best places to buy non R1 DVD's? ...opinions needed (1 Viewer)

[Jonnie M]

I recently purchased an all region, Pal/NTSC player and i was wondering if anyone could give me any recommendations as to which sites are most reliable when purchasing DVD's from overseas? Do you use specific sites for orders from, say Italy and another for Spain, and so on?

Seeing as i'm new to this, newly liberated from region coding, i would like to make sure not to purchase from any sites that are selling bootlegs, highly overpriced, ridiculous shipping charges, you get the point...

I did a search before posting this and didn't come up with anything, but i might have not used the proper keywords, so a link or any information you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Jon

 

[Jim Blackie]

I clipped and fixed this from postings elsewhere, updated/removed some. Here it it:
Thanks to whoever started this, I forgot who it was or where I got this (DVDTalk?)
------------------------------------------------
Australia Retailers :

• For the Australian retailers that offer shipping by DHL (http://www.dhl.com.au/),
here is a brief explanation of it as offered by http://store.yahoo.com/dvdcrave-au/info.html#Ordering :
"When choosing DHL (http://www.dhl.com.au/) there are several advantages.
Obviously the major benefit is the speed of the delivery which is 2 Days to most Capital Cities
all around the world. Also the tracking system which allows you to see exactly where you order is in transit, and when to expect it. With DHL (http://www.dhl.com.au/), a signiture and name is required when being delivered, so this will also prevent any lost and stolen parcels. From a safety and security point of view, DVD Crave recommend you chose DHL International Express as your delivery option."

http://www.atlanticdvd.com.au/ :

http://www.chaosmusic.com or http://www.chaosdvd.com/DVD/ : RETAILERINFO

http://www.devoted.com.au or http://www.devoteddvd.com.au :

Link Removed or http://store.yahoo.com/dvdcrave-au/index.html : RETAILERINFO

(Daniel Venning of dvdcrave.com of Australia is answering questions in a thread called "The Official DVD Crave Thread" in the thedvdforums.com "Supplier" forum (reg. req'd) ) coupon/discount for interdvd.co.uk

http://www.dvdguide.com.au : RETAILERINFO

http://www.dvdstop.com.au/ : RETAILERINFO

http://www.ezydvd.com.au : RETAILERINFO

http://www.fbo.com.au/ or http://www.familyboxoffice.com.au

http://www.hmv.com.au/

http://www.ozdvdwhs.com.au/

http://www.revolutiondvd.com.au/

Link Removed

Belgium Retailers ... English Interface :

º http://www.dvdzone2.com/

(has English and French interfaces) Sites sells French and Dutch DVDs. Here is the FAQ The site ships worldwide (Info. last updated on March05,02)

º http://www.tsc-dvd.be/

Site is in English and sells Region 2 dvds (manufactured from which country ? I could not determine that). The titles appear to consist (almost) entirely of Hollywood movies. Ordering information can be found here : http://www.tsc-dvd.be/orderinfo.php Information on which countries may order (the U.S. is not listed) is here : http://www.tsc-dvd.be/viewtransportationcosts.php (Info. last updated on March05,02)

France Retailers ... English Interface :

Retailers of French titles located in France that offer an English Interface :

http://www.cybercd.fr/ (Seems to specialise in music)(Has English, German, Spanish Interfaces)

http://www.dvd-z2.com/ (Has English & French Interfaces)

http://www.dvdshoppingcenter.com

http://www.espacedvd.net/ (Is the site still operating ?)

http://www.espacevideo.com/ (Click on the flag in upper-left corner)

http://www.vo-only.com/ (Has English & French Interfaces)

Germany Retailers ... English Interface :

http://www.computeruniverse.net/ Note! Much but not all of the site is translated into English when you click on "English" in the upper-righthand corner

http://www.jpc.de/ (Click on the flags to translate the site into English, French, German, and Netherlands languages.
Note! Much but not all of the site is translated into English after you click on the flag) (The site also sells music & books)

Italy Retailers ... English Interface :

http://www.dvd.it (Click on "English Version" at the top part of the screen)

Netherlands Retailers ... English Interface :

http://www.ceedeeveedee.com/ (Site offers an English Interface (under construction) & a Neth.-language Interface)

http://www.proxis.com or http://www.proxis.nl (The site offers English, French, & Neth.-language Interfaces)

New Zealand Retailers that ship internationally :

http://www.dvdvideoplanet.com/ (Sells R4 & R1 (?))

http://www.marbecks.co.nz/

FWIW, you can find some limited retailer ratings here : http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/te...ings/erate.html

Sweden Retailers ... English Interface :

DVD Sverige - http://www.dvdsverige.com (Click on the flag at the top of the screen)

Switzerland Retailers ... English Interface :

º http://www.directmedia.ch/ (Does the site sell R2 Germany or R2 France dvds ?)(Has English, French, German, Italian interfaces)

º http://www.fantastic-movies.com/ (English Interface) (What is the region-code of the (mainstream) DVDs that it sells ?) (mainstream & non-mainstream : "Hong Kong Action, Star Trek, Italian Gore, Trash, W.I.P., & More". (What's "W.I.P." ?) (Also sells new & used LaserDisc)

U.K. Retailers that ship internationally :

http://discshop.com/dvd/home_body.asp

http://www.amazon.co.uk

Link Removed

http://www.blackstar.co.uk

http://www.blockbuster.co.uk/

http://www.choicesdirect.co.uk

http://www.dvd-uk.com/

http://www.dvdgaming.com/

http://www.dvdstreet.infront.co.uk/ or http://www.dvdstreet.co.uk

http://www.dvdwild.com/

http://www.dvdworld.co.uk/

http://www.encoredirect.co.uk/

http://www.euphoricsounds.com/ (specialises in SACD & DVD-Audio)

http://www.interdvd.co.uk/ (also sells R1) (Peter Robinson of http://www.interdvd.co.uk/ of UK is answering questions in a thread called "The Official InterDVD Sticky Thread" in the thedvdforums.com "Supplier" forum (reg. req'd).) coupon/discount for interdvd.co.uk

http://www.whsmith.co.uk/

 

[MartEvans]

I'm going to have to give another shout out for Bensons World in the UK - good prices and CHEAP shipping - it used to be free but isn't anymore :frowning: it comes to about 75c per disc...

http://www.bensons-world.co.uk/

 

[Jonnie M]

i was just checking out some of the sites... thanks for posting that list from DVDTalk.

how does Bensons World compare with CDWow.com? looking at the prices for Trainspotting and Ed Wood it seemed like CD Wow had the better prices, they didn't seem to have nearly as much a selection as Benson's though. rather pay a few extra bucks if Bensons has a better reputation, customer service, etc...

a little off topic but, does anyone have the La Dolce Vita disc they have for sale on Dvdland.it? i believe it's a 2 disc set. Was waiting for the Koch-Lorber disc but i'm a bit skeptical after being let down so much by the quality of the older Fox-Lorber discs.

Anyways, Thanks again.

 

[Yee-Ming]

For UK, I vote amazon.co.uk.

At first glance, their list prices aren't any better than most and the shipping is not the cheapest, but the big difference is that Amazon will deduct the VAT (sales tax) of a hefty 17.5% off the list price for non-EU customers. So DS9 at about 58 pounds will actually cost you about 49 pounds only.

Once you factor that saving in, especially with expensive boxsets, Amazon then usually comes out ahead of those like Bensons that charge, say, 75p for shipping, but still include the tax portion. In effect, the tax element (which is not payable to HM Customs & Excise since the customer is not in the EU) is used to subsidise the shipping cost.

 

[Simon Basso]

I've got the Italian La Dolce Vita, the transfer is superb, subtitles very good but not perfect, extras largely unsubtitled. I unreservedly recommend it, only Criterion are likely to produce a better version.

I didn't read the previous posts thoroughly, so I'm not sure if anyone voted for http://www.dddhouse.com/ for a pretty good range of Hong Kong discs. There's also a company called LAYOYO, which I haven't used, they have a huge range of HK discs, but browsing is a nightmare.

 

[Jim Blackie]

I've gotten very good deals from Amazon.uk and Blackstar (Croupier was 5.99 on sale GBP shipped!)- Great customer service, good selection. Also CD-Wow with no shipping charges ($10 and change for the R2 Goodfellas disc!) is good. Benson's I've never dealt with.

Best bet, browse all, get the best price. They're all good folks, it seems.

 

[Jim Blackie]

I've got the Italian La Dolce Vita, the transfer is superb, subtitles very good but not perfect, extras largely unsubtitled. I unreservedly recommend it, only Criterion are likely to produce a better version.

Simon, which La Dolce Vita disc is that? Are there more than one Italian discs? Where'd you get it and how much? More details please!

 

[Simon Basso]

It's this one .

You can get this site to display in English, I believe. With delivery to the UK it came to approx $30. I've only used dvdland.it once, but I believe other members will confirm they have a good reputation.

 

[Mike Miskulin]

cdwow.com

Very good prices with free and fast shipping!

mike.

 

[Jim Blackie]

Thanks, Simon. Bit pricey for me right now, but it's on my wish list!

 

[Jeff Mason]

To follow up on CDWow...

They list prices in both U.K. pounds and U.S. dollars, but for those concerned about VAT, they have told me that because they use overseas suppliers and ship from overseas (the goods never come into the U.K. until delivery) that there is no VAT included in their base price. I just did want anyone ordering from outside of the U.K. to think they were being charged "extra" for VAT. I've used CD Wow to get the R3 Army of Darkness. Their price was very good, shipping was free and the customer service was excellent.

 

[Jim Blackie]

I've used CD Wow to get the R3 Army of Darkness. Their price was very good, shipping was free and the customer service was excellent.

Same here! Great deal.

 

[Jonnie M]

Good Show fellas ... this has been a huge help, i completely forgot about Croupier, gotta pick that one up. Unfornately, like Jim, La Dolce Vita is going on the wish list. wish i could swing it right now, sounds like a great disc... ah well

Cheers,
J

 

[Ronn.W]

CD-WOW and Amazon.co.uk have gotten more of my money than I care to think about! Both very good sites selection and reliabity wise. I'd suggest checking a few sites when shopping for a disc. Don't just look at the list price, actually put the disc in your shopping cart and begin to check out so you can see the actual price charged. You'll be surprised sometimes what they really end up costing you once VAT is removed (or added) and international shipping is calculated.

I've found that Bensonsworld and Blackstar rarely have the best deal in the end (of course it depends upon the disc and any special deals) and that Amazon and CD-Wow are often the cheapest.

 

[Jonnie M]

Just to follow up, i placed a small order from CD-WOW, 2 discs, and one of them arrived in a matter of days but the other which shipped the same day still has not arrived. Being that it hasn't been 7-10 days since it shipped i normally wouldn't care but with the other coming so soon i don't know what to make of it...

Has anyoe else had this happen to them, when 2 items shipped and one gets delivered much sooner than the other? just concerned about it getting lost in the mail.

Jon

 

[Jim Blackie]

Out of stock, maybe?

 

[Jonnie M]

nevermind, just got it today ... Patience is a virtue