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Thinkgeek Alternative for EU Residents?

Posted by Cliff on from the don't-forget-those-geeks-overseas dept.

Sam Lowry asks: "I was looking for a kind of Thinkgeek alternative for European consumers for whom the shipping price at Thinkgeek is sometimes bigger than the price of the gadgets. As for now, I could not find any. Do they actually exist? European geeks should feel desperate not to be able to offer themselves a Debian mug or a /. T-shirt." Sometimes it's difficult to get the necessary clearences to ship certain things overseas (like products with caffeine additives, for one). Maybe some entrepreneurial person will take a look at this and correct the problem...

6 of 24 comments (clear)

  1. APO??? by kruczkowski · · Score: 4

    Why can't they ship to APO, AE???

    I'm with the US military here in Germany and if I want to order something I need to order it to a friend in the states and he has to ship it to me.

    There is no cost differance between shipping to APO than to anyother location within the USA!



    --
    hmm... for fun I enjoy launching DDoS attacks against 127.87.42.5
    1. Re:APO??? by The+Mayor · · Score: 3

      Depending upon the final destination, there are numerous restrictions on APO packages (letters get through fine, but not packages). Some places have 1 lb. restrictions. Other places cannot take packages larger than a certain size.

      Unfortunately, short of the vendor knowing details about the military's mail delivery (that is, after it reaches New York), the vendor cannot know what the restrictions are. In these cases, the vendor simply refuses to ship to APO addresses.

      I am very familiar with this. My parents lived in Saudi Arabia for 9 years, and I had to deal with the Post Office not even knowing what can be sent. There was more than a few times that I had packages returned to me after a week or more, as they were refused at the APO site in New York.

      There are other considerations besides cost!

      --
      --Be human.
  2. I Also Find It Amazing... by Clifton+Wood · · Score: 2
    How cynical people can be. First off, I'm bypassing moderating your comment DOWN because I do believe you deserve a response, despite your rudeness and cynicism. Secondly, "ThinkGeek" is it's own entity and is not a "Slashdot equivalent" of anything. Yes, we are owned by the same company, but there is little communication between the two camps.

    It's pretty damned sad that you can't see the question for what it is (a request for help, and a valid Ask Slashdot) than as a "troll for VA ad dollars". Not a once do I even mention VA in the story (I even say entrepreneurial in the text! Since when does "entrepreneurial" imply "VA Linux"?)

    I posted this question due to the fact that there have been several questions hitting the bin mentioning that ThinkGeek has problems sending certain products to certain countries. There's not a damned thing they can do about it, either. Simple things like caffeine-added products (Penguin Mints, anyone) are ILLEGAL to send to places like Sweden!

    So there are people out there that can't get what they want from ThinkGeek and they are looking for alternatives. Just what in the hell is wrong, or amazing in all of that?

    1. Re:I Also Find It Amazing... by gmhowell · · Score: 2

      You just got trolled. Check out his posting history and you'll see.

      --
      Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
  3. Turn the question around... by Rick+the+Red · · Score: 2
    As an American, I want to know if there are any ThinkGeek equivalents in Europe or Asia so I can buy cool gadgets that are otherwise unavailable in the USA! Damn the shipping, I want cool toys that none of my friends have -- and that they can't find at Sharper Image or ThinkGeek.

    Where do the Japanese (OK, I can't read a Japanese web site -- Australian, then) buy cool gizmos online? Where do the Brits shop for toys when they shop on their Nokias? What do the Italians buy when they want to upstage their German friends?

    Inquiring geeks want to know!

    --
    If all this should have a reason, we would be the last to know.
  4. Copyleft.net by Echo|Fox · · Score: 3

    Up here in Canada I too avoid shopping at Thinkgeek because of the bloody ridiculous shipping charges. When one is already paying in US dollars (vs our "weak" Canadian dollar) getting gouged on shipping totally sucks. Thankfully, the "other" geek t-shirt'n'stuff place, CopyLeft.net has much more reasonable shipping to north of the border. It was only a couple of bucks on the last T-Shirt I ordered (the oh so spiffy BOFH t-shirt). I have no idea how their shipping is to Europe, but given that their shipping to Canada was a fraction of what Thinkgeek wanted, my guess is it would be a comparable difference.