UK retailers with the fastest shipping to the US? (1 Viewer)

[Brian W.]

I've really grown to like PAL since getting a region-free player. I think it looks better NTSC. I want to pre-order the PAL edition a title that is a couple months off (Return of the King), but I want to make sure I get it by the street date.

Any recommendations on the UK retailers with the fastest shipping to the US? You can message me privately if you want to.

 

[alan halvorson]

I doubt that any site will get a dvd to you by street date; it's being shipped from the UK, you know. I've bought all my UK stuff from Amazon UK. Unlike other sites that ship to the USA, Amazon will remove the VAT tax that UK residents must pay, making them nearly always the cheapest. Shipping costs aren't too bad either. Normally, dvds arrive within 5-7 days of street date. I think that's as good as you can expect.

 

[Adam_ME]

I also recommend Amazon UK. Not only are their prices among the best, but their shipping is quick. Whenever I preorder a DVD, it ships on Saturday(2 days before the Monday release date) and arrives by Thursday. It ain't the street date, but it's the closest you're gonna get with Region 2 titles.

 

[Jeff Mason]

Personally, I think it pays to shop around. Amazon can be good, particularly if you're buying multiple discs. However, I've been recently searching for "The Good Life" season 1 for my wife (single disc). Amazon wants 25 pounds for the set (which is still 20.6 pounds with VAT removed) and shipping is over three pounds. Bensonsworld has the same title for 18 pounds, so even if you keep VAT added, it's still a better deal, plus their shipping is only 1.75 pounds for a single disc. I've ordered from them in the past and their shipping has been reasonably quick, although I can't do a direct comparison with Amazon UK in this regard.

 

[Roger Mathus]

I have also had a good shopping experience with Amazon.uk. They seem to ship either same day or next day of order with delivery time about 5-6 days by airmail. I have not pre-ordered anything from them, however.

 

[Judy Y]

I too, swear by Amazon uk. Angel series 4 shipped out Friday and I received it the following Wednesday!

 

[Rick P]

Amazon.uk is my top choice for shipping from the UK

Now OZ... EzyDVD is top notch. Case in point. I placed an order from both on a Monday. The Amazon packet came the following Tuesday, the EzyDVD came THAT FRIDAY.

And OZ has a better exchange rate right now (OUCH! Blake's 7 hurt a little..)

 

[Brian W.]

And you live in the US, Rick?

 

[Mark_Wilson]

Amazon won't break Street Date but received a few items from Bensons ON street date.

 

[Rick P]

since this is a discussion of shipping to the US, isn't that a bit of a useless question?

 

[Brian W.]

Well, you never know -- you don't have your location listed in your profile. You could live in Russia and assume the shipping's faster to the U.S. than it is to you, for all I know.

 

[Jon Martin]

Also another plug for Amazon UK and Ezy DVD in Oz.

I haven't ordered many DVDs from either, but they have been delivered quickly, less than a week each time. And as stated, the pre-orders from Amazon shipped the Saturday before they streeted.

 

[Deb Walsh]

I order from Amazon.co.uk, but mostly from Blackstar.co.uk. They also remove VAT, and they tend to have a deeper inventory of special editions. Sometimes Amazon has a lower price (sometimes a steeply lower price), but if they run out of copies before they get to the copy I pre-ordered three months before the set was released, it doesn't do me much good (this happened to me twice, then I went back to ordering from Blackstar all the time). Both have very good customer service, but I really like the personal touch I get with Blackstar - my first region 2 DVD had problems in my player at the time (a Raite), and I reported it to customer service. I asked if it was possible for them to test the disc first before sending it, since I didn't know if the problem was the disc or my player, they agreed. There was one person on customer service at the time who had a DVD player at home, and she took the disc home and tested it, then sent me a report personally on the condition of the disc. As it turned out, it was a combination of disc and the player, and I'm actually grateful the Raite eventually died and I replaced it with another player.

I've ordered from MVC.co.uk, and they're very good, with good prices, but they have a limit on how much you can order - if your order goes over a certain value, they won't process it. They do tend to have exclusives no one else has every so often - they had the complete New Avengers a good six months before it was available in general release in the UK.

EzyDVD in Australia is also very good. I can highly recommend Atlanticdvd.com.au and HMV.com.au for ordering from Australia. HMV tends to have the lowest shipping, I think, and all three back out GST from their prices for overseas buyers. For example, if you're looking for good prices on any of the X-Files boxed sets, all three have decent prices, but EzyDVD charges $25AU postage, while AtlanticDVD charges $22AU, and HMV charges $7.50AU.

Several of these companies have methods in place to verify your identity to protect against online fraud. A little annoying in a way, but nice that they try.

 

[Jay Blair]

I've also received some titles (in California) from Bensons on or slightly before street date. Rarely received anything later than the week of street date. I always order from Bensons if the price is competitive, especially since both BlackStar and Amazon.uk have shipped me VHS titles before instead of the DVDs (and yes, I checked my orders, I did order the DVDs). That really hurt when those packages arrived.

Earlier tonight I placed an order from EzyDVD in Australia for Gance's Napoleon and within 10 minutes of placing my order and getting an order confirmation I already had a second e-mail from them saying that my order had shipped. Now that is the fastest service for shipping notice I've ever had from any company in or out of the USA.