Give Me Your Best Proxies!

[Trudy]

I've used many of the major proxies (Celga, Rinkya, FromJapan) and I'm possibly looking at changing proxies after FromJapan made some changes to their commission that makes it cost-prohibitive to pick up multiple cels / cel lots from the same seller, particularly when the cel lots are inexpensive. Their 300 yen forwarding service is helpful for when I want to pick up one cel and not buy anything for awhile after that -- and the 700 yen service is reasonable when I am buying one expensive auction, but lately, Escaflowne cels are going up in swaths at a time, and many are selling for 1000 - 4000 yen. 700/yen for every single cel I pick up feels excessive, even if FromJapan's previous fees (300 yen + 5%) were almost too good for this world. When you factor in the 900 yen I also have to pay for combined shipping, it pretty much kills the deal dead in the water.

(Can we please have a middle ground where I pay 300/yen an auction with no item check and no domestic insurance, then pay the 900 yen for combined shipping? Heck, I wouldn't mind paying 700 yen if it meant that it covered all of my orders from a single Yahoo! Auctions seller in a single day.)

I'm pretty sure that they still have some of the most competitive rates on the market, but after this shipment (which includes some items purchased before this abrupt change of commission was announced), I want to at least review some other options.

I haven't used Celga since about '06, so I don't know how good their service is, and can't remember how bad it was, either. Chances are I stopped using it because they didn't allow you to place bids directly -- you had to submit those requests in advance, and hope that your bid was enough. Has this changed? How do their commission rates compare to other proxies?

Rinkya I used up until last year. I was willing to swallow the 1500 yen + $7 fee/cel for cels because the 1500 yen usually covered bank transfer + shipping within Japan for all auctions won in a single day from a single seller, at least until they decided to start sticking stickers everywhere. To Sunrise paper studio folios holding copy douga/genga to another Sunrise paper folio that came with a lot of cels from the same sequence to an envelope that was clearly part of the packaging for an artbook (and subsequently was impossible to remove without ripping). It left a very bitter taste in my mouth because it seemed like common sense that you wouldn't stick stickers directly to these things. I don't know if they cleaned their act up since then, but I'd love to hear your feedback.

Any information/stories/recommendations you can make would be greatly appreciated.

[cutiebunny]

I really don't know. There's no one proxy service that I can recommend over the three that I use. Every single one of them either has outrageous fees, horrible packaging skills or both. And because certain sellers are blocked by certain deputy services, that means that I have to keep accounts with several of them to bid, and even then, there has been the rare occasion where the seller (who did not want to send items to deputy services) was blocked by the three.

For a while, I would have recommended Buyee to you. Their search engine was cumbersome, but the rates were good and they packaged things incredibly well (even if you ended up paying a good $75 for EMS/Protective packaging features). I was willing to pay this because they would hold on to things for 90 days, like most deputy services, without an additional fee. But now they've changed this. It's 30 days only. After that, it's 100 yen per item per day. While I might be more understanding of this fee for bigger, bulky items, for something like paper artwork or a cel...? How much space do those things really take up in their office? About a week ago they sent an e-mail saying that they've nixed the commission fees, which they replaced with either a "basic fee" (300 yen) or an "insurance fee" (700 yen) per transaction. It's still a commission, regardless of what they choose to call it. I'm guessing that, with their newly announced storage fees, they're losing customers, so they went with this change...

I've used SMJ for years, but I have mixed feelings going through them. While their fees are fair, especially now with the flat $4 commission fee, I've received some really poorly packed boxes in the past such as the box not being properly taped, or cels not securely packaged which caused one of them to bend over and the paint to chip off. I have a friend who had her douga rolled up (with a rubber band) and placed in the box. I ultimately just chalk it to you getting what you pay for. If you're willing to pay the $50-$100 monthly shipping fee that Buyee charges to roll your items in a container of bubble wrap and send it to you EMS, your items will arrive in perfect condition. If you aren't because you want to pay as little as possible to the deputy, there's a strong possibility that your things may arrive damaged because they're not going to take the time to separately package each item in bubble wrap to ensure it'll arrive undamaged.

Honestly, the fees, the lack of customer service (depending on the deputy service), and the crummy packaging make me more inclined to buy things at conventions instead.

[Trudy]

I think I read something here about SMJ improving their shipping a few months back. Has anyone had an experience with them in the last few months?

I wish FromJapan hadn't changed their pricing. They only hold items for 30 days, and I rarely find enough cels that I want all at once to justify paying 900 yen for combined shipping in addition to international shipping fees. I probably would have continued using them forever if not for this.

I also wish I could still find cels at conventions! My first cel purchase was made at Otakon 2013 by a dealer who didn't show up the year after or the year after that, sadly. If I want good, inexpensive cels, it's either Yahoo! Japan auctions, or purchasing them directly from other foreign collectors purging their collection.

[Animechaos]

Our shipping has been very good for a long time now. Since we like to be transparent, we had one shipper who was the head shipper out of the US office, who started slacking about 2 years back. Since then he's been canned and all is good.

Everything has been revamped and not one shipping complaint for a long time now. I'll admit, the job the old guy did I should have caught a long time ago.

Give us a try. Don't like it I'll refund the service fees and that's that.

[Jadeduo]

We had a very long conversation me and Cutiebunny about the issues we have with SMJ you can see the full thread here:

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=30325

This is covered in the thread, but I also want to re-iterate I had a shipping issue as early as March 2016, when a vertical pan from Saiyuki was shipped to me from SMJ ROLLED IN A TUBE. SMJ tried to blame the seller, but I know from my use Buyee who stack all their shipped items in the original Japanese packing and then wrap in a case of bubble wrap that this particular Japanese seller presses the sketches between two flat boards and then bags the sketches in mylar, and then puts it in the Japanese mailers and then ships the sketches. See the pictures at the link below, you can see my Buyee box vs. the SMJ packing.

http://jadeduo.net/Shipping-Issues

To say the issues were over two years ago is a misrepresentation. Just because I only paid $10-20 for sketch set does not mean I want it shipped shoddily, if that is how my cheap items are treated what is happening to my expensive items?

JD

[Animechaos]

I'll just say it once, it's not a misrepresentation. The seller shipped it like that, period, we didn't tamper with it. I know you don't like us now, and are probably happy to bash us, but continuing to blame us for something the seller did isn't right. It's like buying a broken TV from K-mart and then blaming Wal-Mart for it. It's misplaced, we don't appreciate it, and it's simply not fair.

[Jadeduo]

AGAIN I call BS, I have been collecting Production Art for well over 10 years, and have never ever gotten a sketch rolled in a tube especially from kotetumaru. A highly rated YJ seller, if it were possible I would have gone direct with them years ago their packaging is super cute. They always put a note in the package thanking for the purchase, with an adorable little panda stamp on it, and the packing is the best of any of the sellers I have seen. And I have seen some dubious packing like flimsy mailers and plastic shopping bags instead of cel bags, but I have yet to receive anything rolled until now.

Since I started using Buyee the packaging has NEVER changed from when I buy from that seller (kotetumaru) and I always have extra backing boards for my sketches and cels now, because those sketches come sandwiched between two boards. Also when I got the other sketches in the box with the rolled sketch set they had been removed from the two backing boards and then individually wrapped in bubble wrap. Frankly I would have been happier keeping the backing boards they provide better support for sketches and cels. If you look at the pictures you can see the difference between the two boxes, especially the two foot long pan from Buyee.

My theory as to why it happened is that sketch was about two feet long one the largest of all my vertical pan sketches and all the other sets were more of a standard size. So whoever shipped the dang thing decided that you know what she has some books too so I'm going to put in all the standard sized sketches, stack the books and then put this rolled up cheap $10 sketch set in a tube so I don't have to use a larger box.

It is not a matter of liking it is a matter of lying to me instead of owning up to it, at this point it is a matter of principle to me and telling me to let it go is just going to piss me off further.

Do you guys remember years ago when you first started how awesome you were? I miss those days... All the cels/sketches came in those lovely plastic carry cases and at one point you would also get a bag of 10 cel bags with every package... or was that Rinkya? It's been so long since I have been impressed by a deputy that I have FORGOTTEN.

[Animechaos]

I've been collecting for over 20 years, and ran that largest online cel/genga/douga dealership in the world for quite some time.

Yes, they come through rolled. I've had a Sakura Trick pan sketch, and a Lina Inverse pan CEL, both come rolled, and that's just personal collection stuff. I've seen it time and time and time again. Geee...maybe because I've handled hundreds of thousands of pieces of art?

Just because you have never seen it before, doesn't give you any right to call me a liar. I'm not, and you're just making assumptions. You're just "jaded", and that's all there is to it. You want someone to blame and I'm the easy target even though it's completely unjustified. "OH MY SKETCH CAME ROLLED, time to blame the guy that had nothing to do with it!" Same damn thing happened to me and I'm sick of you playing the victim.

It sickens me that you're just happy to trash me and my business, call me a liar, and think you're queen right. I'm sorry, but like I said, you're just "jaded" and want to blame someone.

[Jadeduo]

My issues with SMJ would have never been a problem if two things had happened.

A simple apology and admission of culpability, would have gone a long way. Instead in order: you blamed a former employee, then blamed the Japanese Seller, then blamed me for not having as many years experience in production art collecting (when you hit the ten year mark and have over a 1,000 pieces I think I have some level of expertise, but whatevs), and then made fun of my handle which has nothing to do with the word or meaning of jaded, is bullying, and completely unbecoming and beneath the "Premier online cel/genga/douga dealership in the world"

This is exactly the type of behavior Cutiebunny was talking about with your customer service issues, it is never your fault, your customers are a bunch of morons, and are never right.

I am not badmouthing your business I am telling the truth as I see it, I'm sorry this conversation has denigrated to this level. I will state no more on this matter, because obviously this has nowhere to go but downhill from here.

[Animechaos]

Jadeduo....its very simple. If its our fault, we own up to it. If it's not, we'll still try to help. (Discount, SMJ Guarantee, etc)

Come on.....it was what...a 1,000 yen set? I could have just taken the blame, coughed up a few $$$, and been done with it right? That's how you see it correct? Admit, pay, apologize, and done right?

Think about it for a minute. From my perspective. What if......just what if....Nick is telling the truth and it came rolled up like that. Honestly, just think for a few minutes and imagine why I'd be replying the way I am.

I'll leave it at that....to you I'm the bad guy and that won't ever change. But I'd appreciate if you stop bad mouthing us for something we didn't do.

[LunaArt]

Ugh, I know I shouldn't get in the middle of this, but I'll add my small personal experience. I purchased a cel set from kotetumaru a while back and I didn't get any cute packaging, notes or panda stickers or the like on my package. So, I don't think it is fair that you say a seller always does this or does that. My best guess would be that the sketch was too big for a flat board for this seller. Or, perhaps the seller had this tube handy at the time and decided it would be fine for shipping.

The thing is, without input from the seller directly it is impossible to know for certainty that it was or was not originally shipped that way. I tend to believe Nick in the situation because it doesn't make sense why SMJ would go to the time and trouble of removing the original packaging and replacing it with a tube. Also IMHO, I personally wouldn't mind any sketch to be rolled up and put in a tube as long as it wasn't damaged. Cels and backgrounds, yes, but sketches can easily be flattened out, in my personal experience.

Anyway, to answer your question Trudy . . . my experience with SMJ this past year has been excellent. I just received a large package of cels not too long ago and they were packaged perfectly. I will admit a couple of years ago I remember receiving some packaging from SMJ where the cels were loosely taped together between two pieces of cardboard (or it might have just been cut-up pieces of a priority box) with a single piece of tape in the middle of each side. This allowed some of the cels to shift out of the protective cardboard during shipment. Luckily, the cels were not damaged, but I was a bit miffed about it. It makes sense that it was most likely when Nick says the head shipper started slacking off. The packaging, in my experience, has been very good since that time.

[Ginta]

I've had good service from http://buyee.jp, http://zenmarket.jp, and http://j-subculture.com. Each one has their own peculiarities. Buyee has an organized cel section sorted by new or new/popular and doesn't require a deposit. Zenmarket makes you deposit money first. J-Subculture may be able to bid on auctions from more sellers and also requires a deposit.

[Trudy]

I tried using SMJ for an auction yesterday, ran into some technical difficulties on two separate computers when trying to bid and reached out to support about 19 hours in advance of auction's end, but haven't gotten a reply. The auction ends in 20 minutes, and I've written it out as a lost cause.

Probably not the best first experience with SMJ.

[Animechaos]

Replied with the fix for you. But you have to make that change on your end.

[Trudy]

Unfortunately, it comes a little late. The listing ended, and they haven't re-listed. I'll have to give it a shot some other time.