I'm lucky in that my daughter lives in Tokyo and I can get her to send or stash for when I visit. I'm mostly on Yahoo Auctions, with Japanese being my second language it's fun to search and browse whilst watching out for key info on parts condition. Very interested in this thread- many thanks @Betsy for the shipping info- when she sends stuff over my daughter always uses EMS...
EMS are cheaper because they don't charter their own flights like the big carriers, FedEx, DHL, UPS et al.. they buy space in the cargo hold of commercial airlines making your delivery cheaper and offsetting the cost of your foreign holiday..
Due to the weak Yen, I've noticed a recent trend amongst some Japanese bike retailers to simply refuse to ship items when you select English language..
Unfortunately, we cannot ship ******* overseas.
Due to the weak yen, These products are more reasonable to buy from Japan.
However, from the perspective of overseas' ******* distributors, the retail price in Japan is so low that it is no longer fair to the overseas market.
This is easily bypassed with a proxy service but then.. Japanese consumption tax is currently 10% + domestic shipping cost +international shipping +VAT +duty +£12 admin charges by the courier... i mean! what the hell! it'll be cheaper to just fly to Japan soon
As previously mentioned^.. Japan Rabbit have a different pricing structure to Zen or fJ.. it's more like booking a flight where small (yet mounting) costs are incurred every step of the way, they even charge $5 /item to consolodate your goods into one package.. hence the wait, it's not structured for multiple small items but it is perfect for single one off purchases above the £135 threshold.. they will even ship oversized or overweight items such as bikes, surf boards or car bumpers..
As the importer, you are fully responsible for covering any customs tax or duty incurred by your shipment.
The international shipping fee you pay does NOT include customs duties or import taxes.
To customers in the European Union: Our business is based in Japan with a global client base and is not VAT registered. We can't pay or provide VAT invoices for taxes that are incurred by the importation of products bought through our service.
I wanted some vintage Hakusan Megane reading glasses, Hakusan are one of the few who actually make your glasses by hand from start to finish at their shop in Shinjuku.. they've been doing so since 1883, It might seem a little extravagant but i'm not a crazy consumer.. i just don't buy cheap Chinese crap.. but what i do buy, i expect to last a lifetime.. My Westfield covers the cost of replacement lenses each year which offsets the cost somewhat..
So here we go...
Add your item to cart.. It doesn't matter if it's a bricks 'n mortar store, an auction site or even a face to face meet up if they can facilitate it.
They don't accept PP so you do have to pay by card or transfer.
Check these^ two boxes
..and you're done, wait for a few days for your goods to arrive at the JR warehouse
..when you create your package you can edit the customs value, Japan Rabbit strongly recommend that you do not do this.
..word of warning, if you do and and your goods were to go missing, the insurance would only cover you for the declared value.
Using an example of a £150 parcel (£135 for goods and £15 shipping)
Zen or fJ would cost £150 +300¥ service charge +£18 (duty) +£30 (VAT) +£12 Admin = £212
Japan Rabbit would cost £150 (valued at £100) + $16.35 service charge = £162
The finish and level of craftsmanship of these glasses is superb..
The difference between these and factory produced acetate frames is just night and day
I have shopped with blue lug and keep it under 135 pounds and have had zero HMRC problems . Very fast service quicker sometimes than the UK . They always have some interesting items that are unavailable in the UK .
Ok betsy when I seen Japanese sellers selling things they are really expensive it's only on
eBay I seen that's the only one I can use haven't a clue how to look at other countries or sites so are were your buying from alot cheaper and is it worth it example green ringle front hub eBay sure it was £400 so are you getting real bargains due to the shit yen cheers
Ok betsy when I seen Japanese sellers selling things they are really expensive it's only on
eBay I seen that's the only one I can use haven't a clue how to look at other countries or sites so are were your buying from alot cheaper and is it worth it example green ringle front hub eBay sure it was £400 so are you getting real bargains due to the shit yen cheers
There are two different factors at play here and neither has anything to do with the cheap Yen.
Regarding the 'expensive' goods via Japanese eBay sellers? .. This is how that works.
Firstly.. the folks listing the item on eBay are not the sellers**.. let me explain..
We think of Japan as a technologically advanced country but it's really not.. just look at their web pages, they haven't progressed for 20yrs, the cities are advanced but the majority of Japan is still very traditional, retail is via small bricks 'n mortar shops or small shopping precincts where passing trade is everything and tapping into the international market isn't really a priority so most don't have an internet presence.. for domestically made goods, this approach works fine, as it did here up to the 90s..
If one such shop.. has a Ringle Hub (for instance) that could sell to the very limited market locally for.. lets say, 20000¥.. resellers know they could get 40000¥ by reaching the entire country on digital platforms like Yahoo, Mercari ect.. so they will advertise the hub in the digital world with full knowledge of the seller on a commission basis.. if it sells for 40k, the seller gets his 20k, the reseller does all the work but gets 20k.. everyone is happy.
**When this comes to eBay.. you can spot the resellers by viewing 'Sellers Other Items' if the seller has a lot of listings and all of the photos have very different backgrounds (carpets, cabinets ect) there is a very good chance that the photos were taken in different retail spaces.. the listing will often have a caveat "Please Understand.. This Item Is Sold In Store So Could Be Out Of Stock" so you buy it on eBay from the reseller, the reseller calls the store to reserve.. if the item has sold.. your order is cancelled and you get a refund.
International eBay fees are very expensive for the buyer.. as a seller, i often don't know the cost of my item when viewed on eBay.com .. so the goods you see on eBay via Japan are often very overpriced (sometimes without the sellers full knowledge) and they're +VAT .. eBay is a very limited market for them compared to Yahoo, Mercari ect.. so they'll often hike the price of eBay goods on the off chance of some clueless westerner coming along. You will often see the same item listed via 3 or 4 different sellers using the same photos with different prices from different eBay accounts.. this is just different Japanese resellers working for a larger /smaller commission.. in which case, you will find that item for sale in Japan for a fraction of the cost.. que @ferrus and his £17k stylus .... you just have to find it and buy it from Japan instead, minus the eBay fees.
There is no one trick solution here.. i can find shit in seconds but i have 20+ years of Japanese retail experience at my fingertips.. i even used to read 'Geo Cities Tokyo' way back in the 90s..
Like most knowledge you acquire, you just have to put the hours in.. translating (let's say) Ringle to kanji is a good place to start, search in Japanese as well as English.. built an itinerary of Japanese bike stores in a google doc.. ect
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