Shipping to Singapore thread - options and tips, read this before you order

[trickle]

Problem is that for every 10 persons, there are probably 1 or 2 blacksheep who will not think twice about exploiting such a thing.

TAU and DVDSoon days were good days while they lasted.

I hope we do not lose Amazon.

[redryder]

Question - if I'm getting a friend in the US to ship HD-DVDs to me via USPS, do I need to declare them as HD-DVDs on the envelope? Is it an offense if they are not declared? What are the odds of them being withheld by customs?

[petetherock]

10-20% cheats, if so, thats too high, imagine in  crowd of 10 or less people one of them is a cheat who is up to no good...

Problem is that for every 10 persons, there are probably 1 or 2 blacksheep who will not think twice about exploiting such a thing.

TAU and DVDSoon days were good days while they lasted.

I hope we do not lose Amazon.

[leo2003]

Question - if I'm getting a friend in the US to ship HD-DVDs to me via USPS, do I need to declare them as HD-DVDs on the envelope? Is it an offense if they are not declared? What are the odds of them being withheld by customs?

Declare as gift, i mean its a gift from yr fren
If open up the most it will be diverted
Saw yr planet earth thread, documentary is exempted
BTW go direct from amazon is faster

[redryder]

Can M18 movies be brought into Singapore? Need to pay MDA for screening?

[cn9601]

Assuming ure asking as a consumer.....

Generally speaking, all multi-media must be appropriately certified with that censorship stamp/rating for home view, including educational DVDs/BD/HD or PG rating or cartoon like Power Ranger. So on paper, discs brought in thru Changi Airport or Amazon can be confisticated    But of cos, most of us know the 'red tape' is kinda loosen up abit, but tat doesnt imply it is legitimate. Simply, U buy from Amazon at yr own risk 

As a consumer, it may not be practical and economical to send these M18 to MDA for censorship or screening. The censorship fees and time may not worth the while - and mayb the outcome after weeks/months is the disc(s) have been denied....   Even for those retailers that have the resources (time and money) can only bring that number of M18 titles - this says alot how we as consumers can bring in M18 title.

Just my opinion.

Can M18 movies be brought into Singapore? Need to pay MDA for screening?

[redryder]

According to MDA website, if the film is already classified in their database as M18, then we only need to pay $1.80 for the sticker. Don't need to pay them to screen it again. Is that true?

[leo2003]

Yes so long it is in their database dont hve to go thru screening again just pay $1.80
thou it may be in their database, please check the details like
1) Region Code
2) Running Minutes

[trickle]

10-20% cheats, if so, thats too high, imagine in  crowd of 10 or less people one of them is a cheat who is up to no good...

Haha.  I see what you mean.

You''ll have to forgive me for not being too specific.

It was more in reference to people who order online, and with a 'probably' or two missing somethere.

[redryder]

Yes so long it is in their database dont hve to go thru screening again just pay $1.80
thou it may be in their database, please check the details like
1) Region Code
2) Running Minutes

Do they treat DVDs and HD-DVDs the same? What if the HD-DVD has additional bonus content?

[armoury]

Not exactly.  If a movie, or more accurately the movie on the DVD, has already been rated and is already in MDA's database, it gets cleared very quickly and you pay $1.80 for the 'official' sticker.  If it hasn't been rated yet, then it gets held up by a week or two, since someone has to watch it (how literally, I don't know) before they classify it, and if it is passed, again you pay your $1.80 and it's passed.  For consumers, they don't charge you for rating the program, whereas if you were an importer (i.e. business), they would.

Personal experience: I ordered That 70s' Show, season 3 or 4 (can't remember  which) from DDD and it was diverted to MDA.  It was not in the database yet, so they had to review it and that took about a week or so.  At the end, it was passed PG (as expected) and I paid them $1.80 for it.  Done!

According to MDA website, if the film is already classified in their database as M18, then we only need to pay $1.80 for the sticker. Don't need to pay them to screen it again. Is that true?

With an M18 rating, I think there's an issue as to whether consumers are allowed to import their own, even if it's been passed M18 and is in the database and importers can bring it in and you can buy in the shopts.  For that matter, even NC16 I think may be an issue with consumers.[

[leo2003]

Do they treat DVDs and HD-DVDs the same? What if the HD-DVD has additional bonus content?

One thing their database is not that updated, a lot of time we can only refer to the counter staff
If the HD-DVD additional contents is the same as the DVD ones, should not be an issue

[petetherock]

A thought just occurred to me, if MDA has to screen all the movies esp with the new formats, they may be the most up to date!

Imagine MDA being format neutral and having to update their Hi Def players to play the latest hi def discs!

It would b cool to know what machines they own....

[armoury]

A thought just occurred to me, if MDA has to screen all the movies esp with the new formats, they may be the most up to date!

Or they might proceed on the assumption that the cut on the hi def disc is the same as that on std DVD.  At this point in time, I don't think the studios have bothered to incur the extra expense of making different versions of the movie for release on HD as opposed to SD, even if some extras are exclusive to one or the other -- they usually master for HD, then downconvert the HD master for SD.  Of course, this might change in the future, by which time only one set of HD machines will be needed...

[weibchen]

got my package from DD, none went to MDA...took a bit long though compared to Amazon.
however comparing the cost of titles vs weights, i think DD shipping is cheaper but disc more expensive, Amazon shipping is tad more ex but the products are cheaper..
somehow or rather it adds up and its cheaper than comgateway or Vpost.