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Halo 4 from Amazon UK


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Hey guys, just thought I'd give this forum a heads up cause I was interested in buying a used copy of Halo 4 from here but saw insanely overpriced rates.

 

Amazon UK as you may probably know does international shipping to India. Now a brand new, packed copy of Halo 4 from Amazon UK costs about 18 GBP or approximately Rs 1,500. Check link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Microsoft-Halo-4-Xbox-360/dp/B0054OGIRQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1364711286&sr=8-1

 

This is the PAL version and I can confirm works with Indian Xbox 360s as I've tried it with my console. But when you ship the same game to India, you get a reduction in the 20% VAT that Amazon charges its UK residents. So the final price is 15 GBP plus 8.5 GBP shipping making the total 23.5 GBP or approximately Rs 1,930 as per the current forex rate. However, most credit cards charge 3.5% for international transactions, so your total bill in the statement will amount to Rs 2,000.

 

Also, I ordered my copy of the game on March 23rd and got it in 7 working days on March 30th. Didn't have to pay any custom duties on it either! Hats off to Amazon and the Indian Postal Department for the efficient service.

 

So when you can buy a new copy of Halo 4 for Rs 2,000 with Xbox Live code etc intact, why should you pay the 2.5k or more asking rate for a second-hand copy? Check the image attached. Hope this thread helped.

 

halo4w.jpg

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(1) International orders are very unreliable. You got it in one week without any customs, but it's not necessary that everyone will have the same luck.

 

(2) Prices of used games depend on their local prices. The Indian prices of console games at launch are pretty much even with other countries, and most of the times even less than them(especially UK). But unfortunately, the prices don't get monitored by the local distributor as vigorously. For example, you still can't get a copy of Gears 3 for less than 2k anywhere in India, even though it is a 2 year old game, and is available cheaply in most other countries.

 

(3) You can get many things much cheaper if you import them, but people don't do it all the time because of the hassles. Again, you got the game without any hassles doesn't mean that everyone will have the same experience. Especially in smaller cities, imports take months to come in most occasions. And if it is stuck in Customs, then the wait multiplies. I've had a Play-Asia order stuck in Customs for one month after shipping, and I was informed of the same by a notification sent to my place by the Tax Department. I had to go to the office which was more than 1 hour away, sit in line for another hour gave them the bill, and then got my parcel from the local Post Office after another 2-3 days. And on other times, I've got Play-Asia parcels in 1 week also, without Customs. So, this is also an example of the unreliability and randomness of importing.

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Fair enough, but I've ordered lots of Blu-rays in the past from Amazon and have generally gotten good service.

 

Out the the 15-20 orders with Amazon UK over the past 4-5 years, only 1 item got misplaced during shipping and arrived 2 months late. But the funny thing is that I informed Amazon 2 weeks after placing that order that I had not received it and they sent me another copy. The second copy of the Blu-ray reached within 10 days! And then the original shipment reached a month later, leaving me with one free copy.. So I definitely vouch for Amazon.

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Fair enough, but I've ordered lots of Blu-rays in the past from Amazon and have generally gotten good service.

 

Out the the 15-20 orders with Amazon UK over the past 4-5 years, only 1 item got misplaced during shipping and arrived 2 months late. But the funny thing is that I informed Amazon 2 weeks after placing that order that I had not received it and they sent me another copy. The second copy of the Blu-ray reached within 10 days! And then the original shipment reached a month later, leaving me with one free copy.. So I definitely vouch for Amazon.

One of the reasons of your good experience so far is due to the fact that you live in Mumbai. All of my good experiences of 1-week waits for international orders(along with a few exceptions) happened when I was in Bangalore. But I can't imagine the same experience in Patna or even Kolkata. Amazon US is okay as they use Aramex, which being a courier company, handles well. Otherwise IndiaPost is horrible in dealing international parcels in smaller cities.

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