Buying stuff from Japan via proxy

[soop]

Right, I figure I'll do this as best I can right now, as it will probably be a month before my stuff gets here.

So I decided I needed one of those Cyber Sticks and some of the games that could use it, so I looked and looked and finally found one on Yahoo Japan auctions.  Most of you will know that you can get stuff much cheaper on YJA, but the sellers usually don't ship overseas.  I needed a proxy.

I read a rough guide made by some girl who used to import Final Fantasy stuff, and from her descriptions, I decided Shopping Mall Japan seemed like a safe, and relatively cheap bet.  Since I was buying a big heavy joystick, I figured first I'm gonna get it posted surface mail, and second, might as well tack some other crap on, since the shipping wouldn't be much more.  I found a big box Forgotten Worlds and a  copy of Out Run, and purchases were made.  I should add you have to pay a deposit of 20% of the value you think you'll spend.  You can get that back after though.

Lesson 1 - no matter how cheap things appear, they will end up costing roughly the same
I cannot emphasise this enough.  As others have said, this service is for things that are impossible to find outside of Japan.  If you're looking to get a bunch of cheap games, just go to Hit Japan or something, it will wind up cheaper.

Shopping Mall Japan (SMJ) DO tell you that they add on a commission which starts at about $5 and rises with the price of the item.  They didn't say that they would be adding a $3 handling fee for each item, but hey, now we're all the wiser to this hidden cost.  Here's a list of what I bought, the price the seller got and the amount I paid:

Forgotten Worlds ------- 2760 jpy ------- $53.15
Out Run ---------------- 720 jpy -------- $23.10
Cyber Stick ------------ 3000 jpy ------- $71.80

If you do the math, that's roughly a 50% increase in price.  Granted they started fairly cheap to begin with, but they end up being in line with eBay prices for the 2 games.

There is actually another service they offer which we should talk about that I have no experience - a "special order" is where you give them a big list of items and what you want to pay, and they will actually go out into the world and shop for you.  That sounds expensive due to the effort, but they say if you wanted for example to buy a bunch of stuff from Rakuten, and it's just a matter of them ordering it, all at once, it probably doesn't have individual fees for each item.  Of course Rakuten do offer internetional shipping at times, but they only do EMS.  This might be something to try one time.

Anyway, when all of your stuff arrives in Japan, you pay off your tab and select shipping.  Strangely, they seem to have shipped it and not charged me, so I don't know what's up with that - if it's included or if they'll charge me after.  They still have a $15 deposit.

[Ji-L87]

Ow, my illusion is now shattered :p
Thanks for taking time and noting all this down, as I do have things I want from YJA. That special order-service seems interesting though.

[kamiboy]

Exactly, I remembered this the hard way just last month. I think once I pay the final shipping price from SMJ depot to my house then I will have paid more for every single item than what a 5 second search on ebay would have netted me.

With ebay all the costs are up front so you hesitate but in SMJ all that catches your eye is the auction price and you think you've found an amazing bargain.

[soop]

Exactly, I remembered this the hard way just last month. I think once I pay the final shipping price from SMJ depot to my house then I will have paid more for every single item than what a 5 second search on ebay would have netted me.

With ebay all the costs are up front so you hesitate but in SMJ all that catches your eye is the auction price and you think you've found an amazing bargain.

Yep.  I didn't go over the top, and in total I don't feel like I've been ripped off - I just might not have bought what I did when I did knowing it's always just a click away.  Plus with the joystick, it's not like that's EVER going to appear for sale over here.

But anyway, hopefully a solid post like this will serve to advise people what they could end up paying.

[kamiboy]

Proxy bidding is best reserved for rare AND very expensive items. That way all the extra fees will be dwarfed by the actual price of the item and indeed what you have saved by buying it directly from the source.

Think something like an boxed LT, you can prolly get that for a much better price going the Yahoo auctions route than by getting it on ebay. You should definitely be weary of cheap or semi cheap items that are heavy and or bulky. The final shipping price is sure to be murder.

[PunkCryborg]

I just got a sharp twin famicom with turbo from YJA. I ended up getting a really nice unit for cheaper then ebay. I also bought games recently though and didn't save any money, it ended up about the same. It is a lot more fun finding your games on YJA though.

[BlueBMW]

My favorite word on yahoo JP...

ジャンク

[Frank_fjs]

I've grabbed some bargains from YHJ but I've used a personal friend who lives there to act on my behalf, rather than a proxy service. When I've used a proxy the final cost has worked out to be the same as any eBay vendor with the same item.

BMW, I love their definition of 'junk' too. Over there that means an item that is in great condition and fully working, just not tested so it's going cheap.

[CrackTiger]

I'd still gladly pay double for the things I can't find anywhere else.

[soop]

I'd still gladly pay double for the things I can't find anywhere else.

Remember though, if you could find it everywhere else, it would be double the price anyway - that's the real take away here.

[SuperDeadite]

Great post Soop, I've had so many silly low-ball requests over the years.  I don't even respond to them anymore...
What people forget is this, a Japanese ebay seller like Hit-Japan uses ebay as their actual job.  Meaning they have streamlined the system to be as efficient as possible so they can do it quickly and maximize their profits.  This includes having a corporate contract with the Japan Post, meaning they come to you, pickup stuff daily. 

Now how could a private person with a normal job seriously compete with that?  We can't, sure I get lucky sometimes, I found a SuperGrafx for 2,000yen.  But that happens once a year if even and it's random items.  I help out friends when I can, but these are people who trust me, meaning they say what they want, I say the price, and they say "ok."  There is no bitching, we both know I am doing the best I can.

I won't name names, but I actually had someone ask me to mail an FM Towns PC from Japan to the USA for $40.  If you are that ignorant, I stay far away unless the offer is so stupidly high I can't decline.

[soop]

Great post Soop, I've had so many silly low-ball requests over the years.  I don't even respond to them anymore...
What people forget is this, a Japanese ebay seller like Hit-Japan uses ebay as their actual job.  Meaning they have streamlined the system to be as efficient as possible so they can do it quickly and maximize their profits.  This includes having a corporate contract with the Japan Post, meaning they come to you, pickup stuff daily. 

Now how could a private person with a normal job seriously compete with that?  We can't, sure I get lucky sometimes, I found a SuperGrafx for 2,000yen.  But that happens once a year if even and it's random items.  I help out friends when I can, but these are people who trust me, meaning they say what they want, I say the price, and they say "ok."  There is no bitching, we both know I am doing the best I can.

I won't name names, but I actually had someone ask me to mail an FM Towns PC from Japan to the USA for $40.  If you are that ignorant, I stay far away unless the offer is so stupidly high I can't decline.

It make it all the more amazing what Ghost Samurai did for me before he left Japan.  The guy literally went out and sourced me prices from a list of games, bought them, packed them, shipped them.  Saved me a fortune and hopefully made a bit for himself.

It's just another gesture that really makes me want to do what I can for the community.  I may never code a game, my soldering sucks, I can't make stickers and I can't translate anything, but I'll find something I can do for you guys!

[Sadler]

I won't name names, but I actually had someone ask me to mail an FM Towns PC from Japan to the USA for $40.  If you are that ignorant, I stay far away unless the offer is so stupidly high I can't decline.

Yikes dude, I apologize. I'm still fairly new to buying stuff from Japan, I really didn't mean any offense. I was under the impression that shipping by boat was much cheaper.

[soop]

Yikes dude, I apologize. I'm still fairly new to buying stuff from Japan, I really didn't mean any offense. I was under the impression that shipping by boat was much cheaper.

Phht, like you're the only one who's ever asked a dumb question on the internet.  I've probably filled my quota several times over today alone!

[rag-time4]

I won't name names, but I actually had someone ask me to mail an FM Towns PC from Japan to the USA for $40.  If you are that ignorant, I stay far away unless the offer is so stupidly high I can't decline.

Yikes dude, I apologize. I'm still fairly new to buying stuff from Japan, I really didn't mean any offense. I was under the impression that shipping by boat was much cheaper.

Hearing about TDF1 on the FM towns has me seriously interested.

[SuperDeadite]

I won't name names, but I actually had someone ask me to mail an FM Towns PC from Japan to the USA for $40.  If you are that ignorant, I stay far away unless the offer is so stupidly high I can't decline.

Yikes dude, I apologize. I'm still fairly new to buying stuff from Japan, I really didn't mean any offense. I was under the impression that shipping by boat was much cheaper.

You did nothing wrong.  Don't know why noobivy even told you to come to me, when I'm not really even trying to sell it lol.  It was clear to me that you are not ready for a Towns anyway, which sounds a bit harsh I know, but I'm not joking when I say there are only about 10 games that run well on an old towns that you'd actually enjoy playing.  And all of them are $200+ on ebay lol.  It's not a system you want to import without doing real research into first.

Either way, I only deal with a selected few, because they know the routine, they know the rules, and they know the prices.

[Ji-L87]

I won't name names, but I actually had someone ask me to mail an FM Towns PC from Japan to the USA for $40.  If you are that ignorant, I stay far away unless the offer is so stupidly high I can't decline.

Yikes dude, I apologize. I'm still fairly new to buying stuff from Japan, I really didn't mean any offense. I was under the impression that shipping by boat was much cheaper.

...not ready for a Towns anyway, which sounds a bit harsh I know, but I'm not joking when I say there are only about 10 games that run well on an old towns that you'd actually enjoy playing.  And all of them are $200+ on ebay lol.  It's not a system you want to import without doing real research into first.

Is it because of different hardware variations or something like that? I'm strangely interested in the Towns, maybe even more so than the X68K.

/This is me, going off-topic. Weee!

[SuperDeadite]

I won't name names, but I actually had someone ask me to mail an FM Towns PC from Japan to the USA for $40.  If you are that ignorant, I stay far away unless the offer is so stupidly high I can't decline.

Yikes dude, I apologize. I'm still fairly new to buying stuff from Japan, I really didn't mean any offense. I was under the impression that shipping by boat was much cheaper.

...not ready for a Towns anyway, which sounds a bit harsh I know, but I'm not joking when I say there are only about 10 games that run well on an old towns that you'd actually enjoy playing.  And all of them are $200+ on ebay lol.  It's not a system you want to import without doing real research into first.

Is it because of different hardware variations or something like that? I'm strangely interested in the Towns, maybe even more so than the X68K.

/This is me, going off-topic. Weee!

Very much so.  For example, here's a vid where Galaxy Force II is being played on a Marty which runs at the same speed as a basic gray Towns PC.  Notice it sucks.

Now here's a direct recording of the same game off my Towns II Fresh, you'll notice a BIG speed difference.

If you are ever going to pay the price to import a Towns, get one with a 486 cpu minimum.  The 386 machines are a waste of money.  My Fresh is equipped with an AMD 586x133mhz Overdrive CPU and 38mbs RAM.  As opposed to the Marty/old TOwns which is a 386x16mhz and 2mbs RAM.  The Marty sold terribly because spec wise it was terribly underpowered, and only really stupid people bought one back then.

[Ji-L87]

I won't name names, but I actually had someone ask me to mail an FM Towns PC from Japan to the USA for $40.  If you are that ignorant, I stay far away unless the offer is so stupidly high I can't decline.

Yikes dude, I apologize. I'm still fairly new to buying stuff from Japan, I really didn't mean any offense. I was under the impression that shipping by boat was much cheaper.

...not ready for a Towns anyway, which sounds a bit harsh I know, but I'm not joking when I say there are only about 10 games that run well on an old towns that you'd actually enjoy playing.  And all of them are $200+ on ebay lol.  It's not a system you want to import without doing real research into first.

Is it because of different hardware variations or something like that? I'm strangely interested in the Towns, maybe even more so than the X68K.

/This is me, going off-topic. Weee!

Very much so.  For example, here's a vid where Galaxy Force II is being played on a Marty which runs at the same speed as a basic gray Towns PC.  Notice it sucks.

Now here's a direct recording of the same game off my Towns II Fresh, you'll notice a BIG speed difference.

If you are ever going to pay the price to import a Towns, get one with a 486 cpu minimum.  The 386 machines are a waste of money.  My Fresh is equipped with an AMD 586x133mhz Overdrive CPU and 38mbs RAM.  As opposed to the Marty/old TOwns which is a 386x16mhz and 2mbs RAM.  The Marty sold terribly because spec wise it was terribly underpowered, and only really stupid people bought one back then.

Are the 486s and above also available in that sleek grey-ish case with the vertical CD-drive & "equalizer bar"? (Is that what's it called?)

[spenoza]

How much does an a Sharp X1 go for these days, anyway?

[Sadler]

I won't name names, but I actually had someone ask me to mail an FM Towns PC from Japan to the USA for $40.  If you are that ignorant, I stay far away unless the offer is so stupidly high I can't decline.

Yikes dude, I apologize. I'm still fairly new to buying stuff from Japan, I really didn't mean any offense. I was under the impression that shipping by boat was much cheaper.

You did nothing wrong.  Don't know why noobivy even told you to come to me, when I'm not really even trying to sell it lol.  It was clear to me that you are not ready for a Towns anyway, which sounds a bit harsh I know, but I'm not joking when I say there are only about 10 games that run well on an old towns that you'd actually enjoy playing.  And all of them are $200+ on ebay lol.  It's not a system you want to import without doing real research into first.

Either way, I only deal with a selected few, because they know the routine, they know the rules, and they know the prices.

No worries! I've run across some stuff on the Marty that made me curious. I asked in chat and the computer was suggested as an alternative. Rob said you had one and you hated it, so I figured if I could get it for relatively cheap it'd be fun to mess with. I didn't realize what sort of prices I was actually looking at though. Some day I'll probably hunt down one of the later computer models like you suggested, but there's a lot of other stuff I'll get first. For example, a PCFX.

[SuperDeadite]

All the Vertical tower Towns models are 386s.  There are some gray 486 desktops, but all the better units are white desktops. 

I hate my old Towns?  Lol noobivy is truly the eternal noob.

[spenoza]

The undisclosed "handling" charges are a big red flag. There should be NO undisclosed charges or fees in any transaction. Sure, some charges may depend on costs and time and whatnot, and that's understood, but I'm not sure I would do any return business with someone who doesn't tell me up front what my financial responsibilities are in a transaction.

[Ji-L87]

All the Vertical tower Towns models are 386s.  There are some gray 486 desktops, but all the better units are white desktops. 

I see, thanks! : )

...you guys may have your thread back now 

[Arkhan Asylum]

I buy from Japan via proxy all the time.

I find that I score excellent deals.

MSX Turbo R for roughly 250$, CIBler?  yes.
two MSX 2+'s boxed, for <100 each? Fuckjeauh!
CIBler Duo-R w/ 6+ games for 60$?  damn straight.

Even after shipping, these don't approach US prices.  A turbo r is typically 500+$, loose!

I've also imported tons of games. 

The trick is to plan ahead.   I just got like 15 MSX games recently, all for <=15$.   They will all be shipped together.

So what I do is ge a chunk of cash, say , 100$

then I go "OK!  I want these games, lets go go go!"

then I place bids and leave some wiggle room.


I use celga exclusively .   They've been the friendliest of all the proxies.   Their site is cut/dry.  It's to the point.  It also has a fee button, so before you even bid, you know what you'll really be paying for the items.


So I just toss in the URL, enter a bid amount, press a button and go "oh, ok thats still a nice deal!"

[arromdee]

If you do the math, that's roughly a 50% increase in price. 

The increase is roughly 50% of the *new* price, but it's a 100% increase from the old price.

[soop]

CIBler Duo-R w/ 6+ games for 60$?  damn straight.

Say WHAAAAA?!!?!?!  O____O

If you do the math, that's roughly a 50% increase in price. 

The increase is roughly 50% of the *new* price, but it's a 100% increase from the old price.

You are right - my bad

[Arkhan Asylum]

My first Duo-R was 5500 yen + shipping, CIBler

at the time, that translated to about 60$, and the fees were low since it was < 100$

[spenoza]

Holy crap. You think deals like that could possibly still exist? I need Super CD-ROM capabilities before too long or I'm gonna cry.

[Arkhan Asylum]

Considering I got this shit <= 3 years ago,

yes.

[soop]

ok, they want to charge me $158  for shipping.  BY SEA.  FUCK.

[roflmao]

ok, they want to charge me $158  for shipping.  BY SEA.  FUCK.

Holy cow!  That's insane.

[spenoza]

ok, they want to charge me $158  for shipping.  BY SEA.  FUCK.

Yeah, it didn't cost me even half that much to mail all my winter clothes home by sea from Japan.

Sounds like you picked the wrong proxy service. They are planning to take you for a ride.

[juggernaut]

I have used SMJ alot of times. Almost every time i get caught with my pants in the mouth (or whatever phrase you might prefer). I get carried away when searching for nice and inexpensive stuff, but when the total adds up, hell is loose
Well, sometimes there is a small amount to be saved, but as a generel rule, the invoice ends up equal to Ebay or worse.

[SuperDeadite]

ok, they want to charge me $158  for shipping.  BY SEA.  FUCK.

Sea Mail is the cheapest for heavy items.  But it's typically cheaper to ship EMS for lighter stuff.  If it's just the Cyberstick, it should be cheaper by EMS, and even cheaper by Airmail.

[soop]

Sorry, it was $115, but still.  They say the stick alone is 14kg and it's 16kg total O____O

I calculated it and that's fairly accurate.  If I get hit with customs, I'm fucked

[BlueBMW]

Last slow boat package I paid to have mailed was $135 for 26kg i believe (two x68k systems)   Its a bummer you guys get hit with customs duty in the UK.

[Arkhan Asylum]

The reason boatmail is so expensive for teh UK is that it ain't exactly a brief boat trip.   When you go to America, they just go to California.   UK, they go all the fuck over the place, Magellan style.

[soop]

The reason boatmail is so expensive for teh UK is that it ain't exactly a brief boat trip.   When you go to America, they just go to California.   UK, they go all the fuck over the place, Magellan style.

That is a good point.

[spenoza]

Even if they go straight to CA, it can still take a couple + months. When I went to Japan they advised I ship my winter clothes sea mail when I left, so that they would arrive by the time winter did. I left for Japan in August.

[Arkhan Asylum]

Its not the time that's a concern.  It's the distance traveled.

The trip by sea to England from Japan is holy-fucking-long. 


Most of the trip isn't even the boat-trip.  It's your shit sitting at various loading docks, and processing around places.

The boat ride itself is short in comparison to all the bullshit prior to boating over!

[Samurai Ghost]

Yeah, there really isn't a direct route from Japan to the UK by ship. I wonder if it would be cheaper to have then freight it to the US or Canada and have someone send it via regular airmail to the UK from there.