UK DVD Retailers that ship to Canada... Suggestions? (1 Viewer)

[MarcoBiscotti]

Amazon.co.uk is overpriced as compared to other online retailers.


Play.com only seems to ship to the United States, outside of Europe.



Does anyone have any reccomendations for UK based retailers which ship to Canada at reasonable costs?


I need to order something ASAP for a school paper so it's really important that I find a reliable site...


Thanks!!!

 

[Rod J]

http://www.sendit.com/dvd/ in Belfast offer's good service and is fast if they have the item in stock. Prices are about the same as Amazon.

 

[Rod J]

When you're comparing prices, remember that Amazon.uk's price includes VAT that's deducted when you order.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

Pardon my ignorance, but what's VAT Rod?


The disc I was looking at is about 17 GBP before shipping, compared to about 12/3 GBP at Play and several other retailers. It's the BFI edition of Jean Cocteau's 'Orphee' (Orpheus).


I was hoping to save a few dollars, but if Amazon UK really offers the best and quickest service, I guess I'll just bite the bullet.

My only concern related to cost is that I need to have this in my posession by next week, which I assume will drive shipping way up. Eitherway, I need to order tonight.

 

[Irina]

Try Link Removed. They charge 1BP shipping and handling charge per DVD. They offer a reliable and fast service. I also get fed up with amazon.co.uk, especially when I try to do something different like combining orders to minimuze shipping costs. Their software starts behaving weird and they overcharge. They do not hesitate to refund the money and apologize but you have to catch them doing it. Yes, amazon.co.uk deducts VAT ( about 15-17% off the order price) but they catch up on huge shipping charges (3.08 BP for a singular DVD order). I don't think that play.com ships to the USA.

You could also try www.hmv.co.uk. They ship to Canada.
Another possibility is www.choicesdirect.com. They ship to the USA. I'm not sure about Canada.

 

[Malcolm Cleugh]

VAT is Value added tax, what most countries would call a sales tax. It is applied at 17.5% in the UK to purchasers living in UK and the European Union.

As you live in Canada you would not be liable to pay it, however Amazon is one of the few etailers who explicitly remove it from what you pay. Most do not remove it (guess it complicates their billing system) so to compensate they charge lower shipping costs to overseas than would be the case if they charged you the actual cost to them. They don't have to forward the VAT to the UK government so this amount is used to subsidise the lower shipping cost.

To work out the price at Amazon you need to deduct 15% (don't ask about the maths for this someone did here some time ago, adding 17.5% is equivalent to a 15% discount on the tax inclusive price).

For quick shipping I would consider Amazon as they let you choose the speed of shipping (but you pay more for the most speedy). Like Sendit they tend to have very accurate stock listings on their website, Bensons and Choices can be more hit and miss.

Also for a BFI release these are not mainstream so many etailers dont keep them in stock (Amazon and Play tend to), I have found Bensons don't usually. If not in stock they can take around a week to get in from the distributor.

I guess if you are reading here you are aware as this is a UK release you will need a multiregion player which handles PAL (the UK TV system rather than NTSC). Some of the BFI DVDs are R0 others R2, not sure about the one you are interested in.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

Thanks for all the info and suggestions.

In the end, only two of the etailers that were reccommended actually carried this title, one of which being Amazon. The other indicates that their titles usually ship in 5-7 days, which is not good for me.

So I guess Im going to go with Amazon and pay a bit extra for rush delivery but at least I'll be confident in their shipping...

Thanks again for all the help!

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

Wow... 30 GBP for a single disc with expedited delivery.


That's the equivalent of about $60 CAN.

 

[Irina]

Have you ordered already? Both bensonsworld.co.uk and sendit.com have excellent customer service and they reply quickly. They normally put 5-7 days delivery but may actually have items in stock. Then they would ship it promptly, especially if you explain that you need it quickly.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

Thanks Irina, I already put the order through.

I really need to get this by the end of the week...

At least Ive got some resources for next time though. I want to start picking up the Eureka! Masters Of Cinema Series. I wonder if I could find some sort of promotion or discount coupons for large orders if I go at it all at once?

 

[Malcolm Cleugh]

You can get a 5% discount off BensonsWorld prices if you goto them using the links on www.find-dvd.co.uk which is a price comparison website. Just search on the title you want then use the link to the right of the Bensons World price.

For the films you are talking about (classics) they have very competitive prices unless someone else has it on special promotion. As I mentioned although they don't usually have them in stock they tend to get them in around a week, so provided you can plan ahead should be okay.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

Thanks so much Malcolm, I'll be sure to use them when I pick up the MOC series!

 

[Irina]

Amazon.co.uk changes their prices almost daily. It makes sense to check them out often. They have some pretty unbeatable deals sometimes. It also makes sense to order big DVD sets from amazon.co.uk since they charge the same shipping cost for a single DVD or for the entire DVD set. I remember ordering a Michael Palin Travels Collection 16-DVD set and paying only 3 pounds for shipping. Other sites charge separately for each DVD.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

I also found that Amazon.uk doesn't get hit with the usual Canada Post handling fee/taxes, at least on what I've ordered (same goes for the US site), so that may make a difference in some cases.