Which courier should I use on Play-Asia?

[MO2J]

I am about to order a Sakura pink coloured Japanese PS2 from Play-Asia. Which courier should I use? I have the option of selecting UPS, EMS or TNT. Anyone have any experience of dealing with these companies?

I am a little worried about incurring a customs charge. In the past, when I've used FedEx on other websites, I receive a seperate invoice from FedEx for customs charges that were applied. Do any of the above couriers do the same, or would I be required to pay on my doorstep?

[Abhisara]

I got a PS2 from PA a couple of months ago (Sakura too 8)) and had it sent using TNT. It arrived in 2 days and I didn't have to pay anything on the doorstep. I received the customs charge a couple of weeks later in the post which I was expecting anyway since I hadn't asked PA to mark down the value of the package. It was about ?40 (?10 of which was their adminstration fee).

Originally, TNT sent me an invoice for about ?65, but that was because they had taken the declared value (which was in USD) to be in GBP. I wrote back telling them I wasn't going to pay until they calculated the charges correctly. A few weeks later, they eventually sent me a new invoice with the correct amount and I sent them a cheque.

[jimtendo]

With UPS, it's a no-brainer that you would get taxed.
You would have to pay the fees there and then for them to release the parcel to you.

EMS is sometimes strange. At times you do, and at times you don't. I've had a Samba de Amigo with maracas go through fine, yet some other things marked down the same get taxed.
An oddity at best.
Same with UPS, in that you have to pay the fees upfront, for them to hand over the package.

[Ginger Tosser]

I ordered a Spice GameCube from Play-Asia on the 27th and got it sent via TNT. It promptly arrived on the 29th. The online tracking is very good.

Just waiting for the customs charge

If they use a courier service (which is seems to be the only option on expensive items) they are unable to mark down items. I have no complaints about the charges, if you import you expect to pay them (sometimes).

[Loc]

Don't use UPS whatever you do, I did and had to pay ?21 for about ?60 worth of stuff (presumably because they couldn't find the house) but they said it was import tax...never using them again

[charlesr]

If you are ordering a console, always be prepared to pay the customs charge and then count yourself lucky if it's a small charge. After all, legally you should pay up. If you have to pay on the doorstep, a cheque should be fine. Remember the courier charge isn't just deliver, it's insurance as well, so if anything should happen to your console or it goes missing on route, you can claim the full amount (including delivery cost) back.