needing help with buying from Amazon Japan

[kala83]

I am looking at buying some magazines off of Amazon Japan and I needed some help on somethings since I had some questions I know that the pricing on the site is in yen but I was wondering does the site still take U.S. Dollars as well? I haven't been able to find the particular magazine I wanted to get any where but Amazon JP and I would really like to get it but only if I actually can manage to do so. and I typically use my paypal account when buying online, lol anyway yeah kind of odd ball questions but I was just wondering about it. hmm also do you know if this kind of stuff pertains to customer sales too? any help on stuff will be very, very helpful
Thank you!

 

[orochi]

You can only pay COD (if in Japan) or by credit card (anywhere).

 

[undrentide]

As far as I see their "Payment Methods We Accept" at amazon.co.jp, they don't accept payment by PayPal.
Cash On Delivery should be the delivery within Japanese domestic address only, I guess, and the services by "Convenience Store/ ATM / Internet Banking / Edy payment (pre-payment)" are also available only within Japan.
The only option if you'd like to purcahse the books and other goods from amazon.co.jp seems to be the payment by credit card.
Amazon.co.jp ヘルプ
(If you use your credit card for payment the Japanese Yen shall be converted to the US Dollar using the exchange rate your credit card company applies for foreign currency settlement, so you'll be billed in the US Dollar if you're residing you the US.)

If you need further help, you should contact them directly - you can find "Contact Us" on the right side of the above quoted web page.
(Click the button ﾆ谷ﾆ湛ﾆ耽ﾆ筑ﾂーﾆ探ﾂーﾆ池ﾆ湛窶堙架廣窶板 which says "contact our customer service")

 

[JimmySeal]

If you pay with a US credit card, Amazon.co.jp will receive their payment in yen, and you will be charged the equivalent amount in US dollars. Note that the exchange rate you will get for this will be tilted a bit in the credit card company's favor.
Also be careful to check the shipping costs. They can be quite high for international shipping.

 

[kala83]

Thank you very much for all the wonderful help guys that was really helpful! I just have one last question if I may? lol this is going to sound lame but I don't own a credit card myself just cuz I don't really trust myself to have one with my spending habbits and I would probably get way into debt very quickly but I was considering getting one of those green dot pre-paid credit cards, do you know the kind I am talking about not entirely sure if they have such thing any where other then the U.S. but I was starting to wonder after reading your alls posts if I could use something like that. Or if I would just need to look at getting some assitance from people that actually do have credit cards them selves. If you all don't know I will try contacting Amazon Japan myself with the info undrentide gave me. I guess I am just a lil intemidated to contact them my self...since I don't know a great deal of Japanese even though I am still trying to learn, I guess I am just worried about their being a language barrier since that issue has actually come up before in the past.
Thank you again all for all of you assitance and help!

 

[Pepe]

As long as it is either a Visa or MasterCard credit card (CC), then pre-paid CCs will work. They are not much unlike debit cards issued by a CC company.

 

[Elizabeth]

I ordered something off Amazon Japan today and because international was impossible ended up using a shipping address inside the country. The help site wasn't available either, for security reasons. Although I heard the co is using DHL as its shipping agent now. They'll attempt a signature required delivery, no doubt, or leave the package at an apt for later pickup ?? Anyone had experience with this ?

 

[undrentide]

I ordered something off Amazon Japan today and because international was impossible ended up using a shipping address inside the country. The help site wasn't available either, for security reasons. Although I heard the co is using DHL as its shipping agent now. They'll attempt a signature required delivery, no doubt, or leave the package at an apt for later pickup ?? Anyone had experience with this ?

They do have international shipping services, though the cost is too expensive and often more than the cost of the goods you purchase...
Amazon.co.jp ヘルプ
International shipping rates

In Japan DHL is only for international shipping, delivery to domestic address is made by Kuroneko-Yamato. If the recipient is not at home, they'll leave a slip showing the reference number and the recipient can request for re-delivery either by phone or on internet, specifying the date and time.
The service is quite reliable.

 

[Mycernius]

I always use my deit card when I have bought from Amazon Japan. Never had a problem with it, but they are expensive due to shipping.

 

[Elizabeth]

They do have international shipping services, though the cost is too expensive and often more than the cost of the goods you purchase...
Amazon.co.jp ヘルプ
International shipping rates

In Japan DHL is only for international shipping, delivery to domestic address is made by Kuroneko-Yamato. If the recipient is not at home, they'll leave a slip showing the reference number and the recipient can request for re-delivery either by phone or on internet, specifying the date and time.
The service is quite reliable.

Thank you ! The manga is dear (not to mention a collectible !) but not yet worth the $50.00 for non economy shipping.

Maybe it was an Amazon JP seller that couldn't do international orders that prevented my check out or because I went in English but first line of the product details says: "Shipping: We're sorry; this item can not be shipped outside Japan....

Now I just have to explain to him what I've done....

 

[undrentide]

Oh, I see, you're buying Amazon "market place"!

If you have someone who can receive the books and dispatch them to you, that's much better!

Air Postage for printed matter (which includes books) is very reasonable:
250g窶堙懌?堙 510窶ｰ~
500g窶堙懌?堙 960窶ｰ~
750g窶堙懌?堙 1,410窶ｰ~
1,000g窶堙懌?堙 1,860窶ｰ~
(It starts from 20g/25g/50g then change every 50g, you'll find more details here:
料金表(通常：第2地帯) - 日本郵便 )

I've sent some manga to a friend in US and it took less than a week.
One manga weighs something around 200g though it really depends on the type of the binding and number of pages...

 

[Jericho Desu]

I don't know if this will help or not, but there is this company Tenso that will ship your item to you for cheaper. Basically you give the company your buying from an address Tenso will provide for you and they will forward it to you for a cheaper shipping price.
This dude from Tofugu explains.

 

[Elizabeth]

Oh, I see, you're buying Amazon "market place"!

If you have someone who can receive the books and dispatch them to you, that's much better!

Air Postage for printed matter (which includes books) is very reasonable:
250gまで 510円
500gまで 960円
750gまで 1,410円
1,000gまで 1,860円
(It starts from 20g/25g/50g then change every 50g, you'll find more details here:
料金表(通常：第2地帯) - 日本郵便 )

I've sent some manga to a friend in US and it took less than a week.
One manga weighs something around 200g though it really depends on the type of the binding and number of pages...

↓ Affiliate seller
龍馬屋

↓ 配送業者
ヤマト運輸

I've never had an issue with any of my purchases through Amazon.com major marketplace sellers, the user only has to estimate what will cause problems with a lack of timeliness and poor communication (and never a tracking number !). But my book has gone out already, over the weekend, and the confirmation notice was extremely complete.

So once you find sellers who you like, stick with them and (hopefully) they'll always try to take care of you.

 

[Elizabeth]

I don't know if this will help or not, but there is this company Tenso that will ship your item to you for cheaper. Basically you give the company your buying from an address Tenso will provide for you and they will forward it to you for a cheaper shipping price.
This dude from Tofugu explains.

Ahhh...Thanks for the info! I wish I knew about this earlier....

It will definitely come in useful next time I think of going back every couple mos for Christmas shopping.

 

[Elizabeth]

They do have international shipping services, though the cost is too expensive and often more than the cost of the goods you purchase...
Amazon.co.jp ヘルプ
International shipping rates

In Japan DHL is only for international shipping, delivery to domestic address is made by Kuroneko-Yamato. If the recipient is not at home, they'll leave a slip showing the reference number and the recipient can request for re-delivery either by phone or on internet, specifying the date and time.
The service is quite reliable.

I'm really wondering also...is there supposed to be an expected delivery date in the shipping confirmation notice ?

The information I've been given is that the items went out 10/18 on 2 separate orders, and the one trackable item is on route from (高知県 to Tokyo 投函予定 - 10/20). Presumably deliveries will begin on the 20th or 21st ?? :?

 

[undrentide]

I'm really wondering also...is there supposed to be an expected delivery date in the shipping confirmation notice ?

The information I've been given is that the items went out 10/18 on 2 separate orders, and the one trackable item is on route from (ﾂ坂?壺?冦ﾅ陳ｧ to Tokyo 窶愬?窶敘ｸ窶能窶凖ｨ - 10/20). Presumably deliveries will begin on the 20th or 21st ?? :?

Supplier at Market Place often use Japan Post instead of 窶佚ｮ窶ｹ}窶｢ﾃ鳴／窶佚ｮ窶掏窶｢ﾃ鳴。
窶愬?窶敘ｸ窶能窶凖ｨ - 10/20 means the supplier is planning to post the goods at a post office (or post itself) on 20th October. It usually takes 1-2 days which means the delivery to the address in Tokyo would be on 21st or 22nd, I think.

 

[Elizabeth]

Thank you again, undrentide-san ! Kuroneko even arrived on their doorstep one day earlier than predicted.
I love when that happens...


And by the way, have you ever ordered from Book Express ? (The bookstore in the station.)

http://www.bookg.jp/net.html

I'm wondering why some of the listed locations are preceeded by (ディラ) ?? 上野店
Is that the vendor or supplier ?

 

[undrentide]

Thank you again, undrentide-san ! Kuroneko even arrived on their doorstep one day earlier than predicted.
I love when that happens...


And by the way, have you ever ordered from Book Express ? (The bookstore in the station.)

http://www.bookg.jp/net.html

I'm wondering why some of the listed locations are preceeded by (ﾆ断ﾆ達ﾆ停?ｰ) ?? ﾂ湘｣窶禿ｬ窶弭
Is that the vendor or supplier ?

窶堙ｦ窶堋ｩ窶堙≫?堋ｽ窶堙??堋ｷ窶堙仰！ Glad to hear the news!

I've never purchased books from Book Express - to be honest, I did not know this shop until now!
ﾆ断ﾆ達ﾆ停?ｰﾂ湘｣窶禿ｬ窶弭 is one of the retail shops. Dilla Ueno is a shopping mall within JR Ueno Station. (There's another one called Atre in the same station).
This shop is located in the mall Dilla in Ueno.
http://www.ekipara.com/building/DI000UNO.html
They seem to offer a wide range of books, maybe worthwhile to visit if you ever have a chance to go to Ueno.
(There's 窶督ｾﾂ青ｳ窶慊ｰﾂ鞘?倪?弭 in Atre Ueno, by the way, which is not bad too. )

 

[Elizabeth]

窶堙ｦ窶堋ｩ窶堙≫?堋ｽ窶堙??堋ｷ窶堙仰！ Glad to hear the news!

I've never purchased books from Book Express - to be honest, I did not know this shop until now!
ﾆ断ﾆ達ﾆ停?ｰﾂ湘｣窶禿ｬ窶弭 is one of the retail shops. Dilla Ueno is a shopping mall within JR Ueno Station. (There's another one called Atre in the same station).
This shop is located in the mall Dilla in Ueno.
http://www.ekipara.com/building/DI000UNO.html
They seem to offer a wide range of books, maybe worthwhile to visit if you ever have a chance to go to Ueno.
(There's 窶督ｾﾂ青ｳ窶慊ｰﾂ鞘?倪?弭 in Atre Ueno, by the way, which is not bad too. )

Oh, I see. Maybe wikipedia will have an entry to show me where I was...
That must be why there's usually a koban hut in front of major stations.

And Atre is more than Hard Rock Cafe Uyeno-Eki ??

 

[undrentide]

Oh, I see. Maybe wikipedia will have an entry to show me where I was...
That must be why there's usually a koban hut in front of major stations.

And Atre is more than Hard Rock Cafe Uyeno-Eki ??

Atre has three floors, Hard Rock Cafe is on the ground floor (1F).
http://www.atre.co.jp/ueno/floor/floormap01.htm
A9 is Hard Rock Cafe, C13 is Meiseido shoten.