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Shipping stuff home

Park

後輩
3 Jun 2005
7
3
13
I have a question...sorry if it is a re-post...I did a search...

What is the cheapest way to send stuff home like a box of books for example.

I got rid of a lot of books but these were gifts. I think about 20 kilos but I am not a good judge.
 
Ohhh...I can tell you everything you need to know about shipping (I'm in the process of sending my stuff home now). Here are your options:

1) Yuu-pack - the boxes they sell at the post office. if you buy these boxes don't use the label inside, no matter what they tell you. this is like fed-ex. the first time i sent home a box i did it this way because they didn't tell me it was special and i got overcharged $50.
2) parcel post - this is for normal stuff. it can be a huge box and you can put anything in it. it can be up to like 30kg i think.
3) small packet - this is for stuff up to 2kg with a l+w+h of 90cm. it's cheaper than parcel.
4) media rate - this is for books, cds, dvds, vhs, magazines...pretty much any media. here's the thing - media can only be up to 5kg in weight, 90cm....BUT....they charge you the same rate as a small packet rather than for a parcel (because your package might be educational...so there's a small discount).

5) M Bag (in Japanese - tokubetsuyuutaiinsatsubutsu...wanna guess how many times I've had to say that?) - ok, M Bags are kinda tricky, but might be what you're looking for. M Bags are designed to send BOOKS ONLY! You can send up to 30kg of books for a very, very, very cheap (in japan) rate. here's the specifics:
1) must be at least 5kg with a max of 30kg
2) can usually only be sent from the main city post office. I would definitely call before you go since this can be a hassle if that one post office doesn't take them.
3) according to my cities post office, the Tokyo international post office that i called, and the official Japanese post office web site, the box can only be a max of 90cm, like the other ones i mentioned. However - they said 'as long as it fits' as well, but that wasn't good enough for me. When i saw the bags, they were huge, and big enough to fit a few of my 90cm boxes, but i would rather send more than one box than them have a fit and make me re-pack everything. What they also told me was to go to the post office and buy a 'yuu-pack' box (don't worry - it's not a special rate this time). There are 3 sizes for the WHITE yuu-packs (don't get the brown ones), and the biggest one is '100 size' (it's like 96cm, but they said that's ok). So if you want to get one of these, just ask for the 'ookii' or '100' size, it should be 140yen.
4) BE FOREWARNED - they may open your boxes at the post office and pull out all your stuff to make sure you are ONLY SENDING BOOKS (and maybe magazines). They did this to me and I was not happy. I took a lot of time to pack everything well, and tape it nicely, and then they didn't even offer to re-tape it, they told me too. I took my sweet a** time doing that in his line.​

Ok, now that you hopefully know what kind of shipping method you want you have to decide how to ship it that way. There are four options:
1) EMS - emergency medical crazy overnight super expensive shipping. It will get there before you leave the post office. Not really, but at the price you pay it should.
2) Air - a week or so
3) SAL - sea and air - they combine a crazy fast plane and some slow boats for a decent price and your stuff gets there in a few weeks (depending on where you live and if the planes are available).
4) Boat - cheapest shipping, yet it will take 6-8 weeks...so you might get home before it does. If you're a cheap student like me, though, by boat is the only way to go.

A few more things to keep in mind:
- Japan has something against letters. If you send a big package, and you put a letter in there, all of a sudden it is NOT a package, but an f'ing HUGE letter, and they will then charge you for an 'over-sized letter.' Devious, isn't it? They got me with that one before...only because I accidentally let it slip that i put a note in to my mom.
- If you send your stuff by boat make sure to wrap it well inside, with lots of plastic. These boxes are going on a boat...that means rain and waves and docks and such. Seal your stuff!!
- If you send something by small packet you can send anywhere from 1kg to 2kg for the same price, (1080yen to US), so make sure you get your money's worth!

Last but certainly not least, here are some links. The first few are other websites explaining what I just explained. The last is the most valuable tool I've found this year - an online shipping calculator for the US (if you don't live there i guess it's not good though...):
http://www.japan.com/living/postal/international.php
http://www.sira.or.jp/english/foreigner/lifein/dailylife/daily_06.html
http://www.post.japanpost.jp/english/fee/intel/sal.html

http://www.j-rep.com/js/postage/e_postamerica.html

Sorry this post is so long, but I hope I've helped. I've helped at least 15 of my friends here with this stuff, so I think I've got the descriptions down! If you have any more questions, feel free to ask!
 
A suggestion if you end up packing lots-and-lots of books into lots-and-lots of boxes:

Number the boxes and keep an inventory sheet of what books are in what boxes. This will facilitate finding any particular book you may want to lay your hands on after shipping if you aren't quite ready to break open all the boxes yet.
 
Aww man...that's a good idea. Wish I would've thought of that before I sent home 75 kilos of books. But I'll do it for my next box!!
 
It's one of the best ideas I have ever had.

Unfortunately, I had it after I had shipped all my books. I have at least a hundred boxes of books crammed into a closet, with no idea what is in any particular one of them.
 
I was thinking that when I go to Japan, naturally I'll be doing some shopping. But since I prefer to travel light, I would send my purchases home instead of schlepping them along with me. Is this a workable proposition? Or is there some rule on having to declare my stuff through customs on the way back?

Thanks-

C.
 
I need to send a lot of musical instruments from Japan to Canada...
Does anyone have any info on how to do it?
How do i send by ship with those big m3 boxes?

 
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