US Customs... illegal to import VCDs?

[dphirschler]

I just got word that the VCDs I ordered from http://www.getvcds.com were seized by US Customs. Has anybody else had this problem? Is it illegal in the US?

FWIW, they were Star Wars trilogy, Lion King, and Bugs Bunny. No child porn.

Darryl

[Battra92]

This topic seems to come up a lot. The VCD's are liscenced for use and sale in Malaysia ONLY. However you bought them IN Malaysia and had then shipped back (technically speaking) so we move into a grey area. Sometimes they get through sometimes they don't. What's funny is I have an Audio CD ordered from Japan and it came here (USA) in no time. I ordered another CD from the same guy and it took weeks (I'm assuming customs.)

My guess could be that perhaps due to the nature of them (Star Wars and Lion King especially) they may have viewed these as Pirated.

[likkletree]

It happens here in the uk also...some get through (thru) ha ha some don;t.... I think it all boils down to if the customs boys are having a bad hair day or not >>>>

[AntnyMD]

If you order from EurekaMovies.com, they reship at no additional charge when their items get seized in customs. Or, rather, the last time I ordered from them (about a year ago) that was their policy.

I've never had a Malaysian package seized in customs.

[adam]

Not all vcds are licenced only in Malaysia, only some of them and if they are then it will say so on the cover. But even if it is legal to import that particular vcd customs will sometimes still confiscate it, mostly due to ignorance in my opinion. Like Battra92 said they probably assume that its pirated even though its not.

[dancesport]

Hey, that explains why when I got my VCDs from EurekaMovies, they said that they were shipping to a "Friend" on the declaration. I suspected that it was "gray" for them to sell to the U.S. because of this. I'm not going to buy that much anyway because I don't have a PAL tv... it's easier to wait for stuff to come out on DVD [to buy and/or rip].

[TIbrO]

That sucks... I'd be real pissed if I paid for several VCDs and it turns out I didn't get them because they were confiscated by ignorant customs mofos... I import DC games and soundtracks to games and Anime soutracks from Japan all the time, and none has ever been confiscated. I am so glad, too, because imports are real expensive. VCDs aren't that expensive individually, but that's all the more reason to go wild and order like five of them in one order.

[JGDragov]

As of last month it was still the policy of Eureka Movies to replace orders grabbed by customs at no cost to you. From what I understand they are in the process of fighting(through legal channels) customs on this issue.
To dphirschler: Getvcds.com sells both original and bootlegged copies of dvds/vcds. You might want to ask them for a refund and tell them later(after you get refunded of course).
To dancesport: You may or may not know that you can play PAL vcds on an NTSC tv. As long as you have a dvd player that plays vcds you'll be fine.
To anybody interested: The amount of orders confiscated by customs is very small. I have placed ten seperate orders to Malaysian suppliers in the past year and none were held up. Check with the site you're ordering from to see what their policy is on refunding or replacing a "seized" shipment. With the recent events here in the states the custom officials may be feeling a little important right now, thus causing some delays, but I wouldn't worry about it too much. Just deal with reputable sites and you should have minimal, if any problems.

[Greg12]

i ordered some cd's full of tv episodes from a man in canada then i won 20 free disks. they cleared customs at the us/candian border quickly. he wrote the contents as cds and for a friend.

from japan, i ordered a bunch of pokemon cards from a store. they then purchased the cards with the money i sent them. they cleared us customs dulles field office in about a day.

i hope my sera myu videos clear customs.

[dphirschler]

UPDATE:

getvcds.com offered to refund or reship my order. I told them to reship as long as I could get a refund if it got seized again. It went through this time without a hitch. I am very happy with the discs. My DVD player does indeed play the PAL discs. I am probably going to order again. haha. Glutten for punishment eh?


Darryl