I want this ...

[Vroomfunkel]

I got an email through ebay from a Japanese guy who offers a bidding service for Yahoo Japan ... had a look at his website, and it all seems very reasonable. Extremely so, in fact! So I had a quick browse through the items he had highlighted, you know, just to see what was out there. Wasn't really thinking of buying anything. Till I saw this, and my jaw dropped ...

http://page7.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/g16557361

I want!!!! Sadly it is (a) expensive already, and (b) would cost a fortune to ship to me.

But I still want it!!!!!

Vroomfunkel

[HellStar]

Awesome!
Good Luck Getting It!

[Vroomfunkel]

Apart from anything else, I want to know what the hell that big 'thing' in the middle of the games pic is! Can anyone identify it?

Vroomfunkel

[GaijinPunch]

From the description, it's:
Doraemon: Yume Dorobo to &nin no Gozans (Complete with Stationary)

You might as well ignore large sets and hardware. The shipping sucks the value out of them. Conversely, the 1-game items get pricey considering you'll have to pay $15-$20 more once the auction is all said and done. Remember, it costs an average of $5 to get a small package to someone (150-300 yen for the bank transfer, and 200-600 for shipping). Then you gotta pay the middle man, and the shipping to the states. Those hidden fees can suck the life out of you.

[Vroomfunkel]

I know the shipping would suck .. which is partly why I don't think I will go for it. But this guy who emailed me seems to offer some good rates ..

Commission approx $1 per 1000 yen of final price.
Bank fee $2
Shippping from seller to middleman : flat rate of $8 if under 4kg, $15 if over 4kg

All that seems fairly reasonable on something this size. It's just the shipping over to the UK that would be the problem .. and the import duty.

Sad. Cause I want that stuff! :'-(

Vroomfunkel

[Raccoon Lad]

I hate that flat rate Japanese shipping shit. Cost me the EXACT same price to have a single Sg-1000 My Card shipped as an antire game system!

ANd the fees at the very least DOUBLE what you'd pay if you could speak japanese and the seller offered international shipping. x_x

[GaijinPunch]

Commission approx $1 per 1000 yen of final price.

That's pretty standard.

Bank fee $2

That's fair. If he's got a Japan Net Bank account, the most expensive transfer is 168 yen though, if memory serves. To another account of the same bank, only 48 yen or so. W/o JNB, it gets price (315 yen) but if he's only charging $2, I doubt he's using something other than JNB.

Shippping from seller to middleman : flat rate of $8 if under 4kg, $15 if over 4kg

You're getting screwed here. A CD-game sent normal mail (no insurance) is 200 yen, plus no more than 50 yen for the packaging. 300 yen TOPS. So sellers only send Yuu-pack. One game would be 610 yen. Some (rarely) only send COD, which is really costly (about $8). So, if he gets the package for 200 yen, he gets $6 on the shipping alone.

[GaijinPunch]

Double-post.
Sorry

[Push Upstairs]

Is that an S-video adaptor for a MD 1 (or 2)?

(Top pic, top item between MD and Mega CD)

[Vroomfunkel]

Yeah, $8 for one item would be getting fleeced. But as far as I can see there's not much that's worth going for on Y! Japan in terms of single items - I can get nearly everything for the same or less from Ebay or direct from some of the sellers I have contact with.

But for a lot the size that I was looking at, then $15 seems pretty reasonable ... I mean, I couldn't get something that size shipped internally in the UK for anywhere near $15!

Vroomfunkel

[geelw]

ha! i got the same e-mail- this guy is obviously going after all the big import buyers on ebay (although i haven't bought all that much lately, lol)...

[fcfcfc]

What was his store name? I got something like this from game-baka-1dai, so I was wondering if it was the same guy.

[GaijinPunch]

I thought about doing a service like this YEARS ago (before everyone and their dogs sister started selling on Ebay) but didn't have the patience, or the tech knowledge I have now. Oh, well. On to bigger and better things.