Zavvi - Retailer chat [Europe]

​

**Retailer charges cards when items ship

Per update received at HDN, starting with August 4,2014 releases, Zavvi will ship in boxes again.

[email protected]

Possible contact #s:

- 08442 640702
- 01606 336169
- 08442 439088

Thanks yeslek!

Current packaging is a cardboard mailer with the steelbook usually wrapped in either a layer of bubble wrap or foam

Spoiler: Past Packaging Updates

Update 9/5/2013:

https://www.hidefninja.com/forums/showpost.php?p=753977&postcount=1732

Current packaging-thanks dv8mad:

Spoiler

Previous packaging:

Spoiler

3/20/2013 Comparison of Play's old packaging to Zavvi's new packaging-thanks Zesty!

14/03/2013 By Wreck:
I now have confirmation that I can announce ... for all those worried about future packaging from Zavvi. My Play contact has been working with zavvi as well on this mission for better packaging. Between the 3 of us and the future comments from this community after its in place I'm sure it will be go over well.

View attachment 29368
from the pick line .........
foam inside

Spoiler

1/19/2013 Member Nyvo tweeted Zaavi about packaging concerns. They said they may be looking into alternate packaging methods.

http://www.zavvi.co.uk​

Zavvi shipping international list:
Zavvi UK

Box update1- 1/7/2014

Spoiler

https://www.hidefninja.com/forums/showpost.php?p=872703&postcount=2421

Box update 2-1/17//2014-we're told they have boxes again.

 

[snooloui]

But members are clearly not happy with Zavvi for many reasons. It's clearly NOT speculation. People have a right to feel hard done by. Look at all the reasons highlighted in the previous four or five posts alone.

Why are you the only one that can never see that? You're repeating the same weak argument in every post now Snolooui.

I'm not trying to cause a confrontation or anything, but to be honest you're making yourself look like bit of a bell-end with the endless defending of Zavvi.

Just let it go. People will have their own opinions.

Now, back on topic.....

All of it is speculation. Reason for high prices? Speculation. Rumoured print run increases? Speculation. As I said complaining about receving poor customer service is a legitimate concern but many points raised here are based on nothing other than guess work. You say 'just let it go' but I am not the one who won't let it go. Every Zavvi thread you read has these constant complaints. Why can't those people let it go and just accept Zavvi for what they are?

Let me get this right.........on one end, Disney are to blame for the high prices Zavvi are charging for their releases, yet for most others, with no proof whatsoever high prices are blamed on the fact that Zavvi ship to most nations for £1 ?????

What's the difference ?

The reason for Zavvi increasing prices on catalogues titles to £14.99 from £9.99 is due to VAT and cheap International shipping. The reason for increased prices on Disney titles is a completely different issue because as I am sure you are aware, Play.com never released any animated Disney titles.

 

[BDDB]

Did I just stumble onto another Zavvi thread?

 

[frankfish44]

I think this will keep the price of Steels less at Zavvi.

Don't post overseas or charge correct amount for shipping overseas like what Amazon.com does. This means the pricing structure will become similar to Play.com and us in the UK will pay the price we should be paying and not share the burden of subsidizing shipping cost.

You can't ask Zavvi to deduct VAT as they don't legally operate within mainland UK.

But where is the proof? Or are we just assuming this is the case. Just like politicians use malicious propaganda, this is one such case. As with many other companies, there are probably ways they use the rules around sales made to other nations that saves them money. Amazon does this all the time finding loopholes in the commerce laws that allow them to pay less taxes on profits

Like I said before where are the merits to this argument. Is the Hut / Zavvi not a UK company thereby bound by UK laws?

 

[snooloui]

But where is the proof? Or are we just assuming this is the case. Just like politicians use malicious propaganda, this is one such case. As with many other companies, there are probably ways they use the rules around sales made to other nations that saves them money. Amazon does this all the time finding loopholes in the commerce laws that allow them to pay less taxes on profits

Like I said before where are the merits to this argument. Is the Hut / Zavvi not a UK company thereby bound by UK laws?

The proof is: I can send a Steelbook to lgans316 for £1.10. I can send a Steelbook to you for £4.50. That money has to come from somewhere. Of course Zavvi can negotiate better rates as a company who turnover millions of pounds a year, but the principle remains the same.

 

[Starling]

The reason for Zavvi increasing prices on catalogues titles to £14.99 from £9.99 is due to VAT and cheap International shipping.

On that I agree.

On most Zavvi titles you can get them for 15% discount using codes and quidco, which brings a £14.99 title to £12.74. Take into account the recent tax changes (that forced Play to be sold off), and their pricing on those titles is easily explained if comparing them to Play.

 

[frankfish44]

All of it is speculation. Reason for high prices? Speculation. Rumoured print run increases? Speculation. As I said complaining about receving poor customer service is a legitimate concern but many points raised here are based on nothing other than guess work. You say 'just let it go' but I am not the one who won't let it go. Every Zavvi thread you read has these constant complaints. Why can't those people let it go and just accept Zavvi for what they are?



The reason for Zavvi increasing prices on catalogues titles to £14.99 from £9.99 is due to VAT and cheap International shipping. The reason for increased prices on Disney titles is a completely different issue because as I am sure you are aware, Play.com never released any animated Disney titles.

I am quite aware play never released a Disney before but did charge a premium for Prometheus. I really do struggle to understand how play turned a profit selling steelbooks for £9.99. Were they getting them for free? If you tuck on the administrative costs, shipping costs, taxes e.t.c there is barely any money left over. I am sure there was an initial cost paid by play for the rights to these exclusives. The math doesn't seem right to me. As a consumer, I am elated to buy that cheap. From a business point of view, it makes no sense at all.

 

[lgans316]

I agree with Snooloui.

The reason for Zavvi increasing prices on catalogues titles to £14.99 from £9.99 is due to VAT and cheap International shipping.

Regarding Disney, they have seldom been kind to UK so far in terms of pricing and content.

Having said that I am not a fan of the high pricing on the Disney Steels when Roger Rabbit was priced 13,99 or so.

 

[frankfish44]

The proof is: I can send a Steelbook to lgans316 for £1.10. I can send a Steelbook to you for £4.50. That money has to come from somewhere. Of course Zavvi can negotiate better rates as a company who turnover millions of pounds a year, but the principle remains the same.

You broke it down from an individuals perspective. As we all know, businesses play on a different set of rules. They probably ship for less than the £4.50. Buyers pay £1 of that. If I were to be conservative, they might have to make up £2. They may not take out VAT but I am sure that is used to offset some of the shipping costs possibly levelling the costs in such a way that they are not losing money. They also probably pay less taxes for international shipments.

 

[justboy]

I am quite aware play never released a Disney before but did charge a premium for Prometheus. I really do struggle to understand how play turned a profit selling steelbooks for £9.99. Were they getting them for free? If you tuck on the administrative costs, shipping costs, taxes e.t.c there is barely any money left over. I am sure there was an initial cost paid by play for the rights to these exclusives. The math doesn't seem right to me. As a consumer, I am elated to buy that cheap. From a business point of view, it makes no sense at all.

Play wouldn't have been selling at a loss, believe me.
I think the mark up on a metal case and a plastic disc would surprise you.

 

[lgans316]

The taxes are already paid but they can't deduct it for importers as they ship from outside mainland UK.

 

[snooloui]

I am quite aware play never released a Disney before but did charge a premium for Prometheus. I really do struggle to understand how play turned a profit selling steelbooks for £9.99. Were they getting them for free? If you tuck on the administrative costs, shipping costs, taxes e.t.c there is barely any money left over. I am sure there was an initial cost paid by play for the rights to these exclusives. The math doesn't seem right to me. As a consumer, I am elated to buy that cheap. From a business point of view, it makes no sense at all.

This perfectly explains why Play.com closed their retail operation. It just wasn't viable. Zavvi obviously recognised this and so had to increase the price of their catalogue titles accordingly.

As for Disney, well I believe they are completely unique compared to any other studio that Zavvi have formed a partnership with. They are also quite obviously greedy which is why their Canada/USA arm stopped releasing Steelbooks because they thought they could produce their own metal packaging and take a bigger slice of the pie. Why would Zavvi continue to sell their Disney exclusives at high prices, despite all of the criticism here and elsewhere unless they had no alternative? Zavvi need Disney way more than Disney need Zavvi and so Disney probably hold most of the power.

You broke it down from an individuals perspective. As we all know, businesses play on a different set of rules. They probably ship for less than the £4.50. Buyers pay £1 of that. If I were to be conservative, they might have to make up £2. They may not take out VAT but I am sure that is used to offset some of the shipping costs possibly levelling the costs in such a way that they are not losing money. They also probably pay less taxes for international shipments.

As I said, Zavvi are not comparable to your average collector, but the simple principle remains, it costs more money to ship to the USA than it does to the UK. That is a fact.

 

[frankfish44]

This perfectly explains why Play.com closed their retail operation. It just wasn't viable. Zavvi obviously recognised this and so had to increase the price of their catalogue titles accordingly.

As for Disney, well I believe they are completely unique compared to any other studio that Zavvi have formed a partnership with. They are also quite obviously greedy which is why their Canada/USA arm stopped releasing Steelbooks because they thought they could produce their own metal packaging and take a bigger slice of the pie. Why would Zavvi continue to sell their Disney exclusives at high prices, despite all of the criticism here and elsewhere unless they had no alternative? Zavvi need Disney way more than Disney need Zavvi and so Disney probably hold most of the power.



As I said, Zavvi are not comparable to your average collector, but the simple principle remains, it costs more money to ship to the USA than it does to the UK. That is a fact.

So we can all agree that non of us really know what it costs Zavvi to ship to anywhere if they are shipping from outside mainland UK.

 

[SimonLDT]

It's a concrete fact that you cannot send a parcel via airmail outside the UK for 99p. It cost's at least £4-5 depending on size and weight. Obviously with Zavvi being a business they will get a discount but certainly not 75% off.

 

[snooloui]

So we can all agree that non of us really know what it costs Zavvi to ship to anywhere if they are shipping from outside mainland UK.

You can't have it both ways. You say Zavvi should remove VAT for international customers and then say Zavvi save money by shipping from outside of the UK (therefore not incurring VAT). If you just accept that it is not possible to ship to the USA for 99p more than it costs to ship to the UK, then we can all get along.

 

[Jnavotheman]

recieved two steels from Zavvi in a first class mail bag, I really hope that was fluke because Steels are not meant to travel in mail bags

 

[snooloui]

Yes you can't have it both ways. They obviously don't take off VAT so those funds surely are used to offset some of the shipping costs. From my point of view, you can be hooked on the fact that they only charge £1 but you have no evidence that UK buyers are subsidizing that cost. You can keep spreading all this nonsense about shipping with no proof at all. While it doesn't make sense as to how they ship for £1, unless you have proof that you are subsidizing the cost, don't keep the argument going.

I maintain that prices are due to the fact that you can't make a reasonable profit selling steelbooks for £9.99. There are amarays that sell for double that successfully.
Exclusivity costs money, production costs cost money, admin costs, advertising, shipping e.t.c.

I am sure the geniuses in the marketing department figured out a way to cater to international customers whilst still keeping a majority of their profits. As someone who has worked in retail, you do not jeopardize sales in your main market to cater to an alternative market. You take care of home base first.

You have no evidence that Zavvi have miraculously found a way to ship from the Channel Islands to the USA for 99p but you persist with your argument. The fact is that the argument I and a few others are making is logical, your argument isn't.

I also maintain the same point that Zavvi can't make a reasonable profit selling Steelbooks at £9.99. The reason for that is the abolishing of LVCR (which means UK residents have to pay VAT on everything imported from the Channel Islands) and 99p International shipping. You say that a company should not jeopardize sales in it's main market, but that's exactly what Zavvi is doing with this farcical shipping policy.

 

[hatredhorror]

quality cs.. i wanted to know whether the dark souls steelbook is g1 or g2 sized

Spoiler

 

[SBC28]

quality cs.. i wanted to know whether the dark souls steelbook is g1 or g2 sized

Spoiler

View attachment 41505

Seriously, though. This company does more bad, than it does good. For anyone.

 

[hayemaker]

Spoiler

quality cs.. i wanted to know whether the dark souls steelbook is g1 or g2 sized

Spoiler

View attachment 41505

What the actual hell are they talking about? They have formed some words into a sentence but not one bit of it makes sense.

Might be a good idea for Zavvi's recruitment to involve training their staff about the difference between a DVD and a Blu ray. It's important they know that.

 

[SBC28]

Nah, man. It's all good, they're both circular shaped media formats with a hole in the center. Then again, that extra millimeter or two....

[/SPOILER]

What the actual hell are they talking about? They have formed some words into a sentence but not one bit of it makes sense.

Might be a good idea for Zavvi's recruitment to involve training their staff about the difference between a DVD and a Blu ray. It's pretty important they know that.