Anyone in Japan willing to shop and ship?

[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.

[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]

Directly 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.

[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.

[esteban]

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.

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]

 

[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.

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]

 

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!

[BlueBMW]

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.

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.

[SuperDeadite]

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.

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.

[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]

I 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.