The Wonderful 101: Remastered Kickstarter campaign was a huge success, but admittedly the release of the game (both digitally and physically) hasn't gone quite as smoothly. Most recently, backers located in the UK have reported being hit with import fees of about £17.00.
An email we received from Nintendo Life user farmer_humpf informed us about how they had received a note from Royal Mail to tell them that their copy of The Wonderful 101: Remastered would not be delivered because of an "unpaid customs and handling fee" of £16.82.
If I pay this fee I will have paid over £50 for a late copy of the game. I could have ordered the game from BASE in the UK for £32.
This isn't an isolated case, either. If you look over on the game's Kickstarter comments page you'll see similar complaints - with a lot of backers also mentioning how they've paid a premium price, waited for months, and could have acquired the game much sooner (and cheaper) if they didn't support the campaign.
Many backers on Kickstarter believe this is Platinum's fault and have pointed out how it made "no mention" of import fees.
According to Kickstarter's Support section, this must be made clear in the reward description and in the project description. Backers in other parts of Europe have also reported copping a similar fee.
Have you had to fork out a bit extra to get your copy delivered? Tell us down below.
[source kickstarter.com]
Comments 177
Wow this company is something else. I’m never buying from them again. What a nightmare.
I've been hit by this and I am not happy. For the crime of... supporting a game I love, I am not only receiving it much later than if I had bought the retail release, but also at a higher price (£37.38 for the game and shipping from Kickstarter instead of just under £32 from Base) -and- I have to fork out almost half that again due to customs and handling fees.
I got this yesterday, had no choice but to pay for my game to arrive on Tuesday. Admittedly, their shippers said “we are not responsible for any local duties, VAT, or taxes”, but still. Glad to have supported the Kickstarter, but this really doesn’t help.
Just another reason to avoid Kickstarter like the plague.
@TG16_IS_BAE,
So true.
I had been saying this for years that any games being done through Kickstarter aren't as good as they make it out to be but did anyone listen nope. Doesn't matter if Shigeru Miyamoto or Hideo Kojima themselves make a game, if it's through Kickstarter you bet I'm not jumping into that ship. People kept supporting these practices and still are surprise why they kept getting screw, like c'mon you know what's gonna happen and ya kept pretending it'll get better, no it'll never get better. If they could get away with it, it won't get better. Just stop supporting anything from big name company using Kickstarter, support the indie but big name dev like PlatinumGames, just no. Even if Square Enix put the next Final Fantasy XVI through Kickstarter or a remake of FFVI were only through Kickstarter, I wouldn't care to support it. Big name and Kickstarter are a scam, don't support it, many projects with big names attached often became scummy ex: Shenmue 3, Mighty No. 9, Unsung Story, Yooka-Laylee, Project CARS, the All Controller, Smach Z, Platinum Games, the Atari VCS, etc.
I know it sucks, but I'm not sure why it's such a surprise. When they say "we are not responsible for any local duties, VAT, or taxes" then...strangely...that's exactly what they mean.
Pretty much every product I've ordered from outside the UK over the years has had a customs charge levied against it by the UK government. It isn't a new thing, and it isn't something that Kickstarter or Platinum really have any control over. They can offer to build the customs fee into the shipping cost, but then people would be apoplectic that the digital edition is £29 and the physical edition is £60.
I don't see how they win other than by not offering a physical edition, which people would then kick off about.
@retro_player_77
Whilst I agree that is true 99% of the time, Shovel Knight has been nothing but a total success.
@retro_player_77 Good for you. Not sure why you've gone off on a rant about games being bad when the article is about customs charges, but you do you.
Meanwhile, I'll sit here playing the digital version of The Wonderful 101 Remastered that is exactly what I thought it would be, that I backed digitally for £29, and that was delivered without a problem.
@TheFullAndy That's cause Yacht Club Game wasn't a big name when they made that game, they became a big name after it found success.
@SuperKMx I've ordered games, artbooks, soundtracks and albums from Japan in the past 5 years and not been hit with customs fees.
@SuperKMx for me, the thing is, that they not mentioned it during the campaign. They had a function to calculate the shipping fees and this would be the perfect opportunity to remind customers outside of Japan about potential custom fees.
Also, blinded by the campaign, I thought backing it would be the only way to get a physical copy and I happily paid the extra sending fee. Now knowing it is available physical beside the campaign makes me feel cheated (either by myself because I didn't read carefully enough or by Platinum, doesn't really matter).
While I agree that they got screwed over, they do seem to forget they necked the game do it would be made. If they didn't back it, there is a chance it might not have been made. Hopefully Platinum does something to make this right, though i have a feeling it might not happen.
@EllenJMiller Indeed. Items can get through without a charge.
Yet, I paid £26 customs fees on a £100 Taiko no Tatsujin drum a couple of months back, an £18 fee on £30 of t-shirts last week, and forked out £12 in fees for four second-hand Japanese PS2 games the week before that.
If you order a non-essential product, you can (and often will) get hit with customs fees. It isn't something Platinum, nor Kickstarter, can control.
@retro_player_77
Missed that part. Yep fair enough.
@retro_player_77 Yep, it’s akin to gambling, might get something good, but the chances are pretty slim.
@SuperKMx If you love to enjoy crap version of last gen game that's your problem. This is to remind people that Kickstarter project with big names attach to it are scummy and that's not even my opinion that's a fact. Even the All controller which had Rerez supporting it end up been a production failure and Shane the guy who was going to promote the thing end up leaving the team. Yasumi Mitsuno, the Final Fantasy Tactics creator who pitch Unsung Story, left the project just when the money started rolling in and the game was about to be developed. Now they gave that project to an indie developer to fix the mess. Even the Atari VCS is still not out yet and those idiots claim to launch it in weeks, not months, will it's almost half the year and it still ain't out. If you still believe that Kickstarter with big names equals good product then sure go and support it see if the quality met your standard that is if it'll even be release. Wonderful 101 at least was lucky enough to get release and the only reason was cause it's just a lazy port, nothing else. They could had still port the game without even ebegging on Kickstarter.
Never. Ever. NEVER EVER back something. Ever.
Kickstarter is such a scam lol.
@tyranexx I haven't noticed anything like this. Did you get hit? Or is it UK only?
Platinum really dropped the ball, I’m so glad I didn’t back the game.
I'm more surprised that people still support kickstarters.
@retro_player_77 "This is to remind people that Kickstarter project with big names attach to it are scummy and that's not even my opinion that's a fact."
You need to learn how opinions and facts work, because you clearly don't understand either.
Didn’t get hit by this in the US, but this seriously does suck.
Big surprise, importing from abroad comes with custom charges
Kickstarter isn't 'a scam' and neither are Platinum who wouldn't be aware of the various customs charges. What is a scam however are the customs charges that you can end up paying on imports.
The purpose of the charge is because the product hasn't incurred the VAT you would normally pay on a product (speaking for the UK at least), so the VAT on W101 would probably be in the region of around £6 which i think is fair enough. The bigger issue is that they (Royal Mail) then stick a 'handling fee' of around £10-12 on top of that for the privilege of putting a sticker on it and telling you that you need to pay up.
I've paid somewhere in the region of £15 in charges on a US$20 game before now. It's a joke really.
I have sold shirts shipped from the states to a over the world and the only country that ever throws a import tax on them (at random I might add) is the UK. The tax is absurd too, literally 50% of the cost of the shirts themselves. This is a problem with the UK policies, not the shipper of the goods, how can the shipper possibly be aware of the constantly fluctuating tax import policies of every country in the world? If anyone should be aware of this it's the citizen of the country ordering the item.
The late shipment of the game is on Platinum, however.
Not sure why people are blaming Kickstarter for this. The platform has nothing to do with this.
More of the Royal Mail’s fault, I ordered my Evercade from the U.K. to the U.S. it took a little over two weeks to get here. (The tracking claimed it was in San Fransciso for a week and then ended up in Wisconsin for a two day stay.)
During the fortnight I was reminded of the beginning of Cast Away about 87 Hours being an eternity.
Of course there will be people saying annoyed backers are stupid and Platinum is amazing etc etc
I don't plan on supporting Platinum again and I'll make sure to buy Bayonetta 3 used or on sale. Ffs, this campaign has been a nightmare, and stop saying it's because of the pandemic.
I remember complaining about how they messed up the whole Kickstarter in other posts and obviously had to endure a barrage of bullying because of my opinion. And yet here we are again, with yet another mess. Backers end up paying almost double the cost of buying it off retail. How is that even remotely fair?
My copy hasn't even left the US yet, god knows when it'll arrive and how much Royal Mail will charge me for customs, but by the time I get the game I'll be so annoyed that I won't think of playing it anytime soon tbh. It just has been a very sour experience overall.
And all this just for a mediocre game.
I had to pay £16.82 in customs to to go and pick this game up. Absolutely ridiculous. £8 of that isn’t even import, it’s a handling fee because the customs wasn’t paid up front. I never get this when I buy from limited run games in the US.
Why do some things sent to the UK from abroad have customs fees and others don’t?
wtf is customs charges and why does it seem like such a scammy scummy bs
like i've gotten ton of stuff in australia from various countries around the world and never been told OH YOU HAVE TO PAY $30 EXTRA THANK
I'm not from the UK: Can they ask for a fee on something that didn't cost anything?
Because as far as I understood kickstarter, you are not "buying" stuff. You "donate" money, but are promised a product in return for certain amounts of money.
(This also means that you don't get refunds if the kickstarter fails to deliver, like a friend of mine had to learn painfully with a finger tracking system).
So while backers did indeed spend money on it, they didn't really buy it. They donated and get a "gift" in return.
And this is one of many reasons I never back stuff.
Here are the rules for those who may be unaware, for future reference:-
From: https://personal.help.royalmail.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/143/~/ive-received-a-grey-fee-to-pay-card
The word "may" in the first line is important. It explains (to an extent) why some people will not have to pay this charge.
yeah, I got hit by it. £16.15 to be exact.
@RazumikhinPG “had to endure a barrage of bullying because of my opinion”
If you can prove that you flushed your own head down the toilet as a result of said bullying, you get +10 e-victim points.
I was starting to wonder if my copy is ever going to arrive.
I guess I know now reading this it’s on its way.
My first and likely last Kickstarter experience.
@NintendoByNature I haven't noticed anything yet, though just to be sure I'll be checking the balance on the card I used later.
IIRC from the forum thread, the point of origin for many of the physical copies was in the US. So Customs in the UK (going by @SuperKMx 's post above) could definitely flag physical copies for extra charges.
@Bensei
Yes. If the item is marked as a gift and the total price of the item and shipping is over £39, then the 20% VAT + courier handling fee applies. If the item is marked as goods, then the threshold is only £16. And, in a way, by choosing a reward tier which comes with physical products, you are "buying" it. Sure, the shipper (Yetee, in this case, it looks like) could undervalue or mark as a gift, but the volume/if they have their logo on shipping labels/etc could raise a few eyebrows as they go through customs, so it's safer for them to mark everything as goods/the real value (I think companies can be fined for not declaring or, if something goes wrong with the shipment, the buyer won't be able to get the full cover on the items).
Doesn't help that Platinum didn't need their project kickstarted in the first place. I think they were merely gauging interest or something.
I remember getting hit with charges with a Pokemon DVD i ordered from Amazon what shipped from the US, it was a nasty sting but it did make me take note of stuff like this in future. That said its easy to assume you wouldn't get stung with this considering its Kickstarter and Platinum so i get why people are angry.
I can't moan about import charges. It's a thing that come with the territory of...well, y'know, importing.
Granted, it's careless not to make it clear they are a thing.
They haven't had a stella time on kickstarter. Putting a game on to gauge interest isn't in the spirit of it either. Cheeky.
Not sure why so many are raging about Platinum and Kickstarter, I doubt this has anything to do with either of them.
@Tyranexx cool I never checked the charge. But let me know what you see when you take a look
@Alaninho are victim points super effective against absolute scumbag neckbeard trolls like you? Here, have some +10 misses-the-point points, do whatever you want with them.
Lol if you're mad about the custom fees on the game wait till they ship out the physical rewards later in the year.
Finally received my physical copy Wonderful 101 on Switch. The UK version was sent from the USA rather than EU. I had to pay customs charge of £16.32. Rather than the initial backer fee of £39.99 my copy of Wonderful 101 has now cost me £56.31. Not happy ☹️☹️
@Ashunera84 backers paid more for a game and got it later than non-backers who bought the game off the shelf. If no one is at fault here, can you explain why backers ended up paying more for the same product without no extra-perks?
It was clearly stated in the agreement that all S&H fees and taxes would be on customer’s end.
Can someone explain my how this is Kickstarter's fault?
You should be blaming Platinum and Yetee.
@NintendoByNature Didn't notice anything weird on my last bill (I check all transactions when the bill comes up), but it's possible it made it onto my next upcoming one. We'll see. I didn't have any problems with delivery, however.
Best way to have done this is for Platinum to have shipped them all together in one package to a distribution center somewhere in the UK who could have then shipped to individuals? Slower and more potential for items to go missing though.
And with a hard Brexit, paying customs will be the standard for UK in future. Me as a German must pay customs for importing this game from the US, though.
I didn't back this project (but have backed other projects that shipped from the US), and I always made a note to find out for myself whether extra fees would be incurred (and how much they might turn out to be). It's hard to put the blame on either side, yes Platinum/Yetee should've mentioned it sooner, but backers shouldn't have gone in assuming they wouldn't have to pay anything more. Maybe Platinum could've offered a delivery option which came with the fees prepaid, but I don't know if Yetee offer prepaid delivery, or how much it'd add to the shipping prices (and, whether people would still back, even with increased prices, but knowing that the extra fees would already be sorted).
Got mine Digital on PC. Got it on time and works/looks great. That is the safest option on Kickstarter.
And me playing Bayo3 or Babylon's fall has nothing to do with this.
@RazumikhinPG such a bully.
@Bisylizzie perhaps Platinum could have found a way to send a UK copy to UK backers from the UK rather than from the US. Why is it that I can buy this game from a UK retailer without paying custom fees?
@RazumikhinPG physical backers also got an additional Steam code for another copy of the game. Yeah, things suck in the world of COVID-19. That's where you can place your blame. Maybe they should've just delayed it for everyone, would that have felt better?
Those defending platinum and attacking those explaining simple facts.
Big companies do not need to use Kickstarter. It’s a scummy practise. Fact. It’s to milk extra from their core fan base.
Indies is Fine but these companies do it to milk as much as they can with no risk and little effort. When you remove risk from business it never ends well.
No good deed goes unpunished.....
Ten pounds of that fee is Royal mails filthy 'handling' fee, which they apply for doing absolutely nothing. It's an import package, there will be fees. I just paid £17 pounds also to collect my Dreamcast controller, which was also backed on kickstarter.
You guys are all helping justify the fact that I prefer to buy digital.
I kickerstarted this game and got the digital version of the game which was cheaper than the physical version, had no shipping costs, no import costs and showed up weeks before release date.
@Stocksy How many Big companies do you run???
@Ashunera84 you can't blame everything on Covid-19. From the time I backed this project till today I bought between 20 to 30 games, some new some old. None of them involved delays or extra fees. Why?
Distribution companies are working around the clock to restore their services to pre-pandemic levels and most have made an excellent job. Platinum have made a stupid amount of money with this Kickstarter campaign (for a game that was already done, but not ported). Surely they could have forked the extra cash to please the backers by using a more robust delivery service. You could tell Yetee isn't exactly a Premium service when they messed up things like backers addresses and copy version, etc.
I won't claim I know exactly how delivery companies and warehouses work, but as a frequent video game customer, I know I've had tons of more pleasant experiences in the world of Covid-19. And there must be a reason for that.
This is why I've only helped Kickstart digital stuff like Hollow Knight.
This is why, whenever I shop something to the UK from America and customs ask me the value I put what the item cost me to manufacture not the retail charge so it will be under the customs threshold.
@Tyranexx nice, I doubt anything happened then. Like you said, It was shipping from the U.S.
@RazumikhinPG I'll guess that this is down to their fulfilment partner, The Yetee. As far as I'm aware, they don't have other distribution centers, UK or Europe or otherwise, that would be able to do this, so can only send straight from the US, which then ends up incurring the customs fees. The customs fee is the 20% VAT that ends up becoming part of the price/RRP that the UK retailers will charge (the handling fee is an extra charge from the courier, "to help cover the cost of additional handling, administration, collection of monies and provision of facilities for Customs clearance of packages." - as customs clearance is not needed from getting the item from the retailer to you, because you're already paying the VAT in the item's price, that's why you don't pay it on items that are just going from one UK address to another)
I finally got my copy with no extra fees, but I am pretty irritated that backers got the game so late. Like the article said, backers (who actually made the release possible) should’ve been the priority.
I was a backer myself. Unfortunately still haven't received my physical Switch copy and had to settle with a Steam key for now. This is ridiculous
Something I haven't seen anyone here mention, but supposedly (according to some people in the Kickstarter comments) Yetee completed the customs declaration form incorrectly, stating the game's value is higher than it actually is, which resulted in higher tax fees. If this is the case, then that is really *****.
I can't verify as I haven't received my copy yet. Can anyone here?
@Bisylizzie so instead of having every backer pay for handling fees for each copy sent from the US to the UK, why couldn't they have come up with a way to ship all the copies to the UK and then ship them to each backer? That way backers wouldn't have to pay custom charges or handling fees, right? The same way it happens when you buy the game from a UK shop.
Also why are they shipping the US version of the game to UK backers instead of a UK version of the game?
The import tax was always going to be a thing, I'm good with that.
Not sure what Royal Mail actually do for the £8.00 handling fee though, other than force people to pay it if they want their package.
The worst part, their site is the biggest POS I've ever used. It took me over an hour to load a few ****ing pages in order to pay and get the game delivered on Tuesday. I thought we were supposed to be living in 2020, not 1998.
As soon as I've got the game, I feel like emailing them and charging them a handling fee for my time wasted. Probably about £8.01.
@RazumikhinPG one can't "blame everything" on COVID-19, but international shipping absolutely is something impacted heavily by it. For really obvious reasons.
The store-bought version is not identical to the most basic backer version. Different covers, and all DLC are included in the basic backer version, on top of a Steam code for all physical backers. So there are "extra perks" you're ignoring or not aware of.
People backed the game in yen, not local currency, and this was very obvious at the time. Games tend to have slightly different regional pricing, and those will fluctuate. Buy a Japanese game and it may come out to a different amount depending on your location. I go in having done a little research and buy (or don't) with these things in mind and that results in not being upset in the end.
One can also complain about how "scummy" it is for an established business to use kickstarter, but from a business point of view, it's a smart decision in some cases. It will often result in companies doing things that wouldn't have been worth the risk in a world without a kickstarter campaign to gauge interest.
Right I’m starting to have enough if Kickstarter now as I’ve had issues in one way or another for example
Yooja Laylee, upgrade people on other platforms to physical version but Switch gamers got gold to rebut the game ON TOP of the pledge they already made if they want physical
Yooka Laylee socks came a lot later than stated I was supposed to have 2 pairs due to the delay and I got ONE
Revival Survival still waiting
W101 remastered is possibly going to be final time supporting stuff on KS
@RazumikhinPG As I said, The Yetee don't have the resources available to be able to offer that as a service - to do so, they'd have to partner with another company. But, in theory, if they had been able to do that, then yes, backers wouldn't have to pay the handling fees, and the VAT you'd have to pay would be added to make up a new shipping cost (again, as said, when you buy from a UK retailer, the VAT is added into the price you'll pay the store).
As for the US version thing, I'd assume that all backer versions are the exact same version (unless they did a survey to find out what versions people wanted), so it wouldn't matter where they shipped from, or just all being made in the same factory, and then all shipped together to save on costs going from the factories to the fulfilment center.
Still waiting for my copy. Clearly calculating the VAT on it. Feel sorry for anyone now not able to pay the import fees.
@Bisylizzie Hmm, thanks for clarifying that.
Sucks though, as this means essentially the customer gets essentially no customer proection rights (if kickstarter TOS haven't changed since this happened to my friend in 2014), bu has to adhere to all the downsides.
@wolvesboy
Your problem is not with Kickstarter, it's with those individual companies.
That's like going to the grocery store, buying a bag of potato chips, finding the wrong flavor inside, then blaming the store and not the company that made them.
Anyone who backed this game got scammed. Platinum even admitted it. Millions of dollars raised for a game that was already complete, they straight up lied to their fans. Then they pulled that stupid April Fools trick. Now kickstarter backers are getting burned with late arrivals and added fees. I don’t trust this company, the money and success has made them arrogant and shady.
still waiting for mine. this is the first and last time I back a kickstarter
@SuperWeird No one was scammed or deceived. PlatinumGames made it clear day 1 that the Kickstarter was made to fund the publishing of the game on multiple consoles, the development of DLC, and backer rewards.
@TheDragonDAFan The game was already made, it didn't need to be funded. That was just pure profit on their behalf under the guise of funding the game. That is purposefully misleading their backers, so yes it is a scam.
@SuperKMx Question from North America: were any of the assessed products you ordered from Europe? If you were paying such fees on EU products before Brexit... that would intrigue me.
@SuperWeird The game didn’t need to be funded, but the publishing, the DLC, the backer rewards, the remixed soundtrack, and the orchestral recordings did. They made that clear in the Kickstarter FAQ and subsequent interviews. It was obvious the moment the Kickstarter was announced that it was made for those reasons I listed and the base game was already finished.
Yet to recieve my copy and I live in the UK. Luckily, tomorrow is pay day and as much as the customs charge has irritated me somewhat, at least I can somewhat prepare for it now. Thanks Nintendo Life. If this has taught me anything, it's to read the small print before supporting Kickstarter projects. I have no one to blame other than myself
I'm still waiting for it to arrive in Mexico, I hope I don't have to pay any import fees.
Happened to me!
Kickstarter isn't 'a scam' and neither are Platinum who wouldn't be aware of the various customs charges.
@Morph You and others making this point are not incorrect. Even so...
I am not personally certain how I feel about Kickstarter. I've never backed a project. Failures like this, however, inevitably have an effect on the platform and the very concept of backing.
The reputational damage to Kickstarter and Platinum is real. (This is a failure for a self-published product, Platinum!) I do find that Platinum has abused Kickstarter somewhat in this process - the final product was practically on the point of shipping when donations were being accepted. And then, to find that the physical product was widely available (in North America at least)... something doesn't feel right here. Can you block this, Kamiya?
EDIT: Platinum, as the publisher, MUST be or become aware of things like import fees, and warn their UK customers at the point of donation. That is both ethical and sound business sense. If they don't wish to become familiar with the ins and outs of major Western markets like the UK, they shouldn't take those GBP. The argument that Platinum was ignorant or not responsible is particularly worthless when they shipped physical copies to retail in the UK!
I think they were merely gauging interest or something.
@Moistnado I originally accepted that explanation. Then I saw physical copies at retail - scant months later.
It's not Kickstarter's fault. If anything it's Platinum Games. I've supported a couple of Kickstarters that would ship me a physical item and the campaign always stated that the cost of the pledge to pre-order the item includes taxes and shipping fees. If the UK is a special case that requires import tax (I live in North America), then the campaign should have stated "Sorry, UK backers, but because of UK law, you need to pay X more." Then UK backers could decide "is this worth it?" before putting down the money.
@TheDragonDAFan
Pre-kickstarter:
“The Japanese studio is indeed reviving the game for modern consoles, and yes, it's using Kickstarter to make it happen.
It's looking for $50,000 for funding for The Wonderful 101: Remastered, with the Switch version being the first to unlock.”
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/02/ywonderful_101_confirmed_for_nintendo_switch#comments
Post kickstarter:
“The actual reason we decided to do a Kickstarter campaign was not for funding at all, it was more about gauging interest in The Wonderful 101.”
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/03/platinumgames_admits_wonderful_101_kickstarter_had_nothing_to_do_with_raising_funds
No idea why anyone backed this game anyway. And it’s not a good port. Can’t trust another gaming company 🙄
@COVIDberry No. The Taiko drum was from Japan, the PS2 games from Japan, and the shirts from the States. Brexit or not, the rules are applied seemingly at random.
"Any goods imported into the UK over the value of £15 are liable for import VAT. Gifts between private individuals over the value of £39 are also liable for VAT. Goods and gifts over these values may also be liable for customs duty." say the rules. Yet I bought £300 of drum equipment from Thomann in Germany and didn't pay a penny in fees. A week later, I bought a £10 Dreamcast game from an eBay seller in France and got hit with a £12 customs charge.
It makes it difficult for both the buyer and the seller to have any idea what's going on. As a buyer in the UK, you essentially have to assume that you're going to get charged, and then take it as good fortune if you don't.
Im in Ireland so it still hasnt arrived yet, but at least now I know what to look forward to...
@sandman89 Neither is Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy but you don't hear us trolling on you
good thing I stayed away from the Kickstarter
@SuperKMx Let me say first that IANAL, let alone a trade expert. I feel for you. According to every source I've found, including your government, you shouldn't have paid any customs fees for that Dreamcast controller.
https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad
I am fascinated by this matter of Brexit, but I know the moderators here would rather discuss anything else. I find the charges and restrictions between Canada and the US to be frequently absurd - I have passed up several game purchases as a result - but these two countries are not part of an economic union, either...
@SuperWeird The "post-Kickstarter" article that you copied says right above the quote that you copied that the money is going towards backer rewards, DLC, and stretch goals. The quote that you used from the "pre-Kickstarter" article is not a quote from the developer. It's from the writer of the article. If you go on the Kickstarter FAQ, in the first question it states, "With your support, we hope not only to bring The Wonderful 101 to a wider audience on a variety of platforms, but also to add some content that will enhance the experience even more! This campaign is your chance to empower us to pursue self-publishing and take our destinies into our own hands," which is saying they also needed the money to publish the games on Steam and PS4.
The more I know about this the less I like this developer. Kickstarter should only be for tiny indie game developers with no resources. And meanwhile Kamiya blocks you and runs with your money...
@COVIDberry Absolutely, there's no reason I should have paid customs fees on that item. Like I say, the rules are applied seemingly randomly and contesting them is pointless.
If you so much as hint that you aren't going to pay, they just throw an "unpaid fee" sticker on the package and return it to sender.
I backed this kickstarter and I don't regret it, not only I loved the game, but I did what I wanted, vote with my wallet for more Nintendo games on PC.
But I knew that ordering physical stuff was not a good idea, I still don't want to support more of those Kickstarters unless it is really something I like.
at least limited run takes care of that nonsense
@SuperKMx
This is the same thing I thought once it mentioned UK buyers. Other powers are at play here, and not necessarily the company can avoid other than warn of the extra fees. (Or pay for them themselves which are quite sizeable) this is why I went digital.
@RazumikhinPG It’s worth noting that the only company hurt by you doing that is Nintendo. As Nintendo is paying for its production. Platinum will already have the money, the unit sales of Bayonetta 3 will primarily end up at Nintendo.
And of course, if everyone follows suit, there is no Bayonetta 4
Yeah, simple if you order something from a different country, you have a chance you need to pay customs. Even if you buy it online. I've had a couple of times buying from Play-Asia that I needed to pay customs. I knew that beforehand so all is fine.
@LavaTwilight what are you talking about 🤪
@graysoncharles It was just a question.
@Dringo I'm ok with that. I honestly have no reason to keep supporting Platinum and I won't pay full price for any of their games again. As a consumer it's the only thing I can do to show dissatisfaction, other than leave my comments online and wait for people to go like "but Platinum is amazing, shut up".
I don't know why people are saying keep away from Kickstarter. This is a problem from any import. Ordering fromPlay-Asia gets me everytime. Last time royal mail said they would hold my package until I paid the £27 charge. They " return to sender" back to Play-Asia after two weeks, after I didn't collect it( wasn't going to pay the fee) and I got refunded after a month.
@sandman89 your avatar... im sure it was... o nevermind...
@SuperWeird
I paid around $45-50 for a physical copy.
I got a free Steam code I sold on eBay for $30.
When I receive the physical copy (possibly next week according to tracking), I plan on selling it on eBay for at least $50-70.
Who is getting scammed again?? 🤑
Another reason Kickstarter is BS
@Ashunera84 if I backed in yen why is my game coming from the US rather than from Japan?
I did realize the game could probably come from outside the UK when I backed the project, but I couldn't have guessed all the mess that would come afterwards, pre and post pandemic.
If they, as a company, can't see how their backers might feel mistreated for paying more for a game than if they had just bought if off the shelves, then they're a company I don't care about anymore.
Tell me one thing they did right with this Kickstarter, apart from successfully porting a game that was already done (which isn't very impressive when you think tonnes of games get ported without the need for a Kickstarter campaign).
@KillerBOB why would anyone buy it for $50? In the UK you can get it for £32.
I've been hit for this, and it's a bit annoying. Had they put £16 extra on the backer fee then I guess i might not have done it. What's equally annoying is I was out, and the royal mail website has been unable to take payment to get redelivery.
I haven't had this with other kickstarter campaigns, but then I've had complete failures so at least this time I should get a product. Eventually. Kickstarter remains hit and miss. This one goes in the middle.
@KillerBOB I never considered that. Smart idea!
@KillerBOB true but can’t help but feel burned by all of these
I know one of the campaigners owners personally, nice guy but still didn’t get my perk unfortunately
Like I said I may back in the future but it’s all a bit disheartening when each one you’ve backed has had an issue
@Chris77
I just don't have time to play the game now anyways, plus it seems to run worse than the Wii-U version I've played through twice.
The Kickstarter version seems to be going to a higher price on eBay so I'm just gonna sell it
@RazumikhinPG "why is my game coming from the US?" Because many businesses have things manufactured partially or fully in different countries? Fact is, you agreed to pay in yen on the kickstarter page. This was not hidden from you.
What pre-pandemic mess are you talking about? The pandemic has covered the entire duration of this Kickstarter's life.
Games get ported all the time, but self publishing (for the first time) a remaster for an originally poorly-sold game would be a risky endeavor at best without Kickstarter. Self publishing allowed a PS4 and Steam release.
The only other option might've been to delay other versions. What purpose would that serve? Kickstarter also warns you about literally all of these issues before you even sign up. Platinum also gave away literally thousands of copies of the game because of the shipping issues.
I know Nintendo is a child friendly brand but I didn't realise so many would be commenting here.
The vast majority of comments here are from people who either A) Don't understand how Kickstarter works, B) Don't understand how VAT works, C) Can't read.
@Ashunera84 If you're going to selectively ignore points I raised and manufacture facts, I'm done with this conversation.
If I agree to pay in yen, I expect the item to come from Japan. As you seem to be unaware, a simple Google search will tell you the Yen is the currency of Japan, not the USA.
Campaign was launched on February 3rd. Pandemic was declared on March 11th. Lockdown measures didn't happen in the UK until the 23rd of March, and I believe much later in the US and Japan.
If you want to find out what mess I'm talking about, simply search here (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/platinumgames/the-wonderful-101-remastered/posts) for the following keywords: "error", "mistake" and "sorry".
PlatinumGames admited they didn't need the Kickstarter campaign to self-publish campaign: https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/03/platinumgames_admits_wonderful_101_kickstarter_had_nothing_to_do_with_raising_funds
Platinum gave away thousands of free Steam copies, for people who don't even have a computer capable of playing the game, or a Steam account. That's Wonderful.
We know backing projects comes with risks, but we tend to expect them to be reasonable and not just a consequence of half-assed executions. And the risk works both ways: the backers risk not getting anything and the creators risk losing the respect of the backers. Speaking for myself, I don't respect Platinum anymore. And you can defend them all you want.
I nearly back one project every month on KS and I can say, that at least for the boardgame sector, it is fine to do so.
And basically every project clearly communicates if it is EU-, UK, USA, etc shipping friendly. So, if here unexpected VAT costs were applied, that means either:
1) It wasn't communicated by the campaing
2) The shipping company messed up
3) The project leader did some shady stuff, to save on VAT. (maybe not on purpose)
You may like or dislike KS as a platform, and especially for video games I have grown especially wary on them. But this is not the fault of the platform (or of the backer unless it was clearly stated on the campaign page)
I’m not sure what people expect?
If you get a physical product imported to you from another country, you have to pay for import fees! This isn’t their fault, that’s just how it works!
Surely this is obvious? If you didn’t want to pay import fees, then get the dlc version?
People are weird sometimes as to what they complain about.
@RazumikhinPG Ok. But it won’t hurt them.
@EllenJMiller
I guess you've been lucky. I've bought two Zelda figures from Good Smile Company and been stung for import tax on both occasions. I'll never order anything from the far East again.
@Dringo if Nintendo doesn't make enough profit from the game, they won't be so keen to publish their games again. So in a way, it does hurt them.
Planning to pick this up, but not at full price. I want the additional content. Got it on Wii U. It was good but not worth full RRP (I got it new on disc for £20). Certainly not worth what these backers have ended up paying.
Nothing unexpected for me. In Germany it is normal to pay a „Einfuhrumsatzsteuer“ of 19%, if the product from outside the EU costs more than 22€ (shipping costs included!). If you are lucky, small packages slip through.
I was surprised by the Genki Cover Dock I backed at Kickstarter, as it was sent from an european warehouse, so no extra taxes where charged. So even at Kickstarter there are nice companies with great customer support
@RazumikhinPG I am not "defending" Platinum.
Naturally, there have been some unforeseen issues (blank codes) and delays, but that is pretty typical of Kickstarters, which often provide insight into logistical problems businesses have. This stuff happens, and quite often it's out of the hands of the business you're dealing with.
If you're going to avoid products because they don't come from the nation whose currency you used for the purchase, youre going to be short an awful lot of products. This is not even remotely a reasonable complaint or expectation. In this case, your Switch was manufactured in Japan, China and the US. Game cards are manufactured in all of UK, US, Japan, China and South Korea. Both are made with components and materials sourced from more countries. The other backer rewards are manufactured in some combination of China and the US and almost certainly designed in Japan with materials sourced from more places. Localization is done in several regions, the base software itself is from Japan. Everything I just said will be true of nearly every electronic device or software you buy.
Pandemic: started before those dates. International restrictions were already well underway, not that shipping (maybe parts shipping?) was in progress before April anyway. What an international agency did in defining it as a pandemic and what Japan and western nations did internally isn't particularly relevant. The release date reveal came after the campaign which had given a delivery estimate in (I believe) November 2020, something you agreed to.
Re: Steam codes. Give them to a friend? Try selling them then instead of whining that you can't use a free thing? They did not have to hand those out at all.
If you understand all of this and are still mad at Platinum, then by all means, be mad. If you don't want to understand these things and be mad, then you must just want to be mad.
I got hit with a £15 customs fee. The post office holds the item until you pay. Platinum should have made this clear... because if this, I'm not going to be keen to support their projects in future.
Yetee, their handler, got my postal address wrong and responded that it’s out of their hands and I would have deal with it now. I mean come on, I’ve double and triple checked that I gave them the right info.
And then you got the whole Little Devil Inside KS fiasco.
Yeah, I would've been mad too. Good thing I didn't have to pay additional fees in Canada. That lenticular cover was well worth the wait.
Is not Kickstarters fault its however the company using the tool ships the games 'fault'
I back massive Boardgame campaigns and never get hit by customs because the companies in question ship the products to distribution hubs and then have 3rd party shippers issue the games out (companies like gamesquest)
If platinum got copies sent to a UK hub by freight and then shipped out direct then this wouldn't have been an issue.
I was going to back this as I love the Wii U original. But I saw the game had been made before reaching it's target goal and knew that the 'on the shelf' version would end up cheaper and more collectable anyway.
Edit: by the way, everyone should know by now that importing items usually ends up in customs fees. This article is clickbait.
Seems to me you British folks should be directing your anger at the Royal Mail and U.K. customs / taxation, not Kickstarter or PlatinumGames.
Anyway I'll go back to hiding in my apartment here in America where everything is on fire right now
US resident here, I generally expect anything that comes from outside the country to have customs fees and super slow shipping. I once had an album shipped from the Ukraine stuck for four weeks in customs and the total fees were more than the album cost. Also if you're looking to pay retail price or less than retail & don't want a risk of delays, Kickstarter isn't for you. It's more like an investment than a preorder, and an investment has risks always. The publisher could have made things more clear to the backers but it seems like a lot of people jumped on with their hype before actually understanding what they were buying into.
@Morph The ‘handling fee’ is such a scam! They have to handle the post regardless, it’s literally their job.
What’s worse though is FedEx. Never opt for them as your courier service. They’ll deliver the parcel to you no problems, then a week or so later you’ll get an invoice explaining there was customs which they paid and now you owe them that plus a $15 fee for them paying it for you, a thing you didn’t ask them to do. And because you accepted the parcel you have to pay as you’ve accepted the service. Even if you didn’t know that the parcel was coming via FedEx, so had know way upfront to know and agree to their terms. Honestly I’m not sure how it’s even legal. Charging for a service you didn’t ask for.
I have to wonder what the back cover of these games say.
Is there an "Importer in the EU: ..." credit, listing someone other than Yetee?
If so, that'd imply they were already in the EU (= should never have had customs issues) but were then sent to US and sent back to EU, so for all we know, the VAT could have been charged twice?
I don't know how anyone would go about proving that, but surely if it's an EU market product, it shouldn't have customs charges??
Unfortunately customs charges are something regular importers are used to. It's the £8 service charge (or even more with other couriers) that is the real pain.
If you order from play-asia, look for the option labeled "DDP" - you can pre-pay the VAT at checkout, though UK orders are incorrectly charged 21% VAT, so it depends on the value whether paying 21% or the £8 service charge is cheapest.
Play-asia ships everything to the EU, pre-paid and non-prepaid, to the same place (Post NL?), so I'd expect anything non-prepaid to be noticed and charged there. (They put a sticker on it to tell Royal Mail it hasn't paid customs)
It's always great to find your parcel slipped through customs, but I feel like it's not going to last much longer. America's pushing for the world to start sending customs data electronically, meaning computers will be able to identify every parcel that 'should' be charged.
So many selfish people in the comments 🤣
Wonder if this will make kickscammer news on djslopes youtube channel. Not that its a scam, just a really crappy event.
Horrible experience all around with this campaign.
What the article doesn’t mention is the fact that Platinum has all but disappeared from their Kickstarter page and has stopped replying to any comments (which they did when everything was positive) there or on their IG, and the shipping company The Yetee is also going radio silent for the most part. Nobody is taking responsibility and there are many of us with no copy at all and tracking numbers that seem to direct them to a package that hasn’t moved in over a week as of this post.
I hope someone organizes a class action suit against them. I have no idea how these things work but if it’s against the Kickstarter policy then they should be held liable.
It’s a total shame.
What amazes me is how many people still fund things on kickstarter after countless stories of bad experiences, many times on a large scale.
Tales of good things like Shovel Knight really seem to be the exception and far from the rule.
Wow, launch a false pitch to a focus group, reel in investment money, misrepresent the product, then siphon more money from the investors for the product they invested in.
I did not know Randy Pitchford ran Platinum too!
How is this not the governments fault for charging fees? I guess platinum could have opened a local office to evade this or partner with a regional publisher? I'm just speculating to be clear here.
Also for anyone thinking of platinum like a small indie that can't possibly understand taxes and tariffs when doing international business, rent here isn't exactly the face of an indie:
They are trying to become much bigger... The next capcom if you will, and they have recently seen investment by Tencent/the CCP like Epic. Mistakes like this are well beneath their position. Treat them as if they were Konami at minimum.
I have never backed anything on Kickstarter, but personally, I fail to see how that is the fault of PlatinumGames. Import fees suck ass, but they exist.
I think people are being very hyperbolic in blaming PlatinumGames for this. I have been hit with unexpected import fees when buying records.
The problem with the kickstarter is that it was said the games will be send from the us, here's was kickstarter says :
Will the backer be responsible for covering customs fees associated with shipping their reward abroad? If so, make this clear in the reward description and in your project description.
They didn't said it neither in the reward description nor in the project description.
I backed the project on february 3rd, they update the faq on february 12th to say that the game will be send from the us and didn't tell the backers. I discovered the game was send from the us when they send my tracking number.
I backed a lot of project and never had any customs fee, don't know if I'll get one ( I'm in france) but platinum should had said it clearly that the game will be send from the us for everyone. I got shenmue 3 and bloodstained physical copy and they send it for EU to EU. And since the end of the funding platinum didn't put a lot of updates, I found more info on the kickstarter on twitter, kickstarter is also a place to give inside informations on the making of the game, but they used it only as a preorder.
So, I live in the US, but I have another problem: I never received the game. Supposedly, it was left in the mailbox on the 19th, but it just wasn't there. I've contacted USPS and Kickstarter and The Yetee, all to no avail. It's really looking like I just wasted my money.
@RazumikhinPG Nintendo use them for additional development resource. If Bayonetta 3 doesn’t perform, they’ll just stop commissioning that one and get them on something else. Maybe the next Starfox or Astral Chain.
Ultimately, you’re cutting your nose off to spite your face. Platinum is looking to publish its own games. Those are the ones to target. But even then... do you really want to not play these games? I am a little more calm about the situation. Platinum has never done Kickstarter or published a game before. They’ve not done this to screw over fans. That wasn’t the intention. It’s just not gone smoothly. Physical is such a complicated and expensive thing to do. I’m surprised they went down they route. But I guess it’s what fans wanted... ironically.
I got the digital version and I’m pretty happy to have backed it.
Makes me glad i didnt back the kickstarter. A mess from start yo finish. Not entirely platinums fault i must add. I do feel for backers tho who have had to wait for their physical copies and then been hit with import charges to boot.
I saw that they would be shipping from the US and assumed there might be import duty. It was one of the things that put me off backing it.
The whole issues is, when they first started this project, nobody mentioned about Whois responsible for the fees or taxes. But backers will pay for shipping.
SOmewhere in February 2020, Yetee made a amendment at the FAQ section mentioning all other fees are for the backers.
That is to late and not well played by Yetee/platinum games.
In EU we are talking about 24EUR tax. That make the game 150% more expensive then local retail. Furthermore backers did not have an early received copy of the game since it was delayed.
Also the game was almost finished before the kickstarter project was even excist. They just want to kno if there are any attention to this port. So basically backers are screwed by them.
@SuperKMx this is so true. When your country is charging you the taxes , people blame the sender.
How do you expect the sender to pay the tax you should have calculated before you ordered?
People who has not ordered anything from another country doesn't understand the logic of taxes and doesn't know the right party to blame. it's your country and their laws dammit not the person sending you stuff.
When you live in UK your whole life and everything is at your doorstep without paying any taxes because the items purchased are already available at amazon or some other local seller that has already paid for taxes when they imported that item .
When you live in a country like mine that charges you almost 80 percent ( 20 percent was the normal , 40 percent was the economic withdrawal and 80 percent is the new normal you laugh with your rear end at the people that rant about 17 pounds of tax.
And they blame the producer for the taxes that the receiver must themselves have calculated before ordering. Thats another laugh.
A few days ago I purchased robot vacuum and paid 160 euros of tax for a 340 euro item. This was from amazon.de and they calculate the customs and shipping at the checkout. I know amazon is not asking this money for themselves , it's the customs . People need to come to their senses
I have messaged kickstarter, Yetee and Platinum about this as feel it should have been made clearer beforehand and not hidden away in FAQs.
Its fine if people were expecting these charges and it was made clear on the kickstarter page but on this occasion this was not the case and this is why people are unhappy.
Yeah Kickstarter is complete trash. They have absolutely zero protections for investors. They claim to have these policies that require the company deliver a product, but companies can just claim they are still developing it for years and years and take your money and run while Kickstarter does nothing but tell you to contact them even after you tell them they aren't responding. It's a total joke of a system that people can just exploit to steal your money. Yes, Platinum screwed up in this case, but Kickstarter will do nothing about all your complaints you send them. I purposely avoiding KS'ing this even though I was interested in getting this game again on Switch.
This is the potential problem with Kickstarter, got to pick your investments wisely and consider some extra costs cropping up. I've backed a few games so far and haven't been disappointed yet, but I'm definitely careful about which ones I pick after seeing a few pan out badly. It's still a great platform when done right, but you have to be careful.
Import tax is ridiculous, and criminal in and of itself. I already paid for everyone involved in the shipping process, already pay ridiculous and criminal amounts of taxes, and suddenly some government organisation "doesn't trust a package", opens it up, sometimes even damages the goods, and arbitrarily charges the receiver taxes AGAIN, holding your already paid for package hostage until you pay AGAIN, to organised criminals that had no business looking in it in the first place. Taxes for what? Protecting us against highway robbery? Against "criminals" sending each other goods without paying the gangster government that has nothing to do in the transaction taxes for it?
We shouldn't be blaming Platinum, we shouldn't be paying taxes, we should sharpen the pitchforks, light the torches, and storm our "protectors" and "elected representatives". And not because this one thing, but because of all their lies, extortion, disguised slave systems (calling it "job market" and the workforce "human resources" doesn't make it not slavery), hidden wars, blatant terrorism... And yes, at a more noticeable and seemingly trivial level import taxes on harmless entertainment.
I never got my physical copy.
Because of delays in shipping due to COVID-19 and etc., I moved between when it was supposed to ship and it actually shipped. NBD, didn't change the address on the Kickstarter since my old address is a friend and I could just get it from them. Problem is it was sent via USPS and with instructions to not forward, so when USPS got it and saw my change of address in place (i.e., forwarding), they disposed of it (what they do when there are instructions in place to not forward).
So, I never received it. I've reached out to them, no response.
This is the fault of your government, and to a lesser extent Yetee; not Platinum. Your government is the one slapping on the import tax which most likely wasn't a thing before the pandemic, thus wouldn't have been known by Platinum or Yetee. If/when it was known, the distributor is the one who should have informed the kickstarter, which they did, albeit 9 days after the campaign started. I read somewhere that the physical copies were being shipped from the US, so I'm sure our wannabe emperor had something to do with it too (I'm sorry, I didn't vote for the guy and I'm convinced he's the surest sign yet that humanity is going to destroy itself... but I digress). In any case, take it easy on Platinum. They're one of the few devs out there still making quality action games.
SIDE NOTE: can someone explain to me why people insist on physical copies? It's like insisting on using Post instead of email. It's slower, more expensive... I just don't get it. I get the whole DRM argument, but that only matters if the game requires a server connection to play, which in the case of single player games is stupid, but it's rarely a thing anymore. If you're worried about servers going offline and not having access to it, then doesn't the SD card you install it on satisfy as a physical backup? Just my two cents; no judgement, just curious.
@EllenJMiller if you wanted to buy the game, just buy the game. throwing down many times the cost of the game to help a multi-million dollar a year business make more money is the reason you DONATED in the first place
@NEStalgia invest money? for a decade old game that was already finished on switch before the kickstarter even started? that's not an investment, that's a donation to a for-profit enterprise.
@SegaBlueSky investments pay you. You are paying them. You're not an investor, you're a customer, and since you're frequently paying way more to kickstart than the purchase price in a store, even then you're less a customer and more the victim of a scam.
@russellohh you’re quite right that investor is the wrong word, but you’re not a customer either. You’re a backer and Kickstarter are careful about their phrasing there.
I haven’t paid more than retail price for anything I’ve kickstarted, which has included three games and probably three or four books so far. All have been cheaper than retail price (at launch anyway). It’s not something I’d do all the time but for the right project it’s a useful tool. That said, I don’t think the Wonderful 101 was the right project, especially as they admitted they didn’t need the money to do it and we’re basically using it as a preorder. That’s what put me off backing in the first place and that gut instinct has proved correct, sadly.
@retro_player_77 shovel knight was a kickstarter I believe and look how that turned out. Same for Yooka laylee or Blood stained
@Metroidswitchpls "Shovel knight was a kickstarter I believe and look how that turned out. Same for Yooka laylee or Blood stained"
So long as you ignore Bloodstained RotN on the Switch as a bad example.
@ObsidianEleven well that's a given I think, if someone was expecting a small team on a shoestring budget to port a pretty intensive game to a underpowered handheld, then they were getting there hopes up for nothing. I mean yeah they probably shouldnt have made it a stretch goal but idk what the average person was expecting really
@russellohh Investment, donation....tomato, tomatoe.....
@ObsidianEleven on a kotaku article i said i don't trust kickstarter, since so many of the games never come out. Shovel Knight was the only one i could think of, and said so- bloodstained and mighty no 9 werent out yet.
I got over 200 replies asking me if i heard ofa little thing called shovelknight.
Yes, in what, a decade of kickstarters, i have in fact heard of shovelstarter: kicknight .
@NEStalgia customer, seller, murdered, victim, person eating pizza, pizza eating a person... its all the same!
I’m really disappointed with how the company handled the Kickstarter backer rewards. I absolutely would’ve been better off just buying it digital and playing during quarantine when I actually had the time to play. I’ll still buy their games but NEVER again will I back a Kickstarter from them.
@russellohh Now you're getting it! Welcome to the 21st century, citizen!
I dont know anything about this kickstarter really but theres the general danger of importing anything from outside the EU is if you dont pay custom charges as part of ordering it you can be stuck with a hefty bill to have the item released to you when it arrives. Sometimes it goes under radar and you dont if you're lucky
Was hit by this too. Why are they shipping from an American company to the uk? There a Japanese company. It said nowhere on the project page about import fees and yeah like most other people, i have paid more than an extra 50% for a game that came out 2 months ago
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