#forwarder

Sometimes you see something really awesome but the shop doesn’t offer international shipping. You have the funds, what to do?

To start off, let me define the difference between a forwarder and a proxy. A forwarder simply ships the product to you. Lets say that the shop in question accepts paypal but they do not ship overseas. A forwarder will give you a temporary address that you can send your package to and then the forwarder will charge you a storage fee + international shipping to send the package back to you.

A proxy on the other hand will buy the item on your behalf, accept the package for you and then ship it out to you. Using a proxy is more expensive BUT I highly recommend it for first time buyers (especially if you have anxiety or just nervous about online shopping in general). A proxy will charge you purchase fees + domestic shipping + international fees + any additional necessary fees.

To sum it up: A forwarder provides you an address to ship the package to, you pay for the item by yourself, and you pay the forwarder for international shipping costs and forwarding fees. A proxy will pay for your item on your behalf, accept your package, and ship it out for you.

There are many different forwarders and proxy services available, so here is a small list I found. Some businesses offer both proxy and forwarding service while others only do forwarding or proxy. I’ve only used 1 service (ZenMarket) so I cannot answer any questions/asks about other services on the list.

Tenso

ZenMarket

CDJapan (Using CDJapan proxy helps financially support this blog)

WhiteRabbit

Big In Japan

Samurai Buyer

Goody Japan: Note, highly recommended for Toranoana due to their flat 500 yen rate.

Fan Services: Note this is a proxy service that can purchase event exclusive goods that do not have an online shop. Very, very expensive, but it’s an option if there’s no other places available to purchase your goods.

Now, let me give a review of a proxy that I recently used: Zen Market. The review is under the cut