Buying DVDs in the USA

crawf1982

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I am going to stay with some friends in the USA next month and thought I would take the opportunity to get some DVD's. Does anybody know a good site in the USA I could use. Would anybody recommend DVDSoon for sending discs to the USA?

Many thanks,

Dave
 
I have used www.alldvdmovies.com a few times, they are predominantly USA based.
I expect that you will get most success by going to the shops - they will seem so cheap compared to over here, especially if there are any sales on.
 
Although you may pick up a few bargains in the stores
while you are in the States, dvd's are still genarally cheaper
online. Bear in mind that you have to pay tax on your dvd's
while there.
 
Originally posted by bowenjones
Bear in mind that you have to pay tax on your dvd's
while there.

Not if you purchase them over the internet.
 
As a non resident you would not be liable for sales tax in the USA.
 
If you're staying in California, and you order from a site based in Califorinia, you will be liable for thier tax.

Same goes for any site in any state. Local residents (even temporary ones) will have to pay the state tax (anything from 3 to 7%)

You could claim it back on exiting the US, but then you'd have to declare them again when re-entering the UK, so HM goverment can have thier pound of flesh
 
Don't forget you can only bring £18 worth back into the UK without paying duty & VAT.

Or you could risk getting them confiscated by not declaring them.
 
My friend bought back £1500 worth of laserdiscs when we returned from Seattle once! They were all stuffed in two suitcases :D We both walked through customs giggling like school girls and they didn't bat an eyelid! :D :rolleyes:
 
Hi,

I think that you can bring goods worth up to ~£145 without paying tax and duty as part of your allowance. That's a good number of discs. If you can carry £1500 worth of discs then, that's OK..... but if you get asked to open your case by customs ......then you're stuffed !!!

If you buy an item (e.g. a dvd player) that's worth more than £145 then you'll get hit for tax and duty on the lot.

Brian
 
Originally posted by bxd
If you can carry £1500 worth of discs then, that's OK..... but if you get asked to open your case by customs ......then you're stuffed !!!

Stuffed is putting it mildly - I certainly wouldn't recommend this idea! :D :blush: :rolleyes:
 
i went to cali a while back and quite frankly stores such as virgin, hmv and borders were just rip offs! (but as suggested check out any special offers)

mind i think maybe they have tightened up security etc since then. I bought a 12" Subwoofer in a suite case and my friend with me had my £1000 car amp!!...guess i was lucky.
 
Where does the burden of proof lie if you tell HMC that the article in your luggage was taken out of the UK originally and brought back with you like your socks?
 
Originally posted by Mike Swannick
Where does the burden of proof lie if you tell HMC that the article in your luggage was taken out of the UK originally and brought back with you like your socks?

I think you have to declare it before you go, thus proving that you took it out in the first place.
 
I think that you can bring goods worth up to ~£145 without paying tax and duty as part of your allowance. That's a good number of discs. If you can carry £1500 worth of discs then, that's OK..... but if you get asked to open your case by customs ......then you're stuffed !!!

I stand corrected - you are quite correct, the higher limit applies when you travel with the goods.

The burden of proof is practically with you because HMCE have the power to confiscate the goods without taking you to court on reasonable suspicion. To get the goods back you have to pay the taxes owed, a penalty and money for the goods confiscated.

If you imported too many region 1 DVDs, I reckon they would expect you to be able to demonstrate your previous importation by showing the receipt for the duty or the invoice for the goods on a duty-free import (ie an individual DVD from the internet).

You could not have bought the goods IN the UK (or the EU) because it is illegal to sell region 1s outside N. America

BTW, if you are in a vehicle they can confiscate that too!

I know - I tried it with a camera once. They DO search people.
 
You could not have bought the goods IN the UK (or the EU) because it is illegal to sell region 1s outside N. America

That is not true, as you could have imported the DVDs from the US yourself, as I and thousands of others do.
 
You could not have bought the goods IN the UK (or the EU) because it is illegal to sell region 1s outside N. America
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



That is not true, as you could have imported the DVDs from the US yourself, as I and thousands of others do.:

It IS true.

I capitalized the "IN" to emphasize it. You may be physically in the UK, but the transaction is legally elsewhere.

Of course you can import them, as we all do, which is why my previous paragraph discussed how I believe you would have to deal with HMCE regarding such pre-importation.

Please read the whole post.
 
Originally posted by Mike Swannick
Where does the burden of proof lie if you tell HMC that the article in your luggage was taken out of the UK originally

HMC have more draconian powers than the police. For a customs offence its guilty unless proven innocent, so the onus is upon you to PROOVE not say, that you had a suitcase full of stuff when you left.
 
Some interesting thoughts guys. I visit the USA twice a year usually and honestly I have stopped worrying about comming back in through customs. For instance, here are some of the things I have brought back without any problems:

1 full length sword - packed onlt in a tall cardboard box and wrapped in bubble-wrap.

1 replica aluminium Klingon Bat'leth - packed in a small wooden crate with various wierd stamps and symbols painted on it - anybody who knows what this is should be suitable impressed, or perhaps worried, that I brought it through so easily ;)

1 complete Bose Acoustimass 6 speaker system - wrapped in clothes inside my suitcase.

The flights always seem to get into England early in the morning and there are usually no customs officers about. They are much more interested in flights comming in from, say, Jamaica or Rio for instance!

Obviously I have been a little lucky over the years, but I guess I have become complacent about it now. Besides, I've saved A LOT of money so far.

It will be a nice feeling in about a month's time to sit down and watch my LOTR 4 disc Special Edition knowing that I only paid about £17 for it :D :D

Cheers,

Dave
 
Please read the whole post

Sorry Cliff, you are completely right and I stand wholly corrected! :blush:

On a side note the last time I was in the US I was searched at SFO on the way back. I my hand luggage I had my laptop, digital camera, US XBox (just purchased) and Gameboy Advance. The customs official only commented that I had a 'lot of toys', so I guess it's the luck of the draw. Good job they didn't pull my case to find all the XBox software and DVDs I bought at Fry's in Sunnyvale!
 
Last year I brought back a £1200 telescope and tripod!!! It would have cost something stupid like $200 to ship it as it was rather bulky

As hand luggage:eek:

When I used to buy LD's I used to go the hut that do Pizzas quite frequently so was on friendly terms with 'em. Scrounged an unsued pizza box and stuffed my LDs in there and then into a stong carrier bag and just carried them as hand luggage. Did that a few times.

I used to post the reciepts back in an envelope. If I got stopped i was just helping a mate move to the UK by reducing the amount of stuff he had insure against damage in transit.

with the naff $ rate things aint as cheap as they used to be so recent years we haven't tended to buy much. Certainly DVDs in normal shops looked expensive when compared to net prices. I think the last two times we've been to the states I didn't buy any discs.
 
One of the best choices of retail outlets in USA to buy your DVD's from is BEST BUY, although your choice is very limited. Prices aren't bad though.


Cheers
Kev
 
Why don't you just buy the DVD's and mail them from the US to yourself/a friend/whatever as a gift or sample merchandise or something?

My future in-laws in Japan have sent us numerous large boxes marked as gifts, filled with all kinds of stuff, sometimes with a value of hundreds of £'s to the UK since we moved here and customs have never checked anything once.

Similarly, a few years ago I used to have a friend in the US sending over video games for me and even when they were occassionally stopped everything got to me untouched.

Chris
 
This is true. My friends in the US have sent dozens of parcels over the years (marked as gifts) and none of them have been opened by customs. Especially this time of year when there is so much christmas present traffic around.
 

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