It seems they changed their fee from 300 yen to 500 yen last October! Sad to hear that they almost doubled in price
Thanks for doing the comparison! It’s interesting that with the ZenMarket changes that CDJapan is now seems to be the most affordable proxy.
Sorry if I wasn’t clear, but I just wanted to emphasize that forwarding services are only really worth it if you order a lot of items and/or order from a lot of vendors! So for me, I’m essentially paying nothing to add my surugaya order to my package, other than the shipping possibly going up 1000 or so yen if it’s heavy enough.
I had a total of 23 packages consolidated into one (many were one item each) and ~55 unique items and it was 15,000 yen shipping (8.5kg package) + 2000 handling + 750 consolidation + 550 yen (3% PayPal/card convenience fee) rounded up. The fees alone are less than 3300yen which is extremely cheap for how much I spent and how many total items/vendors I used. Obviously I have hoarding issues and bought too much but 3300yen at CDJapan would be 1200 yen + 300yen x 7 items (not including any variations in shipping price).
Hope that helps! I am hoping to transition back to proxy services soon once my last several preorders come in
PS: I forgot to mention! Other than the extra 25% on Surugaya global, their JP site also gives you a larger selection (I believe the global store only gives you select types of items from their main inventory, whereas their JP site allows you to order from any of their physical branches or affiliated stores). If you’ve ever browsed the JP site, it’s the second price shown, and sometimes an item is sold out (main inventory) but available, sometimes cheaper, from their other sellers, though they usually charge domestic shipping and are a separate order per store. Just another thing to consider! I usually search on their JP site and then use the item code in the URL to navigate to the global site if available.
Generally excellent. Occasionally I can tell it’s used, but unless it’s something especially old, it’s usually close to new. This was my most recent Suruga-ya order, for reference. (I have a few more labeled in that thread as well, just ctrl+f for Suruga-ya). Often they have obis (inconsistent, and won’t say), and sometimes they have random bonuses (or even a handwritten note from a previous owner, in like 1 case iirc)
My last order was placed Sun 10/20 12:34pm, and arrived Wed 10/23 around 3pm. That’s pretty typical. Maybe 4-5 at worst. They use DHL, and will give you an estimate and tracking. In my experience DHL is always 1-2 days earlier than whatever estimate DHL gives you
Other than the books cost more than at other used stores, no.
Good. Usually comes with obi/extras/plastic wrapping. They don’t tell you about quality of the specific item (like Mandarake does) but the closest I have to a complaint from the books I’ve gotten from them is that my third Rayearth book didn’t come with the postcard that the others had
(I’ve gotten worse new manga from amazon.co.jp, but there are people constantly complaining about how they throw things in a box and the books get damaged in shipping)
To Canada, it’s within a week, and usually 4-5 days (but I am on the west coast).
Thank you both! Looks like the shipping deal ends tomorrow so I’ll try to place my order before then. If I run into issues I’ll just wait for the next time.
I’ve never used PayPal with them just debit or credit card (I may have had to tell my bank that it was a legit order the first time, but no issue besides that)
Yeah, I just got an email that my estimated-for-tomorrow DHL parcel from cdjapan actually arrives today. Unfortunately since they’re going to deliver after 17:30 and it’s going to my work address it doesn’t make any actual difference in this case…
It’s been several months since I’ve placed a surugaya order, but they’ve always shipped to me in the US by EMS, which I find averages around 1.5 - 2 weeks vs DHL’s < 1 week when I order from mandarake.
Everything was shrink-wrapped together and placed into a cardboard box.
I general have only gotten video games, CDs, art books, and figures from them though.
Only once did I have an issue, where some nedroids were only in a plastic bag sealed with a piece of tape, and they came out during shipment and broke. I sent them a Whatsapp with my opening video (I always take one if there are figures just in case) and they refunded most of the cost of the item. All my others have been in boxes and generally in good condition.
Also they’ve raised their commission free, my last order it was 500 yen.
That’s odd… Every single order I’ve gotten from them has been DHL, and I’ve been ordering regularly for almost a year now.
That’s typical ime. I was freaked out by it the first time around, but everything’s been fine.
The one thing I don’t like about ordering from them is they sticker every item. The labels come off easily and don’t leave any traces or residue, but it’s still inconvenient
Indeed… but if that’s the price of free shipping, I’ll gladly pay it. Also for anything that’s also plastic wrapped or in a sleeve, you usually don’t have to worry about it, since it’s on the outside
I think it’s a Booklive only thing, but there’s a bunch of manga and light novels free to read (not to keep) for the next 2 weeks.
The cool thing is that you do not need an account to read those in the browser (but it may be a bit annoying for novels)
Japanese books is basically the only thing I treat myself to, so I just buy whatever I want whenever I want. Granted I’m a low spender to begin with, so it’s still not that much.
but 3300yen at CDJapan would be 1200 yen + 300yen x 7 items (not including any variations in shipping price).
