Cook Bros ...ect. Japan Buying Advice, Yahoo Auctions, Proxy Services

[Betsy]

I’ll also add.. PP will charge you a fee to convert GBP to JPY, you can avoid this by using bank transfer.

Also a friend of mine said recently that his last JP purchase, he couldn’t mark the value down and send via EMS so he ended up using Surface Transport, he still got his goods without fees but they were stuck in the port for a few weeks.

I’ve been using Zen for years and I’ve never seen this before, but I did get an email from Zen this morning saying EMS is now fully operational again (check it out on their blog) so it could have been an EMS issue.

Buyee ship at full value, SutoCorp will mark down but their fees are higher and they’re not as easy to use, I wouldn’t recommend them for a first time Yahoo purchase.

 

[dyna-ti]

FedEx are ridiculously fast

It's probably due to that Tom Hanks movie. played up the 'must be there on time'

 

[swannymere]

I'm not sure I'm doing it right but ive copied and pasted the item into the Zenmarket thing after setting up an account and it says item may be too large to ship. I've requested a weight and dimensions of the item once packaged. I wish you hadn't shown me that sight, too much temptation!

 

[Betsy]

It should be fine, the system can not recognise exactly what this item is from the product description so click the 'Unblock Request' tab and a real life Zen staff member will check that you're not trying to buy something stupid like a crankshaft (I'll do the same)

You should get this msg

"Unblock request is being processed. Our staff will do the best to process it in the shortest time. You will receive a message about our decision. If it is affirmative, you will be able to buy item or make a bid on the item from this page"

...and they'll get back to you shortly, i had a similar issue once buying swanky Bonsai shears misconstrued as a knife

 

[swannymere]

Unblocked and had a message from Boris who’s passing my message about shipping along. Thanks for all your help.

 

[Betsy]

No bother..

I've just received this msg, pretty damn slick arn't they?

"Thanks for choosing our service.

We've unlocked the following item as per your request: ************

Best regards,
Nicolas

7/6/2022 1:37:25 AM"

 

[swannymere]

I’ve got a terrible feeling this website will get me into trouble with all the shiny bike bits, more time spent in front of the laptop.

 

[Betsy]

Yahoo Auctions used to have their own web page which was very user friendly..sadly i got this msg a few months ago

From Wednesday, April 6, 2022, Yahoo! JAPAN is no longer available in the EEA and the United Kingdom​

Please be informed that from Wednesday, April 6, 2022, Yahoo! JAPAN’s services are no longer available to our users in the EEA (European Economic Area) and the United Kingdom, as it has been determined by Yahoo! JAPAN that providing a continuous service environment in these regions would be difficult. Please note that services listed under “Services available after Wednesday, April 6, 2022” below will continue to be available.
Please note that all Yahoo! JAPAN services are accessible after this date if access is made from Japan.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your understanding...

Bollocks!!!
Hence why you now have to view the listings via a proxy service which i personally hate after years of becoming au fait with Yahoo.

If you can't find your goodies on Yahoo... try Mercari another Japanese marketplace which is good for bike bits

 

[kingoffootball]

Unblocked and had a message from Boris who’s passing my message about shipping along. Thanks for all your help.

Well, he doesn't have any other pressing concerns.

 

[Imlach]

The crank is listed for sale on Yahoo Auctions, you can't sign up to Yahoo without a domestic Japanese shipping address therefore you need a proxy service who will buy the crank on your behalf and fwd it to your address, Buyee is one of such services but there are many proxies out there working for a fee or a % (these buying services work all over the world, in effect greasing the jockey wheels of international shopping, i recently sold a few pairs of vintage Stussy sunglasses to a buyer in Japan via a buying service based in Heathrow business park)

I tend use ZenMarket, they only charge 300¥/item (£2) Ive also used Jauce, from Japan, SutoCorp ect in the past.

You would need to sign up to Zen, all you need is an email address and password, no personal deets.

Paste the Cook Bros link into the ZenMarket URL.. here i've done it for you CBR Crank

Fund your online wallet via PP so you're bidding with your own money, if you click the 'Place a Bid' tab you will be directed to a PP link to add funds.

Yahoo is more civilized than ebay, in this instance the seller has selected 'Automatic Extension' so the auction end continuously rolls over until eveyone has the chance to bid, much like a traditional auction house.

'Early Finish' has also been selected meaning that if there are no other bidders the auction can be closed early to a single bid so you stand nothing to gain by a snipe bid and everything to lose.

If you win the auction, your goods will be delivered to the Zen warehouse in 3 or 4 days, you then choose your shipping method and fill in your own declaration form so you could ship the crank to the UK with a marked value of 1000¥ avoiding all border charges but bear in mind that if your package goes missing you can only claim the marked value back from the insurance.. all the above is automated so don't fret about language barriers. You could ship at half value or full but the higher the marked value the higher the border charges will be.

You can fund your wallet as often as you like but if you fail to win the auction, Zen can not refund your dosh for 6/7days just because the ¥¥¥ has to clear in their bank account before they can issue a refund.

Any problems.. just give me a hola!

That's a pretty well written out tutorial. Appreciated.