1.Problems.
I had problems on only 2 occasions, one package damaged (replaced free of charge by store) and one package empty! (probably opened and stolen by someone at royal mail or customs). That is pretty good going out of 200!
I have never had a delivery from the US opened by customs (only once from Holland and that was resealed and sent on to me....luckily tame film!).

2.Shipping times.
Shipping times depend on which shipping method you choose. I like to get mine quickly so always go with 'global priorty letter' which takes about 5-7 days to the UK.
You may have to wait 2-3 weeks for normal air mail. I once used Lasersedge's $1.99 shipping and waited 5 weeks. But if you don't mind the wait...the price is excellent.
I like Adultdvdtoday's $4.95 for 1-5 discs by global priority letter.

3.Passing customs
Note: it is much better to order only discs and covers (get dvd boxes in UK) and have this sent as a letter. Customs are much more likely to open packets when looking for illegal items (eg: drugs). Even if it is opened they will 'probably' send it on to you if it contains no fisting, S&M, violent sex, gagging etc...
Global priority letter comes in an official looking USPS envelope and is also 'signed for' by you on delivery. I think these 2 factors may help to get it through customs (ie: it doesn't look suspicious and you will be personally claiming it).

4.Privacy
You may find stores with generic names like 'Lasersedge' or 'Fivestardvd' have their names on the packet but those with 'adult' in the title do not.

5.Favourite stores
In terms of shipping costs/product 'in stock'/global priority delivery times i like:
Adultdvdtoday
Fivestardvd (Ethan..please introduce flat rate shipping)
Adultdvd69

6.Shopping
It is worth checking the 'search' facility here on ADT for bargains from other stores before buying a title.
You can often get a real bargain at stores like 'Moviesbymail', 'Playtimecinema' and 'Adultcdmovies'

7.Shipping costs
It is important to check shipping costs when making your order. As i said i like 'global priority' and if i bought 5 discs it would cost me....
Adultdvdtoday $4.95
Adultdcdmovies $7.00
Adultdvd69 $8.00
Lasersedge $8.00
Adultdvdempire $8.00
Moviesbymail $10.00
Fivestardvd $12.50
Adultdvdnow $20.99

You may like to compare costs aswell with normal air mail.

Good luck!

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Edited by - SDC on 9/13/2004 12:32:29 PM

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In general terms, I've been importing disks (primarily, but not exclusively, from the states) for a number of years now and had very few problems. A couple of things have gone missing in the post, and a couple of packages have been opened by customs, but I don't think you can blame the retailers for this. With one or two exceptions, the packages all went missing around the same time so were most likely the result of a specific postal worker. The packages that were opened, again, with one or two exceptions, were from a specific, ironically not adult, retailer.

With regards to Lasers Edge, I've used three different shipping options - DHL, Global Priority and the Adult Shipping Special: DHL is very fast - they've all arrived at my door within two days. It's also relatively inexpensive because they're packaged in a 'customs friendly' manner. Excellent value if you're ordering more than a couple of disks. Global Priority takes about five days to arrive. The disks are packaged in lightweight cardboard sleeves that fit easily through the letterbox. I haven't used the Adult Shipping Special for quite a while now because, although it is very cheap, the disks can take anything up to a month to arrive.

The only downside with Lasers Edge is that they don't offer real-time stock status and it can take a long time for items to come into stock. Having said that, if you email them in advance they will be able to tell you if an item is in stock or not.

Five Star don't have as extensive a catalogue but you can see whether or not a disk is in stock before you order. I've used two of their shipping options - Fed Ex and Global Priority. Items shipped Global Priority take about a week to arrive and are shipped in a jiffy bag. The Fed Ex option I selected came in what amounts to a large jiffy bag so, although it is very quick, the disks aren't that well protected. I also got hit with additional customs charges (Fed Ex pay on your behalf and then send you a bill later) so tend to use the Global Priority method now.

The Global Priority packages from both are very discrete; I think they refer to the contents as 'software' but I might be wrong. I always prefer to have the disks sent in their original packaging because I don't want creased covers in my collection. I suppose this does increase the likelihood of the package being opened but, as I said at the beginning, that's extremely rare these days. I suppose a large consignment is quite likely to be opened but it's worth using a courier for multiple items anyway.

Finally, what really sets these two apart is that they offer very good customer service.

SDC

Edited by - SDC on 9/13/2004 12:33:57 PM

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Oh, I have one other quick question (hopefully it's OK to include in this section).

I was thinking about getting Myne Tease, made by Fusxion. It's not listed on AdultDVDToday but is on Fivestar. Is it quite common for some sites to simply not stock a particular title, such as this one? As I'm new to buying adult DVDs, I'm not sure why they stock some Fusxion titles, but not this one. Is it just one of those things - best to just look around for it one other sites?

Thanks again for calming my apprehension! :)

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I wonder what experiences other shoppers have had with global priority? In the UK and Europe?

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...but my postman doesn't look the sharpest guy around so that may not mean they shouldn't be signed for!

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I sometimes use Lasersedge but be cautious of the cheap delivery option. It can take a while to arrive. I would rather pay the additional for Global Priority knowing that in 3-5 working days the package will arrive.

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From what others have said i assume that... when it gets to the UK global priority must go through the normal mail sorting system as do 'recorded delivery' items. 'Special delivery' on the other hand is seperated and the delivery postman picks this up from a counter in the delivery office before he leaves for his 'round'.

All 'special delivery' items are accounted for before the delivery postman collects them ....but the 'recorded delivery' items are mixed in with the ordinary mail meaning they are more susceptible to theft if you have a dishonest postie. He could simply keep it in his bag if he wanted like any normal letter.

I assume my nice postie has seen the global priority letter 'identity' number and treated it the same as a recorded delivery by leaving a collection docket. He apparently has no need to do this!

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Never had a problem with customs, but I do try to keep the price below the UK customs limit just in case.

I normally choose to have the DVDs sent without cases with Global Priority Letter - never had to sign for it.

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Some companies In the U.s.a are shall we say "creative" with the declaration and I only had to Pay extra once and that was because Fivestar dvd declare the exact amount Of your Order

Lasersedge I have found usually Put below the "customs limit" and usually ship shrink wrapped with cases as well.

Hope this helps and welcome to the wonderful world Of Porn!!

"hey your not such a stupid dog after all" "STUPID DOG"

WHITESTAR

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Thanks for the welcome, but I'm already deep into the world of porn, just not DVD buying. :)

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Amazingly much cheaper than European sites i used to order from. Gabriel9 and LeeO pointed me in that direction. Thanks guys.

It's nice to see another Brit on these boards.

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It's nice to see another Brit on these boards.

Blimey "cupid" Luton eh!! Talk about round the corner!!

Im In "Pitstone" about 5 miles from Dunstable On the bucks side!

"hey your not such a stupid dog after all" "STUPID DOG"

WHITESTAR

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"hey your not such a stupid dog after all" "STUPID DOG"

WHITESTAR

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rump

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statesidedvduk
vidshop
simplythebestdvd

And the Private shop. Which is more an investment than a purchase.

TG

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I have recently started to order my discs with the global priority letter postage, rather than straight global priority. If you don't mind having a crease in sleeve I think it is a good idea, there is IMO less chance of the disc being damaged in transit due to rattling around in the case.

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Edited by - Andie on 9/19/2004 10:11:58 AM

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I am similarly looking to do some buying on the internet, and frankly haven't got a clue where to start. There are a bunch of sites out there and I have no idea who to trust and who not to - is there generally much ripping off of customers or are most sites fairly reliable?

I was checking out a few sites from adverts in ICE magazine and was looking at ordering a couple of disks from www.kissdirect.com has anyone bought from them?

Can anyone tell me if they have bought from this site.

Any UK/European sites anyone can recommend me would be much appreciated.

Clive.

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I'd give them a miss. Not because I've used them and they've been poor or they look less than reliable... but the prices. Maybe they have some special offers tucked away but £25 is more than you need to pay. You should be able to pick up what you want for €25 or US$25 - assuming you don't want some hard to import nasty stuff!

You should learn from my mistakes - I used to pay over £20 for Private DVDs shipped from within the UK because I was worried about customs. Importing is cheaper and often doesn't take much longer. And unless you have a very old TV should be able to play back US NTSC disks without any problems.

These are my favourite stores...

fivestardvd.com - opt for global priority letter (unless you care about the disks being mailed in cases)
erodvd.nl - disks are aways sent by letter post so are very discreet except for the Nederlands postmark!

These two sites are seem very popular on this site thanks to pretty good customer service.

If you want any more advice then simply post - everyone here seems pretty cool and I'm sure others will point you in the right direction too (I lurked here for a while before posting and I learnt a lot!!!).

Enjoy

Special

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Here's my story , if you're interested ...

I started off by seeing a site in the back of my movie mag and thought I'd give it a go - the site was adultDVDsite.co.uk . It looked kosher and they paid a deal of attention to security and privacy which was very important to me so I went with it . I made two separate orders of a single disc each with both taking about a month to arrive . One of the discs was a 'Scandinavian' version .

Looking around the net - and not having yet found this place - I next tried AdultDVD.com ( which I now realise is a branch of mallcom and have a spiderweb of sites over the net ) . They were more reasonably priced with a better selection , but they shipped from the US . Swallowing my fears about security and being caught by customs I took the plunge . This time each order ( again single discs ) took about 2 weeks to arrive , and were the correct DVDs .

Eventually I found my way here and read the various opinions of the sites , somewhat surprised to not see anything about the sites I'd used . And you know what , that's no mistake . All the sites featured and talked about here are head and shoulders above those 2 with which I took my first tentative steps . AdultDVDToday for instance ship in a thin cardboard envelope ( just the discs and artwork ) which arrives in the morning post just like any other piece of mail . It normally seems to take them 5 days to get to the UK, and the prices are very good - especially with the current £:$ exchange rate . As for their trustworthiness : they once sent me a new package of discs free of charge when I informed them that the original hadn't arrived . It doesn't get any better than that . Trust me , many of your fears are unfounded .

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