are right too. It is available.
But neither part 1 nor part 2 of the Girls und Panzer das Finale is available to me. I only get marketplace options and I believe those are for the US version too.
 
Monokuma said:
You are right about Kakegurui.
And also for the Is the Order a Rabbit? you are right too. It is available.
But neither part 1 nor part 2 of the Girls und Panzer das Finale is available to me. I only get marketplace options and I believe those are for the US version too.
Click to expand...

For some reason, the MVM versions aren't showing up in the search...

Girls Und Panzer Das Finale 1 [Blu-ray] [2022]: Amazon.co.uk: DVD & Blu-ray

Shop Girls Und Panzer Das Finale 1 [Blu-ray] [2022]. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.
www.amazon.co.uk

Girls Und Panzer Das Finale 2 [Blu-ray] [2022]: Amazon.co.uk: DVD & Blu-ray

Shop Girls Und Panzer Das Finale 2 [Blu-ray] [2022]. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.
www.amazon.co.uk
 
It's in the listing/category itself; the company which sets them up (AL/Manga) need to configure them to be exportable or they get blocked by default. Sadly it is very difficult to get Amazon to fix or even identify the root cause for this kind of issue.

R
 
Rui said:
It's in the listing/category itself; the company which sets them up (AL/Manga) need to configure them to be exportable or they get blocked by default. Sadly it is very difficult to get Amazon to fix or even identify the root cause for this kind of issue.

R
Click to expand...
Yeah I’ve been on to hanners from AL we managed to fix some older AL releases but newer ones I think since planetes can’t be fixed. amazon says there is no issue
 
The same problem exists with Manga/Funimation releases too so this can't be all Anime-On-Line's fault.
For example I can't buy Bungo Stray Dogs, No Guns Life etc.

As for the alternatives that you kindly suggested to me I am afraid they won't work and I explain:

Zavvi dispatches from a warehouse in Guernsey which is outside EU and although they claim they will reimburse you if you get to pay import duties that doesn't happen.

As for Base.com after our communication they said that they still dispatch from the UK but they use IOSS (Import One Stop Shop) which means that the VAT is pre-paid, but ONLY the VAT. The package still goes through customs, still spends months and months there until they decide to release it and then you have to pay import duties and customs taxes and handling fees and a lot of other stuff except VAT. So in the end you don't gain anything. You still pay a fortune and you still have to wait 3-4 months as if it was an import.
 
I asked Amazon once about it via chat, they said that there was no problem. Then when I explained it they contacted someone about it and I should see some changes within a couple of days.

Well it never happened...

Was about some anime limited release and a part 2 of a Manga release, part 1 could be ordered...

@Monokuma so base.com can also not be used, hmm same thing happened to me for a wordery.com order of some manga, you pay Vat and still have to pay import fees and other tax...
 
Last edited:
In my country there is a 6% VAT on books and everything passes through customs. And in my case customs "forget" about it in 100% of the cases and charge the normal 24% VAT.
 
Have you tried searching for them on an EU version of the Amazon site? For example some of the mentioned UK releases are available here on the .de version of the site:

No Guns Life Season 2 (Episodes 13-24) Blu-ray + Free Digital Copy: Amazon.de: DVD & Blu-ray

Amazon.de - Buy No Guns Life Season 2 (Episodes 13-24) Blu-ray + Free Digital Copy at a low price; free delivery on qualified orders. See reviews & details on a wide selection of Blu-ray & DVDs, both new & used.
www.amazon.de

Kakegurui - Season 1 (Collector's Limited Edition) [Blu-ray]: Amazon.de: Yuichiro Hayashi: DVD & Blu-ray

Amazon.de - Buy Kakegurui - Season 1 (Collector's Limited Edition) at a low price; free delivery on qualified orders. See reviews & details on a wide selection of Blu-ray & DVDs, both new & used.
www.amazon.de

Is The Order A Rabbit S1 Collection BLU-RAY [2021]: Amazon.de: DVD & Blu-ray

Amazon.de - Buy Is The Order A Rabbit S1 Collection BLU-RAY at a low price; free delivery on qualified orders. See reviews & details on a wide selection of Blu-ray & DVDs, both new & used.
www.amazon.de
 
I tried all the links you posted and I only get the option for marketplace sellers, not Amazon itself.
And they are more expensive too.

For example the Kakegurui Blu-Ray is only being sold for €74.99 from a French seller (without calculating the shipping costs). That's a huge difference from the 21.94 euro on Amazon.co.uk to UK and out-of-Europe customers.

As far as I can search there are no UK Blu-Ray releases on Amazon.de sold and dispatched directly from Amazon (not even movies which I can still buy from Amazon UK), although obviously I can easily find the German ones but they are not English-friendly. In Amazon DE I only get the same marketplace sellers as Amazon UK.
 
Last edited:
Monokuma said:
As for Base.com after our communication they said that they still dispatch from the UK but they use IOSS (Import One Stop Shop) which means that the VAT is pre-paid, but ONLY the VAT. The package still goes through customs, still spends months and months there until they decide to release it and then you have to pay import duties and customs taxes and handling fees and a lot of other stuff except VAT. So in the end you don't gain anything. You still pay a fortune and you still have to wait 3-4 months as if it was an import.
Click to expand...
IOSS applies to shipments with a value up to €150 which are exempt from duties (except for goods with excise duties such as tobacco). If you have to pay additional fees for IOSS shipments, then customs or seller screwed up.
 
time for a VPN
Click to expand...
A VPN doesn't change your delivery address. We are talking about physical products. When you login to an Amazon account with a delivery address inside Europe Amazon doesn't even allow you to put the items in your wish list,

IOSS applies to shipments with a value up to €150 which are exempt from duties (except for goods with excise duties such as tobacco). If you have to pay additional fees for IOSS shipments, then customs or seller screwed up.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately this is not true (at least where I live). "Duties" in your sentence are used as a legal term. So they charge you legally a fee which they name import taxes, import tariffs, import duties, import handling fees etc. which is different from "duties". For example here under €150 you pay a fee that translates to English as import fee, then over €150 you pay import fees plus import duties, then above another threshold you pay import fees, import duties plus import tariffs.

I've been fighting the system and dealing with nonsense like that for the last four months. That's why I now want to avoid customs at all costs and Amazon UK is my only solution.
 
The only way to get this sorted is to contact one of the head people at AL or Funimation, amazon themselves won’t do anything without a push cos they don’t see it as an issue.
 
Back
Top