White Rabbit and BuySmartJapan Japanese shipping forwarder info and feedback
I really really wanted the TakaraTomyMall exclusive Movie Laserbeak toy (the pink redeco of Deluxe Bumblebee), and after asking some people who are in Japan if they could help, as well as signing up to the shipping forwarder BuySmartJapan that had been in the annoying pop-ups on the TTM website, only to be told by them that Laserbeak was not one of the items they could let me purchase through them... which was really weird, as most other Transformers on there, including TTM exclusives, were on their portal site (that link is using their search filter for "Transformers" in Japanese, which includes other Japanese businesses, not just TTM) .... including Laserbeak here. (maybe it was not available at the time I tried to do this in June, and they added it after I was asking for it... or maybe they don't ship certain items to Australia)
Anyway, I did a google search for other shipping forwarders who can buy and ship on your behalf, so that I don't have to shop myself if the site is in Japanese... but obviously, it adds to the cost, as that 3rd party is going to want to make money for these added services.
If you are desperate for something that isn't available for less elsewhere, or from any other reliable source, you will be willing to pay a little more for it... so keep that in mind for the example below.
I joined White Rabbit Express on June 25th, and ordered two Laserbeak toys through their website's order form that day. (I bought two to help offset the total cost of shipping and handling expenses... if I end up selling it, or giving it away in a competition).
It charged me AU$149 through paypal (in US$) for the two toys to be purchased, posted to White Rabbit, and their fees (which ends up being about 20%).
Quote:
| Product Name: Transformers Movie MB-EX Laserbeak
| Product Description: Pink Deluxe robot toy that turns into a car
| Quantity: 2
| Item Price: 4300 yen (US$40.30)
| Total Price: 8600 yen (US$80.60)
---------------------------------------------
| Expense Type: Domestic Shipping
| Description: Shipping pre-approval
| Cost: US$7.50 (800 yen)
Per Shop Fee (1) @ $6.00 ): $6.00
Per Item Fee (1) @ $1.00): $1.00
Service Fee (12.5%): $10.08
Items Total: US$80.60
Order Total: US$105.18
I made the order at 3.54pm (with paypal payment), and had an email from them at 8.15pm confirming that they had purchased the Laserbeak toys... that was a little over 4 hours. That was faster than I was expecting.
Four days later (June 29th), I get an email saying that the toys have arrived at White Rabbit, and that I should go to their website to select shipping and pay for it to have it shipped to me.
The shipping cost to me was amazing though, just AU$20 (US$14) which offsets some of that 20% of fees. And it only took 7 days from Japan to my post box.
It was paid that night (just a day before the GST kicked in... in case they were to start collecting the tax)... and I get an email on July 2nd with shipping confirmation and tracking number.
July 9th it was at my Post Box... costing me about AU$85 for each Laserbeak shipped to me, which doesn't look great for a Deluxe toy, but at AU$55 on TTM before you even get it posted to a Japanese address, $30 for each toy, to get posted twice (within Japan and then to Australia) through a third party business who has to make money themselves, is acceptable to me.
The process was very smooth and easy to do, and adequate communication, making it worth the expense... and since international shipping was so cheap, I'd use them again.
I still want to try out BuySmartJapan though (now that a fair few Transformers are showing up on their portal website), and then use whichever one is cheaper (and easier).
