Yamatoku shipping options

[Iron Draggon]

I just won Assault Suit Leynos 2 from them today, but I'm wondering if it's really necessary to pay $12.00 for EMS shipping instead of $4.20 for airmail. I know alot of people here have bought from them before, so what do you suggest? The price of the item was $34.00 so I'm trying to decide if I really need to pay $46.00 or if $38.20 will be enough to get it here to me safely. I know it's only $7.80 difference, but I hate to spend more if I don't need to. I have another game on the way from Japan that I bought from Macross126 and the shipping was only $6.00 so I guess it's being sent by airmail, isn't it? This is my first time importing through ebay, so I dunno what I should do. I've heard alot of good things about these sellers, so I'm not really worried about them being honest, but is airmail really as bad as they make it sound? If it's really that bad, then why would they suggest sending cash payment?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=8127564600&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT

[Azazel]

Unless it's a really expensive item or a rare one I say just have it shipped airmail. There's maybe a 2% or 3% chance that it could be lost in the mail. I've only had one or 2 things lost in the mail over 5 or 6 years so about 200 items or so.

[Aussie2B]

Yamatoku is sometimes a little iffy on packaging, but they're not bad enough to really warrant EMS. I know a lot of people who are extremely paranoid and want everything to be shipped by EMS, but they're mostly just rich kids wasting money. I risk SAL shipping all the time, so Airmail is very safe as far as I'm concerned. o_O

[gamergary]

Yamatoku is a little iffy for packing. I bought a super famicom game and the box was in perfect condition in the picture but when I get the game the box is crushed and has a crease line on one side. The box wasn't ripped and I got the game that I needed so I didn't really care.

[Funk Buddy]

For one game I'd do airmail. Like stated above, if it was expensive EMS is the only way to go for insurance and tracking. I've bought 100's of items too and have never had anything lost or damaged (too bad).

[pookninja]

i buy from them off ebay all the time.i always use airmail when it is just one game.i have had no problems.

[Querjek]

Airmail, unless if you want the game really fast (because with airmail you only get it "pretty fast").

[GaijinPunch]

I've sent tons of packages -- probably somewhere around 1000 in the last few years. Only had one loast in airmail (knock on wood)

[Iron Draggon]

Well, I just went with airmail, so I sure hope that I don't end up regretting it. I would've spent the extra $8.00 on EMS, just to be on the safe side, but I'm planning to import a few more games soon and I need to save as much money as I can for them. Besides, $12.00 is awful steep for shipping, even from Japan. But y'all's experiences with airmail didn't sound too bad, so it didn't seem like EMS was really necessary for just one game, although only $4.00 sure does sound awful cheap for shipping it all the way from Japan. I wish they offered delivery confirmation airmail for $6.00, like other sellers do.

Anyway, so about how long do you think it will take to get it from Kanazawa to Houston? I'm still waiting for the game that I ordered from Macross126, but it's only been a week since he shipped it, so hopefully it'll show up soon. I'm really impressed with my order from Wolfgames though, it only took a few days to get that one, so I'm gonna be ordering another game from him soon. Then I have a couple of games that I wanna order from PlayAsia too. This forum has given me import fever again! I was content with my import collection until I started hanging out here, but now I have a shopping list!

[Aussie2B]

Matt (the Wolfgames dude) is located in the US, so that's why he gets stuff shipped so fast. I used to have a BIG obsession with Wolfgames (checking it every single day religiously), but sadly he hasn't gotten much of anything in lately that I'm interested in. It's a shame too because I really like ordering from him. He's such a nice seller, and he really treats his customers right (he once included 4 free anime VHS tapes with one of my orders just to be nice [or just to get rid of them, hehe], and the tapes brought the shipping cost up to MORE than what he charges).

As for airmail shipping, it doesn't really matter where in Japan it's coming from or where in the US it's going, it pretty much never takes much more than a week (two weeks at the absolute most). I'm sure your order from Macross126 will arrive in the next day or two.

Also keep in mind that there are no rules for shipping time. I've frequently used SAL which is said to take 2 weeks at THE LEAST, but I've gotten orders in just a few days, less than Airmail takes sometimes. o_O

[Disconnected]

He usually only ships in a padded envelope. $12-$15 shipping for a game seems a little steep for me. Airmail is usually fine and I have had no problems with it.

[GaijinPunch]

interested in. It's a shame too because I really like ordering from him. He's such a nice seller, and he really treats his customers right

This really goes a long way. It might've only been for a year or so, but I think I got the most action on Ebay b/c I kept the prices lower than the other guys, but also was very nice and went out of my way to be accomodating. Return business is good business.

As for shipping from Japan. You guys should ask Yamatoku if they will send registered airmail. In case he sends back a x_x or similar expression, say "haitatsu kiroku" or "kakitome". It's basically airmail, but trackable for an extra 400 yen.

[Iron Draggon]

Well, Jay (macross126) sure has some interesting packaging. After carefully unwrapping 3 full layers of bubble wrap, I was about to get pissed because my facory sealed game appeared to be an obvious reseal, but then I realized that it was still factory sealed inside of the reseal, so that was a big relief. I was like, what the hell? This isn't how the game was pictured in the auction! So I'm glad that it turned out to be a false alarm. I didn't want to get pissed.

Matt is fantastic, and I knew he was in the US, but still his shipping did seem to be amazingly fast. I totally wasn't expecting his package to arrive as soon as it did. He makes me want to order a bunch of stuff from him all the time too, so I will definitely be keeping a watchful eye on his store from now on.

Gaijin Punch, thanks for the info. Are those two terms interchangeable, or do they actually mean 2 different things? That's exactly what I was talking about. Some sellers offer airmail with delivery confirmation, and they also offer airmail with delivery confirmation and insurance. So knowing how to ask for that in Japanese would be a big help. Just don't trick us and tell us how to cuss the seller out instead now! j/k That would be funny though. HEHE

Now, back to Yamatoku, looks like their rates for shipping aren't so bad after all. I just found another seller who charges $7 for airmail and $13 for EMS to the US. Other countries can go as high as $17 for EMS, and those rates are just for one game. The more you order, the more it costs. So it looks like I got a real bargain on airmail. I just hope my package arrives safely without any damage. It was shipped yesterday, so it should be arriving next week.

Time to start playing what I have while I wait. I got Necronomicon Pinball from Matt and Pinball Graffiti from Jay. I know that Necronomicon is way better than Graffiti, but I collect pinball games, so it doesn't matter if it's good or bad to me, I just gotta have 'em all. So I suspect that I'll also be ordering Fantastic Pinball soon. I wish there were more import pinballs for the Saturn, but I already have the American versions of all the other ones I know of, so I'm just getting the Japanese only releases now. I wish I could find a sealed copy of Super Pinball 2: The Amazing Odyssey for the Super Famicom though. I need that one to complete my Kaze Digital Pinball collection, but that game is a real bitch to find! It took me forever just to find a review! And I haven't even found a used copy yet, so my hope for that one is slim.

[GaijinPunch]

Gaijin Punch, thanks for the info. Are those two terms interchangeable, or do they actually mean 2 different things?

I'm pretty sure they're the same thing. If I'm not mistaken, registered airmail is automatically insured for 6000 yen, but can't be insured for any more. THat's probably airmail with insurance they're referring to.

[geelw]

on a personal note, except for once, i always went with EMS from yamatoku as i was always getting loads of stuff from them (i think i ended up with about 500 games total from them in about 2 years- ouch), and as i was working at the time, EMS always showed up in the morning before i left. fast, too- 3 days after you pay is definitely a joy, especially if it's something you really want. regular air mail delivery around here (5-10 days) got stuck at the post office, and i had to run over the next day (or wait a few days if i couldn't make it).

as for the condition stuff arrives in, you're asking for trouble if you pay good $ for a single boxed game and get it shipped the cheapest way. bubble envelopes don't do well at protecting cardboard boxes, period. cd games can survive, but i've gotten a few cracked cases from all over the world.

g.

[EnemyZero]

its all up to u man, the only reason they do EMS is because air mail can be tossed around alot..but in your case..being a game, i dont see much that can happen...i ordered my jap sega saturn from them, but i used ems, but it arived in like 4 days in tip top shape

[GaijinPunch]

The only choice for a system is EMS or boat. It's over 2kg, so you can't send it airmail, even if you want to.

[Iron Draggon]

Well I've gotten both of my orders from them now, and their packaging seemed to be alright to me, at least for CD's in jewel cases. Their envelopes weren't padded at all, but the games were wrapped in at least 2 layers of bubble wrap, so I think that was sufficient. And I saved $16 total on two orders. So that was enough to let me buy another game from another seller!