Anyone used play asia?

[UKMuFFiN]

Hey, i know there was a thread somewhere about a week ago letting everyone know about the 360 game prices - £22.60. For the life of me (crappy search techniques?) i cant find that thread any more.

I was wondering if anyone had bought a game from there and:
a)was there any customs charges? how much?
b)how long was shipping?

cheers.

[Waynej]

Originally Posted by UKMuFFiN

Hey, i know there was a thread somewhere about a week ago letting everyone know about the 360 game prices - £22.60. For the life of me (crappy search techniques?) i cant find that thread any more.

I was wondering if anyone had bought a game from there and:
a)was there any customs charges? how much?
b)how long was shipping?

cheers.

I was talking with some people over at avforums about this subject about a week back now. They have said that they have not yet been hit by customs. They say that when u go through the order process u have the choice to mark the item down as a 'gift', some seem to think that this may stop any additional charges.

I intend on ordering some region free Xbox 360 games soon, though theres about 3 I want to buy. So am pondering on whether its best to order seperatley, just in case of additional charges.

[beanbandit]

Originally Posted by Waynej

They say that when u go through the order process u have the choice to mark the item down as a 'gift', some seem to think that this may stop any additional charges.

Thats wrong. Marking something as a gift does not stop you from getting taxed. This is taken from HM Revenue & Customs

Originally Posted by HM Revenue & Customs

2.4 Gifts

Goods sent as a gift are not free of import duties and import VAT. However, customs duty will not be collected if the amount is less than £7, and under EC Directives and Regulations excise duty and import VAT is not chargeable if:

* the value of the gift does not exceed £36
* the customs declaration is completed correctly
* the gift has been sent from a private person outside the EU to a private person(s) in this country

At the end of the day its hit and miss whether you get taxed or not. Shipping with a courier will always end up with you paying duty, but you get the goods quicker. Letting Royal Mail handle your package will be slower but you also have a 50/50 chance of getting hit for duty.

Originally Posted by UKMuFFiN

a)was there any customs charges? how much?

Your charge will be based on the value of the goods. Just add 17.5% to find out the VAT (i think games are duty free, just don't quote me on that) and the handling charge made by the carrier, Royal Mail charge about £4 with the couriers charging £6-12.

[uchiha_itachi]

I have bought from Play-Asia a few times now. On each occasion I did not get charged customs. I find if you select the cheapest delivery option it tends to get through without raising any eyebrows at customs. Unless of course you want your goods asap. Note, that whatever delivery option you choose, your items are insured unless otherwise stated.

Normally take around 5 days to a week to arrive. Although my first order took nearly 2 weeks, could've been them authenticating my credit card details.

On another note, if you want to avoid custom charges you may want to buy your import stuff from www.yesasia.com (completely seperate company from play-asia afaik) They guarantee no custom charges, and if you do get charged, a quick scan of the customs invoice and they will refund you.

Hope that helps.

[UKMuFFiN]

Cheers for all the help guys. yesasia is more expensive for the games so ill probably try play-asia but lik-sangs games start at £25.10 and has free shipping...

[mcmiller]

how long does it take to reach u normally

[Spud1]

yes asia are very good, I've used them for lots of things - mainly dvds. Got the Battle Royale 1 and 2 mission packs from them, both 100$ or over each - and neither got charged customs. this was a few years ago though, the rest have been 'normal price dvds'

[UKMuFFiN]

*bumbty bump bump*

Call of duty 2 came bout 2 weeks ago now and no customs charges.

Just a quick question, (didnt think there was any point in startin a new thread).

you know they tell you if the game is compatible with NTSC or PAL, well that doesnt apply if you use you're 360 through a tft monitor does it? but it wouldnt work with a HDTV right?

cheers

[Spud1]

In a word - no.

Unfortunately it doesn't just refer to the type of TV system used, but also to the region lockout. Correct me if I am wrong, but if you bought a PAL xbox360(europe, aus) it will only work wiht PAL games, and the same if you bought an NTSC (us or jap) - it will only work wiht NTSC games.

You would need some sort of region free software to use it...I don't know if there is one for the 360 yet?

[UKMuFFiN]

Good point that, but how come then some games have the green ticks in all the boxes and it says "No region protection" whereas some copies (same game) have stop signs on 2 of 3 of the regions? btw, on the latter type it doesnt specifacally say "region protection"


Edit: Google is your friend Ta Da

edit 2: and here >