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Yahoo Auctions: How can I import a game from Japan? Recommend buying services!

R

RagingAvatar

Member
I'm desperately trying to get hold of the Dragon Quest X Special Pack that was previously available on the Square-Enix eStore but is now sold out.

I've seen that there are some available on Yahoo Auctions. In the past I've used Rinkya - but wow, it was pricey.
A 500yen item ended up totalling $22.50, shipped.

Anyone able to recommend any better services?
 
S

SiegfriedFM

Member
Basic fees make cheap items expensive. It's not so bad once you get more expensive stuff.

I've used Celga before, they were quite good. I haven't used them lately though.
 
K

kubus

Member
I've heard many good things about Tenso, their fees are pretty reasonable. Haven't used it myself though.

I don't know exactly what you mean by Dragon Quest X special pack, buy try Nin-Nin Games. They sell items from the Square Enix store, as well as Japanese Club Nintendo items, lalabit market (Namco Bandai), e-Capcom store, Sega Store, etc etc. It's a little pricey sometimes but it saves you the hassle of buying something through a second party and bidding on Japanese auctions and stuff. Provided they have the item, of course.
 
H

Heyt

Banned
Celga is one of the cheaper companies that does shopping services, but not the best option necessairly. Try to find a particular resident that does it for you, if you spend a bit of time researching you can find good and secure deals with people that can act fast on auctions. Use Celga if you really don't have much time or don't care as much losing a certain auction (they are quite slow sometimes, but they are ok for buying elsewere). But my recomendation for the better is get on to facebook and dive a little.

Regardless of what service you use, try to keep in mind that the more items you buy, the more fees you have to pay. Buying too much with Celga and forgetting about that can give you some surprises on the invoice.
 
sakipon

sakipon

Member
I like Shopping Mall Japan, but I haven't really compared services for many years. They have great service.
 
X

x Maiku x

Member
I'm in Japan and don't run a service but I've helped out some members on here in the past. PM me if you're interested or need any help.
 
F

FlyingSaucer

Banned
I use Masato for bidding on YAJ. Guy isn't cheap but very serious.
And on the other hand, you have Yokatta, which is cheaper but I had have problems with them (no answers to mails sent, often late, poor communication...).

kuroneko0509 said:
try tenso
Click to expand...

I use Tenso to buy on the Amazon marketplace and it's good. Didn't know they did YAJ, though :)
 
A

Anko

Member
I've used ShoppingMallJapan, Tenso, GoodyJapan, and a few others. Looking to try FromJapan but that 5% cc/paypal fee turns me off.

I mostly use ShoppingMallJapan for auctions though, due to their automated bidding system. No need to wait for their staff to bid for you when you can bid on your own. Last thing you will want is to miss an auction because the staff was slow in getting to your order. They will settle everything after that (contact seller, etc), of course. They're competent. Wish I could say the same for Celga.

Now if there were an automated toranoana/melonbooks shopping system...
 
G

glaurung

Member
I believe NCSX.com still works. I ordered a lot of stuff from them over the years.

Their shipping prices are bonkers though.
 
R

RagingAvatar

Member
FlyingSaucer said:
I use Tenso to buy on the Amazon marketplace and it's good. Didn't know they did YAJ, though :)
Click to expand...

They don't. But they did bring out a service called Buyee which is run by them - but I don't know why they don't just have it integrated into Tenso so I can consolidate easily etc. (Probably because they can charge more this way..)

I ended up going with Buyee. Thanks all.
 
P

PewPewK

Member
If you can buy the thing yourself (basically the only ones you can't do this for are Yahoo Auctions JP and sites that require bank transfer) you can ship it to BigInJapan who has a forwarding services for only 500 yen per package.

If you can't buy it yourself, then Yokkata, BigInJapan, Buyee, ShoppingMallJapan, etc all have proxy services. They vary radically in quality and price, so just google them and get a feel for what will work for you.
 
R

Replicant

Member
Unless the item you're looking for is really out of stock don't even bother using Yahoo! Japan. The service cost itself would knock your budget hard.
 
F

FlyingSaucer

Banned
RagingAvatar said:
They don't. But they did bring out a service called Buyee which is run by them - but I don't know why they don't just have it integrated into Tenso so I can consolidate easily etc. (Probably because they can charge more this way..)

I ended up going with Buyee. Thanks all.
Click to expand...

didn't know about that. Should try one day. Thanks !
 
C

Chairmanchuck

Member
Just a question. How many sellers would wanna "rip you off"? I ordered on amiami before and this were really the real shipping-fees, but I know a lot of sellers (not just asia, but also the US) tell you totally unrealistic shipping-fees, so they even earn with this.
 
A

Anko

Member
Chairmanchuck said:
Just a question. How many sellers would wanna "rip you off"? I ordered on amiami before and this were really the real shipping-fees, but I know a lot of sellers (not just asia, but also the US) tell you totally unrealistic shipping-fees, so they even earn with this.
Click to expand...
Most sellers have the shipping fees quoted on the auction description so you can judge for yourself. It's not a quote after you win thing, most of the time. Just use the ones with a better rating/rep score and you should be fine. That rating is very important on YAJ, with some sellers outright refusing to sell to those with any negative rating or those with new accounts. They probably wouldn't risk their rating to earn a few bucks on shipping. If you can read Japanese, check out the feedback rating section. Everyone is required to rate and comment on the seller/buyer as a courtesy.

At least, for international EMS, the postage fee is written clearly on the parcel.
 
C

Chairmanchuck

Member
Anko said:
Most sellers have the shipping fees quoted on the auction description so you can judge for yourself. It's not a quote after you win thing, most of the time. Just use the ones with a better rating/rep score and you should be fine. That rating is very important on YAJ, with some sellers outright refusing to sell to those with any negative rating or those with new accounts. They probably wouldn't risk their rating to earn a few bucks on shipping. If you can read Japanese, check out the feedback rating section. Everyone is required to rate and comment on the seller/buyer as a courtesy.
Click to expand...

Ah. Alright. I just had bad experiences with Korean sellers and american ones, since I know the estimated shipping fees and normally they wanna earn a lot on the shipping.
 
Lord Ghirahim

Lord Ghirahim

Member
Googled a bit, found a buyee thread on neogaf, but the OP was permabanned for advertising ;//

I see RagingAvatar got banned a few days ago.

Has anyone else used buyee recently? How's their communication? I asked them a couple of questions about an auction and they don't seem to be actually reading the messages I've sent them. That's worrisome.
 
P

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
Lord Ghirahim said:
Googled a bit, found a buyee thread on neogaf, but the OP was permabanned for advertising ;//

I see RagingAvatar got banned a few days ago.

Has anyone else used buyee recently? How's their communication? I asked them a couple of questions about an auction and they don't seem to be actually reading the messages I've sent them. That's worrisome.
Click to expand...

What are you actually trying to buy?
 
P

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
Lord Ghirahim said:
Crysta codes.
Click to expand...

You mean the virtual SQEX money?

Since can help you with that if it is what you are looking for. Just if you dont mind paying the extra amount for paypal fees.

Am pretty sure I can go and pick those up at a convenience store thats why.
 
Lord Ghirahim

Lord Ghirahim

Member
Parakeetman said:
You mean the virtual SQEX money?

Since can help you with that if it is what you are looking for. Just if you dont mind paying the extra amount for paypal fees.

Am pretty sure I can go and pick those up at a convenience store thats why.
Click to expand...

I appreciate the offer, but I've already paid :(
I'm now waiting for them to stop sending automated replies :/
 
Lord Ghirahim

Lord Ghirahim

Member
Customer Support said:
Hi,

Thank you for your email!

Your item 「500Ｐの番号10個」is sent by the seller to our warehouse so that we can not send it to your email address. We are sorry for the convenience.
We are about to pay for your item to the seller, please wait for a while for the item to arrive at our warehouse. After the item arrives at our warehouse, we will let you know the international shipping fee by your My Page. Please complete the payment whenever it is convenient for you. Then, we will move on to the international shipping process.
Thank you.

Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any other questions or concerns.
Click to expand...

Uuuuuh :[
I just replied asking them to send me a pic of the codes. I really hope I won't have to pay international shipping for some codes :'/
 
Lord Ghirahim

Lord Ghirahim

Member
Wait, how do they even know the seller is sending them a physical item if they haven't even paid? Did they send me another pasted reply? The item listing stipulated that the buyer uses the codes within 24 hours of sending, wouldn't that be an irrational demand if the item were physical? :/
 
P

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
Lord Ghirahim said:
Wait, how do they even know the seller is sending them a physical item if they haven't even paid? Did they send me another pasted reply? The item listing stipulated that the buyer uses the codes within 24 hours of sending, wouldn't that be an irrational demand if the item were physical? :/
Click to expand...

This sounds like a giant circle jerk to me personally. The codes shouldnt be that hard to obtain for the Crysta stuff since as I had mentioned I can literally go down to the convenience store to get them.

Warehouse? The hell do they need these shipped to a warehouse for?
 
Lord Ghirahim

Lord Ghirahim

Member
Parakeetman said:
This sounds like a giant circle jerk to me personally. The codes shouldnt be that hard to obtain for the Crysta stuff since as I had mentioned I can literally go down to the convenience store to get them.

Warehouse? The hell do they need these shipped to a warehouse for?
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's another pasted reply. I just went through the seller's... everything. All of his products can be sold digitally and I even saw him answer "I will send only the number via 取引ナビ" to a person asking him if he can send the actual card itself. He does not ship physical items.
 
P

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
Lord Ghirahim said:
Yeah, it's another pasted reply. I just went through the seller's... everything. All of his products can be sold digitally and I even saw him answer "I will send only the number via 取引ナビ" to a person asking him if he can send the actual card itself. He does not ship physical items.
Click to expand...

Too bad you cant get your money back at this point, since the whole thing sounds skunked. :/
 
Lord Ghirahim

Lord Ghirahim

Member
It reminds me of when I had to deal with eBay bots a couple of years ago. It took me forever to get an actual person to reply.

I will file a report on PayPal if I don't have the codes by Saturday I guess. I see another buyer left positive feedback for the exact same item 14 hours after the auction ended, further evidence that the transaction is supposed to be strictly digital.
 
P

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
Lord Ghirahim said:
It reminds me of when I had to deal with eBay bots a couple of years ago. It took me forever to get an actual person to reply.

I will file a report on PayPal if I don't have the codes by Saturday I guess. I see another buyer left positive feedback for the exact same item 14 hours after the auction ended, further evidence that the transaction is supposed to be strictly digital.
Click to expand...

Anyways I got this thread subbed so will watch if you put any future updates. Only offered to help you out since I know who you are here at GAF from the Bravely Default and Animal Crossing 3DS threads.
 
Lord Ghirahim

Lord Ghirahim

Member
Parakeetman said:
Anyways I got this thread subbed so will watch if you put any future updates. Only offered to help you out since I know who you are here at GAF from the Bravely Default and Animal Crossing 3DS threads.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I may have to take you up on that offer depending on the outcome of this mess. I only needed 500 Crysta (Crystas?...Crystæ?) too. I'll post when they reply.
 
Lord Ghirahim

Lord Ghirahim

Member
Parakeetman said:
Seems like the lowest amount they sell is 2000 from the convenience store.

Heres the official JP link.

http://www.webmoney.jp/crystawm/
Click to expand...

Good to know. I logged in with my ancient, useless YAJ account and asked the seller how the transaction works on a similar Crysta listing. He confirmed that he just sends the 16-digit code via 取引ナビ after confirmed payment. So yeah, buyee customer "support" is not very good.
 
Lord Ghirahim

Lord Ghirahim

Member
I got an actual reply! They apologized for the misunderstanding and have agreed to send me the codes via e-mail as soon as they have acquired them. Good. I think.
 
P

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
Lord Ghirahim said:
I got an actual reply! They apologized for the misunderstanding and have agreed to send me the codes via e-mail as soon as they have acquired them. Good. I think.
Click to expand...

Fantastic good to hear.

I bet you 100% that these guys are just going to the convenience store too to purchase the codes and come back to email you the number lol.
 
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