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Anyone in Japan willing to shop and ship?

Started by spenoza, 04/19/2012, 08:59 PM

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spenoza

Yeah, it's one of those questions. Anyone in Japan right now willing to procure and ship items to the US which are prohibitively expensive to purchase inside the US or through more traditional international retail channels? Finders/service fee would be provided and payment in advance to those willing (and willing to be reliable).

Looking for some Japanese poster frames (JPN B1 posters are prohibitively expensive to frame in the US) and perhaps a few other odds and ends.

soop

Quote from: guest on 04/19/2012, 08:59 PMYeah, it's one of those questions. Anyone in Japan right now willing to procure and ship items to the US which are prohibitively expensive to purchase inside the US or through more traditional international retail channels? Finders/service fee would be provided and payment in advance to those willing (and willing to be reliable).

Looking for some Japanese poster frames (JPN B1 posters are prohibitively expensive to frame in the US) and perhaps a few other odds and ends.
Also interested if Samurai can't hook me up before he leaves.  Obviously I'm happy to add extra for effort, but I'd like someone trustworthy (i.e a long-standing member).
Quote from: esteban on 04/26/2018, 04:44 PMSHUTTLECOCK OR SHUFFLE OFF!

PunkCryborg

You could always use a Proxy bidding service to buy on Japanese webpages and YJA.

Frank_fjs

Quote from: PunkCryborg on 04/20/2012, 10:01 AMYou could always use a Proxy bidding service to buy on Japanese webpages and YJA.
Always ends up too expensive for my liking. They have too many fees nowadays, many of them are hidden too so you don't find out about them until it's too late. Only really worth it for items that are impossible to find anywhere else.

I have a friend in Japan who occasionally helps me out with a YHJ item, and I've managed to score some massive bargains this way. Had I gone through a conventional proxy service, the final price would have been insanely high and in most circumstances it's cheaper to grab the same item from eBay.

soop

Yeah, I looked into it, and I decided it was prohibitive.  Besides, hopefully, this way it's win-win as someone we like actually gets the money!
Quote from: esteban on 04/26/2018, 04:44 PMSHUTTLECOCK OR SHUFFLE OFF!

kamiboy

I second the notion of proxy bidding always ending up much, much higher than you think. Let me give you an example.

I recently bought Winds of Thunder for 1680 via SMJ which amounts to a raw price of about 20. A bargain, right? Copies of this game usually go for 80-90.

But after the shipping cost from seller to the SMJ HQ in Japan, SMJ commission and the fee for paying the seller the cost is already pushed up to about 40, and that is just the beginning. After that you have to pay shipping for the item to be batch sent to SMJ HQ overseas plus shipping from there to your residence.

At the end when all is said and done you are lucky if you saved 10 overall and you got the item several weeks later than you could have if you just went the ebay route.

Of course if you buy a big batch of things then the final shipping cost will be reduced per item, but overall you are not going to end anywhere near that very tempting low Yahoo.co.jp price that wet you appetite in the first place.

SMJ is useful under certain special circumstances though.

spenoza

Well, if there's a member of the community here who lives in Japan who's willing and able to pick up several requests, they could make a day of shopping, shipping, and collecting money from several of the folks here. Could turn out to be pretty profitable.

Then again, they may already have too many folks asking for them to get stuff for them.

VestCunt

Quote from: kamiboy on 04/20/2012, 12:31 PMI recently bought Winds of Thunder for 1680 via SMJ which amounts to a raw price of about 20. A bargain, right? Copies of this game usually go for 80-90.
BIN copies sit around on ebay for $50, auctions are cheaper. Genki has Winds for £35/$55.  Four years ago Game Express had sealed copies of Lords for $10. It's not a valuable game.
I'm a cunt, always was. Topic Adjourned.

SignOfZeta

Have you tried Amazon Japan or Rakuten? They seem to have all sorts of mundane stuff like that.

Also, yeah, Winds of Thunder isn't a $90 game. At least I don't know anyone who has paid that much for it.
IMG

shawnji

I'd do it if I lived a bit closer to a big hub of places that sell retro games.  As it stands though, I have to spend almost $50 US just to get out to Akihabara on the rare occasion that I go and it's a pretty tiring journey.  I also wouldn't want to be responsible for anything happening to your game(s) in transit.

spenoza

Quote from: shawnji on 04/20/2012, 07:51 PMI also wouldn't want to be responsible for anything happening to your game(s) in transit.
Nothing can be done about that, unfortunately. International shipping carries risks, and those risks are on the buyer. Pay up front would be the rule. When I was in Japan a trade item got lost in international mail and I was the one who got shafted. Ah well.

kamiboy

Quote from: SignOfZeta on 04/20/2012, 07:19 PMHave you tried Amazon Japan or Rakuten? They seem to have all sorts of mundane stuff like that.

Also, yeah, Winds of Thunder isn't a $90 game. At least I don't know anyone who has paid that much for it.
Whoops, I was thinking of Dracula x, which of course makes my purchase an even worse bargain.

soop

I agree with spenoza.  Risk is the buyers.  Also, personally, I wouldn't ask the other end to shop for me, strictly auctions I've found myself, payment upfront.
Quote from: esteban on 04/26/2018, 04:44 PMSHUTTLECOCK OR SHUFFLE OFF!

soop

Quote from: soop on 04/21/2012, 05:26 AMI agree with spenoza.  Risk is the buyers.  Also, personally, I wouldn't ask the other end to shop for me, strictly auctions I've found myself, payment upfront.
Anyone?  I'll give you like $10 for this one-off purchase.
Quote from: esteban on 04/26/2018, 04:44 PMSHUTTLECOCK OR SHUFFLE OFF!

spenoza

So have we established whether any of the folks in Japan right now would be willing to at least negotiate over the possibility of assistance?

SamIAm

...so, I'm in Japan, and I'm in a city with access to pretty much everything (Fukuoka). The reason why I hesitate to get in on this is because I've kind of been burned before. It wasn't a big deal, but it turned out that once I sent the thing, there were exchange rate fluctuations, paypal charges, and little extra costs involved in shipping that left me with something like -200 yen in profit.

The situation was pretty similar to this one here - a nice favor to a forum member. It wasn't exactly the other guy's fault, because he held up his end of the agreement, and it would have been silly to demand that he pay another few dollars after the fact. However, the whole thing wound up taking up a couple hours of time total and had me going out of my way, and in spite of the good karma buzz, I really didn't feel like doing it again. When asked, I didn't.

I'm not hinting at anything, but if you want to catch more interest, you should give more specifics. What exactly you want, where to buy it, how much it costs, how you want it shipped, where you live, and how you intend to pay are all pretty important.

The reality is that if you want someone to become The Japan Connection for the forum, you've got to go the extra mile to guarantee at least a little profit in it, and more so if it involves hunting something down.

spenoza

I want 2 Japanese B1 poster frames. The reason they are so hard to get in the US is that the largest dimension is a hair larger than the largest US poster frame dimension. This means that anything I get has to be custom made. In Japan, since this size is more common, a frame of some kind could probably be had more affordably. Shipping would end up sucking up the bulk of the cost. Right now I'm looking at 70+ dollars for a custom framing solution that is far nicer than I need for the couple posters I have that need it. If someone can find a source of B1 frames in Japan which would likely cost and ship for a good bit less than this, I will make sure to negotiate to make it worth your while.

I am interested in saving money, but I'm not interested in someone getting shafted for their efforts. As I've said, I had something disappear and I lost out on that trade, so I know what it's like.

SuperDeadite

I am more then willing to do trades from time to time.  But personally shopping for people that mostly want stuff cheap is a pain in the ass.  Directly importing isn't for low-ballers, it's for perfectionists who want top-quality and are prepared to pay out for it.  Let's say I live in Tokyo, and want to go to Akiba to buy shit for people.  Most likely I need to take a train or two to get there, so about 600yen per trip.  Meaning it would cost me about $15 USD just to get there and back.  And I for one live nowhere near Tokyo. 

The little details add up quickly, if I was gonna start grabbing stuff for random people, I'd charge a fortune on proxy fees cause I'd have to in order to make a profit, and the whole process is a pain in the ass, it's not even worth it for me.
Stronger Than Your Average Deadite

spenoza

Good thing I want something that shouldn't be impossible to find. Heck, what I would could be cheaply ordered and delivered domestically in Japan via internet vendors. Anyone know what Rakuten's international shipping is like?

SamIAm

#19
Quote from: SuperDeadite on 04/24/2012, 09:57 PMDirectly importing isn't for low-ballers, it's for perfectionists who want top-quality and are prepared to pay out for it.
This hits the nail on the head.

Spenoza, if you really want this to happen, you have more homework to do. You need to type ポスターフレーム b1 into google and find the exact item, store, and price. If you want someone to hunt everything down, then no offense, but nobody is going to want to do that unless you're paying premium. It's not like they sell standard B1 frames at the supermarket or whatever. You'd be asking someone to wander around specialty shops and confirm that what they find is acceptable.

First, as you said, look online to see who ships internationally, because you might find a better solution there. If you don't, but you can find a place that sells the perfect item online, then you might be getting somewhere. Still, your proxy will have to register at the site and communicate about buying the item, then go make a bank transfer (pretty common here; I don't even own a credit card) or maybe pay at a convenience store (amazon does this), then receive the item and haul it to the post office. That's a couple of hours time spent. Plus the payment and shipping fees to the first seller have to be taken into account.

Finally, how would you plan to pay? In my case, you'd have to get cash in my hand or in my bank account. Paypal has little foothold here, and paypal credit isn't worth much to most people. Nobody's going to want dollars, either.

Sorry to sound so negative, but I need to make it clear that this is nothing like picking your buddy up a Snickers bar on your way home. It's an ordeal.

BlueBMW

Man.. I wish my buddy would pick me up a snickers bar.... sounds mighty tasty!

On a side note, there is a person I use as an escrow for Yahoo JP items.  He basically charges me the auction price + shipping to him + shipping to me + 2500Y for each item.  It only works good for bigger ticket items or things that can pretty much only be bought in Japan.  Prime example of this is X68000 computers.  The guy is busy so I wouldn't ask him to track down small items for me.  He knows some of the things I'm looking for so he's always on the lookout. 

Typical breakdown of cost:

JUNK X68000 computer on Yahoo... 4000Y
Shipping to him  1500Y
Escrow Fee  2500Y
Shipping to me: $80 (surface mail)

Total cost: ~$180

So while that X68000 was only a $40 or $50 item, it ends up costing almost $200 to get it here.  Its worth it since you simply cannot get those systems stateside very easily.  When I ask him to get something, I link him the auction and inform him the maximum price I'd like to bid or the total I'd like to pay shipped to me and let him do the rest.  Usually I end up spending less than expected, but sometimes I dont win.
[Sun 23:29] <Tatsujin> we have hard off, book off, house off, sports off, baby off, clothes off, jerk off, piss off etc

SamIAm

That all sounds about right. I'd happily do the same work for the same fee, provided 2500Y was what I got after all fees. Actually, on that note, how do you pay your guy? International payment fees can often take a great big chunk all by themselves. If you accept a credit card payment, you wind up paying both for the basic service and for the currency exchange, AFAIK anyway.

soop

Spenoza, I ended up going to http://shoppingmalljapan.com.

It was specifically for a cyber stick on Yahoo Japan that I won for 3000 yen.  Hopefully it won't cost a bomb to get here surface mail, but if you like, I'll let you know the kind of service I get.  Currently waiting on one more item (I figure I might as well add a few bits and bobs while I'm shipping a huge hunk of plastic over), but I should know the cost fairly soon.
Quote from: esteban on 04/26/2018, 04:44 PMSHUTTLECOCK OR SHUFFLE OFF!

esteban

Quote from: soop on 04/25/2012, 06:14 AMSpenoza, I ended up going to http://shoppingmalljapan.com.

It was specifically for a cyber stick on Yahoo Japan that I won for 3000 yen.  Hopefully it won't cost a bomb to get here surface mail, but if you like, I'll let you know the kind of service I get.  Currently waiting on one more item (I figure I might as well add a few bits and bobs while I'm shipping a huge hunk of plastic over), but I should know the cost fairly soon.
I knew it! You want us to feel like losers, don't you? You and fancy pants are gonna have a goddamn CyberStick whilst I twiddle my thumbs atop a standard controller.

I bet Tats has ordered one as well! As far us I'm concerned, the British are just as bad as anyone from the Continent.

Spenoza, at least, has the decency to seek a poster frame. I don't give a damn about poster frames. He can have all the goddamn poster frames he wants.

[/tangent] [/diatribe] [/chemical imbalance]

 :pcgs:
IMGIMG IMG  |  IMG  |  IMG IMG

soop

Quote from: esteban on 04/25/2012, 06:34 AM
Quote from: soop on 04/25/2012, 06:14 AMSpenoza, I ended up going to http://shoppingmalljapan.com.

It was specifically for a cyber stick on Yahoo Japan that I won for 3000 yen.  Hopefully it won't cost a bomb to get here surface mail, but if you like, I'll let you know the kind of service I get.  Currently waiting on one more item (I figure I might as well add a few bits and bobs while I'm shipping a huge hunk of plastic over), but I should know the cost fairly soon.
I knew it! You want us to feel like losers, don't you? You and fancy pants are gonna have a goddamn CyberStick whilst I twiddle my thumbs atop a standard controller.

I bet Tats has ordered one as well! As far us I'm concerned, the British are just as bad as anyone from the Continent.

Spenoza, at least, has the decency to seek a poster frame. I don't give a damn about poster frames. He can have all the goddamn poster frames he wants.

[/tangent] [/diatribe] [/chemical imbalance]

 :pcgs:
:D

I've been looking hard for one - I may publish a quick article on stuff to search for actually, but the number of people who want one, it could drive the old prices up!
Quote from: esteban on 04/26/2018, 04:44 PMSHUTTLECOCK OR SHUFFLE OFF!

BlueBMW

Quote from: SamIAm on 04/25/2012, 04:00 AMThat all sounds about right. I'd happily do the same work for the same fee, provided 2500Y was what I got after all fees. Actually, on that note, how do you pay your guy? International payment fees can often take a great big chunk all by themselves. If you accept a credit card payment, you wind up paying both for the basic service and for the currency exchange, AFAIK anyway.
I pay him by gifted paypal in US dollars.  I pay a small (< $1) fee each time but it works good.  Not sure what he does on his end to convert the money.
[Sun 23:29] <Tatsujin> we have hard off, book off, house off, sports off, baby off, clothes off, jerk off, piss off etc

SuperDeadite

Quote from: BlueBMW on 04/25/2012, 09:16 AM
Quote from: SamIAm on 04/25/2012, 04:00 AMThat all sounds about right. I'd happily do the same work for the same fee, provided 2500Y was what I got after all fees. Actually, on that note, how do you pay your guy? International payment fees can often take a great big chunk all by themselves. If you accept a credit card payment, you wind up paying both for the basic service and for the currency exchange, AFAIK anyway.
I pay him by gifted paypal in US dollars.  I pay a small (< $1) fee each time but it works good.  Not sure what he does on his end to convert the money.
He's an ebay reseller, hence he probably takes a lot of money via paypal already.  In that case you can just let paypal build up a high balance, then transfer it all at once, meaning you actually make money.
Stronger Than Your Average Deadite

Nando

I was wondering about all this, thank you all for sharing this info.


Soop, I'd be interested in your experience as well.

spenoza

I suppose you are right. This may not be the best way to finally frame my Japanese posters... Still, I am frustrated at how expensive it is, especially when I don't need super-nice framing, but simply something functional. Stupid Japanese B1 size...


soop

Quote from: Nando on 04/25/2012, 09:44 AMI was wondering about all this, thank you all for sharing this info.


Soop, I'd be interested in your experience as well.
No worries, I'm gonna save it until I've actually recieved the goods I think (which will be a while via surface), just so I can weigh up the costs, the time, the packaging and if anything goes wrong.

I'm considering placing an order through rakuten/Surugaya-a-too through them as well, which may save on cost, since they can ship cheaper.
Quote from: esteban on 04/26/2018, 04:44 PMSHUTTLECOCK OR SHUFFLE OFF!

NecroPhile

Quote from: guest on 04/25/2012, 12:07 PMI suppose you are right. This may not be the best way to finally frame my Japanese posters... Still, I am frustrated at how expensive it is, especially when I don't need super-nice framing, but simply something functional. Stupid Japanese B1 size...
What kind of frame are you looking for and at what cost?  Making your own out of pre-finished wood or aluminum parts isn't terribly expensive.
Ultimate Forum Bully/Thief/Saboteur/Clone Warrior! BURN IN HELL NECROPHUCK!!!

spenoza

The problem is that the longest dimension is a hair longer than the longest dimension of any common US poster or photo sizes (which would normally be framed). So the combination of getting the frame, backing, and acrylic is, collectively, annoyingly expensive, as opposed to a stock US B1 frame which can be had for as little as $25 - $30.


spenoza

Quote from: soop on 04/25/2012, 02:26 PMThis may be useful: http://www.amazon.co.jp/e-discount-%E5%A4%A7%E9%A1%8D-%E3%81%8B%E3%82%8B-%E3%83%95%E3%83%AC%E3%83%BC%E3%83%A0-B1/dp/B00120L1QY
Rakuten also has some. But Rakuten is willing to ship to the US (at what cost they don't disclose up front). Can't find international shipping info via Amazon, so if I went that route I'd probably need a proxy.

soop

#34
Ok, so far I've been invoiced for one item.  I bid and won on Out Run for 720 jpy.  Shipping in Japan was 160 jpy, and the commission was $6.  And I've been invoiced $23.10 which is a disparity of $12.3.  Anyone know where this has come from?

I'm hoping they've calculated shipping of some kind, which they'll then combine with other items, because that's a 50% increase in price.

Wait, they've added "handling" of $3, but I still don't see the disparity:
Quote from: esteban on 04/26/2018, 04:44 PMSHUTTLECOCK OR SHUFFLE OFF!

SamIAm

How much are you paying for postage from the proxy to your country? You didn't list that.

soop

Quote from: SamIAm on 04/27/2012, 10:06 AMHow much are you paying for postage from the proxy to your country? You didn't list that.
Don't know yet, but I'm getting surface.  I'm up to about $140 so far, for the stick, outrun and big box forgotten worlds
Quote from: esteban on 04/26/2018, 04:44 PMSHUTTLECOCK OR SHUFFLE OFF!

spenoza

Quote from: soop on 04/27/2012, 05:40 AMOk, so far I've been invoiced for one item.  I bid and won on Out Run for 720 jpy.  Shipping in Japan was 160 jpy, and the commission was $6.  And I've been invoiced $23.10 which is a disparity of $12.3.  Anyone know where this has come from?

I'm hoping they've calculated shipping of some kind, which they'll then combine with other items, because that's a 50% increase in price.

Wait, they've added "handling" of $3, but I still don't see the disparity:
This is why I'm leery of doing anything through a random proxy. They can charge you pretty much whatever mystery fees and charges they want.

SuperDeadite

If I was a proxy, I'd be charging by the hour.  Do you really expect a proxy service to not charge you for time they spent doing all there is required?  It's like a getting a hooker, you are charged by the minute regardless of the condition of your pants.  As I said before directly importing is not for cheap common items or people who want to save money and be cheap.  It is for very expensive or very difficult to find items where the buyer does not care about the price.
Stronger Than Your Average Deadite

spenoza

Oh, I believe very much in fair compensation, and payment for time spent is indeed fair. The problem is, Soop is describing a situation that makes it seem like he was very much in the dark about what he would be paying for. If someone quotes you a number and can't tell you WHY, or can't or won't explain in advance what all the various charges are, that's a problem. Paying money to someone for their assistance is not the problem.

Nando

Do any of the store in Japan ship to local addresses?