Yahoo! Japan - Experience? Best proxy?

[no3Ljm]

10 hours ago, chyll2 said:

sorry, my sarcasm meter was off there

No worries, sir! It's late and I'm tired when I read that last night.

7 hours ago, spacemanoeuvres said:

I've found a deal or two on eBay but this thread is about yahoo auctions. 

Hey, maybe some of you have Jay-Z money and don't care if you are paying more than you have to 

However, I think most folks buying with USD would rather save an additional 8% if possible. I know I've spent enough on JYA such that 8% is meaningful and I would have rather put that money towards *drum roll* MORE TOYS 

I don't have Jay-Z money nor need your concern if I'm paying more or not. I've found a lot of great deals too for years of using eBay. My point is that if people will start complaining on fees and such on using these proxy services, they might as well buy it from somewhere else.  

People complain when they see those ludicrous prices on eBay. Yet, they still complain for certain amount of fees charged by these proxy services for acquiring these things. These fees is just nothing sometimes compared to prices you see on some items in eBay. Hence, my 'sarcastic' reply. 

And you're right. This thread is about Yahoo Japan Auctions, not Proxy Services.  

 

[Sandman]

I'm not complaining about the fees, I'm just dubious that you can get things cheaper with all those fees. Cheaper than eBay - yeah for sure (eBay prices are ridiculous that I can't believe anyone buys there), but maybe not the used online retailers. But I dunno, I'll tell you if was cheaper if I can actually win an auction one day. 

[spacemanoeuvres]

57 minutes ago, no3Ljm said:

I don't have Jay-Z money nor need your concern if I'm paying more or not.

No worries, I'm not concerned how much you're paying for anything.  I'm concerned about how much I'M paying for things and I'm sharing my experience using Yahoo Japan Auctions in a thread titled "Yahoo! Japan - Experience?"

57 minutes ago, no3Ljm said:

People complain when they see those ludicrous prices on eBay. Yet, they still complain for certain amount of fees charged by these proxy services for acquiring these things. These fees is just nothing sometimes compared to prices you see on some items in eBay.

I don't understand this response.  If you post on an internet forum complaining about other people complaining...I guess that's a thing.  I don't know.

57 minutes ago, no3Ljm said:

And you're right. This thread is about Yahoo Japan Auctions, not Proxy Services.  

I'm not the smartest person in the room, but this is an English speaking forum and I imagine most people who post here have to use a proxy in order to use Yahoo Auctions Japan.  Again, the thread is about your experience using Yahoo Auctions: this is my experience and I think some folks may be interested and/or even benefit from my experience.  I for one would have loved to have come across this thread 6 months ago pointing out the most user friendly and/or cost effective sites and methods of payment.  It would have allowed me to purchase even more of the toys that I enjoy.

Edited June 15, 2017 by spacemanoeuvres
a word

[no3Ljm]

10 minutes ago, spacemanoeuvres said:

I don't understand this response.  If you post on an internet forum complaining about other people complaining...I guess that's a thing.  I don't know.

Just so you know, I'm not complaining per se. All I'm just doing is pointing out that people is still not happy with these 'fees' even though it's really cheaper to get it via YJA with those fees in total than get it from eBay because of its high prices.

I just hope now that you understand what I'm saying. If not, then all I can say is sorry. 

 

[spacemanoeuvres]

Just wanted to report back that I've had good experience with From Japan. 

They have frequent specials (10% off rakuten, 20% off shipping, bonus points on PayPal transactions), no longer charge for package consolidation, and there is no currency conversion fee. 

Not as responsive as Zen Market but a great value for Yahoo Auctions. 

[Bobby]

^ Very good to know...thanks for the follow up!

[Bobby]

This is probably obvious but just a tip for searching on any of these proxy buyers. You will discover (if you haven't already) that english won't work unless it's a call sign or model number ( for ex. AV-98 ). You can use Wikipedia or anime database since they usually have the Katakana or Kanji spelling for the series at the very beginning of the entry so just copy and paste in search bar of your preferred proxy buyer and "voila!" ...hundreds if not literally thousands of results for acquiring your favorite toy/series/mech/book/etc and... 

Edited February 10, 2019 by Bobby

[Bobby]

Buyee just announced a change in policy... purchasing fees are now  just ¥300 instead of 5% of the product amount as of today. They must have realized people were migrating to other proxies because of all the fees. But Buyee is still going to charge additional fees for package consolidation, their different 'guarantee plans', etc. This makes them a little less expensive to use, but not cheaper than others (ZenMarket, From Japan, etc.) still.

[spacemanoeuvres]

Buyee is one of the pricier proxy services I’ve used.
 

I typically use From Japan but it’s nice to know other companies are actively competing for business. 

[scand]

I used Buyee/Yahoo auctions to get my Yamato VF1D and Yamato Kakizaki TV. Before shipping and fees I paid less than $200 for both. With shipping and fees I think that put them around the $230-40. Both were packed well, they were' complete, no  decals were applied and the box showed minimal shelf wear. So I have had 2 really good experiences on Yahoo auctions using Buyee. Their services may have cost more, but relatively I got a better deal on those specific valks than anywhere else.

 

Edited October 30, 2019 by scand

[David Hingtgen]

Bumping, wondering if there's any changes/news?  It's been a couple years, and COVID has definitely affected intl shipping----anyone have anyone to recommend, or know of anyone that now should be avoided?   

(I've recently spotted an item I've been trying to get at a decent price for YEARS, has sold well within my budget over at Yahoo Japan several times the past few months---yet it goes for 2x to 3x as much on Ebay)    I've never bid on Yahoo Japan, but I'm going to have to, as it's the only way I'll ever get it, it seems.   

[arbit]

I've used From Japan for years. No complaints. Good customer service and follow up.

Actually, I do have one complaint, there is too much cool stuff in Japan to spend my money on 

Edited October 20, 2021 by arbit

[Vifam7]

20 hours ago, David Hingtgen said:

Bumping, wondering if there's any changes/news?  It's been a couple years, and COVID has definitely affected intl shipping----anyone have anyone to recommend, or know of anyone that now should be avoided?   

(I've recently spotted an item I've been trying to get at a decent price for YEARS, has sold well within my budget over at Yahoo Japan several times the past few months---yet it goes for 2x to 3x as much on Ebay)    I've never bid on Yahoo Japan, but I'm going to have to, as it's the only way I'll ever get it, it seems.   

 

I've been using White Rabbit Express to occasionally purchase doujinshi.

https://www.whiterabbitexpress.com/

Last summer, I used White Rabbit Express to buy a 1/144 scale diecast model of an AC-130U from top-gun.jp.  No issues.

 

 

 

 

[Bobby]

2 hours ago, Vifam7 said:

I've been using White Rabbit Express to occasionally purchase doujinshi.

https://www.whiterabbitexpress.com/

Thanks for sharing this ... so it looks like you have to request a quote for each item?

Could you share roughly what fees are per item for their service (a flat fee, a percentage, etc.)?

 

[no3Ljm]

2 minutes ago, Bobby said:

Thanks for sharing this ... so it looks like you have to request a quote for each item?

Could you share roughly what fees are per item for their service (a flat fee, a percentage, etc.)?

https://support.whiterabbitexpress.com/article/10-service-fees

 

[Sanity is Optional]

55 minutes ago, no3Ljm said:

https://support.whiterabbitexpress.com/article/10-service-fees

$4 per shop

$1 per item

12% service fee on item price.

I think I'll skip them, 12% is just ridiculous.

[sqidd]

1 hour ago, Sanity is Optional said:

$4 per shop

$1 per item

12% service fee on item price.

I think I'll skip them, 12% is just ridiculous.

😲

[no3Ljm]

1 hour ago, Sanity is Optional said:

$4 per shop

$1 per item

12% service fee on item price.

I think I'll skip them, 12% is just ridiculous.

I think it's still reasonable in a way if we're just going to talk about 'item price'. An example is the MB Lohengrin Launcher set. It sells in Japan for Y9350. US site has it for $95. Y9350 with today's conversion is $81.82. Based on previous use of White Rabbit, they add first the $4 Shop Fee and $1 Per Item Fee before adding the Service Fee, which is now 12%. It was 8% when I used them back in 2018. So the sum is $97.23.

However, the total difference if I factor in the Shipping Cost from Proxy versus getting it from US site is probably not going to be the same. I bet that it's going to be cheaper if I will just get here in the US store even though it has tax than getting it from Proxy site. But then not all US stores carries what we want. If only we can easily order it from here.  

 

Edited October 21, 2021 by no3Ljm

[Sanity is Optional]

4 hours ago, no3Ljm said:

I think it's still reasonable in a way if we're just going to talk about 'item price'. An example is the MB Lohengrin Launcher set. It sells in Japan for Y9350. US site has it for $95. Y9350 with today's conversion is $81.82. Based on previous use of White Rabbit, they add first the $4 Shop Fee and $1 Per Item Fee before adding the Service Fee, which is now 12%. It was 8% when I used them back in 2018. So the sum is $97.23.

However, the total difference if I factor in the Shipping Cost from Proxy versus getting it from US site is probably not going to be the same. I bet that it's going to be cheaper if I will just get here in the US store even though it has tax than getting it from Proxy site. But then not all US stores carries what we want. If only we can easily order it from here.  

I think I'll stick to the <$5 flat fees from my preferred proxies, or use my Tenso address and still pay less.

I refuse to use any proxy that charges a percentage.

Edited October 21, 2021 by Sanity is Optional

[f-valk]

On 10/20/2021 at 6:02 PM, no3Ljm said:

I bet that it's going to be cheaper if I will just get here in the US store even though it has tax than getting it from Proxy site. But then not all US stores carries what we want. If only we can easily order it from here.  

 

This. 

I've recently used both Buyee then FromJapan proxy service, just to compare. Both services offer 300 to 500 yen per each auction bid (that you pay for only if you win). Buyee has optional packing consolidation & extra bubble packing charge. FromJapan has a tool on their website to calculate charges, including for shipping. Here's the damage: 

From Buyee, to get 3 dx valks plus several missile packs, tv super pack,  and a couple strike super packs (and a couple of super-deformed robots), Total weight 12680 grams, Dimensions 72 × 54 × 46 cm --> EMS Shipping 28200 yen

 

FromJapan, 2 metal build EVAs, 1 metal build arbalest,  1vf-1j armor.  Total weight 4.78kg. EMS Shipping 20160 yen.

 

What $$ I saved from getting items cheaper via auction, vanishes quickly because of shipping charges. 

 

So don't consolidate shipping for large size items. Combine shipping only for the smallest boxes.  

Edited November 6, 2021 by f-valk
Thought completion

[eXis10z]

Does FJ mark down the value of the items for us to avoid taxes?

[MKT]

34 minutes ago, eXis10z said:

Does FJ mark down the value of the items for us to avoid taxes?

They used to do it, but they have changed their policy about a year ago that they will no longer do so..

[eXis10z]

59 minutes ago, MKT said:

They used to do it, but they have changed their policy about a year ago that they will no longer do so..

Darn. Thank u.