Thread: PSU: EU/AU Players: Import Topic (inc. subscribe chat)

(I've decided to rip this thread of the pre-ordering/importing thread and create a new thread just for this issue.)

This thread is for us impatient European and Australian players who wish to:

• Play the game as soon as possible.
• Not be left behind by the advantaged North American players and their earlier release date.

I've read quite a few proclaimations from European and Australian fans that they shall be importing the game from America to save time (and generally money), and figured that we could all do with a place to discuss the matter.

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To open up the topic (and because with 12 days to go I'm starting to panic myself), I'll list the options I've found and the problems within:

• Play-Asia - Has every permutation of JP/US and PC/PS2 except US PC. Great delivery speed, accepts lots of payment methods and ubercheap shipping, though.

• GameStop - The game itself is cheap in comparison and comes with the OST free. However they accept very few payment methods (not even PayPal!) and their shipping costs are nothing short of extortionate. In addition they require you to fax them your latest card statement, and claim there may/will be unmentioned tolls, taxes and/or tariffs to bother with after you order it.

• EBGames - Exactly the same site as GameStop, really. I don't mean that the two share similar points, I mean that the two pretty much are the same site, with different logos.

• Toys R Us - Don't sell PC Games that I can see. In addition, I can't see their international shipping abilities. It's possible they don't actually ship outside of America.

• Amazon.com - Doesn't ship Phantasy Star Universe outside of America. Not an option.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Mikaga on 2006-10-24 11:04 ]</font>

As someone from the UK I also will be looking to import the PC version of PSU. I normally use http://www.dvdboxoffice.com for my imports as they offer free delivery. However for the PC version of PSU they list the release date to be November 30th which is after the UK release which may be an error but as dvdboxoffice is based in Canada maybe this date is due to having to add the French language option.

Another option is http://www.videogamesplus.ca/ who list the release date to be 24th October. I have never used them before so can't say what level of service they provide. It would be good to have another option.

Phew! For a moment I thought this topic would go dead on arrival

Video Games Plus looks like a nice place. It's worth noting that the shipping (which the shipping section claims is normally $6.99) is $13.99 for this game for some reason. This doesn't mean all that much though. The total for the game would be £35, and with about 12 days to go I'm becoming increasingly tempted to go with that, especially as they have a wide selection of payment methods.

They don't detail their shipping details in the slightest though - besides "arrival time should be anywhere from 1 to 14 business days". I would (optimistically?) expect this is simply to play it safe, however.

Edit: They also don't even mention import customs, something which is starting to scare me since apparently you need to pay VAT on cd-based media like this.

Edit2: It's not looking good at all. YesAsia offers both free shipping *and* free VAT payment. It's just a pity they don't sell PC Phantasy Star Universe!

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Mikaga on 2006-10-11 18:53 ]</font>

http://www.videogamesplus.ca/product...ducts_id=11798
I'm going with this.

Friends have said they've recieved imports within a week from here. Shipping to australia.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: JubeiSaotome on 2006-10-11 19:56 ]</font>

Imported for the price it will be on release here. Bargain!

Import fees/taxes/tolls/whatever are calculated when the product arrives in the country and charged to the buyer. Might be an idea to keep a little extra cash on hand just in case you're charged on delivery.

From what I've been able to read, UK customers with plenty of experience buying from Video Games Plus claim their orders are rarely ever stopped by customs and thus rarely ever hit by such taxes. Knowing that I'll probably go ahead and order from them too.

The trouble (for the UK at least) is that if you do get "caught out", you'll have to pay VAT, so suddenly that £37 order is now £44. Not terrible, but considering you'd be able to order the EU game from Amazon or GamePlay for £25 with free shipping, it makes the difference that much more. It also might prevent you from being delivered the game if fees are required and nobody is home on delivery.

It's worth noting that there are a couple of websites that pay necessary import taxes for you - the two that I know of are MovieTyme and YesAsia. Unfortunately neither list PC Phantasy Star Universe.

"You know you're overexcited when..."

is anyone aware if PSU on the xbox 360 is going to be region free? this is the only thing that really bothers me, dont want to order a game i cannot play

would it be worth asking sega themselves or would i never get a response?

good topic, this should be sticky

I preordered from http://www.videogamesplus.ca/ aswell a week or so ago

I doubt PSU is region free, I can't back that up with any evidence or anything but only the really popular games like COD2 and GRAW are multi regional.