Japan Shipping, what do you use?

As Mr Ripley mentions the local shipping charge I'm assuming he's talking about From Japan rather than Jauce. Much though I like a lot of what From Japan does one thing that really does "grind my gears" to use a phrase from a popular cartoon series, is that unlike Jauce where you pay the bank charges and local shipping charges 'as you go'. Instead with From Japan you only pay the cost of the auction and a system fee when you win it, then you pay the bank charges, local shipping, etc... at the point you get the items shipped which always comes as a great shock to the system as they often add up to as much as the shipping cost and sometimes more...

[ripley802]

Sure...right... don't believe it.

12 auctions, can't wait to see the unboxing of those. Must be Jauce's way of listing, itemizing your purchases but is the shipping to you only 14500yen? Is that for Express? Does Jauce give you options on Insurance or do you have to pay on the total amount of all purchases including Fees and Local shipping? Doesn't sound that out of the ordinary especially if you have any bulk buys in there with lots of trains. There is no sticker shock so you have my permission to continue shopping at the Japan Auctions. Besides, if you get in a bind ActionChugger will help you out to cover the cost.

Hmmm, maybe do a crowd funding on Kickstarter for donations..."Please help this poor unfortunate soul enjoy the fabulous toys that are only available in Japan. Won't you donate now?" ...that could bring you tens...of dollars.

Thanks Super, and I love the idea of a Kickstarter.. Maybe a BPT Kickstarter to raise money for for all of the BPT members to get their wish list.. Haha..

So, yes, as Nigel suspected in the next post, this was all through FromJapan. I switched from using Jauce, as the fees seem to be Cheaper. I like the browsing better on Jauce, so I typically will look there, find something, then copy the item # and watch it on FJ. That said, yes the 14,500¥ was the international shipping fee with insurance (which was only 50¥, so that was a no brainier). This was for the 12 lots and most were small although one is a large lot of track, risers, and clips for the monorails. It seems I can usually count on the shipping being about 1000-1200¥ per auction won. But once you add in the fees, etc, it is a bit more.

There are some very nice items in these lots so I can't wait. I know Muddy is aware of a few, and I consulted him on a few before bidding, which I think I probably got a great deal from what we had dicussed regarding price on the items.

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As Mr Ripley mentions the local shipping charge I'm assuming he's talking about From Japan rather than Jauce. Much though I like a lot of what From Japan does one thing that really does "grind my gears" to use a phrase from a popular cartoon series, is that unlike Jauce where you pay the bank charges and local shipping charges 'as you go'. Instead with From Japan you only pay the cost of the auction and a system fee when you win it, then you pay the bank charges, local shipping, etc... at the point you get the items shipped which always comes as a great shock to the system as they often add up to as much as the shipping cost and sometimes more...

Yep, you are correct. The purchases were through FromJapan. And yes, it really hurts to get that charge 2 from them, I was dreading it for the past week or so, and finally bit the bullet and ordered the shipment. What is bad, is, the longer the items are waiting on shipment, the more I tend to find to add to the shipment, which is how I ended up with 12 lots..

Mr Ripley you're not alone, my latest shipment has just shipped and had if I recall correctly 14 auction wins, although as several were from the same seller I would have expected the local shipping etc... to have been combined, but at usual it still left me with a sore bottom lol!

I wish that FJ would give you the option of PAYG or the combined Charge2, although I still think FJ works out a bit cheaper. The other reason I tend to use them is the fact you can decide the value to be declared on the shipping invoice, so you can if nothing else remove the system charge from the totals

Anyway, its the price we pay to get all this cool gear so...

[ripley802]

And the shipping bill bites me again... Grrr when will I learn. This time one of the domestic charges was 1300¥ and one 950¥ which did not help matters. Then they have changed the fee structure so that hurt a bit too. I am "for real" done for awhile now...

[Super]

I am still confused as to how FromJapan does its Invoicing and Payments for you guys. I wish the Yahoo Auctions would require all sellers to list their shipping costs like Ebay does. Not all sellers list the shipping. For those sellers I like to check out where in Japan they are located to get at least, an idea of how far they are from my Japamart Warehouse in Tokyo. For some sellers that do list prices I do like to look at them and if I think its too much for the item I am buying I skip it. Well the scales of balance with the rate of exchange has shifted in favor of the USD against the Yen maybe it won't be long before we see that great divide where you will just have to get back into buying just for the deals.

[ripley802]

Yeah, I probably should spend a bit more time reserching this as you mentioned. I have even thought of doing something like AC with creating a spreadsheet to try and get a better idea of cost etc.. Most of the buys through for me are shear impulse, so I really have wanted/"needed" but most are just things I saw randomly and was like, "ooooo, ahhhhh...." .

The new fee structure charges a 700¥ fee per item and then a 900¥ fee for combined shipping (only once per order though). So unfortunately if you find two items, maybe a steal at 100¥ and the an item for 500¥, after fees, you would be at like 3400¥, then add in the domestic and international shipping and it is likely over 5000¥.

On a side note, all of this cost has earned me the Samurai rank, which basically is a 3% discount on EMS shipping.

I did see that the exchange rate was a bit nicer this go round, which was great. Hopefully I will not find anything else I have to have, before Christmas..

Yeah have to say this upping of the charge to 700 yen makes Jauce look more attractive again, especially without having to worry about the 'charge 2' with the shipping

[ripley802]

Just ordered my latest shipment FromJapan. By far the most expensive yet...

I figured it would be pretty expensive but did not expect $320.....US that is. That is the total with fees and all. I sort of feel dumb paying that much just for the shipping/fees but hopefully it all makes sense once the items arrive. There should be some good ones in there.

The fees and local delivery were over 10,000¥ and the overseas shipping was another 23,000¥ +.

And on from Japan I became a "Samurai" member which gets you a 3% discount in EMS shipping..

Needless to say my hard earned dollars from my recent Trackmaster sales are virtually depleted... Oh well that was the goal anyway, getting more $ to purchase more Plarail things..

[Super]

Can't wait to see what you grabbed.

I won an item for 10500 yen and ended up paying around 8500 yen for all postage and fees. Total was around $200. And the postage was EMS - its already in my country and now I'm waiting for it to be shipped locally...