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

[Betsy]

Have you shipped a frame from JP before @DrmZ ?

There is a bike currently listed on Mercari im interested in .. the price is crazy high atm and i don't think the seller expects to sell it.. they've said, they will list it for 1month.. if no interest, they will split it.. I only want the frame, the frame size isn't listed so that could rule it out as could the shipping charges, which jump dramatically over the 1m mark which coincidentally is frame size.

 

[DrmZ]

I saved some pictures from his auctions because there was some unusual stuff in NOS condition.
Blue canti brakes

and same model in purple



He also had one pair of RPM brakes, I think also in blue or purple and one pair of Avid Tri Align in silver.
I was tempted but have too much other projects going and did not want the hassle with importing from Japan.

It's like you said: You have to find enough cool stuff so it makes sense to spend so much on shipping, customs and taxes.
I bought some parts through Jauce from Yahoo Auctions Japan in the past. Jauce stores your items up to 60 days without additional fees. That makes it easier to buy parts from different sellers or auctions and the combine all to one shipment later.
There are others who offer similar services like Buyee.