#proxy service

Surprisingly it only took 3 days for the goods to go from Japan to NZ with DHL. (Shipping cost is about 8,800yen but then EMS is roughly the same anyways so....)

But for some reason Kalafina Record is not there in the package... have this ever happen to your parcels?? I have submitted a question to Tenso site and just waiting for response now.

YAY!!!

WOW! That really was fast! But yeah, that's a hefty shipping fee for sure 🫣 DHL and EMS are always so expensive🤮Then again, all shipping from Japan is crazy expensive these days😔. If possible, I always go for Air Mail but it's super slow and not very convenient. I realise that DHL is much better in that regard (especially since they determine any import taxes and custom fees for you early on during the shipping process so you can just pay via card before the arrival and skip the lengthy procedures at the local customs office - at least that's how it has been for me in the past).

As for you question, no, that has never happened to me before. I'd have to know more about your specific situation in order to provide some useful advice.

Did you purchase the items yourself and had them sent to your Tenso address or did you use Buyee as a proxy service to make the purchase for you? You only mention Tenso but Buyee is technically a Tenso service as well so I just wanna make sure we are on the same page here.

Did you order all the items from the same seller/store? It's best to check your original order(s) and see if everything was actually supposed to come together at the same time or if there's still an item that has yet to arrive at the warehouse (some of these things can take really long unfortunately depending on the seller).

Did the items arrive separately at the warehouse or in one package? Usually, Tenso/Buyee asks you to confirm the content and lists the number of items in the package so at that point, you should have noticed that the number of items didn't match up with your initial order.

Have you already checked the warehouse to see if there's anything registered that has yet to be shipped? Maybe a new/recent arrival?

In case you applied for consolidation, is it possible that you forgot about one of the packages (containing "Kalafina Record")?

For one, their coupons only really work if you're spending a lot on products, like over 10,000 yen, which for sites like Mercari, you're probably not spending that much anyways.

Second, it refuses to work with certain shops for no reason, like Suruga-ya, which Rakuten and ZenMarket are able to do.

Posting this in the tags of every popular gacha game I can think of so I can warn people not to use a particular Japanese iTunes card-selling service. For those unaware, iPhone users can purchase Japanese iTunes codes so they can buy in-game currency for Japanese mobile games (usually gacha games).

I'd been using a site called JapanCodeSupply for a bit to buy cards in order to buy in-game currency for my one and only gacha game, Magia Record. It was going okay one day until they sent me a code that had been previously used. Obviously upset by this, I went to their customer support on Twitter and asked for a new code. After doing a bunch of steps to confirm that I wasn't scamming them, they sent me a new, unused code. I figured it was a fluke and moved on.

A few weeks later, I bought another card (this time for a much larger amount) and once again recieved a used code. I was once again pretty upset but decided to go to customer support. They had me go through all the steps again to prove I wasn't scamming them... and then sent me a canned response about how their code system "had a 100% success rate" and how they would not be giving me a new code. No matter how many times I argued, I kept getting generic, canned responses from their support team.

I opened up a case on PayPal (which I had used to pay the site) and am currently waiting for my case to be resolved. This happened back in late August and I wasn't going to say anything until the case closed, but what pissed me off is that JapanCodeSupply was silent for weeks after I opened the case until I escalated it. Then they just provided a tracking number (what? it's a digital order, there would be no tracking number), presumably in the hopes that the PayPal overseer would be overworked, see a tracking number, and decide in their favor.

OR!

How I Found a Pair of Unobtainium Kits and used a Proxy Service to Increase My Backlog by Two

First and foremost, this is not sponsored. I don’t even take sponsors for my comic – the thing that is effectively my career – so there’s no way I’d do so for the thing I do as a fun hobby. This is all me and my personal experience using a proxy service to buy stuff from Japan.

Anyhoo! What follows is my experience using the proxy buying service called Buyee to purchase a pair of Catsith kits on the Japanese version of the Mercari website. I went into this knowing that many a Retro Tech and Gunpla YouTuber I’ve watched has used it to get stuff. Figured I’d give it shot.

@tyrian-bizkits

Chronology:

- Buyer purchases some twisted wonderland goods. Items has arrived and ready for shipping

- Due to buyer circumstances, delayed the shipping. Which I agree to keep the items until January. Most proxy has storage period and that’s why I agreed to keep the items to January.

- Buyer refuse to process shipping even if I’ve offered extended storage period. Told me to find another buyer and ask refund for items.

For anyone else: please understand items have been purchased and paid. I cannot offer any refund if it’s buyer circumstances.

If you don’t want the items anymore, please find another buyer and sell the items yourself. It’s not my responsibility as a proxy to resell your items.

Also, if the said person read this post: I was about to offer you if you want me to sell this on auction site and ONLY refund if the item is sold. But you block me first, so it’s your lost.

That being said, I don’t think I want to do the effort putting the items for sales anymore.

This is a supplement to my previous posts about buying stuff from Japan. Even for stores that offer English versions of their sites (Amazon Japan, Mandarake), using titles and keywords in kanji/hiragana/katakana will usually get you the best search results. Fortunately, getting the title for a specific Japanese series isn’t hard as long as Wikipedia has a page on it, but figuring out the keywords to narrow your search for specific goods can be more difficult. Below are some of the most common merchandise terms, along with some others that may be of use for the overseas otaku.

アクリルスタンド=acrylic stand (a character/image cut out of acrylic that stands on a base)

バッジ=badge (usually a pin back)

ブロマイド=“bromide (a photo or print, usually of an actor or character)”

カレンダー=calendar

ケース=case (phonecase, etc.)

クリアファイル=clearfile

コースター=coaster

コラボカフェ=collaboration cafe (a tie-in cafe that usually includes limited edition goods)

コスプレ=cosplay

フィギュア=figure

イラストカード=illustration card (a bonus given with manga or other goods)

色紙=shikishi (a thick paper board used for illustrations)

キーホルダー=keyholder/keychain

リトグラフ=lithograph

ノート=“note (notebook)”

ぬいぐるみ=nuigurumi (stuffed toy)

パンフレット=pamphlet/programme for a show, movie, or performance

ピン=pin

ピンバッジ=pin badge

トランプ=playing cards/“trump”

ポストカード=postcard

ポスター=poster

シール=“seal (sticker)”

下敷き=shitajiki

スマホクリーナ=smartphone cleaner (a small piece of special cloth)

ステッカー=sticker

ストラップ=strap (usually a charm on a cord used to decorate phones, etc)

タペストリー=tapestry/wall scroll

テレカ=“teleka (telephone card)”

手ぬぐい=tenugui (Japanese handtowel)

特典=tokuten (a bonus included with an item)