How is Buyee and what should one watch out for?

[Pylon80 1308]

I have been curious about Buyee which I understand is a proxy service for the Yahoo Japanese Auctions... or something along those lines.

Is there something to watch out for in particular or is this just safe, legit and straightforward? At face value it seems like a second eBay, only with nice bargains and some items I thought had long disappeared from the used market. I think I recall @Sogogi had find a good deal there at some point?

Thank you!

[Sogogi 2378]

It is very straight forward. You bid on an item you like, if you win, you pay that price + buyee fee(300yen) + optional inspection fee (500yen) +local shipping fee which will be charged later when you decide to ship them to US(or where you live).
 

I also use mercari via buyee because sometimes i find better deals without having to deal with competitors.

 

Once you receive your item(s), you have option to consolidate them as one package at no extra cost + optional extra packaging fee.

 

They do promo quite often so make sure to check their coupon section.

(i recently saved 6000 yen for international shipping becuz there was a promo where if you buy 5000yen worth of stuff from mercari, you get 50% shipping off. So i ended up paying $45 usd for 2 nib kits + few misc items via dhl)

Beware that once you taste excitement of buying stuff from buyee, it is hard to resist

[Tobyone 505]

I have just bought my first items from Mercari via Buyee. 3 items in total (1 kit and 2 bodyshells) and would appreciate some guidance on their package consolidation, to try and keep the costs down.

I can see that you need to tick each item and then select Package Consolidation to proceed, due you get a quote for shipping before proceeding or do you need to proceed and they give you a quote after? is consolidation always cheaper ?

Anything else to watch out for? 

Thanks  

[ChrisRx718 4136]

I'd be wary of package consolidation on kits & bodyshells, as they'll likely have already arrived at Buyee's warehouse in individual large boxes, so to consolidate those will require an even bigger box. Weight stops being your enemy, rather size can limit the available options for shipping. Buyee won't un-pack and re-pack, they simply apply a "Russian Doll" tactic to combining parcels! This can result in a rather alarmingly-sized box as you can imagine.

I've never paid extra for the additional packaging materials when applying package consolidation. Remember, the Japanese are much less brutal than our domestic shipping companies when it comes to handling stuff (small items for example usually come in pale green large envelopes, with just a little bubble wrap, to keep weight down. I've never had anything damaged in transit despite this).

If you have items "arrived at warehouse" you can get quotes for shipping without actually proceeding. This will give you a general idea of the cost. Combining them as per the above, will limit the number of options you have and you may be restricted to more expensive services.

In your position, I would see how reasonable the cost of individual shipping is. Perhaps combine the two bodyshells. I wouldn't combine all 3 if you want the best possible cost, but appreciate it might give you peace of mind.

One tip, which you may or may not agree with, is that you can "edit" the invoice for the shipping label. You can't edit the value, but you can edit the product description. If being particularly sneaky, you may mark all items as "gifts" with individual products as "books" on the detailed invoice.

...Books don't attract import duty 

This advice is probably fraud. So don't do it. Or do. I'm saying nothin'  

[Sogogi 2378]

On 11/14/2023 at 1:33 AM, Tobyone said:

due you get a quote for shipping before proceeding or do you need to proceed and they give you a quote after? is consolidation always cheaper ?

 

I like to use “consolidation service” when i have a kit or two with several small parts. Basically almost free shipping for small items. (And no going back once you request that service as @ChrisRx718 mentioned.. so you have to guestimate by trial and error)

My rule of thumb is consolidate max 2 kits (regular sized kits.. not txt size lol)and some misc items. Most of the time i get to utilize their coupon for shipping discount, but without it, i paid about $80 usd using buyee’s preferred shipping method(fedex) to US which arrived in 2.5 days. (Which still is much cheaper and lots of rare items that are almost impossible to get in states) + weak yen really helps 

[Pylon80 1308]

So I ended up finding 2 insanely rare Tamiya bodies on Buyee. The first one was a "buy it now" or whatever they call it and arrived reasonably fast and extremely well packed. The second one was a real auction; I used their "snipper bid" function which worked a treat. Let's hope it shows up in good condition etc. But I quite like how the system shows you an accurate breakdown of the real to-your-front-door price before you bid. No surprises and no deception what so ever.

I am sure it will get more and more popular and the sellers will soon realize that they are about half the cost or less compared to eBay even after you factor in all the fees and shipping costs. But for now it still seems like a well kept secret.

[Sogogi 2378]

5 hours ago, Pylon80 said:

So I ended up finding 2 insanely rare Tamiya bodies on Buyee. The first one was a "buy it now" or whatever they call it and arrived reasonably fast and extremely well packed. The second one was a real auction; I used their "snipper bid" function which worked a treat. Let's hope it shows up in good condition etc. But I quite like how the system shows you an accurate breakdown of the real to-your-front-door price before you bid. No surprises and no deception what so ever.

I am sure it will get more and more popular and the sellers will soon realize that they are about half the cost or less compared to eBay even after you factor in all the fees and shipping costs. But for now it still seems like a well kept secret.

Congrats on your purchase. It is so addicting..