How to pay japanese sellers?

kizu · Post by **kizu** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 6:17 pm

Well I want to pay this japanese seller. Problem is they only want japanese yen and it seems they might not be able to do a bank wire neither... Nor can they use paypal... I don't think they accept IPMO... Aside from stuffing money in an envelope which I -don't- really want to do and where would i convert USD to JPY here anyway... Aside from Western Union (which is probably my last bet)... does anyone have any ideas how I can get cash to them in yen? i find this really ironic as I work in a currency trading institution and still i'm at my rope's end on what to do... anybody have any ideas that is safe, cost effective, legal and all?

kittens · Post by **kittens** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 6:29 pm

Usually I use IPMO if I have to.... Some ppl have paypal account. some banks have wire transfer but a fee is so expensive

So I am not sure if they do not want to take IPMO, what you can do

HotIce · Post by **HotIce** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 6:37 pm

Maybe asking one of the deputy services what they would reccomend? perhaps SMJ or Rinkya... maybe Midori or someone might have some ideas.... I'm sorry to say that I have no clue what to do out side of IPMO, PayPal, and CC (if accepted).

RoboFlonne · Post by **RoboFlonne** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 6:38 pm

International Postal Money Order should work! If not... Maybe you can see if a deputy could handle it for you!

Nene · Post by **Nene** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 7:29 pm

I've bought some anime CDs from a guy in Japan before and the only way I could send him money was by going to a travel agent and exchanging my own currency for JPY. Took about a week for them to order it in since the places I tried here don't keep Yen inside the shop. But this guy also took IPMO so it might be worth asking if they'd accept it if you're unsure.

I'm not sure if this helps in any way but I remember reading somewhere that if you send money in the post, wrap it in tin foil. Might be something to do with the scanners but I can't remember now. Maybe it makes it more secure so people are less likely to take it since they can't recognise it? But all three times that I've sent money to Japan in just a plain jiffy by letter post, I haven't used the tin foil method and it got there safely. ^_^

Cordelia · Post by **Cordelia** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 7:43 pm

I have sent yen via the mail and so far, they have all arrived safely. I would wrap them up with cotton pads or paper. Shd be ok if you post by registered mail or EMS.

kizu · Post by **kizu** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 7:46 pm

Thanks all for your suggestions. First I am going to try to talk to the seller a bit more perhaps something got lost in communication as we're both using software translators...

Still it's good to know other methods if the IPMO and such do not work. For one I completely forgot about the deputy services, mostly because the ones I used seemed to have stopped ordering for people and focus solely on auctions. And that was interesting about the tin foil, although I'm a bit hesitant as well since it's a good sum of money.

Thanks all!

safetygirl · Post by **safetygirl** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 1:28 am

I tried SMJ back during a doujinshi hunt and he didn't have much advice besides that wire transfers are expensive.

klet · Post by **klet** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 2:37 am

Try telling the seller this:

アメリカには、現金書留のようなサービスがなくて、現金を送ることは危ないだから、国際郵便為替で支払い出来ますか。日本人の友達の話では、郵便局で、午前八時から午後四時まで国際郵便為替が換えられるらしいです。

Basically, it says that it's dangerous to send money by mail in America because we don't have a guarenteed registered cash mailing service, so is it alright to pay using an IPMO. It also explains that they can be cashed at a PO within certain hours.

If the answer is still no (some people have had problems with them before) then you'll have to send the cash through the mail.

As for where to get yen, start calling banks in your area and ask them if they have a foreign currency exchange office. If yes, then talk to the people working in that office to see if they have yen. Likely, they'll only have it in 1000 yen bills, so if you've got an odd total, you'll have to send too much money. You can also go online to different banks webpages and look for their branches that have exchange offices in them. I found one less than a mile from my campus, and they carried yen. Of course, my campus is huge and has a good number of Japanese study abroad students, so that might be why.

Hope that helps!

Edit: Bad Engrish. Am I allowed to have that? I'm totally not Japanese.

SME · Post by **SME** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 2:17 pm

klet wrote:Try telling the seller this:

アメリカには、現金書留のようなサービスがなくて、現金を送ることは危ないだから、国際郵便為替で支払い出来ますか。日本人の友達の話では、郵便局で、午前八時から午後四時まで国際郵便為替が換えられるらしいです。

Wow Klet! That's very helpful! If I need anything translated to a Japanese seller, I'll be sure to send you a PM! I was wondering the same thing as well as I found a seller that doesn't take Paypal or IPMO. I haven't bought anything from them in hopes of using Rinkya as a service, but I'll be sure to send you a PM if I need any further help!