Cheap re-shipper to re-ship to Japan

[Thurman#1]

I was looking to buy a piece of exercise equipment, a tib bar if anyone cares, about 2 kilograms, costing about $65.

I emailed the guy about shipping to Japan and he said it was around $90 to ship. It was only probably a foot square piece of equipment. He said there was a company in Portland Oregon that many of his customers used to cut shipping costs. He'd mail the goods to them. They'd re-ship them cheaper to the customer in Japan. But the way it worked he couldn't see the company's name, so he didn't know it.

I thought that was great and imagined combing packages from Amazon with a bunch of other things I would love to get my hands on but were expensive to ship, or that Amazon won't ship here, or whatever. I've been dying for some Eclipse coffee syrup to pour on my coffee ice cream, but ran out halfway through Covid and Amazon won't send it to Japan.

I've been researching and I find many companies (ShippingStorm, MyUS.com, Planet Express, Stackry, and more) but they won't give you firm prices until you know package dimensions, and if I'm going to combine things I don't know exact prices/dimensions. So it's really hard to compare.

Has anybody used this kind of service? Do you know a good one? Do you really save money? Is there a common one in Portland as he suggested? Any other relevant things I should know or check out?

Thanks so much in advance for your help.

 

[johnnyG]

Eclipse coffee syrup

Amazon US says that's unavailable--not that it can't be shipped.

And from the label, that stuff is basically high fructose corn syrup. With coffee flavor added. Probably something you could make on your own.

Or, try something here.

Shipping food items from japan to the US is almost impossible these days. It may be the same for the other way, so confirm that with your re-shippers before sending them stuff they can't send.

 

[mdchachi]

If I were in your position, I'd try to make friends with somebody that has access to your nearest U.S. military base. They can ship such things to APO at U.S. prices.

 

[Thurman#1]

It's unavailable if you live in Japan. Change your shipping address to the USA and Amazon will send you all the Eclipse coffee syrup you want. Damn those lucky statesiders.

It's absolutely delicious, for coffee milkshakes or how I use it, for coffee sundaes.

Every time I go home to America I put three big plastic bottles into my suitcase. Lasts me about a year, but due to Covid I haven't been home in more than two years.

Thanks, that's a great point about re-shippers, but some to many of them do allow food as long as it's not perishable. As I study this, shipping non-perishable food is a big advantage to these re-shippers. But some do and some don't, so it's definitely something to factor in.

That Torani coffee syrup looks like it will definitely be worth checking out. Thanks so much for pointing it out. I appreciate it and will definitely give it a try if I can't work out the Eclipse.

 

[Thurman#1]

If I were in your position, I'd try to make friends with somebody that has access to your nearest U.S. military base. They can ship such things to APO at U.S. prices.

Thanks, that's a good idea too. I live in Okayama so no bases much less than two hours drive. And we don't get a lot of touring soldiers here, that I've noticed, anyway.

Something to think about, though. I appreciate it.

 

[mdchachi]

Thanks, that's a good idea too. I live in Okayama so no bases much less than two hours drive. And we don't get a lot of touring soldiers here, that I've noticed, anyway.

Something to think about, though. I appreciate it.

You might be able to make some acquaintances online and work something out that way.

As for the syrup, the ingredients do seem to be dead simple. So it may be worthwhile to try your own homemade concoction.
You can get both corn syrup and coffee extract at Rakuten.

 

[Thurman#1]

Amazon US says that's unavailable--not that it can't be shipped.

And from the label, that stuff is basically high fructose corn syrup. With coffee flavor added. Probably something you could make on your own.

Or, try something here.

Shipping food items from japan to the US is almost impossible these days. It may be the same for the other way, so confirm that with your re-shippers before sending them stuff they can't send.

It's unavailable if you live in Japan. Change your shipping address to the USA and Amazon will send you all the Eclipse coffee syrup you want. Damn those lucky statesiders.

It's absolutely delicious, for coffee milkshakes or how I use it, for coffee sundaes.

Every time I go home to America I put three big plastic bottles into my suitcase. Lasts me about a year, but due to Covid I haven't been home in more than two years.

Thanks, that's a great point about re-shippers, but some to many of them do allow food as long as it's not perishable. As I study this, shipping non-perishable food is a big advantage to these re-shippers. But some do and some don't, so it's definitely something to factor in.

That Torani coffee syrup looks like it will definitely be worth checking out. Thanks so much for pointing it out. I appreciate it and will definitely give it a try if I can't work out the Eclipse.

Sorry, I somehow didn't attach the original message that I was replying to. But again, thank you.

 

[Thurman#1]

You might be able to make some acquaintances online and work something out that way.

As for the syrup, the ingredients do seem to be dead simple. So it may be worthwhile to try your own homemade concoction.
You can get both corn syrup and coffee extract at Rakuten.

View attachment 85628View attachment 85629

Thank you. If it comes to that, I'll try it. But my kitchen skills are nonexistent. I can screw up toast, I swear.

It's a great idea, though.

As is making acquaintances online. Certainly worth a try. Thanks.

 

[Thurman#1]

So, nobody knows about these re-shippers?

Dang!! I had high hopes.

Thanks anyway for your kindness.

 

[mdchachi]

So, nobody knows about these re-shippers?

Dang!! I had high hopes.

Thanks anyway for your kindness.

Sorry I hate to send you away but there's not a lot of traffic here these days. Did you try reddit?

 

[nice gaijin]

I did a little googling and it seems that there are quite a few options, but you may need to do some research and eventually just pick one and see how it goes.

Decent roundup of established services:

Cloudflare

Comparison between two services, seems like this site is focused on this topic so you can poke around here:
Compare Borderlinx and MyUS package forwarders

Short discussion on reddit:


PS I love Okayama, I have a buddy in Bizen I always try to visit.

 

[Thurman#1]

I did a little googling and it seems that there are quite a few options, but you may need to do some research and eventually just pick one and see how it goes.

Decent roundup of established services:

Cloudflare

Comparison between two services, seems like this site is focused on this topic so you can poke around here:
Compare Borderlinx and MyUS package forwarders

Short discussion on reddit:


PS I love Okayama, I have a buddy in Bizen I always try to visit.

Yeah, Okayama's an awesome place to live, it really is. Quiet, friendly, lots of little neighborhoods between those little tiny lines of hills cutting the whole city into their own little districts. And Bizen's really nice too. We hope to do that cycling course there next summer.

"Package forwarding sites." Awesome!! Just the right vocab should move me forward a lot. I really appreciate it.

And thanks to both you and MdChachi for suggesting Reddit. I know of it but haven't really investigated much. I really only thought of attacking it from the Japanese side, but you're both right, there's probably a ton of info on this from the American side too. After all, I'm looking in English. Jeez, I'm a dope!

Thanks so much to both of you!!!

 

[nice gaijin]

Yeah, Okayama's an awesome place to live, it really is. Quiet, friendly, lots of little neighborhoods between those little tiny lines of hills cutting the whole city into their own little districts. And Bizen's really nice too. We hope to do that cycling course there next summer.

"Package forwarding sites." Awesome!! Just the right vocab should move me forward a lot. I really appreciate it.

And thanks to both you and MdChachi for suggesting Reddit. I know of it but haven't really investigated much. I really only thought of attacking it from the Japanese side, but you're both right, there's probably a ton of info on this from the American side too. After all, I'm looking in English. Jeez, I'm a dope!

Thanks so much to both of you!!!

Yeah my friend has access to some awesome hikes from his place, with little shrines and creeks along the way. I just really enjoy the geography of the mountainous inaka. What's the bike trail you mentioned? Sounds fun!

90% of the time the trick is just figuring out the right keywords to find what you're looking for

 

[Thurman#1]

Oh, sorry, I didn't see your question. Sorry to be so late answering.

There's a really nice little ride near Bizen called Kibi Bike Path. Haven't done it myself, but friends have raved about it.

Kibi Bike Path | Japan Experience

Kibi Bike Path in Okayama is a 16 km long, east-west bicycle route through rural Japan from Bizenichinomiya Station to Soja Station and is an easy half day cycle.

www.japan-experience.com

Thanks again for all the help!!