Thinking about Trying YJ/Buyee

Auctions on Yahoo Japan
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Drac of the Sharp Smiles
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Re: Thinking about Trying YJ/Buyee

Post by Drac of the Sharp Smiles »

When there is a wire transfer fee, it's really small. I don't even bother thinking about it when bidding. It's something like $2-$4? (I would have to look it up.)

To answer your other questions:

Yes, the automated system places your bid immediately, barring your internet lag. The only time this will not happen is if the seller has blocked deputies for some reason. Then the bid will not be placed and (if I remember right) you get an error message? A seller blocking the SMJ account from bidding has only happened to me one time and it was a while ago. Not sure if anything has changed.

The bidding works just like on any other auction. It puts in the full bid, but only what you need to be high bidder actually shows up. To be more clear (and using imaginary numbers): Imaginary ItemA has a current bid of 1000yen with a bidder already bidding. You really want ItemA, so you bid 5000yen. The bid for 5000yen is placed. Let's pretend the first bidder had only bid of 2000yen. In that case, you will become the high bidder and the current bid for ItemA will be 2100yen. (Your max bid is still 5000yen.) Now let's pretend the first bidder decides to bid again and they bid 3000yen. Because your max bid is 5000yen, they will bid but not become the high bidder. You will remain the high bidder and (without you doing anything additional) the current bid on ItemA will become 3100yen.

Additional notes: Keep in mind, once a bid is placed, you can't un-bid, so to speak. If you bid 5000yen, you can't decide to later change that to 4000yen, even if the current bid is under 4000yen. You can only increase your bid or leave it the same. So watch your zeros! ^_^ The only time you can cancel or change a bid to lower is if the bid has not yet been placed. This happens if you ask SMJ to "sniper bid" on the auction, meaning you have asked SMJ to automatically place your bid right before the auction end without you needing to be at your computer. (This is awesome for those auctions ending at 3:30am or some other inconvenient time!) In this situation, the auction will appear on your account page with your intended bid and an additional link will be present saying the bid can still be cancelled. That link allowing you to cancel the bid is removed once the bid is placed by SMJ.

For the last, I've never tried to buy an item with a buy it now price... I know they exist. Anyone else know?
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cutiebunny
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Re: Thinking about Trying YJ/Buyee

Post by cutiebunny »

Drac of the Sharp Smiles wrote:For the last, I've never tried to buy an item with a buy it now price... I know they exist. Anyone else know?
You simply bid the BIN price. If the BIN price is 5000 yen, you bid 5000 yen.
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Re: Thinking about Trying YJ/Buyee

Post by Pixel »

I want to make sure I understand-

SMJ does not typically store won auction items in Japan like some others, rather they ship them to the US for storage here. Is that correct?
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Drac of the Sharp Smiles
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Re: Thinking about Trying YJ/Buyee

Post by Drac of the Sharp Smiles »

I believe that is the normal course. I know I've had ones marked "Stored in Japan" before (actually, I do immediately now, so it's funny you ask this!) but I can't remember that happening often and when packages arrive to me from SMJ, they always have arrived by domestic US mail. I can't remember ever receiving a package from SMJ that was shipped from Japan. Keep in mind, I've been using SMJ's service since SMJ was created and that's a long time to try to remember. ^_^

If it's super important, I would ask SMJ's staff for clarification.
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Re: Thinking about Trying YJ/Buyee

Post by cutiebunny »

Pixel wrote:SMJ does not typically store won auction items in Japan like some others, rather they ship them to the US for storage here. Is that correct?
Prior to the last few months, I would have said that if the item isn't heavy, like manga or larger items, it'll be sent to the US and you can request batch shipment later. But this time, I've had 2 Pokémon ponchos and some Sailor Moon keychains held in storage in Japan. I have no idea why these items were held in Japan instead of being sent. I've bought Pokémon ponchos in the past and they were sent to the US for US storage. So...no idea. Maybe Nick can answer that..?
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Re: Thinking about Trying YJ/Buyee

Post by Pixel »

I was wondering what the effect on shipping charges would be, one storage locale vs. the other. Also, direct shipment from Japan vs the US has some potential implications regarding importing as well.

About how long should the process take, from auctioneer gavel down, until item(s) arrive in my mailbox/at my doorstep?

So far, my average delivery time direct-from-Japan has been about 21.8 days from time of shipping. That's straight to me though, with no middlemen or temp storage to consider.
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Re: Thinking about Trying YJ/Buyee

Post by grEenLeaFx »

cutiebunny wrote:
Pixel wrote:SMJ does not typically store won auction items in Japan like some others, rather they ship them to the US for storage here. Is that correct?
Prior to the last few months, I would have said that if the item isn't heavy, like manga or larger items, it'll be sent to the US and you can request batch shipment later. But this time, I've had 2 Pokémon ponchos and some Sailor Moon keychains held in storage in Japan. I have no idea why these items were held in Japan instead of being sent. I've bought Pokémon ponchos in the past and they were sent to the US for US storage. So...no idea. Maybe Nick can answer that..?
Something must have changed with SMJ recently because I had to request my last shipment from Japan which usually it was automatically sent to the US office before I could request it. They also sent me a warning that my items were reaching their 30 day storage limit which I think was longer than that before. I wish they would send everyone an email to clarify any changes they made to their system.

Pixel I would still recommend using SMJ. I had used Rinkya for years, but made the switch when SMJ made the flat $4 fee per item. Rinkya punishes you for bidding against other members ($20 additional per item), if its over 1000 yen its a $7 fee on cels, and add on the $15 domestic fees etc... another words they pretty much nickel and dime you there. I will always remember the example when someone here bought a $20 hairbow using Rinkya and it ended up being $35 in fees (more than the item itself) and not even including shipping to the buyer - for 1 freaking hairbow! On the otherhand I have been very pleased since switching to SMJ and the owner is knowledgeable about the different sellers and all my items have been packed very well. They can also buy items not on YJ which is pretty nice.
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Re: Thinking about Trying YJ/Buyee

Post by Pixel »

grEenLeaFx wrote:
cutiebunny wrote:
Pixel wrote:SMJ does not typically store won auction items in Japan like some others, rather they ship them to the US for storage here. Is that correct?
Prior to the last few months, I would have said that if the item isn't heavy, like manga or larger items, it'll be sent to the US and you can request batch shipment later. But this time, I've had 2 Pokémon ponchos and some Sailor Moon keychains held in storage in Japan. I have no idea why these items were held in Japan instead of being sent. I've bought Pokémon ponchos in the past and they were sent to the US for US storage. So...no idea. Maybe Nick can answer that..?
Something must have changed with SMJ recently because I had to request my last shipment from Japan which usually it was automatically sent to the US office before I could request it. They also sent me a warning that my items were reaching their 30 day storage limit which I think was longer than that before. I wish they would send everyone an email to clarify any changes they made to their system.

Pixel I would still recommend using SMJ. I had used Rinkya for years, but made the switch when SMJ made the flat $4 fee per item. Rinkya punishes you for bidding against other members ($20 additional per item), if its over 1000 yen its a $7 fee on cels, and add on the $15 domestic fees etc... another words they pretty much nickel and dime you there. I will always remember the example when someone here bought a $20 hairbow using Rinkya and it ended up being $35 in fees (more than the item itself) and not even including shipping to the buyer - for 1 freaking hairbow! On the otherhand I have been very pleased since switching to SMJ and the owner is knowledgeable about the different sellers and all my items have been packed very well. They can also buy items not on YJ which is pretty nice.
I'm guessing that maybe they thought it would be easier on them, perhaps cheaper also, to let the buyer deal with importing the item(s) directly.

I looked at Rinkya briefly, but those fees are extreme. I think their fee structure may be geared toward a large quantity of buys/wins all at once.

When you requested your items be sent from Japan, does that mean that you had to select Japan-based shipping (like SAL or EMS) vs US domestic (USPS First Class Priority Mail, UPS [domestic], etc.) ?
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Re: Thinking about Trying YJ/Buyee

Post by Animechaos »

*waves*

This is Nick from SMJ, been posting here for many many years. Got any Q's you want answered PM me, shoot an email to webmaster@shoppingmalljapan.com, hit us up on FB, glad to help.

We're not just some business like the other though, we're fans too. (My personal collection hasn't updated in a bit, but should get around to it soon http://animechaos.com/ ) So even if you have cel / genga / douga related questions, or even with other goodies, we know a bit more. :bounce
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Re: Thinking about Trying YJ/Buyee

Post by Pixel »

With the information and recommendations here in mind, I decided to give SMJ a shot. About how long should it take generally from the time an item is won or purchased, for it to arrive for storage at SMJ in Japan?
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Re: Thinking about Trying YJ/Buyee

Post by jcaliff »

Just wanted to add, I've had boxes of manga I've won stored in Japan and shipped to me directly from Japan by SMJ. If it's too heavy, they won't automatically ship it to the US. I typically choose to ship those by the cheapest possible method, so they sometimes take a few weeks, but for thirty books that only cost less than $50 I don't worry too much. It's still a lot cheaper than buying new or paying hundreds of dollars to ship.
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Re: Thinking about Trying YJ/Buyee

Post by Pixel »

On my SMJ Account status page, the storage location is listed as Japan. There doesn't appear to be a way to change that.

Is it normal for an auction item to go more than 3 days between the time it is won and the time they have it listed in storage, if the item remains in Japan the entire time?
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Re: Thinking about Trying YJ/Buyee

Post by Animechaos »

Typically an item will show up at the Tokyo office in about 3 to 5 business days. But that really depends how quick the seller works. Some are super fast, others really slow. So that 3 to 5 is just a general average.
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Re: Thinking about Trying YJ/Buyee

Post by Pixel »

To all those who helped me out in the thread, thank you.

I won my first YJ auction using SMJ's services. I decided to ship it here via SAL, which means it will probably take the scenic route.

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Seriously, I've had good success with SAL so far-it just takes awhile. I have a feeling it's much easier on the wallet though.
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Re: Thinking about Trying YJ/Buyee

Post by Drac of the Sharp Smiles »

Nice! ^_^ Hopefully we all steered you right. ^_^
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