Which one is better, Sonic & Knuckles for $200 or an obscure black metal audio casette for the same price? Once an album or a game or a DVD goes over $100 it's just absolute nonsense. Yet, I've still bought some crap for even higher than that...
Well, do you remember that I opened a dispute to japan discoveries on paypal? BEFORE: 03/29/2019 "in process" Payment Type: PayPal Express Checkout (instant) Payment Status: Completed Amount: 6000 JPY NOW: 04/23/2019 " Pending " PayPal status: Reversed Amount: -5714 JPY what can be that difference of 286 yen?
Sooo on a side-note, has anyone tried Discogs for gently-used items? I'm sniffing around other places until, by some miracle, CDJapan restocks on anything (most, if not all the stuff I'm looking for doesn't seem to have proxy options at the moment, either... :l ) P.S. feel free to move this post where fit... For now I'm hesitant to start a new thread, and any pre-existing thread on the matter I'm sure is long dead and buried.
Witchka wrote: ↑ Isn't that just a marketplace for independent sellers? It's presumably as reliable as whoever you're dealing with is. I know a few people on here bought Eve of Destiny's CD from the notorious "Dark Greetings Alfred" and it worked fine And yeah, why don't I go ahead and change the thread title to something more general.
Discogs is a fantastic site as long as the seller is good. It's not as "one click easy" as ebay is, but still. I've found a lot of good records from there, including a lot of Japanese ones. In general, it's much easier to find rare albums on discogs than ebay/amazon, so I highly recommend you always search discogs before buying something on ebay. The prices are usually more fair, but that too depends on the seller as well, of course. I'm legally obliged to inform you that I get weekly checks from discogs to promote them on every forum I go. DISCOGS! THE TRUE COLLECTOR'S HOMEPAGE!
the adventure continues ... I bought the day 03/29 ... I made a "dispute" for paypal on 04/23, because the order only said "in process". I submit a claim for paypal on 05/01. Today 05/04, I got an email with the tracking number, I check it in "track 17" and the shipping date is today ... Japan discoveries have no shame.
Hampo wrote: ↑ Well shit, y'all should have shamelessly plugged sooner (it's okay - I've got my eyes on some singles in the near future of which eButt has failed me...)
kozifran wrote: ↑ A bunch of people here, including myself, have bought from Mercari using shopping services. I don't think you can just go buy directly from there as an overseas customer, but I've never tried.
I just tried and no, you can not... which "shopping services" do you recommend, Celga, Rinkya, another?
White rabbit uses "normal" accounts, it's like Uber but for buying stuff to weirdos (as said by flowers)
I used to White Rabbit once. It was an alright experience. I had to buy a Kaya calendar from his Japanese fan store. I missed the CDJ sale and had almost a panic attack, as my wall has had a Kaya calendar for years now. A habbit I don't want to break!
White Rabbit Express is your best bet I think. For some reason it seems to take a long time for them to receive the item(s), though. I tried a Chinese one before called Hoyoyo (it's super cheap) and I don't recommend it because once you pay and the mercari seller doesn't want to sell to someone they believe is a proxy, then good luck getting them to refund your money. I had to go through paypal claim hell...
I just tried out Buyee to buy some stuff from Mercari and YJ, since they were having a Black Friday promotion for free international shipping (!!) The verdict so far: Positives: - Their website is quite sophisticated - at least coming from the bare-bones functionality you get at Celga. You can manage your packages in the warehouse, have them combined, and even have them take a picture for an additional fee - The fees are all flat fees - no paying 10+% of the total price. On expensive items this will save some cash. - They can charge your Paypal (or whatever) directly so you don't have to manage invoices and whatnot yourself. - You don't have to put down any sort of deposit or prepayment, you're charged only when you actually win something. - For a fee they offer inspection/insurance plans, which might be worthwhile if you're buying something extremely valuable and fragile. Negatives: - They seem to take their sweet time placing Mercari orders - I had to wait a few days. If it had been a real hot commodity, I'd surely have lost my chance. My YJ bid was placed on-time and there was no issue there. - They blindside you with extra fees during the shipping process. The fees themselves are nothing out of the ordinary - things like shipping within Japan and so on - but it makes it hard to know exactly what to expect. - Shipping seems rather expensive if you don't have a freebie coupon XD Not sure if this is just because I ordered exceptionally heavy stuff or what. - Consolidating packages costs 500Y. A negligible amount I suppose, but I'm pretty sure most other places don't charge for this. My first package from them is on the way now, so we'll see how things look when it arrives.
Madmoiselle_Silk wrote: ↑ Only other place I've used for Mercari is Celga. They're not automated at all, but they're reasonably quick about buying things off of there.
Just noticed that 3 months ago there was an update on whiterabbitexpress: "The Mercari Japan marketplace is a popular place for great deals on new and used apparel, collectibles, and many other items. To help our customers save even more, White Rabbit Express has lowered our Mercari per item fee from $8 to $4—a 50% saving! You'll get the same great service but now at a lower price" In case you people are interested.
