Comments on: Shopping guide: where and how to buy things from Japan http://www.reikon.org/2009/10/02/shopping-guide-where-and-how-to-buy-things-from-japan/ Where money goes to waste. Sat, 14 Jan 2012 06:21:23 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Reikon http://www.reikon.org/2009/10/02/shopping-guide-where-and-how-to-buy-things-from-japan/comment-page-1/#comment-4857 Reikon Sat, 31 Dec 2011 09:45:52 +0000 http://www.reikon.org/?p=327#comment-4857 Yep, as another commenter noted, Dankedanke does have a monthly fee now. I'm just too lazy to bother changing the guide to reflect it since there are probably other things I need to change on it when I do a revision. Yep, as another commenter noted, Dankedanke does have a monthly fee now. I’m just too lazy to bother changing the guide to reflect it since there are probably other things I need to change on it when I do a revision.

]]> By: Error http://www.reikon.org/2009/10/02/shopping-guide-where-and-how-to-buy-things-from-japan/comment-page-1/#comment-4856 Error Sat, 31 Dec 2011 08:53:13 +0000 http://www.reikon.org/?p=327#comment-4856 Seems Dankedanke charges a monthly fee (now?) to use their forwarding service, but if they don't, it's not very clear on their site. As an aside, listing the exchange rate as JPY => USD makes total sense to me if my invoice is in Yen, but then again, I prefer multiplication over division. Seems Dankedanke charges a monthly fee (now?) to use their forwarding service, but if they don’t, it’s not very clear on their site.

As an aside, listing the exchange rate as JPY => USD makes total sense to me if my invoice is in Yen, but then again, I prefer multiplication over division.

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.reikon.org/2009/10/02/shopping-guide-where-and-how-to-buy-things-from-japan/comment-page-1/#comment-3832 Anonymous Mon, 03 Oct 2011 12:20:08 +0000 http://www.reikon.org/?p=327#comment-3832 Problem 1: It's hard to find all of their fees. I think the tax is mentioned as a "by the way" in an FAQ or something, and it also appears on the final bill. Problem 2: The site only bundles shipments from at most 5 different senders (if I remember correctly). This made it difficult for me to buy everything I wanted since I had to use a few Amazon Marketplace sellers, each counting as a separate "shop". Dankedanke used to allow more senders. I think the bundling fee increases with the amount of packages to bundle, but I don't remember and I can't find any price list for this. The best way to find the price list appears to be to just look at my invoice and hope that nothing has changed since April 2010 when I last used the company's services. I had to pay the following: Bundling fee (5 packages): $8 Surface shipping to Europe: 5650円 / $63.58 Handling fee (the yen-based per weight fee): $33.76 Invoice fee: $5 Tax: $5.52 Total: $115.86 The site quoted the exchange rate as 1 JPY = 0.011253 USD. Normally, people would list the inverse (i.e. 1 USD = 89 JPY). Maybe the reason for quoting the exchange rate in this way is to make the fee in the exchange rate more hidden so that people won't notice it. If the exchange rate is written in an unusual way, less people would notice that it's different from the real rate. Because of the complex payment system, the Paypal fee is not listed at the invoice (and thus not above either) but only at the payment page. Problem 1: It’s hard to find all of their fees. I think the tax is mentioned as a “by the way” in an FAQ or something, and it also appears on the final bill.
Problem 2: The site only bundles shipments from at most 5 different senders (if I remember correctly). This made it difficult for me to buy everything I wanted since I had to use a few Amazon Marketplace sellers, each counting as a separate “shop”. Dankedanke used to allow more senders. I think the bundling fee increases with the amount of packages to bundle, but I don’t remember and I can’t find any price list for this.

The best way to find the price list appears to be to just look at my invoice and hope that nothing has changed since April 2010 when I last used the company’s services. I had to pay the following:

Bundling fee (5 packages): $8
Surface shipping to Europe: 5650円 / $63.58
Handling fee (the yen-based per weight fee): $33.76
Invoice fee: $5
Tax: $5.52
Total: $115.86

The site quoted the exchange rate as 1 JPY = 0.011253 USD. Normally, people would list the inverse (i.e. 1 USD = 89 JPY). Maybe the reason for quoting the exchange rate in this way is to make the fee in the exchange rate more hidden so that people won’t notice it. If the exchange rate is written in an unusual way, less people would notice that it’s different from the real rate. Because of the complex payment system, the Paypal fee is not listed at the invoice (and thus not above either) but only at the payment page.

]]> By: Reikon http://www.reikon.org/2009/10/02/shopping-guide-where-and-how-to-buy-things-from-japan/comment-page-1/#comment-3803 Reikon Fri, 30 Sep 2011 20:48:21 +0000 http://www.reikon.org/?p=327#comment-3803 It seems like there's a size/weight fee, $5 invoice/customs form fee, 4.5% Paypal fee, ~5% fee through their exchange rate, and the 5% tax (though I didn't find any mention of it on their crappy site). I suppose it's not that bad considering the alternatives. It seems like there’s a size/weight fee, $5 invoice/customs form fee, 4.5% Paypal fee, ~5% fee through their exchange rate, and the 5% tax (though I didn’t find any mention of it on their crappy site). I suppose it’s not that bad considering the alternatives.

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.reikon.org/2009/10/02/shopping-guide-where-and-how-to-buy-things-from-japan/comment-page-1/#comment-3796 Anonymous Fri, 30 Sep 2011 13:12:15 +0000 http://www.reikon.org/?p=327#comment-3796 There is https://www.japantodoor.com/ which I used once before finding out about Dankedanke. The site offers surface parcels and it still seems to be able to combine several items into a big box. Fees are higher than what Dankedanke used to charge, though, and they are difficult to find (you have to look at several different price lists to find everything). I think that there were several 5% fees, charged on top of each other (and I didn't manage to find out about all of them before using the services). To make it even worse, some fees are quoted in US dollars while other fees are quoted in yen, making it harder to calculate the total fee. On top of that, the site managed to get my shipping method wrong, first asking me to pay for EMS shipping so that I had to complain for it to be corrected into the requested surface option. Japantodoor also seems to accept cash payments, although it costs 15%. It's not worth it to use the company's services for proxy bidding/buying since there are too many hidden fees around. The 5% fees were, if I remember correctly, at least the following: * 5% Paypal fee, * 5% 消費税 (this is just fraud -- the applicable 消費税 rate for international shipments is 0%!) and * mandatory conversion of all yen-denominated costs into US dollars in the final step (I think they charged 4円/$ which is approximately 5%). There is https://www.japantodoor.com/ which I used once before finding out about Dankedanke. The site offers surface parcels and it still seems to be able to combine several items into a big box. Fees are higher than what Dankedanke used to charge, though, and they are difficult to find (you have to look at several different price lists to find everything). I think that there were several 5% fees, charged on top of each other (and I didn’t manage to find out about all of them before using the services). To make it even worse, some fees are quoted in US dollars while other fees are quoted in yen, making it harder to calculate the total fee. On top of that, the site managed to get my shipping method wrong, first asking me to pay for EMS shipping so that I had to complain for it to be corrected into the requested surface option. Japantodoor also seems to accept cash payments, although it costs 15%. It’s not worth it to use the company’s services for proxy bidding/buying since there are too many hidden fees around.

The 5% fees were, if I remember correctly, at least the following:
* 5% Paypal fee,
* 5% 消費税 (this is just fraud — the applicable 消費税 rate for international shipments is 0%!) and
* mandatory conversion of all yen-denominated costs into US dollars in the final step (I think they charged 4円/$ which is approximately 5%).

]]> By: Reikon http://www.reikon.org/2009/10/02/shopping-guide-where-and-how-to-buy-things-from-japan/comment-page-1/#comment-3795 Reikon Fri, 30 Sep 2011 12:41:10 +0000 http://www.reikon.org/?p=327#comment-3795 Hm... so it does look like Dankedanke has degraded their service significantly. I haven't used them in a while, so I wasn't paying attention. It does seem like they require the option to bundle packages without a monthly fee. One of the problems is finding a service that offers shipping methods other than EMS. After service fees and the cost of EMS, direct shipping from Amazon isn't much more expensive. Hm… so it does look like Dankedanke has degraded their service significantly. I haven’t used them in a while, so I wasn’t paying attention. It does seem like they require the option to bundle packages without a monthly fee.

One of the problems is finding a service that offers shipping methods other than EMS. After service fees and the cost of EMS, direct shipping from Amazon isn’t much more expensive.

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.reikon.org/2009/10/02/shopping-guide-where-and-how-to-buy-things-from-japan/comment-page-1/#comment-3793 Anonymous Fri, 30 Sep 2011 12:21:01 +0000 http://www.reikon.org/?p=327#comment-3793 Note that Dankedanke announced a cancellation on cash payments a few months ago, so the service might not be useful for the cash transaction mentioned above. BTW, has Dankedanke removed the option to bundle several incoming shipments in just one big outgoing shipment? When I used the company's services a few months ago, I was able to receive one box with some new comics from Amazon (not available from BK1, way too expensive with Amazon's usual international shipping costs), one box with lots of used comics from Furuhon Ichiba and several envelopes and boxes from various different Amazon Marketplace sellers, and all items were collected in a big box by Dankedanke before being sent to me. Much cheaper that way, and also more convenient. Now it looks as if this shipment option requires a monthly 1575円 subscription... :-( Note that Dankedanke announced a cancellation on cash payments a few months ago, so the service might not be useful for the cash transaction mentioned above.

BTW, has Dankedanke removed the option to bundle several incoming shipments in just one big outgoing shipment? When I used the company’s services a few months ago, I was able to receive one box with some new comics from Amazon (not available from BK1, way too expensive with Amazon’s usual international shipping costs), one box with lots of used comics from Furuhon Ichiba and several envelopes and boxes from various different Amazon Marketplace sellers, and all items were collected in a big box by Dankedanke before being sent to me. Much cheaper that way, and also more convenient. Now it looks as if this shipment option requires a monthly 1575円 subscription… :-(

]]> By: Reikon http://www.reikon.org/2009/10/02/shopping-guide-where-and-how-to-buy-things-from-japan/comment-page-1/#comment-3571 Reikon Sat, 27 Aug 2011 23:06:32 +0000 http://www.reikon.org/?p=327#comment-3571 Melonbooks should be easier to make an account on since Toranoana requires you to enter a kana version of everything you put in. The guide does assume you know enough Japanese to make an account though, since it's for buying things in Japanese. You could always use one of the services that'll just buy the stuff for you if you give them links. Melonbooks should be easier to make an account on since Toranoana requires you to enter a kana version of everything you put in. The guide does assume you know enough Japanese to make an account though, since it’s for buying things in Japanese. You could always use one of the services that’ll just buy the stuff for you if you give them links.

]]> By: Mikado86 http://www.reikon.org/2009/10/02/shopping-guide-where-and-how-to-buy-things-from-japan/comment-page-1/#comment-3569 Mikado86 Sat, 27 Aug 2011 21:41:42 +0000 http://www.reikon.org/?p=327#comment-3569 Yet again another proof I was born in the wrong country. Just trying to make an account in melonbooks and toranoana is proving difficult for someone who does not speak Japanese. Yet again another proof I was born in the wrong country. Just trying to make an account in melonbooks and toranoana is proving difficult for someone who does not speak Japanese.

]]> By: Reikon http://www.reikon.org/2009/10/02/shopping-guide-where-and-how-to-buy-things-from-japan/comment-page-1/#comment-2894 Reikon Wed, 01 Jun 2011 20:28:40 +0000 http://www.reikon.org/?p=327#comment-2894 The only option you probably have is to cancel the order and use one of the other services listed above. Dankedanke does cash on delivery for a fee, and Goody Japan probably would too. If they already shipped the item, Tenso will probably refuse it and it'll be returned. The only option you probably have is to cancel the order and use one of the other services listed above. Dankedanke does cash on delivery for a fee, and Goody Japan probably would too. If they already shipped the item, Tenso will probably refuse it and it’ll be returned.

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