Price difference in Japan?

[Canuck Panda]

Buyee asked me to log into Paypal from their (Buyee) website, to "pre-authorize" them for the bidding charge. Kinda like one blanket pre authorization so I don't have to do it everytime.
And I have set up a two way confirmation everytime I log into Paypal, so hopefully this weeds out all the potential scames or frauds sites. So everytime I log into Paypal, they have to send me an one time confirmation code that is only valid for a few minutes and I log in with that confirmation code.

The best way to get stuff from Japan is try to find the original seller and bypass the auction. Doesn't always work but worth the try.

 

[TartuWolf]

Buyee asked me to log into Paypal from their (Buyee) website, to "pre-authorize" them for the bidding charge. Kinda like one blanket pre authorization so I don't have to do it everytime.
And I have set up a two way confirmation everytime I log into Paypal, so hopefully this weeds out all the potential scames or frauds sites. So everytime I log into Paypal, they have to send me an one time confirmation code that is only valid for a few minutes and I log in with that confirmation code.

The best way to get stuff from Japan is try to find the original seller and bypass the auction. Doesn't always work but worth the try.

I've tried contacting the original seller in multiple occasions but no luck so far. Overall I've had a good experience with Juno and plan to continue using his(?) services. I can imagine he(?) could also contact the original owner/seller much more successfully.

 

[Canuck Panda]

I've tried contacting the original seller in multiple occasions but no luck so far. Overall I've had a good experience with Juno and plan to continue using his(?) services. I can imagine he(?) could also contact the original owner/seller much more successfully.

If the jacket is listed by store seller then they usually will respond privately and can bypass the auction. But I never have luck reaching private individual sellers either, they never respond to any of the messages. Some Mercari sellers are actually store sellers who runs it as a home business. I always click on the seller profile to see what else they've got. Sometimes the search filters don't show everything.
I always check to see if the jacket is listed elsewhere first, either on Rakuten/Rakuma/Mercari. The store sellers tends to list the same item on all platforms at the same time, and they sometimes mentions this in their product description.

 

[Jasonissm]

Buyee asked me to log into Paypal from their (Buyee) website, to "pre-authorize" them for the bidding charge. Kinda like one blanket pre authorization so I don't have to do it everytime.
And I have set up a two way confirmation everytime I log into Paypal, so hopefully this weeds out all the potential scames or frauds sites. So everytime I log into Paypal, they have to send me an one time confirmation code that is only valid for a few minutes and I log in with that confirmation code.

The best way to get stuff from Japan is try to find the original seller and bypass the auction. Doesn't always work but worth the try.

What do you mean by bypassing the auction? Like offering them a buy it now price? I've recently seen an auction I was going to bid on get cancelled because someone bought it via Rakuma but it's very rare. Typically all the auctions I see get bid to the end unless the seller deems the price too low and just cancels all the bids.

 

[Canuck Panda]

What do you mean by bypassing the auction? Like offering them a buy it now price? I've recently seen an auction I was going to bid on get cancelled because someone bought it via Rakuma but it's very rare. Typically all the auctions I see get bid to the end unless the seller deems the price too low and just cancels all the bids.

Yes. If you can find the same jacket from the same seller but on other platforms, use those other platforms to buy it outright, and with coupons if available. I have bought jackets from Rakuten and the seller ended the auction. Rakuten and Mercari always has coupons, auction don't always.

 

[polarWhite]

Has anyone ordered anything from celluloid1984 based on Hiroshima?

If so, how was the experience?

Also, what is the best way to calculate the exact custom duties?

@long218

Can you please elaborate on this? Is that for the US? My understanding is that it's only up to US$800 duty free.

"Also, choose EMS shipping (at least if you're in the Northeast) for no customs/duties (for consolidated packages above 200,000 yen, you will have to pay like $20 extra in custom to Buyee.)"

What you stated seemed to be about importing goods into Japan which does not apply to buying goods from Japan and have them shipped outside of Japan, right?

https://www.customs.go.jp/english/summary/passenger.htm

 

[Blackadder]

I've been there three times since early 2020 and have also never had passport info shared like you mentioned.

I only have my passport scanned when checking into hotels and when entering/leaving the country. I have never tracked purchases or bother keeping receipts now since no one ever asks and CBSA does not really care upon entering Canada. First time I went I bought a Rainbow Country leather jacket and just wore it on the way back and never declared it. Returning from my second trip I told the CBSA agent I would be over my $1000 CAD limit and he did not seem to care since I admitted it and was honest about it. The most recent trip, CBSA asked what I bought and I told them. Jeans, socks, some Japanese pickles, ect No one even asked for a total last month when I returned to Canada and I didn't stress about it. I saved receipts just in case but probably won't bother when I go back next fall.

OP was asking about proxy services. With Buyee I have never had to give my paypal password or log into it since I pay with Visa linked to my Buyee account. I have not tried other proxy services, but using buyee is quite easy and painless. I have purchased many items and leather jackets with zero issues. I travel to Japan about once a year now so I don't order anything any more online and just buy while I am there. I would still use Yahoo Auctions and Buyee for a leather jacket since I'm over paying for new, but I need another leather jacket like I need another hole in my head.

Japanese shops now scan passport in stead of filling in hardcopy form for tax free shopping. It does not send information to outside Japan but the Japanese custom does get the info. I was stopped and checked at Kansai airport when I was there in March because I bought a lot of household stuffs, LOL. They have a list when I went through and asked me to open my backpack and of course everything was in the checked in baggage and they were not able to verify. No idea why they do useless things like that. I can understand if you buy a couple of Rolex though. As said, it is for them to verify the items are indeed exported.

They asked me for mine

As for paypal log in, it may have to do with the sniper bid option since the sniper bid will be placed at a later time and not when you log in.

 

[Blackadder]

What do you mean by bypassing the auction? Like offering them a buy it now price? I've recently seen an auction I was going to bid on get cancelled because someone bought it via Rakuma but it's very rare. Typically all the auctions I see get bid to the end unless the seller deems the price too low and just cancels all the bids.

Some vintage stores list their 2nd hand items on various websites. So if you see the item on Yahoo Auction JP, you can copy the name and search on Rakuten and Mercari. Since Rakuten and Mercari are BIN, you can get the item before the same item listed on Yahoo auction ends.