I live in Japan and am in the process of starting an online business.

Ymalias86

Hikikomori
Hello all,

As mentioned in the title I live in Osaka, Japan and me and my wife want to supply anime/manga goods to the UK especially stuff that may be rare or difficult to find at the moment.

I guess you could call this post market research, so please guys let me know what particular products you are interested in and if there are any specific items you would like to purchase but find difficult due to language barriers/resource constraints.

Anything is ok, please let me know.

よろしくお願いします
 
I'd certainly be interested in a service that like that! Of course if you could price match competitively with places like Amazon JP and Solaris Japan and the like.
 
I'd certainly be interested in a service that like that! Of course if you could price match competitively with places like Amazon JP and Solaris Japan and the like.
You just want hug pillows and other less family-friendly products.*

*This is a joke and should not be taken as a personal insult towards Mr Ryan Palmer.
 
Can never have too many forwarding companies if you can offer that service :)

Some kind of buying service for the shops in Nipponbashi would be great if you live close enough for that to be viable.

A timely idea given the recent Avex export ban announced.

R
 
I think the most important thing is for either the seller to send things undervalue in order for us the buyers to avoid taxes on our end OR for the buyer to declare their own value on the customs label. Even a fixed fee on the customs label of 500y per item (regardless of actual value) can be of help for alot of people. This was something Right Stuf did many years ago.

I know full well this isn't exactly kosher but it's always the thing I take into account the most when buying something from abroad. I never pay customs for anything I import as a result of shopping around for these options. It's a big selling point for a business imo.
 
It is worth noting that dodging customs in that way is illegal and it's entirely possible to earn a hefty fine from the government of the recipient's country if the company is caught doing it. So if the original poster is not aware, they should do their homework carefully; the reason RightStuf stopped was rumoured to be that they were caught doing it. The customs situation is ludicrous (I have no problem paying the tax/duty but paying Parcelforce and friends more than a tenner in extra fees per delivery just for sending me a letter and delaying my parcel for a week is infuriating). If you can find an option to prepay customs with delivery like we can with Amazon USA, that would be a major advantage to your service.

It's also worth noting that couriers have been known to Google as part of their investigations into customs fee evasion, so it's a good idea for those of us who know companies involved in that kind of thing to be cautious :)

R
 
Lets be honest if we can avoid custom charges I'm sure everyone would. I coundnt give a stuff about VAT, if someone finds a way to subvert that then fair play to them as long as they aware of the risks involved.
 
Or just don't put the invoice in the parcel?

Another thing I look for is the cheapest shipping option possible that's not sea mail. I don't like EMS because it's expensive, handled by ParcelFarce at this end and always gets hit by customs, which means an extra £13.50 on top of what the government decide you owe them.
 
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