[slint]

This may be, but the question is why they refuse to ship to the UK.

If the custom forms are correctly filled, it shouldn’t be stopped by customs. It may need a bit more work, but if 50% of the EU sellers can do it, it is a bit surprising the other 50% of EU sellers can’t do it. I don’t really know how their situation would be different.

To be honest, I am mostly annoyed because about 9 of the 10 times I asked the seller if any arrangement could be made to ship to my address, making it clear it was a rare item I couldn’t simply buy elsewhere, the seller did not respond at all.

[Nick Zwar]

I don’t know the exact reasons, so I’m just guessing, but if 50%(!) of the sellers do not do it, there are obviously very good reasons for not doing it. I mean, 50% is a lot. That is really a lot. So there are obviously hurdles. I mean, if you are a small scale seller who sells his inventory anyway, and the UK or any other country is more bureaucratic or has problems, you might just cross this off your list. I’m sure it is not because sellers specifically want to annoy UK citizens.

[Sigbjørn]

My best guess is that it’s due to the extra work when setting shipping rates, without good prospects of increasing sales. Since the UK (like Norway) is not part of the EU, most carriers charge higher rates. So the seller would need to go through the hassle of defining one additional shipping area, with a higher shipping rate which could make the total item price too high.

[slint]

Yes, my best guess is extra work when setting shipping rates. Which is why I am a bit disappointed since if that is the case, it shouldn’t be that difficult for a large neighbour (the UK).

I don’t see much correlation with the volume of items on sale, but there is a correlation with the type of items on sale: those selling French or Italian language DVDs or LPs will have much less chances of offering international shipping, while those selling rock music will most likely offer international shipping.

[Malte Müller]

Bottom line of the thread so far: Non one knows anything for sure 😉

[Nick Zwar]

But is it more expensive with the new tarrifs, or have they been like that for a couple of years?

It’s been like that as far as I can tell. US releases are more expensive at Music Box Record, European ones are cheaper. But shipping is much cheaper for me from Music Box Record… in fact, it’s even gone down a bit.

[Forfatter]

Innlegg