I had a gift certificate to shop at Amazon UK. I have only shopped there one time in the past, and it was a good experience in a couple of ways. I just bought a few items with my gift certificate, and had the same good experience. But, why would I order anything from thh UK if shipping were prohibitive?

The prices. For releases that were only put out in the UK or Europe, the prices are lower than if you bought them through one of the US suppliers. As I found with my one order a few years ago, it worked out to a very affordable total. Back then, the Adam Ant remasters had just come out, and I ordered the first three. With shipping, my order total only came to about $27 U.S., including shipping. That’s only $9 each!

So on my recent order, I picked up three items that are not available here, except as imports: a three-CD set of the first three Stray Cats albums; another Adam Ant title, Friend or Foe, and; a compilation by the dance band Modern Romance. My gift certificate was in the neighborhood of £28; with shipping on my order, I now have £0.11 left on my gift certificate! As I write this, the British pound is worth about $2.02 U.S. dollars.

One thing to keep in mind about Amazon UK’s prices: we don’t pay the prices they display, as those prices already include their tax. If you take off approximately 15% on the items, that is what will show up when you go to the checkout with your Amazon shopping basket. Shipping was around £5.00 total–not bad for what amounts to five CDs. With our weak dollar, it is as good a time as any to pick up some of the UK titles you’ve been waiting to buy!