Cook Bros ...ect. Japan Buying Advice, Yahoo Auctions, Proxy Services

[Betsy]

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..

 

[kingoffootball]

Clark Kent F16

https://www.jauce.com/auction/l1180221585

 

[Betsy]

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