Has anyone had to order from international Amazon?

[budaniel]

I've had numerous situations in which CDs I want are available on Amazon.ca, amazon.de, amazon.fr, amazon.co.uk, etc, but not available as imports on amazon.com--for starters, pretty much the ENTIRE Twins discography, not to mention a load of European compilations loaded with 12" versions of 80s songs that have never been on CD in the US. It makes me wonder what songs I've been desperately seeking on CD might actually be available that I don't even know about...

[Frau_Blucher]

Yes, and with music it's been perfectly hassle-free. Just be careful with DVDs and the different television standards.

[Ollie Stench]

I've ordered CDs from amazon.co.uk a few times with now issues at all.

[toyah]

got a copy very quickly, via amazon.UK of the 2 disc set "Very Best Of Toyah"
compilation that was recently released....
also ordered the BMG Japan LP jacket CD pressings of the 2 Cherry Vanilla
RCA lps via Amazon international,no problems at all

[jaybag]

Absolutely. I've ordered from amazon.co.uk and amazon.ca, I've had no problems whatsoever.

I posted something similar in another forum about amazon.co.uk but it seems like a good time to share it here too. This was in the discussion about the recent re-release of "The Circle & The Square" by Red Box (which everyone should go out and buy right now!). When I wrote this the other day, the exchange rate was $1.60. It's a little higher now (about $1.66) so the U.S. prices will be slightly higher but still very good ...

Thanks to the recent huge drop in the exchange rate (a year ago it was about $2.10 to every £1, now it's about $1.60), buying stuff from the UK is now much more cost effective. Amazon.com is showing TC&TS with a price of $16.99, and if you spend at least $25 you won't pay shipping. Amazon.co.uk is showing a price of £7.98, but you'll get credited for the 17.5% VAT that gets added to all product, so the actual price is only £6.80, which as of right now translates to $10.81 or over $6 cheaper than the U.S. price.

However, there's the shipping cost. I went ahead and put one in my shopping cart and pretended I was checking out. The shipping cost was £3.08, making the total cost £9.87 or about $15.69 - not much of a discount. But if you purchase multiple items, the per-unit shipping cost comes way down. I recently bought eight CD's in one order and the shipping cost was £10.01, or about £1.25 per disc (much better than the £3.08 cost for one disc!).

If you wanted to order more stuff, here are some other good prices they have on items that have been discussed in other forums (as well as a few other items I found), and keep in mind that these prices are 17.5% cheaper than what you see on amazon.co.uk since the VAT is credited:

Blancmange: Mange Tout and Believe You Me, £6.80 each ($10.81)
Blancmange: Happy Families, £6.37 ($10.12)
Paul Weller: Self-titled, Heliocentric and Heavy Soul, £3.38 each ($5.37)
John Foxx 2-CD sets: The Golden Section, In Mysterious Ways and The Garden, £6.80 each ($10.81). Metamatic is only £4.24! ($6.74).

Anyway, there are a few to keep in mind. I recently also got the Paul Weller 3-CD B-sides/rarities collection Fly On The Wall for £8.49 ($13.49), the Mobiles best-of called Drowning in Berlin for £5.09 ($8.10), and the 2-CD best of The Coral for £7.64 ($12.15).

All those prices are approximations when converted. One other thing to keep in mind is that your credit card company will likely charge you a foreign transactions charge of 2-4%, unless you have a card that doesn't do that (I have a Capital One card, they're one of the few that don't hit you with foreign transactions costs).

For the record: I don't work for amazon or Capital One. I'm just a huge amazon fan since I've always found their prices to be excellent, and I do a lot of international traveling and like the Capital One card simply because they don't charge foreign transaction fees.

[budaniel]

ever since I discovered all those 12" maxi compilations on amazon.de, I go on there constantly and type in keywords and have found a host of great 80s compilations that aren't available on amazon.com. And what's great is, now that I've ordered from them, they send me e-mails with similar items. I still just don't understand why amazon doesn't have these items as imports on amazon.com, because these are the types of compilations we eat up over here. I mean, I've found some really OBSCURE imports on the US amazon that I wouldn't think anyone in the US would buy, yet these fairly mainstream collections are not available.

[jaybag]

I know what you mean, Budaniel. I get annoyed where there are songs that are available on iTunes UK but I can't download them because they're not authorized for sale in the U.S. Uhhh, it's a song - who the hell cares where I live? I'll never understand the music industry.

[obs]

Amazon.de has great customer service. They and the US mother site are the best. Amazon Canada, on the other hand, are not so great. I haven't ordered from the UK site enough to really rate their service. You don't need to create a new account for each regional site.

Nobody should be buying anything from iTunes, it's to your advantage .