Mary Anthology delayed again ? And still not available in UK

[carlo]

Out of curiosity though, I would assume this is the case for hundreds of releases, from multiple sources, not unique to Hip-O or Real Gone? Hasn't there ALWAYS been a issue with getting service to the UK or Canada? Don't you have to pay extra for your Abba releases, or anything else that would be considered an "import" from the US? So why is there always so much beef with this company, or these titles?

Lol "pass me the ice!!" "Ooo those bubbles tickle!!"

Not always. It really depends if a release is made available in another country through its domestic music distributor. For instance, in Canada we have FAB Distribution that picks up a lot of US releases for distribution to retailers here, whether it's an online retailer or physical store. In that case, many of those releases are distributed here domestically, are more affordable. However, in those rare cases where you are ordering directly from the label and paying those shipping costs to have it delivered to your own door from the US or somewhere else...it can be quite pricey. A couple of years ago, I bought the vinyl mono reissue of Reflections, which was only available through direct purchase from Universal Music's online store in the US. That cost me approx. $60, whereas if you're in the States, you get free shipping, lower taxes...it would have cost half that. I also ordered a vinyl record from the UK earlier this year, also direct from the music label...and it cost me a whopping $70.

The difference is that a Canadian distributor can import a box of Supremes CD's and pay a shipping fee and import fees on that box and it only adds a few dollars to the end price of each CD/unit...whereas if you're importing one CD yourself from elsewhere, the cost per unit is usually much higher. In this case, I bought two copies of Mary's cd from Real Gone, because it makes more financial sense to pay $15 shipping plus possibly customs fees, on two copies, versus pay the same shipping charge on one CD.

The international postal rates these days are so effed up. I could have someone ship me one cd from the US and it will cost them between $15 to $18 in shipping, or I could ask them to ship me a box of 12 CDs and it would cost $25. It makes no sense.

...I say all of this basically to say that I think most people are unaware of these issues concerning the importing of goods in their respective countries, and they just default to blaming the record labels for the prices they have to pay or lack of availability, when it's truly out of their hands. We are all feeling the ripple effects of covid, shipping prices, distribution issues, import fees etc. These issues have always been there, but now it's even worse.