F*

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Sure, I'd prefer if it was cheaper, but there are a couple of things to take into account :~

The service - I've had some order problems in the past with Fivestar, and they always go out of their way to fix up anything that goes wrong - and it comes out of their own pocket, no less. I've also had great customer service from Laser's Edge when there was a mixup.

Multi-shipments - when something we order is out of stock, and an order is split, that's a seperately posted item, which again adds to the -real- cost of postage.

To address spesedy's point on our shipping versus US Domestic shipping, your points are true, but it's also worth noting that we international customers are higher-maintenence than their domestic customers, insofar as missing/lost shipments and the like go, which leads to reshipments and the like.

The other thing of course is that domestic shipping is far, far cheaper than international shipping, and on a domestic level, fivestar (and anyone else we order from) has a lot more competition than they do on the international scale, simply because of stores that refuse international orders, have shitty customer service, or have international shipping costs that indicate that they don't really want our business (as Flinty so rightly pointed out).

Basically I'm always in favor of more options and cheaper options, I can bear it when the actual cost of shipping is that close to the charged amount in some cases, where the intangibles more than make up for the slight disparity. I applaud Laser's Edge's recent mention of this:

I hate to sound like too much of a cheerleader for any particular store, but when shops go out of their way to look after and listen to their customers on a regular basis, I like to point them out.

cheers,

scipio

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Not only do they lose money reshipping packages, but it is easier to detect fraud with US customers. So they're losing even more money on fraudulent international orders. Keep in mind that there are plenty of customers who report lost orders that aren't lost. The stamps on the package have very little to do with the total cost of servicing international customers.

I'm sure all the US retailers are well aware that their international customers would prefer lower shipping rates. And I'm sure they could provide lower rates if the customer was willing to take the hit on lost packages instead of the retailer.

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"Cost for lost packages can be claimed back from the postal service." isn't always true. The package must be insured. To do so is an additional expense, plus additional man-time (these packages must be inspected and stamped by a postal employee, this means someone has to wait in line). And to file a claim on a postal package is not the easiest thing to do (I am sure the other retailers would agree). So a blanket statement like that isn't fair as there are other costs/circumstances that make that quite difficult.

The easiest solution to this problem is GPM (GLOBAL PRIORITY MAIL) since it is trackable and affordable ($5.00 for one disc and $9.00 for multiple discs). The other solution is EXPRESS Companies (DHL, UPS, FED EX, etc...) However the playing field is not always level when it comes to these companies. We primarily use DHL as they have provided us with the cheapest rate, the other two mentioned don't even come close. However other retailers may not get the same rate as they have a different sales rep, are located in a different/busier region. So the pricing may not always be "affordable" or "fair". I just am trying to point out this isn't always the retailer's fault. Some companies may even be paying "book rate"!

We offered the "$1.99 flat rate Air Mail" to our international customers for the exact reason this thread was started as we did not feel comfortable offering "FREE SHIPPING" to our domestic customers and nothing for our international customers. The loss we take on the shipping works out to be about the same on an international package as it is on a domestic package. We were trying to negotiate some lower "Express" rates but talks have stalled on that right now. So for right now we will continue to offer "$1.99 FLAT RATE AIR MAIL". And we will continue to analyze the existing shipping choices and offer the most cost efective/reliable service we can.

GPM will be added to our international shipping options next week as we are currently updating some features on our site. Until then we will ship via GPM upon request.

Thanks
Marc-Lasers Edge

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Saying this though...no matter where a company is situated or the sales rep they have....$30+ for shipping is cannot be justified or excused no matter which way you look at it.

F*

ps: LASERSEDGE....more Evil Angel titles PLEASE!.

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If only they had a more powerful search engine!
A choice of Actors, Studios, and prices would be fabulous!

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I'm certainly going to order from you more often.

Do you have any info on your $1.99 shipping ? How secure and fast is it ? And how secure is GPM ?

I've received quite a lot packages via GPM and none of the retailers said that it was trackable. Every time I took a look I saw that only domestic shipments were trackable. Now I don't know what's true.

@Steph

I think expenses not caused by a customer shouldn't have to be payed by him. If I'm not causing expenses because of fraud, why should I pay for other fraudulent users ? And since it's not the customer's fault when a package vanishes, why should he have to pay for the lost package ? If a retailer would really justify the higher pricing with higher expenses through lost shipments, that means they should officially guarantee delivery for this higher price. They can't say that lost shipments cause them extra costs and then maybe choose not to reship a package when a customer complains about it being lost.

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Edited by - scipio on Nov 9 2001

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As for the EA titles, we stopped carrying them for awhile as our source dryed up but we have since found a reliable distributor and bring in all their new releases, if there is something we don't have that you want email us an we will get it.

Thanks
Marc-Lasers Edge
(I'm headed home now, been working for 11 hours...)

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While GPM certainly seems to be faster then regular mail, and less likey to be stolen, I've never heard from any retailer that it's registered before.

If you could check with the USPS about that and get back to us here on the forum, it'd be great to have a definitive answer, since it's a concern for us foreigners and you're better-placed to ask your local Post Office than we are ;)

cheers,

scipio

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This is a quote from the GPM section of the USPS International Mail Manual:

“No other special services, such as registry, insurance, restricted delivery, return receipt, or
recorded delivery, are available.”

If a GPM package is lost the postal service will not reimburse for the loss. The shipper must absorb the cost of the lost merchandise, which increases the cost of doing business. Also, while it is theoretically possible to track a GPM package, the reality is that the tracking is unreliable and not very useful.

Regarding UPS and DHL, many customers request shipment via these excellent international carriers. Unfortunately, adult movies are not permitted in their international systems. Certainly some packages slip through undetected but the bottom line is that they are officially prohibited and are often rejected.

UPS prohibited material

DHL prohibited material

In our experience the only viable international options are the USPS and FedEx. We are definitely aware that international customers want fast, reliable and inexpensive delivery. We have been developing some new shipping options and they should be available soon.

Ken Graham
Five Star DVD

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thanks for speaking up in this thread and clarifying the situation with GPM a bit. It's true that Fivestar did a great job in resolving the problems of my last orders, which certainly cost you some money and which I appreciate a lot! I like your online store, your service and your prices a lot and would like to order more often from you, but I'm very concerned about the extremely big custom problems I had with my last orders, and wonder if Fivestar couldn't be a bit more flexible when it comes to international shipping.

As mentioned in this thread obviously quite a few packages from Fivestar have been confiscated by customs. I guess this is because the packages simply were too obvious or because they're looking out for packages from your company. I requested special shipping methods a few times which would increase the chances of getting through customs a lot, e.g. replacing the "Fivestar"-stickers with stickers which carry the name of a Fivestar-employee or mentioning a wrong value on the package and things like that. I got this idea because other stores are doing this as well, and I never had a problem in receiving their packages.

Upon having requested these methods you told me that it was not possible for you to do so. I wonder why it's possible for other stores which I've already ordered lots of packages from without any problems.

The same goes for DHL. After my last customs-orgy I've also ordered quite a lot of packages via DHL which I also received without a problem. DHL never refused to ship them, and since I used them for my orders quite much, lately, I don't think my orders just slipped through their verification process. Again: when other retailers can, why can't Fivestar ?

I'd like to emphasize again that I enjoy Fivestar and its service very much, but since some months ago almost every single order got confiscated I'm a bit afraid of ordering there and would love to hear about being able to use DHL or that Fivestar would implement other custom-friendly methods like retailers like AdultDVDNow have already done.

Kind regards,

Spesedy

Edited by - spesedy on Nov 9 2001

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Technically no carriers accept PROHIBITED material based on the country of destination or if the material is considered "pornographic", this includes USPS and FED EX. I firmly stand behind DHL because of their great track record with us over the past 10 years. Fed Ex & UPS are simply too expensive and do not want to offer the discounts to shippers that DHL does. The better the discount the cheaper we can make it to our customers.

Marc
The Laser's Edge

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We ship 100’s of international packages each week and the vast majority reach the customer successfully. Occasionally there are glitches with lost packages or customs issues but this is not typical and we always do our best to quickly resolve any problems. Having said that, we are always looking for ways to improve our service. If you (or anyone else) have any suggestions I would be happy to discuss them privately.

Ken Graham
Five Star DVD

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We send for FREE, worldwide.
Unbelievable, I know, but true.
With 100% guarantee for delivery.
And a low price guarantee.
Cheaper is impossible.

Kind regards,

Aline Bakhuis
Erovideo.nl and Erodvd.nl

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Nice to see you again in this forum. .

I think the cost is depend on the order,
just for example : DVDadvantage charges $30 for MAX 15 DVDs,
so if you buy 15 DVDs, the cost per DVD is just $2. .

So I better make a wishlist, if 15 DVDs already in my wishlist. It's time to order. .

Peace!

Edited by - ookz on Nov 12 2001

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What bothers me (and the originator of this thread) is how can OTHER e-tailers charge $30 mailing costs for (say) a disk that they are selling for $8 and offering free or virtually free mailing to domestic customers.

As regards replacement of lost disks, I don't think it would be unfair of suppliers to say that international mail losses weren't their problem, in return for lower mailing rates.

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Shipping to international destinations has always been a challenge for any US retailer because of two main issues. First, adult materials are not always accepted by Customs in some countries, and secondly, most express carriers, such as UPS and DHL prohibit the shipment of pornographic materials.

So why is it that some retailers can ship via DHL or other IE carriers? Some operation centers for some of the carriers choose to look the other way because of the revenue. However, as we have experienced ourselves, when those operation centers are audited, or when Customs stops a package, and word gets out that an account is shipping porn, the shipments stop for an undetermined amount of time.

Most savy retailers today have a modest selection of shipping options to choose from. In addition, they also have a few accounts for express services, not just one. When one account is terminated or suspended, the retailer switches to another account, and so on. It is a constant challenge depending on the volume of shipments going out.

We at Adult DVD Now have several options when it comes to shipping. We offer the regular air mail service, the Global Priority (not trackable, not insured) and an express service.

I noticed some retailers tend to think that Global Priority is trackable. In our 4 years of shipping using this method, I can honestly tell you, it is NOT trackable at all. The only honest trackable service is through an express courier such as FedEx, DHL, UPS, AE or USPS Express.

In regards to the confiscation rate........ before the September 11 attacks on the US, all of our methods were running at 99.5% + delivery rate. After the attacks, some mail was lost, perhaps due to Anthrax contamination; closing down certain post offices. We replaced and re-shipped those shipments of course, but unfortunately, this impacted our success ratio. At this point, our delivery ratio is climbing back up to the high 99 percentile, which is very fortunate.

During the last 4 years of shipping DVDs to the UK, there have always been trials and tribulations. I don't think there will ever be a fail safe method of transporting pornographic materials but if you are dealing with a reputable company, they should stand behind their service, and do everything possible to make sure you get your product safely.

Jay Barron
CEO
Adult DVD Now
Http://www.adultdvdnow.com
Alphacom Distribution, Inc.
E-Mail: jbarron@addvd.com

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