Olympia

I can't help the feeling the people in charge simply have no idea how things are working in Europe. And that they totally dismissed there was something called Brexit. However, that UK store makes me so angry - that they ship media only to UK is so bad, and besides they didn't do their homework. Last year there was a new regulation the shops have to take the VAT immediately from the customer and declare this on the parcel. But universal UK just takes the VAT and obviously does NOT declare it, as they should by law. So people pay it twice. If they complain later and insist, they get the VAT back from them as it looks like, but you still pay additional fees because of incorrect declaration.

If you interpret it like this, they hate the EU much more. No EU store got any of the interesting merch like lighter, nacklace or jacket, none got the Spotify vinyl and the bundles we have don't save much money. For the cassette bundle, it saves 0,30 EUR per item. They obviously think EU will order from UK, but UK ships to UK only, at least records. And for the merch from UK we pay customs twice, even if we might be able to get 35% back....

I prefer if my favorite artists do not release anything for RSD. RSD is a big party for resellers and scalpers usually. I have no record store close to me, so I always have to buy from those. don't worry, they will surely come as soon as it is too late to cancel all those unsigned preorders... as usual. The German shop has bundles, too, but the one for the MCs doesn't help at all. It includes only the 4 new cassettes and you save like 0,30 EUR on each, lol. Only UL always gets the good bundles, but they do not ship abroad and even if they would, you pay those silly fees usually...

So could you see the prices? Would love to know how much they are.

Wouldn't it be easier to make a new thread called "spoiler discussion" or so, so you don't have to talk in "hidden contents"? And everyone afraid of reading things too early can keep on discussing here. (Personally I don't care much about it, I won't listen before but I am not afraid of spoilers, but I think it would be the easiest way for the 2 groups.)

Yes, I cancelled orders successfully a few times. Only last time, few months ago with midnights, I had big trouble because they had technical problems with their whole system. However, I got my money back in the end and they apologized. I think now they work as usually again. Just try to cancel more than one week ahead before the release at least, better two, as they are not very fast. Something else: By a Facebook advert I came across another artist's upcoming double picture vinyl from Universal music. Maybe this is what the Spotify double pic will be like, too. I like that double sleeve. If this mock up is right, the 2nd vinyl could look different (but could be the backside of course, too). https://moby.universal-music.de/p51-i0028948643127/moby/resound-nyc/index.html

then it might indeed be better to wait until you got the money for a better player, to be sure. Or you get an additional cheap variant of the record. I guess for like 20 you can find vinyls of each album, maybe even new. Very true. I wouldn't have these items if I didn't use them at all or touch them with gloves only. Actually I got the tees more because I loved the quality of them and because I actually needed some tees. I wear them really a lot and the first one starts to lose it's print now, but well, that's how it happens after time. So it's really time they put up some more tees for DYK... I do not like the one they offer now. I hate quadratic prints on tees. The hoodie is kind of ok, but the proportions of the photo on the back look a bit... well, strange to me. Would have bought it already if it was offered with that lovely box in her EU stores. In the US store, they want 44 USD for shipping to Germany, + 30 USD tax fees, which I probably have to pay again over here anyway. So it's basically 85 EUR for the box only, as the hoodie I could get for much less in her German store.

yes, they are worth it. But also the pleasure. I actually play all variants, everytime I chose another color depending on my mood, lol. And since Chemtrails is the album I play most of the time, it's probably not too bad I got so many variants, so none of it gets overused So regarding money my collection is probably not worth the maximum, as I use every single piece (including candles and clothing) in it, but regarding pleasure it is.

Maybe they have just sold some left overs or cancelled orders.

UPDATE: They did not reply to me yet, but to my fellow collector who complained about paying twice in the Taylor Swift store 2 weeks ago. At first he got a standard reply (they were not responsible for custom fees), but then he insisted in having already paid the VAT - and then they apologized and said they will refund him the tax paid to them (universal). So now you know what to do when coming home from the post/custom office later this March ;-) (Of course, possible toll fees when paying more than 150 EUR on merch may still need to be paid, as well as fees by the post office. They only refund the VAT included to your purchase. (Unless you already paid a toll fee with your purchase - mine were under 150 EUR so I can't tell.) additional info: For some reason, in case of my fellow collector, they also wrote a wrong value on the parcel. He paid 47 pounds (incl. shipping and VAT) but on the parcel they declared the value to be 80 pounds. What the ... are they doing??? (Remember - it may be the Swift store, but it's the same company to my knowledge) - ok, this has been solved. The parcel was sent over two countries and the second country did a mistake and changed the value... Oh my...

That's the point to maybe indeed. I did not include textbook, wildflower wildfire and blue banisters into that compilation. BB is simply kind of 2 albums (or more) :-D

Exactly this dreamy atmosphere I hear in so many BB sounds. Chemtrails sounded much more raw to me than BB. It's fascinating always how much perception differs.

I feel the same about BB. Because waiting is so hard, I now made - mixing BB and the lead single - a compilation album, which I am listening to non stop right now, and it is amazing how well the first single of the upcoming album blends into some of the BB tracks, for my ears at least...! (I still absolutely cannot picture how DYKTTAT... and A&W will sound in the same album... I cannot bring them together in my mind...) 1. Did you know... 2. If you lie down... 3. Arcadia 4. Interlude 5. Black Bathing Suit 6. Violets for Roses ... This really sounds like one album 😁❤️

LOL, very true. I think most of my recent vinyls are either made in France, Germany or Czech Republic. It's so crazy that I live in Germany but have to ask UK friends for their address to get a "made in Germany" vinyl to me. Or that I have to order vinyls made in the EU from US or Australia, because the closest supplier ships to UK only. Here's where labels could really start doing their part against climate change.

You speak out my mind. I think the shipping trouble is much worse though than the vinyl production itself. Especially, if you listen to it very often, it might be better than all those streaming hours, which cause a lot of CO2, too. That's why I really dislike artists make so many "exclusives" - shop 1 in country x has variant A, shop 2 in country y has variant B, and so on... And if you want them all, you will end up with 8 parcels from 6 different countries from 3 continents, just to read on the back of 70% of the vinyl "made in your home country" once you get them, lol. So only we as collectors can decide not to take part in this, but that's very hard. For most artists I succeed with 1 copy only, but when it comes to Lana, I just can't resist.

That's what I think, too - they won't put it up before a date when it's too late to cancel the other versions. I guess there will be signed bundles again. I still get furious when I think about the UK only signed posters last time. Took me 8 hours non stop at computer, until I was finally able to buy one, and send to a fellow collector in the UK. And then they dare months later so say they will send the bundles with the posters unsigned, with a 5 pound voucher as sorry. LOL. Not with me again. (Got my money back through a PayPal case luckily.) I can't say I like their release strategies to push the sales and charts. Your Chemtrails approach is surely healthier ;-) Usually up to max. 2 different looking variants are OK for me, too. Just not for Lana, as 2 years ago I bought another fans collection for a very good price, so mine was suddenly almost complete and somehow I really want to keep it this way. But I am not sure how long I will do so, as I really don't like to spend so much on the same thing again and again only with different packing, while people are starving at other parts of the world. Doesn't make much sense actually.

I fully agree, maybe we get the box set and a yellow vinyl in the 2 weeks around release date to push sales and charts. Was the same for me with Chemtrails. I hated spending all the money on mostly the same cover all the time (since my collection is kind of complete and it's one of my favorite albums, I felt the need to get them all, lol) . Glad this time they have way more different photos on the covers. But who knows what else will come, maybe we will top Chemtrails... 🙈

Was the same for me. Was undecided all the time, and then, after sold out, one came back and I just had to buy it, lol. Her insta pic of her holding the box kind of convinced me, too. I only hope the UK one comes with a box, too. It's only pictured on the US page.

LOL yes, we are the UK(E) (=United Kingdoms of Europe) and our president is a Monarch called King Charles But seriously, I sometimes think the US Universal Music heads really have no idea how things are working in Europe since Brexit... I "love" how I had to buy my merch in UK, the red vinyl in France, the green one in Denmark, the white one in my home country and the spotify vinyl in the US.

I am not too sure that the responsible ones of her management actually know this, lol. Her way (and other universal artists') to release stuff in the last years make me doubt it... I tend to believe they think that Europe is a country and "UK" was the name of its capital.

The thing is that I already paid them. So if they don't declare it as they should, I will have to pay them twice.

I will! :-) But I don't have much hope.

The problem is that they are not losing it really, as we just buy somewhere else and pay twice... I just sent them a message about it. Let's see what they reply. Not that I have any hopes. Hello, I have a question about the way parcels sent from the UK to EU destinations are declared. When I bought merch from the Lana Del Rey UK store few days ago, it said the VAT of my country was included, but another fan told me the same happened to him in the Taylor Swift store (also Universal Music UK) and in the end, he had to pay the VAT plus usual fees again, so he paid the VAT (plus extra fees) twice. The interesting merch (lighter, jacket, necklace) was only available from UK, so there were no other options for EU buyers. Will there be a declaration on the parcel, that the VAT has already been paid before? (Please do so.) Because if not, we will have to pay it twice. Besides I would like to know if it wouldn't be possible not to exclude EU customers from music purchases, especially when they include exclusives not available in EU stores. The exclusive spotify disc for example was for "UK only", so EU customers actually had to buy from Canada, US and Australia, because so far there was no link for EU customers. It would be really nice if this problem could be solved one day. Best regards

Sometimes I really wonder if they think "UK" means "EU". There was no release of the picture vinyl within EU, same for the more interesting merch articles. When I bought from the UK store it said the VAT of my country was included, but another fan told me the same happened to him in the Taylor Swift store and in the end, he had to pay the VAT plus usual fees again, so he paid the VAT (plus extra fees) twice.