I've ordered stuff from the U.K. and it cost me $8.00 to $10.00 in U.S. dollars to ship it. It might cost the same the other way around, not really sure.

just use a little googling for an easy exchange.
Google

so, preorder + shipping to europe would 42.57 Euro, varying sligthly due to exchange rates

If it wasn't a 3 lb collector's edition box

Welcome Yeah, Stardock had to raise the shipping rates because the CE box turned out to be 3 lbs, which is a lot heavier than they thought it'd be and so shipping costs spiked up for it, and shipping at $10 was a loss

Those who already checked out at the old price will be charged the old price. The increased shipping rates only apply to new [pre]orders.

Will the CE fit through my letterbox?

Stardock = Collector's Edition; Best Buy = regular

That depends entirely on you There are some nice shineys in the CE, whether or not you're willing to pay for them isn't for anyone else to say

I'd rather pay five dollars less and get a hard copy of the CD, some reading material, and a cool box by picking it up retail.

TBH I find the way this was handled mind-boggling: the digital only people end up getting screwed out of five bucks for ordering early and getting the same as a box, or have to pay $15 more to get the collector's edition. I realize the latter puts it on the same ground as the box + digital download set (as long as you preordered in the past and not from now on), but the former is quite odd. Is this like a surcharge for being able to download on release day without waiting for it to ship? If so, it seems to me like quite a hidden cost, the only advantage is if you're in a place where it'll never get distributed.

edit: and someone has already commented on this issue. That's what I get for not browsing a little

I wsa wondering if I saw it wrong before when the shipping was $10 to Europe. Gave me a scare when I saw it was bumped up to $30. Shouldn't have waited to pre-order apparently. Oh well.

Now I gotta decide what to do. There still isn't a European distributer right? And since Amazon doesn't seem to ship this game here either, I'll go with the stardock store. I like having the CD, and all the collector goodies are a nice bonus. But it is pricey, and it'll probably be 19% extra due to Dutch taxes.

The music CD in the collectors edition interests me, but I don't know what the music in this game is like. Any beta-players here who know? Is it like homeworld? That music was good.

OR you could have ordered over the last 12-13 months when stardock didn't know it would cost more than 5 bucks to ship it, and be locked in at the 5 dollar rate...

The shipping cost is a surprise to us too. The reason is that it's over 3 pounds (the collector's edition).

Digital downloads, however, weigh virtually nothing (unless you count the weight of electrons <g>).

We've already looked at the FedEx shipping cost. It's not much better than the USPS rate domestically and internationally would cost $60 more than what we have now.