Japanese merchandise!

Talk about the culture and entertainment from Nihon.
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Should I start this service?

Yes
28
97%
No
1
3%
 
Total votes: 29

Yorokobi
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Japanese merchandise!

Post by Yorokobi » Jul 26th, '07, 07:47

I consider myself extremely lucky being able to live in Japan and I was thinking to myself what can I do for those poor people who are stuck in their own countries. I was messaged by a girl who wanted to know about tv magazines and how she was considering ordering them from amazon but they cost so much, and then it came to me. Im sure many people are in the same boat as this girl wanting things like magazines, cds, dvds, books etc but the only way they can get them is off places like amazon which charge a huge fee and I thought what if I bought the items for the people who wanted them and sent them to them without any handling fee. All they have to pay is the price of the item and shipping, no extra cost. This would be a no profit service for me but im ok with that because I know what its like to be in another country and desperatly wanting Japanese stuff.
However this idea may be completely shunned by you people, and you may not need it but it was just a thought so let me know what you think!

Yorokobi
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Post by Yorokobi » Jul 26th, '07, 10:33

the point of this post is let me know what you think but people are veiwing it and not doing that :-(
Even if you just answer the poll and not leave a message thats fine!

elly_ketz
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Post by elly_ketz » Jul 26th, '07, 10:38

I voted yes..
I think u should do this..
though I'm still a middle school student and didn't have a lot of money except my pocket money
but I still hope other people would vote yes..
minna,vote yes..

tmjr2006
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Post by tmjr2006 » Jul 26th, '07, 12:44

yes yes please,there are a few stuff i would like...

afroken
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Post by afroken » Jul 26th, '07, 16:07

Yes, definietly! (if you want to and if you got the time)

I was SO happy when I got your PM about the TV magazines! ^^
It made stuff so much easier because if I order them from Amazon the shipping would be around 200 SEK but I really wanted them so I thought "it's worth it!" but then the next problem came - I didn't know what magazines included good articles/pictures.

It's really helpful!

But I think it would be OK to take extra money because afterall you need to search for the items and you do it in your free time.

Thanks alot again! ^^

Yorokobi
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Post by Yorokobi » Jul 26th, '07, 23:57

afroken wrote: But I think it would be OK to take extra money because afterall you need to search for the items and you do it in your free time.

Thanks alot again! ^^
Its ok because I will also be shopping for this stuff so it wont really take much more effort to buy a few more item ^_^

InTr4nceWeTrust
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Post by InTr4nceWeTrust » Jul 27th, '07, 00:06

Be sure you check up on export/import laws. I think it'd be illegal if you did this service.

Yorokobi
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Post by Yorokobi » Jul 27th, '07, 00:09

Really why it shouldnt be illegal to send things to friends

InTr4nceWeTrust
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Post by InTr4nceWeTrust » Jul 27th, '07, 00:10

Because you're not really sending it to friends. At least the government won't see it as this. They'll see that you're providing a service to get around import taxes.

marriedtomisaki
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Post by marriedtomisaki » Jul 27th, '07, 00:15

Well I think its okay if the import taxes are payed by the buyer because it would still be cheaper then buying from amazon or yes-asia.com.

groink
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Post by groink » Jul 27th, '07, 00:16

InTr4nceWeTrust wrote:Because you're not really sending it to friends. At least the government won't see it as this. They'll see that you're providing a service to get around import taxes.
Exactly. The mail system may allow you to declare items as non-commercial. But after you send a dozen packages in a short period of time, they WILL see a pattern, and therefore will set off a red flag. I've read about this in the eBay forums. Best thing to do is declare the packages accordingly. The mail system is not someone you want to mess with.

--- groink

Yorokobi
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Post by Yorokobi » Jul 27th, '07, 00:24

ya!! I dont know anything about this!!! I just want to help people. I dont know about declaring them accordingly. How should I do it.

InTr4nceWeTrust
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Post by InTr4nceWeTrust » Jul 27th, '07, 00:28

I think he means that either you have to declare the items as commercial and deal with the import/export taxes or not do this service.

deshou
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Post by deshou » Jul 27th, '07, 01:18

Think Yorokobi shouldnt declare the items as commercial because they are not, no money is gained with this and will only make people pay taxes and deal with customs...

If large amounts of CD/ DVDs are shipped, I understand how suspicious that may look to the post office, maybe only ship a few per month or so. Magazines, posters and other stuff, think it should be OK sending them to "friends" and declaring what they are by name "magazine", "book"...
This would help many people :-)

InTr4nceWeTrust
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Post by InTr4nceWeTrust » Jul 27th, '07, 01:37

@Yorokobi
There are no international law buffs on D-Addicts that will be able to give you guaranteed information about trying to provide this service. Many D-Addicts users aren't even of legal age yet. Read up on import/export laws between Japan and whatever country you're going to send items to. Hire a lawyer if you must. Make your best judgment. Ignore what anybody else says here.

popo_chan_xo
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Post by popo_chan_xo » Jul 27th, '07, 01:45

elly_ketz wrote:I voted yes..
I think u should do this..
though I'm still a middle school student and didn't have a lot of money except my pocket money
but I still hope other people would vote yes..
minna,vote yes..
i vote yessah too
dont worry ur not the only middle school student
i only have pocket money too :D

groink
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Post by groink » Jul 27th, '07, 01:50

deshou wrote:Think Yorokobi shouldnt declare the items as commercial because they are not, no money is gained with this and will only make people pay taxes and deal with customs...
Commercial does not mean you're making a profit. I can sell people products at a loss or break-even and it would still be commercial. Commercial is a practice.
deshou wrote:If large amounts of CD/ DVDs are shipped, I understand how suspicious that may look to the post office, maybe only ship a few per month or so. Magazines, posters and other stuff, think it should be OK sending them to "friends" and declaring what they are by name "magazine", "book"...
This would help many people :-)
You're basically telling this person to work-around the system and to stick his neck out for someone he doesn't even know. He's risking being charged duty or having the package returned to him and must come up with even more money to re-send.

Well, I guess the logic is that we're all breaking copyright laws on the torrent tracker... Why stop there? Sometimes it is worth breaking regulations for some things. But not for EVERYTHING in life.

--- groink

Yorokobi
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Post by Yorokobi » Jul 27th, '07, 02:08

This is a lot more complicated then I first thought.
If I was to do this going through the whole customs thing Id have to get a liscence right? and those cost a fair amount of money. Do you think people would be willing to pay a little bit extra to cover the cost of the liscence??

InTr4nceWeTrust
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Post by InTr4nceWeTrust » Jul 27th, '07, 02:23

groink wrote:Well, I guess the logic is that we're all breaking copyright laws on the torrent tracker... Why stop there? Sometimes it is worth breaking regulations for some things. But not for EVERYTHING in life.

--- groink
poor logic tho. illegal import/export would use the US post office. torrent tracker is hosted on a server in amsterdam?

doasan
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Post by doasan » Jul 27th, '07, 02:46

Your idea is really great! 'cuz I'm one of this people...for me it's impossible to buy that kind of stuff...I live in Argentina and if you want to buy something you've to have so much money T_T

kurosaki_frank
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Post by kurosaki_frank » Jul 27th, '07, 02:58

hopefully u can get me a Every little thing shirt

deshou
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Post by deshou » Jul 27th, '07, 04:11

groink wrote:
deshou wrote:If large amounts of CD/ DVDs are shipped, I understand how suspicious that may look to the post office, maybe only ship a few per month or so. Magazines, posters and other stuff, think it should be OK sending them to "friends" and declaring what they are by name "magazine", "book"...
This would help many people :-)
You're basically telling this person to work-around the system and to stick his neck out for someone he doesn't even know. He's risking being charged duty or having the package returned to him and must come up with even more money to re-send.

Well, I guess the logic is that we're all breaking copyright laws on the torrent tracker... Why stop there? Sometimes it is worth breaking regulations for some things. But not for EVERYTHING in life.

--- groink
:blink Thats the way it is done with regular mail, usually you declare the value and what it is, thats it. Nothing illegal. She is probably being payed before sending the items, so there shouldnt be any money loss... also, most duties are payed by the receiver and usually books are considered culture = no charges.

You make it sound like i dont care what happens to her, and it is not like that at all. :x

As I see it, the only issue here is to know if the items should be treated as "regular mail" or ticked as "merchandise", and that probably depends on the demand, payment and so on... Yorokobi, do you have any idea how people could pay you?

Yorokobi
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Location: New Zealand (well actually Japan right now! YAY!)

Post by Yorokobi » Jul 27th, '07, 04:18

I guess the only real way of doing it would be by bank deposit

ojouprincess
Posts: 79
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Location: Tokyo, Japan

Post by ojouprincess » Jul 27th, '07, 04:26

if you'd start this service, i'd probably buy from you because it's so difficult to get japanese magazines and cd's from where i live.

deshou
Posts: 74
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Post by deshou » Jul 27th, '07, 04:33

Well, I would too and voted yes ...as you may have guessed...

cluelessyf
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Post by cluelessyf » Jul 27th, '07, 04:34

mmm don't worry yorokobi about the legal stuff, just do itt :) EVERYONE will appreciate it! including me (well i live in southern cali and can just drive 15 mins to a japanese market to get the stuff.. altho they're not cheap either -__-) can i ask like wat a current myojo magazine is usually?

okayy i sell stuff on soompi forums andd i just send the stuff w/out any worries.. i havn't done any international exchanges thoguh but i'm sure it's okay. just say it's a book/cd u borrowed from a friend a while ago or something if they ask.. there're billions of mail out there they're not gonna confiscate urs. u should have the "friend" you're helping send u money first and send them the stuff, all at their risk of course. tell them u won't be responsible for any losot/damaged money/items.

gluck!! it's a LOT of work though... it's so altruistic of u to not charge any handling fees hahaha. if you ever do that pm me please maybe i'll want to get something if it's cheaper over theree.. xP

phramc
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Post by phramc » Jul 27th, '07, 04:46

I'll say yes. legal issues could be a problem but I don't see how it could end up being a big issue. Especially if you have the name and address personally on there and it was sent as a friend instead of a money maker or company. It'd be really really handy and lots of people would love you for life. including me. since a myojo magazine is impossible to come by in Utah.

applebear
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Location: Florida

Post by applebear » Jul 27th, '07, 05:11

Shipping Internationally can be a bit tricky.

If you ship, say those magazines. I would recommend that you hand write a personal message. And avoid putting any kind of receipt in the package.

On the customs form, if you mark the package as gift, put the ACTUAL value of the item(s) on the form. Do this to avoid issues with, I don't know, mail & tax fraud. Packages passing through customs are opened if they are deemed suspicious & at random.

Also, I know the US has embargoes against other countries, I don't know about Japan. But, you'll want to take note of what you can't ship to certain places.

Also, don't mail too many gift packages at once, lol.

I only weigh in because I ship quite a bit internationally for business and deal with this kind of stuff all the time. Hope it's helpful.

SHD
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Post by SHD » Jul 27th, '07, 08:12

yorokobi-
I'm sure you started this thread and offer with the best intentions but the practicalities involved will probably make it too much effort on your part. Others have pointed out the customs/shipping issues. Let me add that YES--U.S. Customs does look at packages. We just received another opened "Care" package from my wife's family and once again items such as ramen (yup, ramen containing chicken) were removed. (maybe the customs agents are hungry) I buy books and have them shipped to the family and they bundle it with the other stuff--so far no problems with those.

OK, say customs of whatever country confiscates something you're sending--who absorbs the loss? You or the requestor? Also supposed many people take you up on your offer--you'll be running around to various stores, wrapping and packing, going to the Post Office, paying subway fares, collecting and depositing money. Soon you'll start to think that "hey--my time is worth something" then what, you'll maybe ask everyone to add something for your time. Pretty soon you'll see that vendors such as YesAsia aren't tagging on "expensive extra" charges and getting something from you won't be much cheaper or faster.

good luck if you decide to do it. but I'd really think about your offer.

afroken
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Post by afroken » Jul 27th, '07, 10:04

Is it really same in every country? Isn't the US very strict with things like these?

Even so I wouldn't mind paying all the commercial stuff, etc. for magazines that I can't buy in my own country.

If i remember right the fees are not really expensive, atleast not from Hong Kong?

And I've seen people sell things from Japan on livejournal without any problem? @_@

applebear
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Post by applebear » Jul 27th, '07, 15:53

@afroken

It's not the same for every country. And the US customs can be very strict and from what I understand, Canadian customs is the worst. Some postal services are flat out corrupt. You have to be careful. I don't know about other people, I just don't know if it's worth it.

@yorokobi
It could quickly go from a nice thing to do for your friends to a HUGE hassle for you to do for people you don't know. Keep in mind how some people complain about how quickly a free fan sub comes out... I couldn't imagine what happens when pocket money is involved.

Good luck if you decide to do it anyway.

phramc
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Post by phramc » Jul 31st, '07, 01:08

yeah don't overwork and frustrate yourself just so people can get merchandise. you want to be happy!!! if you were to start this I'd do like 3 things a month so your not having a heart attack and you can work things out properly. you definately wouldn't be too much of a suspect. just limit yourself.

melonyhappy
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Post by melonyhappy » Jul 31st, '07, 01:11

oo.. i would so love a kat-tun poster.... but that would be hard to get (?)? Do they even exist :blink

about customs in canada. I've ordered so many things online, they've only checked it once. When it was labled "yo-yo" since it was a huge package (it was a diablo, some acrobats uses it.. it is a yo-yo, but looks like a dumbell).

viet_la_amour
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Post by viet_la_amour » Jul 31st, '07, 01:20

hmm.. i don't see why this is such a big problem. soompi has ppl selling stuff all over the place?

oceansportrait
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Post by oceansportrait » Aug 6th, '07, 23:47

Canadian customs are...to say the least, TERRIBLE. It's come to the point where I don't even order off of any website that isn't located in Canada or has a base in Canada from where they're shipping the goods. It's completely ridiculous the charges they tack on. For example, I ordered three CDs off of CDbaby.com (an independent CD-selling store located in the US). The CD's cost me around $25 + $5 shipping. But after the customs went through it, I ended up having to pay $20 in customs charges. I was just looking at the post office lady in disbeilef because why should I have to pay $20 in customs charges when it's a $25 CD?!

It's really nice of you to offer to help people out in getting stuff from Japan, but in the long-run I don't see how you'd be able to keep it up---especially when you're not making any money out of it. There are already sites like yesasia.com that offers near-retail price on many goods fromJapan (CDs, DVDs, posters, idol goods, etc.) AND offers free shipping. So I think it's best to point people to those sites

Lolli
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Post by Lolli » Aug 8th, '07, 13:03

*lol* Congrats guys!! Now she's probably so confused and frustrated that she won't do any service ever again...

*shakes head* whatever I couldn't pay like that (bank deposit) anyway ^^;

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