- Buying & Importing Zoids
There are unnumerable Zoids products out there in the world, and the greatest selection of products is, of course, located in the country of origin. Unfortunately, many sellers in Japan don't ship their products overseas, which can leave you out of luck. So in this article we'll walk you through where to purchase Zoids, and how to get through the import process!
- Deputy Services
A deputy service will buy items from Japanese stores and ship them internationally. Due to banking and personal reasons, many sellers in Japan won't actually ship outside of the country, and this locks off a huge portion of the market for international fans. These sites are great services and have been recommended by members of the community.
Buyee Go To Website
| Payment Options: | Alipay (Store Only) | Buyee Points | Credit Card | Paypal | ||||
| Combined Shipping: | Yes (for a fee) | Live Bidding: | Yes | Koto Exclusives: | No |
| Holding Time: | 30 Days (100~300 Yen per day for 31 ~ 90 days) | ||||
| Service Fees: | 300 Yen Flat Rate | +500 Yen Optional Service Plan (Inspection, insured) | ||||
| Additional Fees: | 500 ~ 1500 Consolidation Fee | 1500 Safe Packaging Fee | ||||
Pros:
Buyee is a popular choice for buying from Japan. It has the typical storage time, the lowest service fees around, and requires no deposite to bid on an auction. This means no waiting for refunds if you don't win. They've also joined with Mercari and Yahoo Japan, opening up a wide array of shopping possibilities. Buyee has a sniper bid option that'll place a bid during the last 5 minutes of the auction.
Cons and Shipping:
If you don't use buyee's package consolidation, they'll ship your items as they were received. Japanese sellers often ship in packaging that's unsuitable for international transit (for example, wrapped in brown paper with an address written on it.) So consolidate when possible. You can also forego the high "safe packaging" fee, too, unless it's a particularly fragile item (teacups, etc.) This is usually an extra layer of bubble wrap, but out of the several people I've asked, nobody has felt this fee is worth it, or needed. They received their packages just fine without it, and so have I.
- Importing From Buyee During 2020
So, 2020 has been a heck of a year, but when it comes to collecting Zoids, options have been severely limited by international shipping limitations. So I think it's a good idea to give some tips for the service almost everybody is using.#1: Do not EVER let your package weight get above 3.5 kg. Most people are opting for DHL over seamail for its speed and safety, but at 3.5 kg DHL shoots up from like, $80, to $200 (based on US prices). This is a huge price hike for what could be 0.1 kg worth of weight. So I advise giving at LEAST 0.5 kg space when consolidating to account for packing. More if you can help it. Or, ship items individually and only consolidatae small or flat objects.
#2: Wait, my standard plan does what? Buyee has a lot of plans available, and the default is the standard (500 yen) plan. However, at this time, it's not necessarily the most prudent choice. Standard offers insured delivery and inspection, but that inspection is usually just for outter package damage, and insurance is quite rarely needed.
The main reason I'm bringing this up is because the lite plan also prevents you from asking for downsizing, which can make a huge difference in your package weight. Downsizing is where you mail in immediately after requesting consolidation, and ask them to discard the Seller's packaging material. Otherwise, the seller's cardboard boxes are all packed in with the item. This packaging material can add up fast. Standard and Insured delivery plans both block you from this valuable service.
While many people are nervous about giving up insurance, if you buy a lot of Zoids merch, you'll likely save more than you'll lose even when one of those unfortunate incidents occur. Use the paid plans for high value items if you need to, but otherwise be wary.
#3: Buyee often has shipping coupons dependant on buying from certain services. So check the main page to get the best deal and cut down on your costs.
Celga Go To Website
| Payment Options: | Paypal | Credit Card | ||||
| Combined Shipping: | Yes (free) | Live Bidding: | No | Koto Exclusives: | Yes |
| Holding Time: | Several Months (free) | ||||
| Service Fees: | 1 ~ 1000 Yen: $5 | 1,001 ~ 10,000 Yen: $10 | +$10 for every +10,000 | ||||
Pros:
Celga's primary benefit is unlimited storage. You can store items for months without a fee, which is great for items that are expensive to ship. They'll purchase from any webstore as long as you have a link. They also have polite, personalized customer service. If you're worried about your order, E-mail them and ask. They'll answer swiftly. Combining shipping is free and items are well packaged.
Cons:
Celga's biggest flaw is that the service is handled 100% manually, which leaves it incredibly slow compared to its competitors. Bids are placed manually by staff, so you need to place them early, and be honest about your maximum bid. It also means it can take a few days to get shipping invoices, webstore purchase notifications (1~2 days), and to have items packed up and ship (up to a week). All in all, the service requires a lot of patience. Being fully manual also means things can fall through the cracks. They don't always remember to send warehouse notifications, so if its been a while, E-mail them and ask. Celga's other downside is that they use a fixed exchange rate, which is often more expensive than the rate offered by Paypal.
Shipping:
When you request shipping from Celga, they ship all of your items together. You cannot request that they only ship certain ones. Each item is removed from the original domestic shipping box to save on space and weight, individually wrapped in either shrink wrap or bubble wrap, and documented with a sticker that includes the Auction or Store link. Flat items like books are packaged in the bottom of the box, and any unfilled space is packed with newspaper. I must say, their tetris skills are superb. I've never received a damaged item from them out of hundreds of items ordered.
Jauce Go To Website
| Payment Options: | Paypal | ||||
| Combined Shipping: | Yes (For a small fee) | Live Bidding: | Yes | Koto Exclusives: | Yes |
| Holding Time: | 60 Days Free (100~700 Yen per day for 61 ~ 180 days) | ||||
| Service Fees: | 400 Yen + 8% of item cost | Off-site Stores: 1000 Yen + 8% of item cost | ||||
| Additional Fees: | Smart Packaging: 300 Yen | Fragile Packaging: 600 Yen Deposite Fee for adding funds to the account: 40 Yen + 3.9% of deposite amount | ||||
Pros & Cons:
Jauce is a decent middle ground among services. Their fees aren't the lowest, but their extensive storage time is a good tradeoff. They offer a smart packaging item, where they will repack your items to carefully remove any excess boxes, padding, etc. that may increase the rate (and thus the shipping cost.) Fragile packaging offers an additional layer of thick bubble wrap around the box contents.
Japamart Go To Website
| Payment Options: | Paypal | Credit Card | Bank Transfer | ||||
| Combined Shipping: | Yes (Free) | Live Bidding: | Yes | Koto Exclusives: | Yes (Higher Fee) |
| Holding Time: | 30 Days Free (+$1 a day starting on day 31, item forfeit at 60 days) | ||||
| Service Fees: | 400 Yen + 8% of item cost | Off-site Stores: 1000 Yen + 8% of item cost | ||||
| Additional Fees: | $10 Late Payment Fee (72 hours deadline) | +$10 for every 10 days that you're late | ||||
Notes:
This is another importing store that does both importing and forwarding, bidding from Yahoo Japan and buying from online web stores. One of the benefits of Japamart is that they have an automatic sniping service, which automatically places bids within the last few moments of the auction. This means you don't have to stay up late to make sure your bid gets placed.
While this site has low starting fees, it is extremely important that you make prompt payments and shipment requests. Otherwise you run the risk of heavy fees and possible loss of the item.
White Rabbit Express Go To Website
| Payment Options: | Paypal | Credit/Debit Card | Alipay | Bitcoin | ||||
| Combined Shipping: | Yes (Free) | Live Bidding: | No | Koto Exclusives: | Yes |
| Holding Time: | 30 Days Free (+$1 per day per storage unit, starting on day 31) | ||||
| Service Fees: | 9.9% Item Cost | $4 Per shop fee | $1 per item fee | $8 Minimum | ||||
| Additional Fees: | 1250 Yen Convenience Store Payment | 2000 Yen for Outside Business Hours | 2000 per 30 minutes + train fares for In-Store Pickup | ||||
Pros:
White Rabbit Express is a Celga alternative, functioning much the same way. They'll not only buy from almost any online store, if given a link, but are also one of the few services to offer an in-store pickup option. Although this doesn't often pertain to Zoids, it may be relevant to your other interests! They also offer free item consolidation and repackaging. A handy fee calculator helps you stay aware of what you're spending.
Cons:
WRE's main drawback is the fully manual service, meaning you'll be dependant on an employee being available to place your bid. You can circumvent this being an issue by placing an honest max bid to begin with, instead of fussing with numerous small increases. They also have set office hours (10am ~ 7pm JST) and are closed on Saturday, Sunday, and Japan's National Holidays. Although you can purchase outside of business hours, there's a 2000 yen charge for doing so. Their fees are also quite high.
Shipping:
White Rabbit Express offers free package consolidation (likely rolled into their high service fees) and repacks your items to minimize on space and shipping cost. This means they'll take your items out of the seller's box and wrap them in a layer of bubble wrap, then pack them into a new box. Empty space is filled with newspaper to keep things nice and snug.
