Wonderful 101 backers hit by customs

Chakoo · Jul 3, 2020

I got my copy in today and was able to slip in with no customs but that tends to be a luck of the draw with CanadaPost vs others (UPS/DHL/FedEx).

With that said, When you buy physical goods online (even through a kickstarter), You're on the hook for any fees associated with importing it into your country. If you buy it locally you're paying for tax/vat when you purchase it. This is nothing new.

Deleted member 31092 · Jul 3, 2020

The kickstarter was as succesful as The Wonderful 101

Hyperfludd · Jul 3, 2020

They really should have been upfront with the fees if they knew they were gonna happen. Like, immediately up front. Not as a sneaky little update. Disappointed that's how they handled that.

Wil Grieve said:
Worst thing is, after all this, people will actually have to play the game.

Actually the one good thing to look forward to here - Despite these snafus, it doesn't diminish the game's quality at all - games great!

StrangeRoboMemory · Jul 3, 2020

Billfisto said:
Canadian, still waiting on mine. I'm never ordering anything fulfilled by The Yetee again. Their shipping is an opaque, inexplicable mess.

Got mine today here in Toronto, hopefully you'll get yours soon. No charges here.

TheChungusAmongUs · Jul 3, 2020

I got mine 3 days ago.

Canadian and got no extra charges

Mafro · Jul 3, 2020

Worth pointing out that it just seems to be the UK being affected with the customs charges.

Auxy · Jul 3, 2020

Yeah, the UK is awful about this. I had to pay £16.32 in customs to receive the game.

TheMoon · Jul 3, 2020

TheChungusAmongUs said:
I got mine 3 days ago.

Canadian and got no extra charges

is there even customs/VAT-related fees between US-Canada?

Mafro said:
Worth pointing out that it just seems to be the UK being affected with the customs charges.

Is that actually the case or is it just because no other country has had people actually receive theirs to see whether or not they're hit by import fees?

Rei no Otaku · Jul 3, 2020

So I'm an ignorant American, and I have a question. Why when I order stuff from other countries have I never had to worry about custom fees or things getting held that I hear about from people in other countries? I'm honestly curious as to why.

Chakoo · Jul 3, 2020

TheMoon said:
is there even customs/VAT-related fees between US-Canada?

Yes but there is a value at which they start charging and it differs in what direction it's going. For US to Canada it use to be $20 canadian but I think it was recently raised due to the NAFTA negotiations.

Chakoo · Jul 3, 2020

Rei no Otaku said:
So I'm an ignorant American, and I have a question. Why when I order stuff from other countries have I never had to worry about custom fees or things getting held that I hear about from people in other countries? I'm honestly curious as to why.

Because the limit is quite high when importing into the US compared to other countries.

Internet Purchases

Securing America's Borders

www.cbp.gov

Possum Armada · Jul 3, 2020

mazi said:
off-topic but i love your username, that slowdive song (and the whole album) is so good.

Indeed! Such and amazing record :)

Weird aside: I was almost roommates with Neal in Atlanta.

Etrian Darkness · Jul 3, 2020

Never had a problem before with this, mainly because when I ship from America I am made to pay upfront most of the time.

They should've known this. I'm not blaming Platinum as I think Yetee is the one handling the shipping of goods, but I will blame Platinum's response basically being "but we told you tho". I haven't even got the customs fee letter yet for my copy and the game came out today physically. If it wasn't for the PC version just being given to me for being a physical backer, I would truly be done.

This is one of my favourite action games, it sucks to see how much of a mess some parts of this kickstarter has been.

Giga Man · Jul 3, 2020

I had no idea this was going on. I didn't back the kickstarter because I swore off kickstarter campaigns and thought my Wii U copy was enough.

This game is so good and deserves better. The fans deserve better. Damn...

SchroDingerzat said:
Didn't it come out that they didn't even need the kickstarter?

Did it? Honestly, with how swiftly the game came out, I was thinking the same thing.

MrT-Tar · Jul 3, 2020

Mine's still in transit, so we'll see what happens.

FWIW, I regularly import games into the UK and I've only been caught out with import VAT once - with Summon Night 5 in 2015.

Deleted member 17210 · Jul 3, 2020

TheMoon said:
is there even customs/VAT-related fees between US-Canada?

Canadians sometimes have to pay duty/tax on stuff from the US but Canada Customs isn't consistent with it. I imagine for really expensive stuff they're stricter.

edit- I didn't notice this was already answered.

ryu_highabusa · Jul 3, 2020

I know everybody wants to be mad at Platinum but this is on Customs. Customs duty is always the importer's responsibility. People want to stay out of politics and then it bites them in the ass.

Serein · Jul 3, 2020

Not a backer for this but I had to pay a customs charge today for the Striker Dreamcast controller I backed on Kickstarter which has FINALLY found its way here. Sucks but it is what it is. There's always the chance of this when importing although I wish there was an option to pre-pay the duty so you don't also get stiffed by the £8 fee charged by the Royal Mail. Now that is bullshit as it's often more than the duty itself for me.

I have noticed over the last year I've been hit a lot more frequently for this than I used to.

Nappuccino · Jul 3, 2020

Damn, that sucks.

karnage10 · Jul 3, 2020

ryu_highabusa said:
I know everybody wants to be mad at Platinum but this is on Customs. Customs duty is always the importer's responsibility. People want to stay out of politics and then it bites them in the ass.

If platinium has a deal to sell the game in EU they should have also added the clause to send the game to backers.

it is not like they are sending a game that doesn't exist inside the EU. They just obtusely decided to cheapen out on their bigger fans so they don't ahve the hassle of negotiating a bit.

and while i gave the EU as an example i'd imagine there are other countries that have similar situations,

SchroDingerzat · Jul 3, 2020

ryu_highabusa said:
I know everybody wants to be mad at Platinum but this is on Customs. Customs duty is always the importer's responsibility. People want to stay out of politics and then it bites them in the ass.

I back lots of board games on Kickstarter, and a majority of them have a EU distributer even if they are in the US. Sorry, Platinum was trying to be cheap.

DaleCooper · Jul 4, 2020

My copy has been stuck in Chicago since June 22. I just had an update yesterday on my tracking. Still in Chicago. Might reach Euroland by Christmas...

ShinNoNoir · Jul 4, 2020

As someone who has imported plenty of things and also backed a few Kickstarters, I'm not surprised about the customs stuff at all.

DaleCooper said:
My copy has been stuck in Chicago since June 22. I just had an update yesterday on my tracking. Still in Chicago. Might reach Euroland by Christmas...

Same here, except the latest status change was June 26 for me.

Krysuk · Jul 4, 2020

Auxy said:
Yeah, the UK is awful about this. I had to pay £16.32 in customs to receive the game.

same here - was pretty pissed - never expected to have to throw another £16 to get the game late ...
Going to chalk it up to "that's what that "free" steam version" really cost you"
I'm over kickstarters between this and shenmue 3 where we are still waiting on the physical delivery side...

Still waiting on the actual game for 101 to arrive despite paying the fee Tuesday... the joy of ongoing delayed coronavirus mail here

Scruffy8642 · Jul 4, 2020

Yeah kickstarting this was an utter waste of time... I wanted to support them, but it obviously wasn't worth it.

Deleted member 47347 · Jul 4, 2020

Aside from customs, backers will be the last gamers to play Wonderful 101 and no mail nor FAQ could change that.

sir_crocodile · Jul 4, 2020

Did they put the sale value or the production value on it?

If they put the sale value on it then it's platinum or their partners fault. The KS is a pledge, so goodies should be shipped marked with production cost

SirFritz · Jul 4, 2020

Not surprised seeing as dangen was involved in this.

raketenrolf · Jul 4, 2020

HardRojo said:
I received a shipping email on the 11th, then another on the 12th saying there was a mistake and the package had to return to them. Nothing since then and when I wrote them a few days ago they only replied with a generic "Due to the volume of tickets, it might take a while to respond" or some shit like that. Yeah, at this point I think I'm not receiving shit and I'm never backing any physical products again.
I'm from Peru btw.

Couldnt you issue a chargeback in a case like that if you don't receive anything?

My copy is in Frankfurt right now and the status is "departed". So I don't know if I have to pay more or not.

Chocobo115 · Jul 4, 2020

ryu_highabusa said:
I know everybody wants to be mad at Platinum but this is on Customs. Customs duty is always the importer's responsibility. People want to stay out of politics and then it bites them in the ass.

I wasn't hit by Customs when I backed Shenmue 3, the other kickstarter project when I backed. So I'll peg this entirely on Platinum for not finding an European distributor.

All this make me is to become extra weary of backing stuff on kickstarter in the future. And that my goodwill towards platinum took a bit of a hit.

TheMoon · Jul 4, 2020

SirFritz said:
Not surprised seeing as dangun was involved in this.

The Yetee handled distribution of the rewards. Let's keep an eye on who actually does the things we get mad about since a lot of people are going "never supporting PG projects again" for some reason.

Rewards were handled by The Yetee, the T-Shirt/fan merch store that is also involved in the Games Done Quick events.

Tunesmith · Jul 4, 2020

TheMoon said:
Is that actually the case or is it just because no other country has had people actually receive theirs to see whether or not they're hit by import fees?

By all accounts it's just impacting the UK.

Ireland here myself, got the game last week, no customs charges.

aisback · Jul 4, 2020

MrT-Tar said:
Mine's still in transit, so we'll see what happens.

FWIW, I regularly import games into the UK and I've only been caught out with import VAT once - with Summon Night 5 in 2015.

Same as me. Let me know what happens with yours

Mr. Mug · Jul 4, 2020

Chocobo115 said:
I wasn't hit by Customs when I backed Shenmue 3, the other kickstarter project inverkan backed. So I'll peg this entirely on Platinum for not finding an European distributor.

Did they actually ship it from Europe though? If not you might've just been lucky to not get it for Shenmue.

matrix-cat · Jul 4, 2020

Tracking says my copy only touched down in Australia yesterday, so I don't know if I'll end up having to pay anything extra yet. Fingers crossed; I already got hit with an international conversion fee on the initial credit card charge.

Etrian Darkness · Jul 4, 2020

Got my customs charge today and a day after the game came out too. I guess I got lucky, my charge is only £15.18.

Remember this is Yetee's fault as they are handling distribution. The UK was the 2nd highest country in backing W101, they should've actually handled the shipping properly to not get hit by a customs charge.

Comic Obsessed · Jul 4, 2020

HardRojo said:
I received a shipping email on the 11th, then another on the 12th saying there was a mistake and the package had to return to them. Nothing since then and when I wrote them a few days ago they only replied with a generic "Due to the volume of tickets, it might take a while to respond" or some shit like that. Yeah, at this point I think I'm not receiving shit and I'm never backing any physical products again.
I'm from Peru btw.

I'm from Peru too. Did they give you a tracking number or something? I don't even know where my copy could be.

texhnolyze · Jul 4, 2020

EtrianFOE said:
I won't be buying a Platinum game new going forward.

Why? Isn't this just a problem with physical copies?

If anything, people should think again about backing a kickstarter project going forward and choose digital instead.

TheMoon · Jul 4, 2020

Comic Obsessed said:
I'm from Peru too. Did they give you a tracking number or something? I don't even know where my copy could be.

You got an email when they shipped your copy.

International tracking only tracks up until arrival in the destination country.

Dash Kappei · Jul 4, 2020

Wait the game has bad performance on Switch? Worse than WiiU's?

DarkOmnios · Jul 4, 2020

Yup I'm regretting as well.
Still waiting for my copy, waiting for the tracking email etc.

Right now is just because for the special cover and the fact I have too many games to play.....so I just wait.
But it was the first and last time that I used this kind of platform.
Unless maybe for board games.

sir_crocodile · Jul 4, 2020

Etrian Darkness said:
Got my customs charge today and a day after the game came out too. I guess I got lucky, my charge is only £15.18.

Remember this is Yetee's fault as they are handling distribution. The UK was the 2nd highest country in backing W101, they should've actually handled the shipping properly to not get hit by a customs charge.

So they did put the retail value rather than the production value on the customs declaration? The hell? Glad I didn't end up backing this in the end due to the Dangen connection, I'd have been pissed

TheMoon · Jul 4, 2020

Dash Kappei said:
Wait the game has bad performance on Switch? Worse than WiiU's?

No. it has framedrops that are worse because the average fps is higher now.

Herb Alpert · Jul 4, 2020

TheMoon said:
No. it has framedrops that are worse because the average fps is higher now.

Also isn't the resolution better ?

LAA · Jul 4, 2020

Yeah.. still waiting for it and have that to look forward to probably.
It was at least nice I got the PC version free as a delay apology and been playing on PS4, shame it seems the switch version isnt so good performance wise, looked like it might have been the best version to play on with the touch screen.

BayonettasBuddy · Jul 4, 2020

Wanted to support platinum on this one, so dropped like £40, which I'd rarely spend on a game.

Got hit with a £16 customs fee. Not very happy with this tbh.

dramaticslowmo · Jul 4, 2020

My tracking says it's been in a USPS facility for over a week. Not looking forward to being stung with an extra £16 charge when it's finally shipped.

Chocobo115 · Jul 4, 2020

Mr. Mug said:
Did they actually ship it from Europe though? If not you might've just been lucky to not get it for Shenmue.

Yeah it was distributed from Europe, was what I tried to say, sorry for being unclear.

Kyuuji · Jul 4, 2020

Yup. Sucks. The lenticular sleeve is really damn effective though, so there's that.

Naga · Jul 4, 2020

Not surprised for the customs at all, but I don't believe them saying they had no choice. Yetee already managed some other kickstarters and sending EU rewards from an european warehouse in the past afaik.

Still haven't received my rewards personally...

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