so disadvantageous buying a game from america for european customers?

from GalCiv2 Forums
1 month ago i did my first order from amazon.com. in the order there were civilization 4 and 2 books. the order was to cost 148$, 134$ for the package and 14$ for transportation fees. this morning i went to my mail office to pick up the pack and i had a great surprise i had to pay 35euros for custom taxes!!!! WTF!
considering that i was to preorder gc2 through amazon.com what happened today stopped me from buying anymore directly from america, because i don't want to pay 40$ for the game and 40$ for custom taxes.
so my question is i'm an european customer and i want to preorder the game from a european retailer (to avoid any other bad surprise) what retailer u would suggest me???
11,764 views 18 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top
Well, you could order the electronic only version of the game. You will only have to pay 45$. But you need a good internet connexion.
Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top
i have found a very good retailer through internet it is www.play.com. my question is the same stupid question: if i'll preorder it through this retailer i'll take all the added things that should contain a preordered version?
Groupy 2 - Organize multiple applications into grouped tabs on your Windows desktop
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
The publisher for Europe is Paradox Interactive, they have a web shop (Link) as well and ship from Stockholm, so there shouldn't be a problem with customs. They don't have a direct download option though, so you'll have to wait for the physical shipment.
AFAIK all pre-orders will get the same goodies.
Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top
Thank you
Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top
Play.com is a great choice! They are cheap and deliver to your doorstep for free. It's gonna take a few days to get to your doorstep though.
Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top
Will the game be available on retail throughout the EU?
Reply #7 from Stardock Forums Top
I live in France, I've ordered one game and I didn't get hit with charges. I ordered directly from the take two store and it came in a normal looking manila bubble-rap envelope, something customs would not be inclined to open. If you order a bunch of stuff from amazon it comes in a big box that says amazon on the side which customs officials love to poke into. I'd ask Stardock whether it comes in a box or a manila envelope, also, for special instructions tell them to write "gift" on the packing form. If it comes in an envelope and says gift, you should be ok, it's just like getting porno into Iran.
Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top
it's just like getting porno into Iran.


Now that's something we all do on a daily basis!
Reply #9 from Stardock Forums Top
I'm Belgain and thinking about pre-ordering it via the download-option (got cable-connection). But I'm wondering when the download will be made available and how big it will be (because I have to watch not to exceed my download-limit). But I really want those extra-goodies!!

PS: if someone knows a good way to get me a retail-version with the extras (so pre-ordered I guess), that could make it to my doorstep the same day I'll have the game downloaded -or the day the retailversion hits the stores- , for pretty much the same price (can be a little bit more), I gladly would take that opportunity! In other words, I want the game asap, with the extra's and for a reasonable store-price? Does anybody think that's possible? (hope I don't sound to cheap )
Reply #10 from Stardock Forums Top
how big it will be (because I have to watch not to exceed my download-limit)

It'll come on 2 CDs so we're somewhere between 700 and 1300 MB.
Reply #11 from Stardock Forums Top
I got an other question while thinking some more... will the download-servers from Stardock hold togheter when the download is made available? Or will that be laggy? I've got no idea what Stardock's potential is nor the number of download-pre-orders.
Reply #13 from Stardock Forums Top
in EU it seems that release date is 24 february not 21
Reply #14 from Stardock Forums Top
I have pre-ordered from play.com too and been wondering about the pre-orderers get added stuff too.

Atleast in Finland any order that is below 45€ doesnt go thru customs. At the moment GalCiv2 seems to be 30€ from play.com. So no worries for me, I would like to think this is the case all around the EU.
Reply #15 from Stardock Forums Top
As promised last week... here is the information I received from Paradox.
( it arrived not so long ago )

The European distributors (Paradox' partners)

UK - Koch Media UK
Germany - Koch Media Germany
Italy - Koch Media Italy
Benelux - Transposia
Spain - Friendware
Poland - Cenega
Russia - Snowball

Any questions about retailers in your country should be directed at them.
I'm off to contact Transposia right now, and I'll post a list of Benelux retailers later.
It would be really handy if everybody who gathered retail information about their countries would post that information here.

On a side note, I'm all for creating a sticky topic where we could pool all distribution / retail / pre-order information.
Just to save new forumers the entire quest for information I've been through.
Mods, what about it ?
Reply #16 from Stardock Forums Top
If you pre-order it from us directly and order the box version, you will get all the stuff and you will be able to immediately download it. But you probably won't get the box as quickly as if you ordered it from your own country. 
Reply #17 from Stardock Forums Top
I'm from Germany and have pre-ordered the downloadable version.
Is there a chance to preorder the boxed version for just the additional $10 transport charges?
Reply #18 from Stardock Forums Top
I don't think that would be a problem, but you'd have to email [email protected] to set it up.