From my personal experience AdultDVDEmpire has given me excellent service. They may not be the cheapest but they tend to get the newest titles and keep a good inventory.
I have used them 14 times so far without any problems, but not in the last couple of months. All my orders were shipped in cardboard boxes which can hold about 3 dvd's in their cases and the average delivery time to the UK then was about 5-7 days. Never had any orders go missing.
I always kept my orders to about 2 titles because DVDEmpire declare the full value on the front and I wanted to avoid paying duty.
They tend to get hold of backorder/out of stock items much faster than any other retailer and they have one of the best ordering systems I have used. It allows you to add/delete titles up to the point of your order being dispatched.
I would try a small order first just to test things out.
I think AdultDVDEmpire is the best online adult DVD store, BUT ONLY for USA customer, not for international customer especially for country which PORN IS NOT LEGAL like UK and some ASIA countries.
Why ? 1. They state the contain of the package with the prices, this will make you charged for DUTY TAX, they can't state it as a GIFT with certain low price like others do.
2. They can't send the DVD discreetly like the DVDAdvantage AdultDVDNow, AdultDVDExplorer, and EroDVD do.
I could understand why they do this, I think ADE is satiesfied with US market, they think International market is not as BIG as the USA market .
This really pisses me off. It's simply not fair to bash a company for being honest businessmen and following the laws. This has become a real pet peeve of mine.
While these other companies you mention may use alternate methods to get your stuff to you it's quite possible that your order is much more important to them. I suspect that it's in Empire's best interest to obey the laws as they are written. They are a much larger business and have a lot more to lose than a few hundred bucks a month in orders overseas if they get caught breaking the law. The same goes for other companies that follow the rules like Five Star. (They have been chastized in the forum in the past for similar issues.)
You might as well be saying "I don't like these people because they won't break the law to ship me a few fuck flicks."
There is a very large international market where porn is legal. I'm sure these companies do very well in those regions. A country where porn is illegal is not part of the market they are looking to serve.
BTW, Adult DVD Empire has one of the strictest domestic shipping policies as well. They won't even risk shipping porn to the wrong place here in the states. While some pornsumers think this sucks I personally support businesses that can look at things in more of the big picture view.
I should really look up the thread where you brought up this exact issue in the past.
Thanks guys, at the moment, I'm just wondering if I should buy from other companies apart from the usual ones I buy from. I'm just concern about shipping especially with the ongoing cases about Anthrax and the increased frequency of custom checks and prohibitions.
I'm still trying to look for a reliable company that ships fast, yet cheap rates to the UK, without getting caught by csutoms.
Hi Drew,I think you're exaggerating a bit. Nobody is really bashing a store. I understand that you tend to defend the retailers since you are working with them quite closely and certainly know quite a few fine persons who are working there personally. But criticism doesn't equal bashing, and it's not always unjustified. There's no bad sentence in this thread against ADE, and when I'm asking why it's not possible for FiveStar to use the same shipping methods as all the other retailers I've been using for quite a long time, it's no bashing but a serious question I just would like to have answered. Other than that people like ookz and me are always emphasizing the great qualities of the stores like above where he was mentioning that ADE in his opinion seems to be the best online store for the US and that he could understand their attitude towards the smaller European market. So I don't think there's a reason for you to become angry and pissed off. I - as an international customer - appreciate hints like these. Knowing that some retailers won't mention the real content and the real value is a very valuable information for international customers. Also it's interesting to receive email answers from some retailers who state that this shipping method is no big deal and nothing could really happen to them, while others obviously want to make people believe that their existence depends on being more honest than others.
I think retailers who aren't able to use these shipping methods would have to delete many international countries from their lists. Germany for example has very strict laws concerning international shipments. Like I mentioned in another thread it's absolutely prohibited to import porn, and I remember you feeling annoyed about it as well. So any US-retailer that ships to Germany is breaking laws. Furthermore MOST if not ALL foreign packages with a declared value of more than a fixed amount, which I just forgot, will be sent to the custom office. And last but not least it's prohibited to import DVDs in general - even mainstream films. This has got something to do with our copyright laws.
So when a retailer says he's shipping to Germany but then sends the packages with stickers on it saying that it contains "DVD-Software" and the value of the content is maybe $180 it's pure luck to receive it. In this case the retailer shouldn't state on his site that he's able to ship to Germany. And before anybody yells "OK, so let's remove Germany from our lists!" I'd like to mention that there are more countries which have similar laws.
I think it's only natural to try to find out which retailers are usable for us international customers and which are not, and I guess it's also natural to be curious about the differences between the retailers concerning their policies.
So saying "*** is a really great store, but why don't they use the shipping methods other retailers are using ?" isn't unpolite, criticism, bashing or insulting, and in my opinion there's still no reason for you to become angry.
Again I think this is far from being the truth. I can't remember anybody saying something which would imply something like that. But maybe I missed a thread or two.You're right. There is a very large international market, and I don't think US retailers really only make a few hundred bucks a month with orders overseas like you mentioned above. Knowing how much I'm ordering and knowing many people from Europe who are ordering from US retailers even more than I am, I'm sure the international market is more lucrative than it seems. And if a retailer really doesn't want international business because he thinks it's too much of a hassle for him, not lucrative enough and because he's satisfied with the domestic market then I'd prefer the retailer to be honest and remove the international shipping options from his site and clearly say so instead of having terribly high international shipping costs, shipping in a way which makes it almost impossible to get through customs and feeling annoyed about the extra minute they need to remove the covers from the cases every time an international order gets placed.As mentioned above shipping to certain countries is illegal as well, but the retailers officially state that they are shipping to these countries. So if they don't want to break any laws and to look at things in more of the big picture view much from the international market would have to break away, and they would have to remove quite some international shipping locations from their sites. But when they are stating that they are able to ship there they should also be able to use the shipping methods required to do so.
As my final words I'd again like to emphasize that nobody is bashing a company when asking a serious question or wondering why one or another thing doesn't seem to be possible. Although you certainly know the retailers better than anybody else here on the board and try to defend the business of the great people behind them, please try to understand the international customers' points of view as well. Trying to find out which stores are secure for us to order from and making recommendations or warning us of unsuitable shipping methods isn't meant to be insulting or to damage anybody's business. We know that a store has to be quite good in order to become an ADT affiliate, so nobody questions their quality, and I hope it's also understood this way.
Thanks for your long-winded post. I didn't take the time to read all of it. I really didn't have to get past the first paragraph to form an opinon.
Why do you think you have a right to tell me what should and should not piss me off?
Ookz has had a bad habit of bad mouthing stores that won't ship to him. This post wasn't nearly as bad as some of his previous rants. In the past he even went as far as saying that he feels stores are discriminating against him.
While you appear to appreciate these types of opinions, and are quite willing to develop carpal tunnel syndrome expressing this fact, I certainly don't care for them one bit.
Let me get this straight. You feel you are not being unfairly critical of a store when you imply that you expect them to 1) remove the DVDs in your order from their packaging, 2) insert those DVDs into a magazine or other item to conceal them, 3) lie about the contents of the package on the export delcaration paperwork and 4) fraudulently declare the value of the contents at 5% of their real value. I assume that you also expect that a retailer should ship the covers for the DVDs in a seperate package using similar stealth techniques.
In my book this does not constitute "discrete packaging", it constitutes fraud. When you post a question about a store's policy against committing fraud I feel it is impolite and unfairly critical.
What you are really saying here is that you would like ADT to be a forum for international customers to compare notes about which stores are willing to commit fraud and possibly break export laws in order to ship you a few hundred bucks worth of porn?That's you're opinion. Thanks for sharing it.I am trying to understand your point of view but it really doesn't make sense to me. You use euphamisms like "secure for us to order from" that really mean "willing to commit fraud for us". I think it's sad that because of forums like this it's somehow expected that a retailer should re-ship a lost/siezed package 3 or 4 times in order to make a customer happy. Or that it's somehow a slight to a business if they are unwilling to commit fraud to save their customers a few bucks.
Not wishing to add fuel to the fire, however I can sympathize with the views expressed by spesedy and ookz.
I have lost several packages to UK Customs over the years and in my opinion they're bunch of thieves. They have stolen from me, just the same as some low-life breaking into my home and taking my possessions would. So I resent having to pay extortionate amounts of Duty and Tax to Customs for items which they previously considered to be obscene. I will go to any lengths necessary to avoid paying these import charges. If that means asking the sender to declare false information on the Customs form, then so be it. If a retailer isn't prepared to comply with my shipping instructions, I will respect their decision. I won't criticize them here in the forum, I'll simply take my business elsewhere.
I don't understand exactly what laws the US retailers are breaking by declaring bogus values and descriptions for the goods. If the DVDs are always shipped uninsured, there's no need for the full value to be declared. If they are defrauding anyone it's the foreign Customs agents. But what difference does it make to a US based company? They are outside the jurisdiction of foreign Customs or any other non-US authorities.
Just for the record, all my recent orders from US stores have been placed with Five Star because they offer an international shipping option where the package is sent via Denmark. The full value is declared on the Customs form, but since the DVDs are entering the UK from another EU country, there's little or no chance of Customs intercepting them. It usually takes up to three weeks for the shipment to arrive but that's no big deal to me. All I care about is receiving my order safely, with no added charges. I will continue to order from Five Star only if this shipping option exists.
i'm very suprised by the aggressive attitude displayed on this subject by drew.these guys are just trying to find out the best way to obtain their dvds, should they be attacked for having to suffer the draconian, antiquated and downright freedom breaking laws of their respective countries? Exactly who is being hurt by this 'fraud' that is being flaunted? feel free to post a dismissive, snarling response if you so wish.
They were "attacked" because they routinely refer to supporters of this site in a negative fashion for not treating them as someone special. Each of them (spesedy and ookz) regularly cry foul when a retailer doesn't meet their exact individual needs.
I think The Wanderer summed it up quite nicely:
Why do I get so pissed off? We interface with the retailers represented here on ADT on a regular basis. Many of them ship to countries all over the world. While any respectable retailer is going to handle a problem customer in a courteous fashion outside of the forum, the reality of the situation is that these types of posts are damaging to a store's reputation. Look at the amount of traffic this forum gets. There are a lot of people doing research on where to place their orders.
When there someone makes a post that states "They can't send the DVD discreetly like the DVDAdvantage AdultDVDNow, AdultDVDExplorer, and EroDVD do." it is an inaccurate statement that damages a store's reputation. It's not obvious that the poster's definition of discrete packaging is far from the norm. Discrete packaging to him means stealth packaging, not simply a generic box that does not indicate the contents are porn. He has made a blanket statement that Empire somehow provides inferior international shipping service when compared to the four stores in his list. This is inaccurate. He has an issue with Empire shipping to a specific country. His post implies that Empire is deficient for any shipments outside of the U.S.
While a retailer may be reluctant to step into this public forum and point the finger at a customer and say "your statements damage our business' reputation" I'm more than happy to do so.
With respect to who gets hurt by breaking import laws? A retailer most definitely assumes many risks when doing so. The laws are specific to each individual country. If a foreign company is caught falsifying import documents and undervaluing a shipment to the U.S. they can be fined up to $10,000 for each occurrence. Their right to ship to this country could be revoked. If they are using a shipper such as FedEx or DHL they could lose their accounts with them. While it is unlikely that someone will be prosecuted the possibility does still exist.
I apologize in advance if this post was less dismissive and/or snarling than you had hoped for.
I am also quite astonished about such an aggressive approach. I didn't expect that and don't think it was suitable since I never used this language in a discussion, and I'm not used to being treated that way. At least now I know what Drew is thinking about me. I wondered if I should post another reply or not, but I chose to do so in hope of being able to clarify a few things, and maybe some of you will take the time to read all of it before forming an opinion which is an advantage when writing in a public forum.
First of all I don't know ookz as a person and I'm not scanning his posts for appearances of unpolite attitudes towards anybody. What I wrote only referred to his post in this thread, and I still don't see anything aggressive behind it. When answering someone's post one should try not to include feelings about other posts by this user because the reply certainly gets unfactual. I still don't know what Drew's devaluating comments about the length of my post or other totally unimportant things have to do with the topic which is being discussed here.
I also don't think I'm regularly crying foul against the retailers. I have already posted quite a lot of positive comments about great stores and great service and get the feeling these posts don't get seen while the few ones which aren't even meant negative and are never written in an insulting or aggressive style but are usually seriously meant questions or comments about policies or shipping methods get misunderstood and overvalued. I've got the impression that at the moment some people are quite nervous and are getting annoyed whenever a post about a retailer isn't extremely positive. Maybe that's because of some bad experiences with users who simply post "xxx sucks big time! I've been waiting for my order for 3 days now, and usually it arrives in 2 days. Never order from them again!"
When reading something like this I can understand someone becoming angry, but I never thought about me to belong to this category of people and am sorry if I somehow made the impression. When I've got a problem with a missing order or something else, the first thing I do is e-mailing the customer support to ask for help. I'm always writing in a very friendly and polite style and excuse myself for any inconvenience and wish them a great day and send them my best regards and say that I'd be happy if they could help me. When nothing is happening I keep e-mailing them in the same polite style. When nothing works I try to ask the people in the forum what they think about it and if this has ever happened to them. Drew obviously reads these posts and gets annoyed because for him it's badmouthing. I never thought this would be understood that way as I was only looking for comments and maybe some help or encouraging words from other users.
Concerning the fraud-topic I have to say that I don't understand what anything I have written in my above post has got to do with fraud. I'm not stealing anything from anybody. When reading my post carefully my point should have become quite clear. I'm not requesting "stealth-packaging" because I want to save a few bucks. I'd happily pay a few dollars more if this is the law, and would understand retailers who say they have to mention the full price on the package because their existence is threatened if they don't do so. This would have been clearer than just answering "We can't do that." I don't know the American laws, and when a retailer answers that nothing is going to happen to them when their packages get discovered I wonder why others are afraid. When asking questions about this on ADT I still never thought I'd be badmouthing a store. My point - which already got clear in my last post - is that it's not the VAT I'm afraid of. Since it's prohibited to send porn via mail in Germany I'm depending on the shipping methods which Drew is calling stealth techniques. I would never be able to pay any VAT because when a package containing porn is discovered by customs it gets confiscated. This is why I'm so worried when a package doesn't arrive or when certain shipping methods aren't available.
I never requested the retailers to do anything illegal. They are offering shipping to Germany and a lot of other countries with the same laws, but since - like I already mentioned a few times - most if not all packages with a declared value above a certain amount get opened by customs I depend on the retailers to mention a fake value on the order because otherwise I would never receive my order. The same goes for the content. Since importing DVDs to Germany is forbidden by our copyright laws a package mentioning that it contains "DVD Software" has got quite a big chance of being opened by customs as well. Such packages only get through if the customs agent reads "Software" and is sure that it's a computer program.
Understanding these facts is important before angrily complaining about me requesting the stores to break the law in order to save a few dollars. That's why I mentioned these facts in my post above.
The retailers know what they are doing, and most of them use stealth techniques for international orders without the customer having to request them. Since I didn't know the US laws I never thought this was so controversial. And when asking a few retailers if it's ok for them to do so or if they'll get any difficulties, and they answer "It's no problem for us to do so. Don't worry. Nothing will happen to us and you'll receive your order." I'm relying on this and am going to remember this as having gotten some great service instead of thinking about just having broken a law.
So what's important is that ANY retailer shipping to countries with strict laws like Germany simply HAS to use stealth techniques. And this is not to save the customer some dollars but because otherwise chances are extremely high, he will never receive his order.
If a retailer is not willing to go through the hassle and discomfort of this special packaging then he can't ship to Germany or other countries. And if a retailer's site states that they'll ship there I'm relying on them using the shipping methods that are needed for me to get the package.
It's not logical that a retailer states to ship to Germany, but then doesn't offer the special packaging which is needed. And it's not logical that when the package doesn't arrive and people are discussing shipping methods and fake declarations which are needed for packages to get through that people get angry about this discussion because he thinks it's badmouthing.
Stealth techniques are simply NEEDED for shipping to some countries and a retailer stating that he will ship to these countries makes a clear statement that he is willing to use these techniques because otherwise these countries had to be removed from his list.
If a retailer says he doesn't ship where I live I try to find another one who does. But when I find another one who does I think it's understandable that - although I'm "only" an international customer - I'd like to receive what I'm so looking forward to and what I've paid for.
I hope I could clarify a few things and that this post isn't understood as being unfairly critical and insulting again, and although it's become quite long again I hope it's fully read and understood before a reply gets posted. Drew, I'd be quite sorry and unhappy to receive another aggressive and insulting answer and hope you would try again to understand my point of view and re-think your attitude towards my person since I think you're judging me wrong.
