Where to Buy Anime in the UK (was Anime Online Retailers)

Kyaku said:
ilmaestro said:
Rui said:
I completely agree about Parcelforce. It seems that when only a couple of items are shipped now from TRSI, it still goes by Royal Mail, but when it gets over a certain value (exact maths unknown) their horrible international shipper hands it over to Parcelforce instead. There's probably some insurance value that decides who takes it (or just weight) but I wish I knew what it was, so I could avoid spending two hours on a round trip to the Parcelforce depot every now and again to be given dirty looks for having to pay customs charges :s
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FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

Any future orders "required" from TRSI shall be made on an individual item basis, I think, even with how much more expensive that makes the shipping feel.
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Two items totalling at $75 can get through unscathed so, eh, perhaps it's down to luck or maybe just doing two item packages is good.
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I've had a couple of four item, $120+ orders slip though, so I think it is entirely down to luck. I just don't like to think that Parcelforce will be involved should my luck turn. ^^;

Incidentally, the item I had to pay customs on turned out not to be from TRSI. I found that package handily hidden under a pile of old newspapers by the front door. D: It did have a customs charges sticker applied to it (for about 80p less than the amount on the Parcelforce slip), but I am pretty sure no-one paid them anything so I'm not sure how it managed to get delivered.

Still, some excitement for Tuesday, as I have no idea what Parcelforce are actually going to deliver to me, now. ^^;
 
Are the ones that are getting through without tax manga orders rather than anime? Because books and printed documents are not taxed. I regularly import books from the US.

I've just put an order in with Planet Axel for the first time, as TRS screwed up my last order and it took me weeks to receive anything (usually they've been great though). Was a few £s more than on TRS but I'm curious to see how quickly they will deliver. Seems a little cheaper than up1 too.
 
Nope, I never buy manga from TRSI. It seems to be that if it's over a certain value, it goes by Parcelforce rather than Royal Mail, and Parcelforce's shipments have a significantly higher chance of being hit so far with TRSI.

I am trying to work out the rules they use for switching to Parcelforce. I got hit on my last shipment (value ~$290) and I have a tiny box in the air right now (value ~$60) as well as a medium sized one (value ~$180) so I have my fingers crossed.

With one pair of orders recently they actually combined the boxes on despatch, probably attempting to do me a favour, which put it into Parcelforce's hands where the two individual parcels would probably have gone by Royal Mail normally. I was sad paying the Parcelforce fee on that one.

R
 
I must be really unlucky then, I've had to pay import tax and a customs fee on every single order (whetehr delivered by RM or PF).

I do tend to order large amounts though. Perhaps rather than a huge order every 6 months I should try making a small order...
 
FourthLion said:
I must be really unlucky then, I've had to pay import tax and a customs fee on every single order (whetehr delivered by RM or PF).

I do tend to order large amounts though. Perhaps rather than a huge order every 6 months I should try making a small order...
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Some websites tend to be cheaper with regards to tax, United Publications for example.
 
Ian Wolf said:
Some websites tend to be cheaper with regards to tax, United Publications for example.
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Is it not the case that UP1 (and their sole domestic rival) will have already paid importation taxes prior to the point of sale, and hence that the customer invariably reimburses such fees upon ordering?
 
I am increasingly coming to believe (based on shipments from TRSI and amiami) that it is more to do with the physical size of the package than the value, when it comes to who it gets handed over to here. So far, from both places, it is only bulkier packages that have fallen into the hands of PF that I have had to pay customs charges on.
 
Zin5ki said:
Ian Wolf said:
Some websites tend to be cheaper with regards to tax, United Publications for example.
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Is it not the case that UP1 (and their sole domestic rival) will have already paid importation taxes prior to the point of sale, and hence that the customer invariably reimburses such fees upon ordering?
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I know that they have paid the tax, but I cannot see much difference in terms of total price.
 
Zin5ki said:
Ian Wolf said:
Some websites tend to be cheaper with regards to tax, United Publications for example.
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Is it not the case that UP1 (and their sole domestic rival) will have already paid importation taxes prior to the point of sale, and hence that the customer invariably reimburses such fees upon ordering?
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This is correct, but only with regard to import duty. VAT is paid at the point of sale, so UP1 (and their sole domestic rival) pay no import VAT but must charge VAT on their retail prices.
 
I have a RM card saying I need to pay a customs charge for a parcel. I'm guessing it's my order of MSG Collection 1 (I ordered it from an Amazon UK trader).

The card says I need to pay £11.12 - the order (if I have the correct one) cost around £19.70.
 
That sounds like about the same value (with unfair and gouging processing fee included). I prefer not to order DVDs from Marketplace sellers unless I have to because I can never judge how they'll declare the item :/

I wonder where in the RM/PF chain the decision is made on which carrier takes care of the UK delivery. It might be that RM have changed their policies to move all huge/heavy items to PF (the packets from TRSI all ship by USPS, so I'd assumed they were on different service tiers based on insurance). I know that sending items in the other direction has a strict 2kg limit on the mail packages.

In the old days my postman would bring huge TRSI sacks to my door but now they just do the tiny ones. I'll keep monitoring until I find the sweet spot.

R
 
mangaman74 said:
I have a RM card saying I need to pay a customs charge for a parcel. I'm guessing it's my order of MSG Collection 1 (I ordered it from an Amazon UK trader).

The card says I need to pay £11.12 - the order (if I have the correct one) cost around £19.70.
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When you order R1 stuff from the Amazon UK marketplace, if you can choose then I suggest to go with All Your Music. They ship from the UK and not from the USAs (don't ask me how they can import and keep the same prices of the others), so you avoid all troubles. If you go with Moviemars, Supermart or the other big US traders, then the package will be sent from the USA. This at least from my direct experience.



Teo
 
FourthLion said:
Are the ones that are getting through without tax manga orders rather than anime? Because books and printed documents are not taxed. I regularly import books from the US.
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DHL kept invoicing me for magazines and books from Amazon Japan until I called and complained, at which point they mysteriously stopped trying. Nice scam they have going there for the uninformed.

mangaman74 said:
The card says I need to pay £11.12 - the order (if I have the correct one) cost around £19.70.
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It's like my bank charging £5 if you go overdrawn, or £1 on every international payment, even if it is only 50c :(
 
Rui said:
In the old days my postman would bring huge TRSI sacks to my door but now they just do the tiny ones. I'll keep monitoring until I find the sweet spot.
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I guess this would be just about possible for DVDs. Mixtures of figures from amiami render this pretty much impossible though, as you never know how much extra packaging they will use to keep stuff safe. :(
 
For anyone using Planetaxel - in case you have yet to notice, the rewards systems is closing. This is the message regarding it on their site,

Axel Rewards is no more!

We know this will not be amongst our most popular changes, so please believe us when we say: the decision did not come easy and it is with huge regret that we announce the end of the Axel Rewards Program.

After nearly 2 years of Axel Rewards we have come to inevitable conclusion that our Rewards program and its expenses simply cannot be sustained based on its current promotional value. We've tried everything; cutting down cost, moved numbers around and everything we could come up with to be able to continue offering the points to our customers, but it's just not possible.
DON'T WORRY - YOUR POINTS ARE NOT LOST!

Within a few weeks we will be offering a chance to have all your collected points converted to a gift voucher instead. This means that you will be able to spend it on ANY item in the store - without exception! We will be giving 50 cent USD for every 1000 points you have on your account. The voucher that will be issued will NOT expire. You will need to fill out the simple form below to have your points converted (please allow for up up to 48 hours for the points to be issued). All additional points earning have ended effective immediately.
IT'S NOT ALL BAD NEWS! We have received your feedback and listened:

Effective immediately we have lowered the handling, routing and customs fee by 50% to just $1.99 per checkout (previously is was $4.99, then $3.99 and now just $1.99)! Within a months time this will be completely replaced by a "1st item, each additional item" cost that most online retailers also use. Simple and easy to understand, with no hidden cost or surprises.

We must acknowledge when mistakes are made and changes have to be put in place. It is important to stay humble and listen to our customers feedback and suggestions!

We feel most of our customers would like a no-nonsense, no bells and whistles, effective customer service, cheapest price possible approach to their shopping experience. This is what we will be working towards over the next few months. Removing the Axel Rewards and instead offer better overall pricing and postage rates are two of those steps.

I sincerely hope you will continue to stay on as a customer with PlanetAxel.com and I can truly say that your business is very much appreciated by everyone here!

With kindest regards,
Rasmus Christiansen
CEO, PlanetAxel.com
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At least they are being up front about it and are allowing customers to convert their points instead of scrapping them.

It may also explain why their emails have been somewhat slower regards shipments lately.
 
I'll take that trade, tbh. I only just started looking into using them more "regularly" rather than the odd one-off item, so I'll only have about $7 as a voucher (depending on exactly when you have to exchange the points by), some of you guys must have a fair bit stocked up though!

Knocking a minimum of $2 shipping off each order is fine by me.
 
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