Sending a leather Jacket through Japanese Customs to be repaired?

[WolfofStateSt]

I would just sit tight for a week or two. Customs turnover of 4-6 weeks is not unheard of, so I wouldn´t worry prematurely.

What is happening is that the customs office needs to make a judgment call wether or not they "believe" that this is a repair on an previously taxed item, or a scam to get overseas goods into the country without paying VAT/customs. Could be that they are short on staff (holiday season), that the customs guy is inexperienced or grumpy etc.

Eventually, they will forward or reject...

I like this plan.

 

[WolfofStateSt]

This topic is all over this forum.
Dena is on here on occasion @iknowleather and she does excellent work.
Her website - https://www.greatleather.com/
I also have had #10 Brass zippers installed at other locations in Iowa as well.
Johnson Leathers in San Francisco has gotten quite busy but they do zipper replacements as well.

It may be advisable to have your jacket sent back to you and send it to a local shop in the US to do the work.

Since, it is already in Japan and I have paid freight and RMC to repair it, I’ll have them replace the zipper this time, and the next time a zipper breaks, I will send it to a local shop.

 

[Canuck Panda]

If your package is in Japan already there is nothing anyone can do right now except to let the time pass. In my past dealing it took a while for the Japanese customs to call my guy about the stuck package then he messaged me and then I just asked him to reject the parcel because the hoops we had to go through and neither of us knew how to get the paperwork done. It is best to use a Japanese broker and they can deal with it. It is also worth noting that the package that got stuck was a huge box with multiple jackets and extra leather in it so that's probably why it got flagged. You are only sending one jacket and ime it works that way.

Your package might not even be flagged by the customs. It is simply just slow sometimes with EMS. Can take up to three weeks for normal deliveries that usually take less than two weeks.

Just sit tight.

A2 should be fine with Talons. You can go Conmatics if you want, it's also period correct.

 

[WolfofStateSt]

If your package is in Japan already there is nothing anyone can do right now except to let the time pass. In my past dealing it took a while for the Japanese customs to call my guy about the stuck package then he messaged me and then I just asked him to reject the parcel because the hoops we had to go through and neither of us knew how to get the paperwork done. It is best to use a Japanese broker and they can deal with it. It is also worth noting that the package that got stuck was a huge box with multiple jackets and extra leather in it so that's probably why it got flagged. You are only sending one jacket and ime it works that way.

Your package might not even be flagged by the customs. It is simply just slow sometimes with EMS. Can take up to three weeks for normal deliveries that usually take less than two weeks.

Just sit tight.

A2 should be fine with Talons. You can go Conmatics if you want, it's also period correct.

I will wait patiently. If Japanese customs rejects my package, I will request its return and find a leather repair shop in the US.

Thank you for your answers, they really helped!

 

[MrProper]

Info, please. Since my guy closed his shop, I've nowhere to send my leather shit.

On the other hand, I can now do alterations I didn't even think of attempting before.

This is my leather cutter.
https://www.rgleder.at/en/service-repair
The site doesn't look very fancy, but the work is really good. I have now had three jackets altered by them. I haven't changed the zip yet, but when the one on my Vincent is due, I'll have one changed by them. According to them, they will of course use the same holes that the old zip left behind.
I couldn't tell you exactly where my alterations were made, it's so perfectly done.
However, I have to say that I have always been to the shop in person. Unfortunately, I can't say whether they also do it completely online or just send it back by post. But I could ask.

 

[WolfofStateSt]

This is my leather cutter.
https://www.rgleder.at/en/service-repair
The site doesn't look very fancy, but the work is really good. I have now had three jackets altered by them. I haven't changed the zip yet, but when the one on my Vincent is due, I'll have one changed by them. According to them, they will of course use the same holes that the old zip left behind.
I couldn't tell you exactly where my alterations were made, it's so perfectly done.
However, I have to say that I have always been to the shop in person. Unfortunately, I can't say whether they also do it completely online or just send it back by post. But I could ask.

This is the repair I want done.

 

[Aloysius]

Please elaborate, might come in handy for the future.

I know that Goodwear also uses Talon zippers, are other Talon zippers better quality than RMC, is there a difference?

Repro Talons seem to have a high failure rate, which is unfortunate. It isn’t even the size because you can get #5 Universals or Conmars from those brands (which are still in business; Universal is now part of YKK) and they hold up just fine. It’s a shame RMC is charging you for these teeth falling out because that doesn’t seem like user error to me!

On the other hand I think your A-2 might still hold up fine with the new talon bc A-2s are made of fairly lightweight weather and not worn super tight so fingers crossed that lightning doesn’t strike twice.

 

[WolfofStateSt]

Repro Talons seem to have a high failure rate, which is unfortunate. It isn’t even the size because you can get #5 Universals or Conmars from those brands (which are still in business; Universal is now part of YKK) and they hold up just fine. It’s a shame RMC is charging you for these teeth falling out because that doesn’t seem like user error to me!

On the other hand I think your A-2 might still hold up fine with the new talon bc A-2s are made of fairly lightweight weather and not worn super tight so fingers crossed that lightning doesn’t strike twice.

I don’t usually zip up my leather jackets, but it was super windy that day, and I figured I might as well since it has a zipper. I love the pattern of RM’s A-2; it has a modern touch and is sleek. Still, if I ever have to buy another A2, god forbid, I’ll probably just bite the bullet and go with Goodwear if they are still around.

Part of the reason I went with Iron Heart for my Deck Jacket, so far their hardware is working much better than any RM jacket I have.

 

[Aloysius]

I don’t usually zip up my leather jackets, but it was super windy that day, and I figured I might as well since it has a zipper. I love the pattern of RM’s A-2; it has a modern touch and is sleek. Still, if I ever have to buy another A2, god forbid, I’ll probably just bite the bullet and go with Goodwear if they are still around.

Part of the reason I went with Iron Heart for my Deck Jacket, so far their hardware is working much better than any RM jacket I have.

You didn’t do anything wrong by zipping it up! If a jacket can’t take that it’s on the manufacturer.

 

[WolfofStateSt]

You didn’t do anything wrong by zipping it up! If a jacket can’t take that it’s on the manufacturer.

So true

 

[WolfofStateSt]

So long as the Japanese Customs don’t seize my jacket and I never get it back.

 

[WolfofStateSt]

Update: Still in customs and I’m getting nervous I'll never see the jacket again.

 

[Canuck Panda]

They won't seize your jacket.

It is stuck in their bureaucracy process.

You can try to ask the shipment's receiver (Real Mccoys) to see if they receive any phone calls or emails about this. You can also ask USPS customer service but I don't think there is much they can do right now because the package is already in Japan.

Just sit tight. The worst case scenario is they route the package back to you next month. That's what happened in my last case.

 

[WolfofStateSt]

This topic is all over this forum.
Dena is on here on occasion @iknowleather and she does excellent work.
Her website - https://www.greatleather.com/
I also have had #10 Brass zippers installed at other locations in Iowa as well.
Johnson Leathers in San Francisco has gotten quite busy but they do zipper replacements as well.

It may be advisable to have your jacket sent back to you and send it to a local shop in the US to do the work.

So… I heard back from Real McCoys. The issue is that Japan wants to charge duties on the jacket, and Real McCoys says they cannot pay the duties. I asked USPS to have the Japanese Customs officials contact me directly with the charges. I am really considering having the jacket sent back and finding a good US leather smith in the US. With tariffs starting soon here, I wonder if RM will fix it and send it back to me if I must pay another absurd fee.

Could one of these people put on a really durable zipper for me? Something more durable than what RM offers?

 

[Jon Crow]

This red tape makes no sense to me, I already paid for the jacket when I imported it the first time. It's just about squeezing every dollar out of us for the government, makes no logical sense why I should have to pay duties twice, but watch them charge me again.

We have the same kind of piracy here in Europe mm

 

[Aloysius]

So… I heard back from Real McCoys. The issue is that Japan wants to charge duties on the jacket, and Real McCoys says they cannot pay the duties. I asked USPS to have the Japanese Customs officials contact me directly with the charges. I am really considering having the jacket sent back and finding a good US leather smith in the US. With tariffs starting soon here, I wonder if RM will fix it and send it back to me if I must pay another absurd fee.

Could one of these people put on a really durable zipper for me? Something more durable than what RM offers?

Also more fundamentally why are they charging duties on a Japanese made product? Lol

Not only could they put on a more durable zipper than RMC they pretty much certainly will. RMC will put a tinny repro on.

 

[WolfofStateSt]

Also, more fundamentally, why are they charging duties on a Japanese-made product? Lol

Not only could they put on a more durable zipper than RMC they pretty much certainly will. RMC will put a tinny repro on.

Yeah I am really considering having it sent back, eating my shipping costs and having a US shop fix it up.

 

[Aloysius]

Yeah I am really considering having it sent back, eating my shipping costs and having a US shop fix it up.

Seems like the only viable option. Why pay probably hundreds in tax, then possibly the same to re import to the U.S.? Cut your losses.

 

[Will Zach]

Yeah, don't throw good money after bad.

 

[Canuck Panda]

Do a cost comparison first. The cost of getting a new zipper intalled in US is probably gonna be around 150 dollars give or take. Correct me if I am wrong. You could go with a number 5 YKK with the plain zipper box and just custom attach the Talon pull tab to it (in theory it should work I've not done it yet). Or Riri number 5. Riri pull has a little loop for connection so in theory it should be easier to modify to use the old Talon tab. Both modern zippers would obviously be better than the NOS or repro Talons imo.

If the cost is reasonable getting it done in Japan even with the extra cost, then get RMC to put a number 5 Conmatic zipper in there. They've used it on some of their flight jackets. It is the more reliable zipper design than the Talons ime. The male pin is shorter and its simple design can work only one way, I've not had a mis zip with conmatics.

I am ok with putting bigger zippers on motorcycle jackets but for A2 jackets I'd prefer it to be the number 5 size. YKK, Riri or Conmar will be more reliable in the number 5 size than the Talon ime.