I looked at Five Star, and they charge $9.95 plus $2.50 per item for Global Priority Mail by the US Postal Service. A look at usps.gov shows that the price for that service is between $9 and $12 depending on the size of the package. That doesn't include the overhead of shipping and completing customs documents. That seems pretty competitive to me.

Adult DVD Now charges a flat $14.95 for up to six item via USPS Global Priority. That doesn't seem like a bad deal either.

Adult DVD Empire charges $5.00 + $2.45/item to Germany (non-guaranteed) or $31.00 + $1.45/item for FedEx service.

DVD Advantage charges $30 flat, which seems high, but remember they send the cover inserts separately and will break up shipments to avoid confiscation by customs--all of those things result in costs higher than a single package. Plus, with flat fees, they average out the cost of high shipping cost destinations, like Russia.

I guess what I'm saying is that it doesn't seem like anyone's exploiting international customers. I'm actually surprised that any US stores are willing to sell overseas due to the high level of credit card fraud, the long delivery periods, dealing with customs confiscations or rejections (and the inevitably irritated customers), and just the overall hassle of shipping products internationally. It seems to me that with domestic business being so good, it's not necessary to sell internationally at all.

Also, there's not a great deal of padding on the international shipping rates. Doing so would "make it worth their while," but they aren't even doing that. If anyone is making money, it's the international shipping carriers.

Given the fact that US prices plus international shipping are still cheaper than local alternatives, I don't see why there's any incentive for US stores to be more competitive for European customers.

Just playing devil's advocate... I sympathize about the high cost of porn elsewhere in the world, but there are a lot of things that are unfair in this world (like Torris not being able to get porn shipped to him in Utah) that are just facts of life unfortunately.

Saki

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1. www.lasersedge.com

Their DVDs are among the cheapest. Shipping rate for
Germany is $20 for DHL and $30 for UPS International,
this is for 1 - 5 Disks.

I had made about 5 orders from them. All arrived without
any problem in 3 - 5 days after ordering (for in stock
item). I personally find their DVd price reasonable
and their CSR (Marc and Rob) outstanding !

2. www.dv-depot.com

Their DVD are slightly expensive then the other online
stores (like $29 for Private releases). But the shipping
rate via DHL International is cheap. $13.95 for 1 to 7
disks.

They have a forum for Customer related queries and
problem.

3. www.dvdadvantage.com

Their DVD is among the cheapest. Flat rate shipping fees
of $30 bucks covers : courier charge, air mail for
artwork and keep case.

I wouldn't agree with not opening up the market of adult DVD to foreign countries and I don't see why reasons like
expensive shipping charges, custom seizures, CC fraud can
contribute to the reluctance of US online stores to do
bussiness with foreign fans of adult DVD. I'm sure we are
quite a substantial contributors to the growing market of
adult DVD.

I have been ordering Adult and Mainstream DVDs from online store in US for about a year and never had any problem with
shipping and customs whatsover.

Bottomline : Look around - find a right store for yourself and stick with 'em if you like their services.

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I'm sure it was not their intention of crapping on anyone, and these decisions are not made lightly.
Obviously, due to the high ratio of international problems,
resulting in negative postings such as yours calling them
rip-offs, they decided it was no longer profitable to continue this practice, and rather than go out of business, they're trying to minimize losses - this is only good business sense,
I think you would feel quite differently if you were in their place, and probably would be surprised at the small profit margin involved, considering the highly competitive business.

Quote Matt:
"I don't see why reasons like
expensive shipping charges, custom seizures, CC fraud can
contribute to the reluctance of US online stores to do
bussiness with foreign fans of adult DVD."

Maybe it's a language problem, but these reasons and more are directly related to any such reluctance.

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First of all, I can completely sympathize with you. The cost of ordering adult movies internationally is more expensive and I wish I could change that. Unfortunately, the reality is that it costs retailers more to do business with foreign customers. And while we try to absorb as much of the extra expense as possible, some of these expenses must be passed on. Saki and Matt correctly pointed out several of the factors such as increased carrier charges, customs paper work, seized packages and fraud.

Here are a few suggestions that might help reduce your international shipping charges:

1. Use the Adult DVD Kickback program. With this program you are refunded 5% of your order total.

2. Make larger orders. At most stores, making larger orders will lower the per unit shipping cost. For example: At Five Star DVD a 2 disc international shipment will cost $7.50 per disc. However a 10 disc shipment will cost only $3.50 per disc. You may have to adjust you buying habbits to make larger and less frequesnt orders, but the savings can add up quickly.

3. Take advantage of sales and specials. Most top retailers run sales where excellent bargains can be found. These sales are a great time to implement suggestions #1 and #2.

4. Keep an eye out for coupons which are posted the Adult DVD Talk price search page. A $5 or $10 coupon can take away some of the sting associated with international orders.

Ken Graham
Five Star DVD

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