I use a company called MyUS. It provides you with a US address/PO Box based at their sorting centre, so you can order directly from the Criterion store. Then it just forwards your mail overseas and charges you the customs fee. You don't really pay over the odds if you bulk buy
Such an impeccably timed video, not only did I get my region free player today but when I checked the eBay link I had already purchased Seven Samurai from them and I can vouch it came super fast considering the state of Royal Mail at the moment.
Great video, Elliot! Love these tips for getting stuff overseas. I feel like there are similar methods of getting things from the UK over to the US. Always good to look at all the options, even though it's never cheap! Hahaha!
Excellent video, I have used all the methods described. Be careful bringing lots of discs back from holidays or a business trip as the limit into the UK is £270 or £390. Criterion will also ship to Canada but I have had issues with using a UK registered credit card. I have used importCDs and they are currently listing 1332 items from Criterion via the search feature and 841 from Kino Lorber.
I just use a freight forwarder company. I've been using them for years. Last 15 years I'm living in a country where I have to import every single release. And my collection grew 900%, so basically almost all of it is import and purchased online.
Just had a look at boutique home video, great recommendation. I have used Amazon US (via UK) before and had some items arrive okay and some arrive shattered.
yeah, you can avoid super high shipping fees this way, but the packaging is shoddy. I had the Jaws 4k arrive with a completely dented corner because it gets thrown around in a standard amazon cardboard envelop.
Also recommend Diabolik DVD and Orbit DVD, both in the US and ship worldwide. Possibly not the cheapest option (mostly due to shipping) but you know you’re supporting small business whose sole focus is selling blurays etc. They’re my go to when it comes to releases from Criterion, Kino or Shout, all of whom don’t ship overseas. And Amazon is 50/50 on what titles they actually stock, and recently not a whole lot cheaper.
I live 30 min from Orbit DVD. I love that store and utterly adore their staff. When I go there, it's like making a pilgrimage to a physical media heaven. Tens of thousands of titles, not to mention books, memorabilia, shirts, etc. I exclusively go to them for all of my European imports. It's nice to hear someone on the opposite side of the pond doing the reverse of what I'm doing. Cheers. PS: Diabolik is great. I order from them a few times a year (a la their exclusive boutique label "Cauldron Films").
@@nw6231 I said shipping wasn’t cheap 🙄 you have to buy more to make it worth the cost, and when it comes down to it they’re the only choice you have to get boutique releases in one place.
i feel its easier to import from the UK to US i have done both. Australia is the worst my bluray sat in customs for over a month once it cleared it was in Los Angeles in 2 days, my front door a day later i never did it again not to mention the shipping cost
I remember you doing a similar video a few years back, but this updated one is useful, especially the last option you mentioned. I'll check out BoutiqueHomeVideo. Thanks, Elliot!
A great really useful video quite a few options I hadn’t heard before. Currently I tend to wait for Amazon sales like the recent black Friday and hope a few on my want list are available from US via Amazon at a much more reasonable cost. I’ve been luckier than you as far as Amazon US sending Criterion boxsets getting the Bergman and Varda sets at very good prices. The Bergman set PVC was slightly ripped and the paper inset with the disk list did look a bit like a mouse had eaten some of it but I can live with that!
I managed to get Uncut Gems and Wall E from Amazon UK, a bit more expensive, but they arrived. I bought Night of the Living Dead, Double Indemnity, and Lost Highway from a seller on Ebay, the seller dispatched them, but they didn't turn up and had to get refunded for them, which was annoying.
Hey Elliot, have you used Wow HD before? I’ve recently made my first order with them. Impressed with the prices and free delivery…. I hope they turn up 😳
I’ve used them a few times, items do turn up, but take ages, our postal strikes don’t help. WowHD customer service is crap. They take ages to reply and are not customer satisfaction orientated. Everything is long winded. If you order a single title and it has a slipcover good luck with it arriving mint, they use poor packaging, unless you order a good few titles, in which case they come boxed which is better protection. But they’re customer service 🙄🙄
Great advice Ethan. I have bought a number of Region A Criterion Blu rays on The dreaded EBay and paid through the nose for them. 🤬. I would love to see you let loose in the Criterion Closet 😎
Hi Elliot you should check out Film Treasures a UK company they sell blu-rays from the US and Australia all the boutique labels you could do an update once you checked them out, price wise they are a little cheaper than importing yourself.
Thanks for the heads up on that company. Just as an experiment I compared their price for Criterion's 4K of Double Indemnity (£34.97 + VAT) with Amazon UK (£35.21), so 'zon a touch better on that one. I was surprised Elliott didn't mention buying through Amazon in the UK rather than via the American site as it's often as good. I have found that some titles which don't appear to be available on the US site are listed on the UK one. Stuff bought like that will probably come in with the company's usual import packages before being forwarded, so won't suffer the indignity of a Jiffy bag.
@@ShanghaiRooster if you keep your eye on Amazon UK the price will drop below £30…as an example Raging Bull was £33.20, I waited and finally purchased it for £28.72. But this did get posted from States in a Jiffy bag along with Devil in a Blue Dress for £28.43. WowHD prices are best for Kino Lorber titles.
Cheapest method not involving having relatives in the States is using a parcel forwarding service like Stackry. I've used it 42 times and have always made sure that I stuck under the £135 customs limit, and so far have only had one order held by customs (cost me £38 to get my $155 Kino Lorber order freed). I've paid an average of $3-4 per blu-ray/4K disc because I've always used the cheapest delivery option (DHL) and it has never failed once. Unfortunately, that option just doubled in price (I always thought $19.99 looked a bit too cheap to import seven Criterions), so have had to go with Fedex recently, but still. I've tried UK eBay and the mark-up on new US discs is outrageous everywhere; there are no good value options. £50 or the equivalent of $61 for a Wall-E 4K? That's absolutely nuts! I've just paid $30 (Stackry costs included) for my forwarded copy.
Imagine living in s country like Greece (as I do). Only way to get them is via Amazon. No other option and usually postage+taxes is about 20+ dollars... That said, even when ordering during the Criterion sale, there is no way to get a single disc below 40 bucks total... :( PS. Same thing goes for UK discs as well (just a bit cheaper on the shipping costs, but nothing special). Which means, if you're not in the US or UK and you wanna be a collector, you're doomed.
Tell me about it. I live even further away from the US, in Singapore, and there are virtually no Blu ray stores, let alone criterion blu rays. Gotta order like u.
When it comes to buying seven samurai are you wasting your money if you buy BFI seven samurai edition which is a lot cheap buy or go for the seven samurai criterion 2 disc region A blu ray edition which is a lot more expensive . There are others ones like breathless studio canal blu ray or 4k edition or buy the criterion region A edition which is a lot more expensive and even the movie off weekend 1967 criterion edition the region B edition is every cheap to buy
Great tips…all of which I have looked into. eBay and Boutique home video are way overpriced by £10-£15 compared to Amazon. The only benefit I see ordering from eBay or Boutique is your items may not have slipcover damage. I’ve ordered 6 Criterion 4k from Amazon in the last 2 months, all much cheaper than the aforementioned. You just have to wait till Amazon drop the price and they drop everyday or rise everyday. I ordered 3 titles which all dropped the next day. I refunded them and reordered at the cheaper price. When I say cheaper some titles drop by a further £5, things you have to do hey?!? But as Elliot has mentioned with Amazon, it’s at the expense of receiving items in Jiffy bags which is ridiculous for some box titles, even slipcases. I’ve just received Reservoir Dogs, in a jiffy bag from Amazon US, as I prefer the slipcover artwork to the Steelbook released in the UK, it was posted through the letter box, and as it has artwork finished in a foil finish there are some nasty creases in it. Unfortunately I have to live with these, yes they bother me as I like to buy new and mint. My Criterion titles all arrived fine, but they are all the titles with just a keep case which is harder to damage. I have ordered and am waiting for, Malcolm X and Uncut Gems both of which have a boxed slipcover, I’m not looking forward to receiving them if I’m honest, there’s no way they’re not gonna be damaged coming via Amazon US due to the poor packaging. I have thought about finding a friend or a friends family out in the States to do just what Elliot suggested, buying direct from Criterion or B&N and having them ship over in suitable packaging. Other than that, the chap that recommended MyUs seems a good option to look into. Sorry for the long winded response, but wanted to share my thoughts.
Looking for Criterion Collection recommendations to import? I've got your covered here - th-cam.com/video/YXH-bekHSfk/w-d-xo.html
There's a correlation between Elliot uploading and my day getting significantly better.
Thanks so much 🙌
Too right - this subject was just what I was looking for as well :)
I use a company called MyUS. It provides you with a US address/PO Box based at their sorting centre, so you can order directly from the Criterion store. Then it just forwards your mail overseas and charges you the customs fee. You don't really pay over the odds if you bulk buy
Such an impeccably timed video, not only did I get my region free player today but when I checked the eBay link I had already purchased Seven Samurai from them and I can vouch it came super fast considering the state of Royal Mail at the moment.
Great video, Elliot! Love these tips for getting stuff overseas. I feel like there are similar methods of getting things from the UK over to the US. Always good to look at all the options, even though it's never cheap! Hahaha!
Excellent video, I have used all the methods described. Be careful bringing lots of discs back from holidays or a business trip as the limit into the UK is £270 or £390. Criterion will also ship to Canada but I have had issues with using a UK registered credit card. I have used importCDs and they are currently listing 1332 items from Criterion via the search feature and 841 from Kino Lorber.
My cousin lives in London and she’s bringing me a batch of Indicator Blu-rays this Christmas when she visits 😊
Fantastic job really helpful for me after floundering to get info.
Well done my man 😊
I just use a freight forwarder company. I've been using them for years. Last 15 years I'm living in a country where I have to import every single release. And my collection grew 900%, so basically almost all of it is import and purchased online.
Definitely agree with EBay and especially boutique home video, whom I have used the last few times 👍🏼
Thanks Elliot on the heads up on that seller - I will check out - certainly need the Criterion’Daisies’ 🌼
Just had a look at boutique home video, great recommendation. I have used Amazon US (via UK) before and had some items arrive okay and some arrive shattered.
yeah, you can avoid super high shipping fees this way, but the packaging is shoddy. I had the Jaws 4k arrive with a completely dented corner because it gets thrown around in a standard amazon cardboard envelop.
Also recommend Diabolik DVD and Orbit DVD, both in the US and ship worldwide. Possibly not the cheapest option (mostly due to shipping) but you know you’re supporting small business whose sole focus is selling blurays etc. They’re my go to when it comes to releases from Criterion, Kino or Shout, all of whom don’t ship overseas. And Amazon is 50/50 on what titles they actually stock, and recently not a whole lot cheaper.
I live 30 min from Orbit DVD. I love that store and utterly adore their staff. When I go there, it's like making a pilgrimage to a physical media heaven. Tens of thousands of titles, not to mention books, memorabilia, shirts, etc. I exclusively go to them for all of my European imports. It's nice to hear someone on the opposite side of the pond doing the reverse of what I'm doing.
Cheers.
PS: Diabolik is great. I order from them a few times a year (a la their exclusive boutique label "Cauldron Films").
@@ontologicallysteve7765 I’m very jealous of you haha
@@URBONED Orbit DVD shipping for a Blu Ray to the UK is $27. What a joke
@@nw6231 I said shipping wasn’t cheap 🙄 you have to buy more to make it worth the cost, and when it comes down to it they’re the only choice you have to get boutique releases in one place.
i feel its easier to import from the UK to US i have done both. Australia is the worst my bluray sat in customs for over a month once it cleared it was in Los Angeles in 2 days, my front door a day later i never did it again not to mention the shipping cost
I remember you doing a similar video a few years back, but this updated one is useful, especially the last option you mentioned. I'll check out BoutiqueHomeVideo. Thanks, Elliot!
Awesome find on the eBay store, thanks for the link👍.
No problem! Thanks for watching :)
Indeed. I will definitely check them out.
Off to the USA with work on Sunday and I’m already planning when I can sneak off to the nearest B&N 😂
Haha I love it!
Yes Ebay is a great option ...worth thinking about..
A great really useful video quite a few options I hadn’t heard before. Currently I tend to wait for Amazon sales like the recent black Friday and hope a few on my want list are available from US via Amazon at a much more reasonable cost. I’ve been luckier than you as far as Amazon US sending Criterion boxsets getting the Bergman and Varda sets at very good prices. The Bergman set PVC was slightly ripped and the paper inset with the disk list did look a bit like a mouse had eaten some of it but I can live with that!
What US websites ship to the UK? I went to Orbit DVD but they’re a rip off with $27 for shipping a Blu Ray😂
I managed to get Uncut Gems and Wall E from Amazon UK, a bit more expensive, but they arrived. I bought Night of the Living Dead, Double Indemnity, and Lost Highway from a seller on Ebay, the seller dispatched them, but they didn't turn up and had to get refunded for them, which was annoying.
Hey Elliot, have you used Wow HD before? I’ve recently made my first order with them. Impressed with the prices and free delivery…. I hope they turn up 😳
I’ve used them a few times, items do turn up, but take ages, our postal strikes don’t help. WowHD customer service is crap. They take ages to reply and are not customer satisfaction orientated. Everything is long winded. If you order a single title and it has a slipcover good luck with it arriving mint, they use poor packaging, unless you order a good few titles, in which case they come boxed which is better protection. But they’re customer service 🙄🙄
WowHD is the default for me for US releases. Yes, the packaging and wait times could be better but they are mostly price kings.
Great advice Ethan. I have bought a number of Region A Criterion Blu rays on The dreaded EBay and paid through the nose for them. 🤬. I would love to see you let loose in the Criterion Closet 😎
Hi Elliot you should check out Film Treasures a UK company they sell blu-rays from the US and Australia all the boutique labels you could do an update once you checked them out, price wise they are a little cheaper than importing yourself.
Thanks for the heads up on that company. Just as an experiment I compared their price for Criterion's 4K of Double Indemnity (£34.97 + VAT) with Amazon UK (£35.21), so 'zon a touch better on that one.
I was surprised Elliott didn't mention buying through Amazon in the UK rather than via the American site as it's often as good. I have found that some titles which don't appear to be available on the US site are listed on the UK one. Stuff bought like that will probably come in with the company's usual import packages before being forwarded, so won't suffer the indignity of a Jiffy bag.
@@ShanghaiRooster if you keep your eye on Amazon UK the price will drop below £30…as an example Raging Bull was £33.20, I waited and finally purchased it for £28.72. But this did get posted from States in a Jiffy bag along with Devil in a Blue Dress for £28.43. WowHD prices are best for Kino Lorber titles.
@@SuperExige Cheers. The Pound is going up against the Dollar ($1.24 to £1 yesterday), so that is good news for importers too.
Cheapest method not involving having relatives in the States is using a parcel forwarding service like Stackry. I've used it 42 times and have always made sure that I stuck under the £135 customs limit, and so far have only had one order held by customs (cost me £38 to get my $155 Kino Lorber order freed).
I've paid an average of $3-4 per blu-ray/4K disc because I've always used the cheapest delivery option (DHL) and it has never failed once. Unfortunately, that option just doubled in price (I always thought $19.99 looked a bit too cheap to import seven Criterions), so have had to go with Fedex recently, but still. I've tried UK eBay and the mark-up on new US discs is outrageous everywhere; there are no good value options. £50 or the equivalent of $61 for a Wall-E 4K? That's absolutely nuts! I've just paid $30 (Stackry costs included) for my forwarded copy.
Im just curious Elliot what boxset did you order off Amazon which ended up arriving damaged?
I live here in the USA but appreciate the info Elliot! Does Criterion collection stream outside USA?
Not without a VPN.
Unfortunately not unless you use a VPN. It’s a shame more people can’t easily access the movies!
i noticed that the first time i used the website I only needed a vpn for my first ever log on but after that I didn't need to use one.
Imagine living in s country like Greece (as I do). Only way to get them is via Amazon. No other option and usually postage+taxes is about 20+ dollars... That said, even when ordering during the Criterion sale, there is no way to get a single disc below 40 bucks total... :(
PS. Same thing goes for UK discs as well (just a bit cheaper on the shipping costs, but nothing special). Which means, if you're not in the US or UK and you wanna be a collector, you're doomed.
Tell me about it. I live even further away from the US, in Singapore, and there are virtually no Blu ray stores, let alone criterion blu rays. Gotta order like u.
I live in the US and would be happy to ship to anyone overseas. Let me know if you need help.
When it comes to buying seven samurai are you wasting your money if you buy BFI seven samurai edition which is a lot cheap buy or go for the seven samurai criterion 2 disc region A blu ray edition which is a lot more expensive . There are others ones like breathless studio canal blu ray or 4k edition or buy the criterion region A edition which is a lot more expensive and even the movie off weekend 1967 criterion edition the region B edition is every cheap to buy
Great tips…all of which I have looked into. eBay and Boutique home video are way overpriced by £10-£15 compared to Amazon. The only benefit I see ordering from eBay or Boutique is your items may not have slipcover damage. I’ve ordered 6 Criterion 4k from Amazon in the last 2 months, all much cheaper than the aforementioned. You just have to wait till Amazon drop the price and they drop everyday or rise everyday. I ordered 3 titles which all dropped the next day. I refunded them and reordered at the cheaper price. When I say cheaper some titles drop by a further £5, things you have to do hey?!? But as Elliot has mentioned with Amazon, it’s at the expense of receiving items in Jiffy bags which is ridiculous for some box titles, even slipcases. I’ve just received Reservoir Dogs, in a jiffy bag from Amazon US, as I prefer the slipcover artwork to the Steelbook released in the UK, it was posted through the letter box, and as it has artwork finished in a foil finish there are some nasty creases in it. Unfortunately I have to live with these, yes they bother me as I like to buy new and mint. My Criterion titles all arrived fine, but they are all the titles with just a keep case which is harder to damage.
I have ordered and am waiting for, Malcolm X and Uncut Gems both of which have a boxed slipcover, I’m not looking forward to receiving them if I’m honest, there’s no way they’re not gonna be damaged coming via Amazon US due to the poor packaging.
I have thought about finding a friend or a friends family out in the States to do just what Elliot suggested, buying direct from Criterion or B&N and having them ship over in suitable packaging. Other than that, the chap that recommended MyUs seems a good option to look into. Sorry for the long winded response, but wanted to share my thoughts.
Have you ever had to pay customs?
My experience with the forwarding service has been terrible. Bad packaging bad customer service
Hey did you by any chance know about Movie Palette.. was waiting for you to review them.They are the best gifts for movie lovers
Can you knock it off region locking discs of any kind please for crying out loud.
Or move to the USA.
Think we’d rather some minor postal delays over here than ever doing something as silly as living in America 😂
@@mrmogford8117 good point!
That reply made me laugh 😂
I recently bought a few from boutiquehomevideo ebay store.Just waiting on Royal mail to actually get their butts in gear.