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

there seems to be a delay with royal mail, it's to be expected, with what is going on, I'm also waiting on bits from Australia and US through UP1, that were ordered last month but they'll turn up when they turn up, things are hard enough, so no point adding to it.
 
I had something ship 3 days ago. Invoice says Standard shipping, but it's the first time I have used the company so I'm not sure how quick that normally is. I think they use RM, so I'm guessing it normally would be here by now.
 
under usual circumstances UP1 orders would be with you 1-2 days, with COVID seems to be a regional delay, of between 2-4 days extra, still quite good, definately not the worst I've heard of.
 
has anyone ordered from otaku .co.uk before? Just wanted to confirm that the site was legit/safe as I've seen something OOP that Ive been searching for.
 
Wicker said:
has anyone ordered from otaku .co.uk before? Just wanted to confirm that the site was legit/safe as I've seen something OOP that Ive been searching for.
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It's a site that has been confirmed not to charge import fees. Unfortunately I haven't used them myself.
Feel free to take a look at the other sites too
forums.animeuknews.net

Anime retailers No Import Fees List

If you know of any anime companies that do not charge import fees, let me know. Any listed here where you have experienced a charge in import fees let me know. Thanks Amazon Seller Allyourmusic Import CDs (plus vat www.blowitoutahere.com (plus vat DeepDiscount (plus vat Otaku.co.uk United...
forums.animeuknews.net forums.animeuknews.net
 
Wicker said:
has anyone ordered from otaku .co.uk before? Just wanted to confirm that the site was legit/safe as I've seen something OOP that Ive been searching for.
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I've ordered from them in the past (many many years ago) and had no problem. If the item is in stock then I would go for it, but if its backorder or order it in for you it can take many months if at all.
 
Wicker said:
has anyone ordered from otaku .co.uk before? Just wanted to confirm that the site was legit/safe as I've seen something OOP that Ive been searching for.
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Hi, yes I ordered a few things from them around the end of last year and they're legit. One thing though, I ordered a first print Zelda OST that had gone OOP elsewhere from them but they sent a regular one instead.

So be careful if your item comes listed with any first print bonus items or similar, as I don't think they update their listings to reflect they've not got them anymore.
 
Hey so was there not a thread listing all the retailers in the UK in an itemised list format ? i know alot of the retailers have gone belly up but im looking at this thread and its left me scratching my head

i mean there are other retailers beyond
Zavvi
AmazonUK
HMV
1uppublications
anime_online_
alltheanime
 
Hopefully this is the appropriate thread for this, if not, then either move it to an appropriate thread or give it one of its own.

I've decided to make two lists of overseas retailers, one which cover retailers that are still shipping to the UK from 1st January 2021 onwards, and the other covering those that are no longer shipping to the UK from that date onwards, due to the new VAT law taking effect from 1st January 2021. The list will be updated whenever I get more information.

Still shipping to the UK
RightStuf (USA)
Amazon (Worldwide) (includes Global Store)

No longer shipping to the UK
JB Hi-Fi (Australia)
 
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mikezilla2 said:
Hey so was there not a thread listing all the retailers in the UK in an itemised list format ? i know alot of the retailers have gone belly up but im looking at this thread and its left me scratching my head

i mean there are other retailers beyond
Zavvi
AmazonUK
HMV
1uppublications
anime_online_
alltheanime
Click to expand...
Zoom
Theentertainmentstore (ebay)
Base
365games (their prices aren't the best 90% of the time)
 
Anyone know if RightStuf have said whether they’ll still be shipping to the UK as of January 1st due to the new VAT laws?

I have an order that probably won’t ship out until after new year due to waiting on stock for one of the items and it’s still the best place to import stuff from the US for me because of how quick FedEx is, so I hope they don’t stop shipping here.
 
RebelNotorious said:
Anyone know if RightStuf have said whether they’ll still be shipping to the UK as of January 1st due to the new VAT laws?

I have an order that probably won’t ship out until after new year due to waiting on stock for one of the items and it’s still the best place to import stuff from the US for me because of how quick FedEx is, so I hope they don’t stop shipping here.
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I've got several pre-orders with them and they haven't mentioned anything. I guess they'll leave it FedEx to deal with any such issues seeing they'll already be dealing with it on a large scale.
 
RebelNotorious said:
Anyone know if RightStuf have said whether they’ll still be shipping to the UK as of January 1st due to the new VAT laws?

I have an order that probably won’t ship out until after new year due to waiting on stock for one of the items and it’s still the best place to import stuff from the US for me because of how quick FedEx is, so I hope they don’t stop shipping here.
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RightStuf themselves answered the question with a mass email tonight.

They’ll still be working with FedEx but collecting VAT when the order is placed with a small fee added on for the calculation/estimate.

Tbh I think this will actually streamline the process a little bit for us since we won’t have to wait on FedEx texting us the VAT and fees amount or the 3 weeks it takes them to send the letter if they don’t text.

If you haven’t received the email I can post screenshots!
 
Just received the email as well. So they will now be doing what Amazon.com does where they include a tax estimate at order.

They don't mention if this affects existing pre-orders though, which have been paid for but not yet shipped. I find that Amazon often over estimates taxes as I always get an email of a tax refund several months later.
 
I believe that orders that were placed before the end of the year are shielded from the new rules around VAT registration, so they probably don't need to adjust your old orders anyway. I hated the old Right Stuf shipping with tax on arrival anyway so might get me ordering from them again!

R
 
when it comes to fedex don't they usually take the cake with customs and VAT?

also on the subject of this, with ebay would i be better off buying something from japan on ebay now or waiting until doomsday tomorrow? seller says customs is buyer responsibility so nothing is pre-paid but i think ebay is supposed to be adding customs for small sellers etc..
 
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Rui said:
I believe that orders that were placed before the end of the year are shielded from the new rules around VAT registration, so they probably don't need to adjust your old orders anyway. I hated the old Right Stuf shipping with tax on arrival anyway so might get me ordering from them again!

R
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I'm curious if this may be handy for Aniplex hauls, considering UP1 charges SRP with the handling fee often being the reason why UP1 prices are better than TRSI.
 
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