Shipping woes – Bringing home the YJA trophies
One of the reasons why I love my country, beside the food and free internet, is the availability of Japanese 2D merchandise. KKnM/Kinokuniya easily meets 2/3 of my 2D needs. With their books/figures selling close to the Japanese retail price (with of membership discounts of course), I've always been oblivious to the pain of shipping. It was only my relatively recent foray into online shopping that this thorn has really dug into my flesh.
First, there was the not-so-brilliant attempt at buying Eji-Komatsu's artbook from Amazon JP late last year. The botched purchase caused me 2 shipments of stuff I could have also gotten from Kino (shipping ~ S$70) and no artbook. (Amazon JP conveniently reported they didn't have the book in stock AFTER shipping all the stuff I added into the shopping cart just to bring the shipping cost down.) Next was a Nendroid purchase (for a friend), also from Amazon JP. The shipping cost was 3/4 of the item itself. (Even though I'm not paying for it, I feel his pain.) Since then, I thank Haruhi daily that while Singapore may not be Akiba, the availability and cost of 2D products are rivaled by few places on Earth. (Probably only Taiwan and Hong Kong). Thus, it also baffles me greatly why many local collectors still choose the online avenue when shipping costs are so hard-hitting and ordering online has soo much inconveniences/restrictions.
Why this sudden blurb about shipping woes, one may ask? Well, it's because I have just requested for my Yahoo Japan auction babies to be shipped back and I'm utterly fearful how it'd all add up. ShoppingMallJapan has yet to advise on the shipping costs but already I've chalked up 2000 yen on internal shipping (within Japan) for 3 auction items. Even though I've budgeted S$90 (3 items ~ 3kg) for the international leg of the journey but it's starting to look like an ultra-conservative estimate. A quick calculation reveals that
Shipping + deputy service fees = Almost 50% of my entire YJA excursion
Ie, if I live in Japan, I'd be able to buy 4 instead of 2 Tinkle books. Yet despite my bitching about shipping, I chose EMS (insured + tracking) for my packages. No point investing so much only to lose your babies at the final leg home, yes? Ah well, I'll just see it as hiring a personal nanny to bring my very precious children home.
And so the countdown begins ~ Otanoshimi! ETA - 7 days or less. Can't wait for frilly loli goodness
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February 24th, 2009 - 11:08
Lolis: handle with
lovecareI’m not much of a collector myself, so I can’t say I really understand it. I guess I’m just too practical, collecting stuff to just look at seems boring to me :p
February 24th, 2009 - 11:16
OMG haha, when did you switch to the Dark Stripey Anime Nano avatar? =3
I’m sure the wait will be worth it =D.
February 24th, 2009 - 17:30
Wait till you see my latest YJA purchase. You’ll be gobsmacked at the price I paid.
February 24th, 2009 - 20:45
Be ready to cry, a lot
February 24th, 2009 - 21:21
I just received my Byakuya Chakai artbook today
. It definitely was expensive (and I only bought 1), but after seeing it in person, I can say that it is worth it. It’s a very high quality book (illustrations and print quality). I posted a brief review and some pics on my site ^^
When you get your copies and if you like the book, you may want to seek out the Duel Dolls Visual Fanbook which was released at C74. It’s about as thick as Byakuya Chakai and just as nice. You might still be able to find a copy of it on YJA
February 25th, 2009 - 08:31
Nazarielle: Heh, I’m sure one day you’ll find something worthy
But for the sake of your wallet, I hope that day’s not too near 
Kabitzin: Stripey made me do it. He says they need to get the right tanuki when they kick down that door. XD
Adun: If you managed to get that GSC Nemu, I’d personally flew down South to rob you. XD Looking forward to your post on it!
moyism: LOL! I hope it doesn’t force me to the loansharks! XD
anonymous_object: Gratz on your babies coming home!
THanks for the heads up on Duel dolls. Do you have it? HOw does it compare to Byakuya Chakai? Speaking of which do you have Tsukiyo no Chakai? How does Byakuya compare to it?
February 25th, 2009 - 18:18
Yes, I have both the Duel Dolls Fanbook and Tsukiyo Chakai. I would say Byakuya Chakai has the best print quality of the three with Duel Dolls being a close second. Tsukiyo Chakai is an older book and the print quality isn’t quite as nice. As far as visual enjoyment goes, they’re all Tinkle and all contain lots of great illustrations
February 25th, 2009 - 20:00
What country is that, also, I luv your Bishoujo Feature #1, who’s she?
February 25th, 2009 - 21:39
anonymous_object : That’s most excellent to hear.
Thanks for the info! It looks like another trip to YJA for Duel dolls!
anonymous_function : I hail from the sunny republic of Singapore.
And yes you have a good eye for beauty! That’s Sora from Yosuga no Sora
February 26th, 2009 - 23:22
Oh, Yahoo auction… Once you get into that, it’ll suck up your money like a vacuum cleaner. Mostly because when you bid, you tend to think it’s cheap but when all the fees and shipping cost comes down to you, well… lol.
BTW, since you seem to be into artbooks and all, and now that you are using Yahoo Auction, maybe it’s time for you to start collecting high quality replica artworks. ^__^ Now THAT will rob your entire bank account.
February 28th, 2009 - 03:23
Weird , i am working in Singapore but can’t seems to find a decent shop to buy those artbook . . .
February 28th, 2009 - 21:30
muhootsaver: Indeed! My calculations show that my auctions only accounted for 57% my entire YJA spending. 27% went to shipping and 16% deputy services. But upon receiving my Byakuya, I realised I would have bought the items for 2X the price anyway. It is beyond AWESOME
I intend to buy more copies knowing how the price will SKYROCKET after a couple of years 
OneSin: You can try Kinokuniya Ngee Ann City. If they’re not carrying it, check with the service counters to have it imported. But if you are looking for doujin, Comiket releases such as Byakuya Chakai, Yahoo Auction Japan is your only avenue.