1 & Only HMV.co.jp Thread
 

So, I had to sift through all 35 or so pages of the retail forum since "hmv" is too short a term to search for. I found only three threads mostly asking about questions - mainly shipping questions.

I figured I bring up an hmv.co.jp thread since it's another major retailer that's import friendly so importers here at AoD have another option - especially for the newer people. Good to have things in one thread, right?

The nice thing about them is they'll have stuff in-stock that Amazon doesn't anymore and sometimes at a good price. I was able to order Railgun BD v3, 4, 5, 7, and 8 (hopefully play-asia can get me v2 and 6 which seem to to be the elusive ones). Prices across the board aren't cheaper than Amazon, but a good chunk of stuff are under their multi-buy sale pricing (buy at least 2 and get up to 26% off).

The other good thing is it looks like they ship games overseas too. That's pretty nice since Amazon doesn't do it, amiami regularly sells out quickly and CDJapan's selection isn't the largest.

HMV also ships via EMS which might come in handy for some people.

Re: hmv.jp anyone?
 

*cough* Do you, by chance, mean hmv.co.jp?

Re: hmv.jp anyone?
 

doh! typo. Changed the thread title so it reflects hmv japan. Thanks for noticing.

Re: HMV Japan anyone?
 

Google trick - when the site's own search isn't adequate, search it using Google by adding the keyword "site:[domain]". In this case the query site:mania.com hmv returns several relevant results.

Anyway, I've ordered from HMV (Japan) before, but mostly games. They're alright. The problem for me is precisely that they ship through EMS, as that has a 100% hit rate with Dutch customs. So for games I prefer YesAsia or PlayAsia, which allow airmail shipping and have a much higher chance of bypassing customs.

If PlayAsia (or YesAsia, which also still list them as available) doesn't work out, you can try getting a Tenso.com account so that you can use the Japanese Amazon Marketplace. I just checked - prices for volume 2 at least don't seem so bad (higher than normal of course, but no insane prices).

Re: HMV Japan anyone?
 

Or for more specific results, site:mania.com/aodvb hmv.

Re: HMV Japan anyone?
 

HMV Japan is a much better deal than Amazon if you're only getting a couple DVDs. Mainly because of the shipping. However, if you're pre-ordering a couple of entire series, Amazon.jp is cheaper.

Re: HMV Japan anyone?
 

But to get that S&H savings you do need to have them hold until complete. My understanding is that they'll partial ship, but they won't do it for free (well, "for no additional fee") like Amazon will even if you select "minimum shipments".

I've been spoiled by Amazon's partial shipments so the idea of waiting months - even if the disc is generally going to sit on my shelf doing nothing but looking pretty - is unbearable to me.

But if they're all in stock or you don't mind waiting, then yeah.

Re: HMV Japan anyone?
 

HMV's shipping works like everyone else. That is, you can't order items released across a year without being forced to ship it in parts. On the other hand, it's perfectly reasonable to order one to three items for that month and save on shipping via EMS.

Not to mention, for most of the world, partial shipments actually increase the cost of an order due to additional custom processing fees.

Re: HMV Japan anyone?
 

Amazon's partial shipping is king especially with pre-orders. HMV shipping is nice if all you're ordering is in-stock items with short lead-time (24hr or 2-3 days). The only caveat is the quoted shipped when you checkout might be more when the items actually ship.

I've never done pre-orders with HMV so does anyone know if they do partial shipments, they'll charge per shipment or do they do what Amazon does?

Re: HMV Japan anyone?
 

Yes, of course. Amazon's theoretically works that way too, at least as they'll describe it officially. But as you know, in reality they partial ship like it's going out of style even if you tell them to hold. They're sort of like TRSI in that way. And yes, there are positives and negatives to this (mostly positives if you live in a country with nice import laws, otherwise it's not so clear-cut).

So while what you say is in theory true, the reality is different. And yes, it's Amazon that's the unusual one here, not HMV. But that's part of why I generally don't order at other places.