Well i am from holland as well and i have been looking how to order this game as well. So far it seems there wont be any way to just buy it in the store on this side of the puddle. I think stardock or totalgaming also support paypal so maybe that is a solution if you dont have a credit card.

I don't think the box floats

Yeah, pay-pal works. But some of the SD guys have also mentioned that if you contact sales, it might be possible to arrange to pay via cashiers check or some other method.

Retail distribution in Europe is still under negotiation. Hopefully if all goes well it'll show up there by this summer.

Erm, some advice to those living in europe:
Nearly every single bank offers a VERY cheap debit card (credit card without credit), mine costs 1.50 euro per month. It has a normal mastercard logo and works everywhere.

If you plan on buying things online, go ask the bank.
Kroaxs: Rabobank, Postbank and ABN all offer them.
otherwise, paypall works great.

The one problem with that, is that you can't pre-order through PayPal, or at least I can't.

I'm slightly disappointed with whoever is in charge of distribution. This has to be the first game I have ever seen not to appear on Amazon.co.uk as a pre-order, and so close to its release. They usually appear a few weeks after they are officially announced by the Devs.

This will also be my first download to drive game I will have purchased, which I'm not too happy about as I greatly prefer installing and playing a game from DVD. I've heard stories about downloaded games, and the problems that can occur. Although I will get the Box aswell, I feel slightly cheated as I will have to pay a fair amount for overseas shipping.

Other than that, I'm greatly looking forward to this game, there has been a Space RTS void in my life ever since I grew out of Homeworld 2.

Not so much. With the dollar's current value, even with $10USD shipping you'll probably still be paying less than most new games in retail locally. The overseas shipped cost is just a bit over £30 / €40 (not counting any customs or VAT fees that may be levied by your own government).

Wow, buddha, your english makes me almost ashamed to be dutch...

so, here's the answer in dutch, for you, and all the other dutch people who need some help (at least three here):

Als je met customer support mailt, heeft Kryo gezegd dat het goed mogelijk is gewoon een cheque te sturen, en dan sturen ze je spel terug. Verder is het niet Stardocks schuld, maar de schuld van de europeanen die het spel niet willen verspreiden. Je kan, na release, ook gewoon het spel online bestellen met Paypall, dan heb je ook geen creditcard nodig.

met verzendkosten erbij zit je dan ongeveer op 40 euro, das nog steeds minder dan het winkel zou kosten. Met een beetje pech moet je wel dubbel BTW betalen, maar dan is het nog steed 48 euro. maakt dus weinig verschil.

ja be dankt man aleen met py pal moet je ook weer een acoundt hebben en dan ook nog geld daar op hebbn dus ja dat wort verveelend na ja ik zie wel wat ik doe eerst maar is die custmer suport bellen maar bedankt voor je reply ps ik ben dislecties v daar geberekig nederlands en engels   ps als jullie veel rts games speelen ik ben op zoek naar nog meer mensen die dan samen kunen spelen niet per see aleen desen game ik ben een game freak en heb veel games als er iemand intressen heeft en veel kan spelan laat het me dan even weten tanks gr buddha

cheers for the help guys, especially from stardock themselves, nice to know exactly where i stand... (reaches for credit cards)..
oh and i still haven't outgrown homeworld

Someone somewhere has been payed to sell this game to the European companies etc, clearly he or she didn't do as well as their employer hoped. I can understand one of the major retailers not taking on this game, but all of them? Surely a big point to make would have been to say something like; "By selling this game at your website/store, you will be the only major distributor in the UK (or where ever)."

I have no idea how it works, or who is in charge, but thats what it looks like from my perspective. Games you have never heard of and are a decade old are available on Amazon, I doubt they get any more than one sale a month, but they are still on there. Sins seems to be growing in popularity the closer the release date gets, in the first month I bet they'd sell a fair few.

To the point of shipping, yes your right, it is next to nothing, my main problem was the fact I can't preorder with a debit card through PayPal.

may have solved it... $10 charge for overseas and $5 for us addys... Fingers crossed!!!