US Amazon shipping some regular TFs toys overseas

[griffin]

With the recent exclusives on Amazon being made available to non-Americans, I decided to look for other Transformers items that were exportable, if any. Because in the past, Amazon US (like Amazon JP) would restrict toy sales to domestic customers only... with a few exceptions it seems.
Now it looks like they are opening up their sales to foreigners, as there is a filter option on the left of the screen (when you go into "Toys & Games" and search for Transformers), which says "AmazonGlobal Eligible".
When you click on it, the small number of remaining items appear to be available for purchase (if you are logged in, it doesn't say they are not available to your location).

One thing to note - items are not just being sold by Amazon. Be aware of items being sold by people and businesses (Amazon acts as an agent to process sales on behalf of others, like Ebay). So it is best to look for items that specify that they are "Ships from and sold by Amazon.com". Even if you want to buy from a non-Amazon source, if you intend to save on shipping, purchase items from the one source.

Now I only just placed an order for 11 items yesterday, so it hasn't even shipped yet, which is why I'm not getting too excited just yet. If it does, without any problems, I'll post about it here. Because this would certainly be a new option for those of us looking for cheaper options than BBTS or RK.
And even if the toys were about the same price as other online stores or ebay, you can't beat Amazon's shipping prices. $11 for Unicron, and for the Gen2 FOC Bruticus, while the 10 TFPrime toys & Rescue Bots playset I ordered yesterday only cost me $25 shipping (most of their items have free shipping within America, so this isn't surprising). That amount of stuff from BBTS would be at least $60 shipping.


(on a related note - news within the toy industry is that Amazon is apparently looking to open up in Australia, after expanding into Europe recently... It won't mean cheaper toy prices here if they get their stock from the local distributors, but if they offer free domestic shipping like in America, it'd save having to hunt several stores looking for a specific figure)

[Sky Shadow]

Amazon Australia would be great. If the shipping works, here are some sample links to toys shipped from Amazon US that I think Ozformers could find interesting:

Knockout, Roadbuster, Dead End, Starscream and Dark Steel. (For example.)

[Zippo]

Its not a mistake, they do ship SELECTED toys direct.

[Deonasis]

If Amazon Australia get up and running do you think they will have their own price and with the usual "Australia tax"? Just 1 easy change to stop Amazon international shipping to oz and we could be left with higher prices again.. as usual. Hopefully I am wrong I need to put down preorders on the US site soon before all the cool stuff sells out.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

Wow, just checking through some others and there is a fair bit that they are happy to ship it would seem...

Oh my... This is good news indeedy!

[griffin]

They finally shipped the order. They split it up into three boxes, but still only cost $25 for the three. As such, they broke up the shipping between the three boxes, making one box only "costing" $1.56 in postage (for a DLX toy from America to here). You certainly can't beat that, even here. That meant AU$16.40 for a new-release DLX toy (which isn't even here yet)... better than any sale price here. It's even LESS than what Hasbro AUS charges Retailers here!!!
How much of a scam is that, when it is possible to pay less (with shipping) than the Retailers here do.


Oddly enough, they charged my credit card in those three "parcel" amounts, instead of all at once when I placed the order.

They don't appear to have charged me on the preorder exclusives yet, so maybe that happens closer to the release date... or whenever they feel like it.

But great news on the regular stuff though.
Amazon will be my first source from now on, and whatever they don't export, I can then get from other places, or locally as a last resort.
(just don't let Hasbro AUS know, as they won't like us importing if it costs a lot less than retail prices here.)

[griffin]

After speaking to the ACCC, IP Australia and Customs, I've found out that Toys & Games are definitely not part of what's allowed for parallel-importing, which means the foreign-owned toy companies hold a monopoly on distribution in this country.
Until that changes, this info shouldn't be brought to the attention of toy companies here, as they would put a stop to it if they find out about it. (because it would mean selling less over-priced stock to retailers here, if less Australians buy from domestic stores)
I'm sure they will find out about it (if not already), and will force Amazon to stop, so take advantage of it while it lasts.

[5FDP]

If it is stopped, I hope they are still allowed to honor pre-orders for G2 Bruticus which isn't out until November.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

After speaking to the ACCC, IP Australia and Customs, I've found out that Toys & Games are definitely not part of what's allowed for parallel-importing, which means the foreign-owned toy companies hold a monopoly on distribution in this country.
Until that changes, this loophole by Amazon will be kept secret, as those toy companies will put a stop to it if they find out about it. (because it would mean selling less over-priced stock to retailers here, if less Australians buy from domestic stores)
I'm sure they will find out about it (if not already), and will force Amazon to stop, so take advantage of it while it lasts.

HOLY! So the ACCC know about the ability of companies to reduce competition and it's fine? Nice one Australia!

[griffin]

They said that they don't have the laws (powers) to stop it.
It'd take lobbying federal politicians to change it... and well... Labor aren't in the position to pick a fight with big business (the importers who hold these monopolies), and the coalition are pro-big business, so won't be biting the hands that feed them.