Where can I import games from?

Anything to do with games at all.
User avatar
Pattybean
Member
Joined in 2008
AKA: insert 10p to continue
Location: The Tower

PostWhere can I import games from?
by Pattybean » Thu Mar 23, 2017 9:44 pm

Where's the best place to import games? Play Asia is over priced and hardly anything is in stock. Any advice welcome.

PC MASTER RACE
User avatar
Errkal
Member
Joined in 2011
Location: Hastings
Contact:

PostRe: Where can I import games from?
by Errkal » Thu Mar 23, 2017 9:46 pm

Other countries.

User avatar
Pattybean
Member
Joined in 2008
AKA: insert 10p to continue
Location: The Tower

PostRe: Where can I import games from?
by Pattybean » Thu Mar 23, 2017 9:51 pm

Thanks. This reply was at least more helpful than google.

PC MASTER RACE
NickSCFC

PostRe: Where can I import games from?
by NickSCFC » Thu Mar 23, 2017 10:04 pm

Image

User avatar
more heat than light
Member
Joined in 2008
AKA: mhtl
Location: Leicestershire

PostRe: Where can I import games from?
by more heat than light » Thu Mar 23, 2017 10:28 pm

Yeah, if you're looking for Japanese titles PlayAsia or YesAsia are your best bet unfortunately. They are pretty expensive and you can occasionally get stung for customs fees too so be careful. It's always worth checking eBay, you can sometimes get lucky with a UK seller having the title you're after. I've got a few of my bullet hell shmups that way.

Oblomov Boblomov wrote:MHTL is an OG ledge
User avatar
Qikz
#420BlazeIt ♥
Joined in 2011

PostRe: Where can I import games from?
by Qikz » Thu Mar 23, 2017 11:10 pm

PlayAsia and YesAsia are not your best bets.

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/
http://www.amiami.com/

The Watching Artist wrote:I feel so inept next to Qikz...
User avatar
SEP
Member ♥
Joined in 2008
AKA: Moggy

PostRe: Where can I import games from?
by SEP » Thu Mar 23, 2017 11:38 pm

NickSCFC wrote:Image


strawberry floating Sony :evil:

Image
User avatar
Parksey
Moderator
Joined in 2008

PostRe: Where can I import games from?
by Parksey » Fri Mar 24, 2017 3:25 am

What's the best place to import US titles to Japan? Looking at getting the Switch version of Isaac, but it's not even out in the UK yet. Could download but fancy the box.

So how much for the box?

User avatar
more heat than light
Member
Joined in 2008
AKA: mhtl
Location: Leicestershire

PostRe: Where can I import games from?
by more heat than light » Fri Mar 24, 2017 6:29 am

Parksey wrote:What's the best place to import US titles to Japan? Looking at getting the Switch version of Isaac, but it's not even out in the UK yet. Could download but fancy the box.

So how much for the box?


Back in the day when I used to import US stuff I always used VideoGamesPlus. Their prices were cheap, service was great and they always marked stuff as 'toy' on the envelope so you never got charged customs!

Downside was that they are a Canadian company, so sometimes you got cases with a bit of French text. If you're a collector of game cases that kind of thing might bother you.

I haven't used them in ages so I can't guarantee they'd still be as great as they were, but just had a quick look and they offer free worldwide shipping, so it might be worth a look.

Oblomov Boblomov wrote:MHTL is an OG ledge
User avatar
Errkal
Member
Joined in 2011
Location: Hastings
Contact:

PostRe: Where can I import games from?
by Errkal » Fri Mar 24, 2017 6:39 am

Pattybean wrote:Thanks. This reply was at least more helpful than google.

No worries, glad to help :D

User avatar
Super Dragon 64
Member
Joined in 2008

PostRe: Where can I import games from?
by Super Dragon 64 » Fri Mar 24, 2017 6:57 am

I've used Video Games Plus and Nippon Yasan a few times recently without any trouble.

Image
User avatar
Pattybean
Member
Joined in 2008
AKA: insert 10p to continue
Location: The Tower

PostRe: Where can I import games from?
by Pattybean » Fri Mar 24, 2017 8:18 am

Qikz wrote:PlayAsia and YesAsia are not your best bets.

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/
http://www.amiami.com/


Thank you Qikz seems cdjapan is the one I need. Excellent.

PC MASTER RACE
User avatar
Lex-Man
Member
Joined in 2008
Contact:

PostRe: Where can I import games from?
by Lex-Man » Fri Mar 24, 2017 9:05 am

You can just order off amazon. Jp these days.

Amusement under late capitalism is the prolongation of work.
User avatar
Cheeky Devlin
Member
Joined in 2008

PostRe: Where can I import games from?
by Cheeky Devlin » Fri Mar 24, 2017 1:19 pm

In my job I offer Customs advice to the public. As such I know what you're potentially (Should be) getting stung with in terms of customs charges.

Basically if the value of the item is more than £15 you should be getting charged Import VAT. Over £135 and you have VAT and Import Duty. This is charged on the value of the item (As declared by the sender) and the cost of any postage/insurance they have paid. Remember this is down to what the sender declares, not necessarily what you have paid. The VAT rate is decided by what the goods are declared as. Most things attract VAT at the standard rate of 20%, though there are some things that attract a reduced rate (5%) or Zero-Rate (0%).

MHTL said he didn't get any charges because they declared it as a "Toy". This may or may not be the case as I've no way of knowing what VAT rate they would have used for that. However it's equally likely that it just wasn't passed to customs to be charged. Parcelforce/Royal Mail are responsible for passing any parcels that meet the criteria of a charge to UK Border Force. Due to the volume of parcels this doesn't always happen and things get through. I will say that this is happening less and less though as the process becomes more efficient and computer controlled.

So it's a gamble. You SHOULD pay a charge on things over £15, but it is possible that it will slip through. Bear that in mind and take into account that you'll potentially have a charge to pay when you're buying things.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... post-users - General guidelines on what happens when you import something and it comes through the post. Goes into far more detail than I have.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... the_UK.pdf - Guidelines on your travellers allowance and what you need to declare when you bring things in yourself on a plane/boat etc.

User avatar
more heat than light
Member
Joined in 2008
AKA: mhtl
Location: Leicestershire

PostRe: Where can I import games from?
by more heat than light » Fri Mar 24, 2017 1:27 pm

Like I said, it's been a while since I bought anything from there. It might have been because they marked the value down instead, the 'toy' thing just sticks in my head as being odd. Either way, I ordered at least twenty things from VGP and was never stung for customs, whereas other companies have been far more hit and miss.

Oblomov Boblomov wrote:MHTL is an OG ledge
User avatar
Cheeky Devlin
Member
Joined in 2008

PostRe: Where can I import games from?
by Cheeky Devlin » Fri Mar 24, 2017 1:30 pm

more heat than light wrote:Like I said, it's been a while since I bought anything from there. It might have been because they marked the value down instead, the 'toy' thing just sticks in my head as being odd. Either way, I ordered at least twenty things from VGP and was never stung for customs, whereas other companies have been far more hit and miss.

The value thing is more likely, yeah. The problem is that UK BF don't physically inspect every parcel, as there's just too many of them for that. So in most cases they just go by the declaration made by the sender.

User avatar
Qikz
#420BlazeIt ♥
Joined in 2011

PostRe: Where can I import games from?
by Qikz » Fri Mar 24, 2017 2:26 pm

lex-man wrote:You can just order off amazon. Jp these days.


That too.

The Watching Artist wrote:I feel so inept next to Qikz...
User avatar
Ironhide
Fiend
Joined in 2008
Location: Autobot City

PostRe: Where can I import games from?
by Ironhide » Fri Mar 24, 2017 3:10 pm

more heat than light wrote:Like I said, it's been a while since I bought anything from there. It might have been because they marked the value down instead, the 'toy' thing just sticks in my head as being odd. Either way, I ordered at least twenty things from VGP and was never stung for customs, whereas other companies have been far more hit and miss.


I've never been stung with customs charges on anything from VGP but my bank did keep contacting me saying someone had used my card in Canada almost every single time.

Image
jawafour
Member
Joined in 2012

PostRe: Where can I import games from?
by jawafour » Fri Mar 24, 2017 3:21 pm

Man, I remember the Megadrive / SNES time in the early 1990s when there were loads of independent videogame stores with imported games easily available. I guess it's a good thing that, today, games are *usually* released globally.

User avatar
Green Gecko
Treasurer
Joined in 2008

PostRe: Where can I import games from?
by Green Gecko » Mon Sep 11, 2017 8:02 pm

Cheeky Devlin wrote:In my job I offer Customs advice to the public. As such I know what you're potentially (Should be) getting stung with in terms of customs charges.

Basically if the value of the item is more than £15 you should be getting charged Import VAT. Over £135 and you have VAT and Import Duty. This is charged on the value of the item (As declared by the sender) and the cost of any postage/insurance they have paid. Remember this is down to what the sender declares, not necessarily what you have paid. The VAT rate is decided by what the goods are declared as. Most things attract VAT at the standard rate of 20%, though there are some things that attract a reduced rate (5%) or Zero-Rate (0%).

MHTL said he didn't get any charges because they declared it as a "Toy". This may or may not be the case as I've no way of knowing what VAT rate they would have used for that. However it's equally likely that it just wasn't passed to customs to be charged. Parcelforce/Royal Mail are responsible for passing any parcels that meet the criteria of a charge to UK Border Force. Due to the volume of parcels this doesn't always happen and things get through. I will say that this is happening less and less though as the process becomes more efficient and computer controlled.

So it's a gamble. You SHOULD pay a charge on things over £15, but it is possible that it will slip through. Bear that in mind and take into account that you'll potentially have a charge to pay when you're buying things.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... post-users - General guidelines on what happens when you import something and it comes through the post. Goes into far more detail than I have.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... the_UK.pdf - Guidelines on your travellers allowance and what you need to declare when you bring things in yourself on a plane/boat etc.

Cheeky, do you know if there's actually likely to be any comeuppance if you undervalue items on CN22s so customers get charged less tax? I don't do it currently because customers are less likely to have their packages ripped open overseas if they're accompanied with a legit invoice on the outside of the package (and therefore not charged a handling fee if the tax is exempt), but I've always wondered this. What's to stop sellers from just lying about this all the time?

MHTL, the marking down was almost certainly the reason, pretty much everything except food, books and some clothing is subject to tax unless it's a gift in which case there is still quite a low threshold.

On topic, I've noticed there's an increasing number of sellers on eBay actually in Japan shipping stuff, but the prices are likely to be quite high because the exchange rate is awful. Your best bet is somewhere that deals in bulk and so creates cost efficiencies.

"It should be common sense to just accept the message Nintendo are sending out through their actions."
_________________________________________

❤ btw GRcade costs money and depends on donations - please support one of the UK's oldest video gaming forums → HOW TO DONATE

Return to “Games”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Balladeer, Google [Bot], jawa_, kazanova_Frankenstein and 322 guests