International Issues - MOTUC Subscriptions

[Kowl]

Fellow He-Fans & She-Ravers that are international,

Can you please explain your issue regarding the MOTUC subscription?
Is it based on the cost of shipping and your countries' taxes and import tariffs?

Is there anything your fellow US fans can do to help alleviate these concerns and convince you to be subscribers?

Kowl

[Rodster6]

It's not really mattys fault at all that I can't get a sub. It's the Greedy UK customs and postal service that doublt the price of each figure for me.

[mondasian]

It's the UK customs. The prices of the figures and postage going up isn't good, but it is bearable. However with that the likelihood is every item we purchase will get a customs charge, which then puts the price overall far to high to justify.

[he-man121]

It's the UK customs. The prices of the figures and postage going up isn't good, but it is bearable. However with that the likelihood is every item we purchase will get a customs charge, which then puts the price overall far to high to justify.

Agreed,the UK customs is a nightmare the last time i had to pay a customs charge was back in January/February for the Star Sisters,$60 plus shipping and then a charge for £22 drops through the door.

[Kowl]

International Fans that are skeptical about buying a 2013 sub, please see my marketplace thread.
http://www.he-man.org/forums/boards/...14#post3079914

[NorthCoast]

International Fans that are skeptical about buying a 2013 sub, please see my marketplace thread.
http://www.he-man.org/forums/boards/...14#post3079914

Repost for you my friend since we need more solutions!

[Kowl]

It's not really mattys fault at all that I can't get a sub. It's the Greedy UK customs and postal service that doublt the price of each figure for me.

Can you explain the UK customs procedure to me? My apologies that I'm not super familiar with them.

I know in the US, I once had to pay the US Govt another extra $50.00 because the packages I received from Germany were not labeled correctly in value.

[Haradrel]

I have my sub for 2013. But I can't accommodate multiple subs because of tax.
I probably have it worst of all since Norway is extremely tax regulated. There is a 25% vat added on top of the cost of the figure+shipping. Yes you read that right, figure+shipping. If there is a month with multiple figures, you can add the total there multiple figures+the shipping, 25% of that.

I think I read somewhere that UK was 22% or 23% (in some places), but I might be mistaken.

[Kowl]

Are these VAT fees the reason that international buyers are always asking US folks to label the packages as "gifts" ?

[mondasian]

Are these VAT fees the reason that international buyers are always asking US folks to label the packages as "gifts" ?

Basically. I had some Hot Toys figures from Hong Kong sent as "Gifts" which didn't get any customs charge, and the price of those figures are significantly more than MOTUC.

[Zaaacharias]

I think the problem is that we were prepared for the price increase of the figures but not for this dramatic increase of the shipping costs.
So what seemed at first to be $5 rise in cost per figure turned out to be a $10 increase and. This came as a surprise, at least to me!

Here in Austria we have to pay customs fees for every import which has a value over €25. Unfortunately this value includes the shipping costs!!!
So with the higher shipping costs I would have to pay customs fees for every figures which means: $30 + 20% tax + 13€ handling fees. At this price point you have to ask yourself if it's still worth it!

[BlueHeaven]

The same. General shipping cost is increased, but the worst is that if we choose the cheapest one (USPS) we can not get any refund for lost or undelivered shippings. The safe option is DHL, cheaper then UPS but still really expensive.
Then, if you talk about Italy, with cost raising, customs fee are 99%, thus meaning on overcharge of appx. 10 euro plus 21% of the item cost together with shipping fees. Can you imagine how much it is?
The real solution to this problem is very simple: Mattel is present also in Europe. So, why can't we get an European distribution? We, EU He-Fans & She-Ravers, would get the same economic treatment as our US friends. Fair enough.

[Balthus Dire]

We Canadian fans are more fortunate in the sense that we don't get hit with crazy high customs charges as often as the UK/EU folks. Our postal service is supposed to be authorized to ding us on anything over $20 or something, but they usually don't hit us with customs on packages under $60.

The new "better luck next time" policy on lost packages is worrysome, but further, I'm more worried about schedule shifts like this year. With the figures at $25 each, a schedule fiasco like this year's February (Sorceress/Photog/Fisto/Weaver) would absolutely destroy us in customs. So, that's also on my mind.

TG says that DHL is the better option if we want trackable/refundable packages, but it's also ridiculously expensive AND apparently pretty much guarantees customs charges on every figure. So, we can either pay out the nose for DHL or we can pay out the butt for regular post and if there's any problems with the shipment, we're screwed. Neither are great options IMO.

[wolfsfang]

basically any action from outside the EU which is not marked as a "gift" and is worth more than £15 has a chance of being hit with a customs charge which for a MOTUC figure is usually around £5 plus another £8+ for handling fees

£5 + £8 = £13 which is approx the same amount a MOTUC figure is.

This only used to happen when we bought 2 or more figs in one go but now with the increase in cost each figure has the potential to be almost twice the price for us international buyers and they want us to commit to a year of this...HAH. They are kidding right?

[bskcase]

I am not familiar with customs, but i do wish you guys would post and be active with TG and get Mattel on youf si

[NorthCoast]

Sounds like we need to send He-Man after the EU!

[blackiecats]

UK customs charge a 20% fee on the value of the item plus shipping cost.

Then you also pay a £8/$12.50 handling fee if you use the cheaper shipping or £1.25/$1.95 by DHL. Yes the DHL fee is reasonable, but the shipping cost is ridiculous (especially for months with only 1 figure!) The DHL option only really works if fans band together as you can then share the expensive shipping cost. Basically your looking at an extra $21 each month in fees (and thats just for 1 basic $25 figure!) Months with the multi packs and beasts will be crippling!

[omee]

Its all about the shipping costs. The price increase for the figs I am fine with, but when you layer another $13 (the least most expensive option) + possible duty we international customers are looking at a $45-$50 PER FIG!!!

I have great job and can afford to indulge in my childhood hobbies but $45-$50 for one fig, at minimum, each month and I'm looking at $600 for just 12 figs. Its just not financially reasonable anymore.

[Barnster]

Man it feels like my record is set on repeat, but okay here is my version: $44 for a standard sized figure via USPS is too much. Via DHL ist would be somewhere around $62-$66 Dollars and that is insane. I have had a sub for the last two years, even one 30th anniversary sub and yes, I was one happy camper but a 3-Pack like the FFM is impossible to ignore at an estimated price of about $110-$150. It is not a MOTUC version of Spydor we are talking about, no sir, it's the FFM. A trio I have ZERO interest in.

No matter how much I love MOTU I can not justifiy the money I (virtually) blow out the window for shipping. Imagine you got two subs, you got all the advantages to choose what to do with your toys whatever you want. You can keep the figures from the first sub and sell off the second to refinance yourself or whatsoever OR, just to give you an impression of how it feels to be a international buyer, you take your second sub and throw it right into the trash can. Then you get to know how it feels to pay for two but only get one.

We already pay these prices since day one and now the hike has foced us to recalculate and we had to come to the conclusion: It is too expensive and too insecure.

I wish every fan outthere they may get the figures he/she desires the most, but I am forced to cherry-pick my way through the rest of the line, even if it will mean the end.

[kochane]

The real solution to this problem is very simple: Mattel is present also in Europe. So, why can't we get an European distribution? We, EU He-Fans & She-Ravers, would get the same economic treatment as our US friends. Fair enough.

I completely agree with this and one of the main reasons I have never got a sub tbh is import costs which I have been stung with when I have bought figures from Matty. If there was a European distributor I would be more then happy to sign up, even with Mattels price increases

[blackiecats]

I completely agree with this and one of the main reasons I have never got a sub tbh is import costs which I have been stung with when I have bought figures from Matty. If there was a European distributor I would be more then happy to sign up, even with Mattels price increases

Thing is, wouldn't Mattel then pay the import fees to sell them within the EU? Remember MOTUC doesn't have the resources of a retail line.

[Kowl]

How would all of this be different if you were paying a figure from a fellow fan instead of through Digital River?

Is it cheaper for you all to receive one figure at a time or multiples at a time?

[bcrduke]

Offer international customers a sub that provides figures at their original 2008-2012 prices, but charge a "Membership Fee" of $60 - $80 ahead of time. This would allow Mattel to technically make the same profit it is making on the new prices, and it would also encourage non-U.S. customers not to cancel after a few months.

AND

Offer quarterly shipment bundles for non-U.S. customers to reduce the customs and shipping charges.


If Mattel wants to raise prices on this line, that's fine, but they need to do their homework and treat the diverse specialty market as such, not like a retailer.

[Swifty]

Those are all excellent suggestions but it seems like they will fall on deaf ears. There are solutions to any number of problems with loosing out on customers, international and stateside, but it really doesn't seem like any other scenarios are being entertained. I just don't see why they seem to be pushing such a hard line scenario where there are no winners, only losers.

[bigsexy_j]

Well TG seems to be stuck on the answer "we can't cater to each individual buyers habits" and doesn't seem to realize prior to the scare tactics post the real problems created by Digital River and the alienation of international buyers. Heck, I'm only Canadian but my shipping is the same as Europeans? It sucks that this has to be the slap of reality that maybe TG needed, but could also be the end of the line.

J