What is the best value Yahoo! Auctions Japan redirection service?

No one was telling you to deal with it, they were simply explaining that there was more to it.

 

I've tried Buyee, they're good, but I'm looking to try out From Japan because they seem to be better priced, which is really my number one concern with using a proxy service. Second being if they offer SAL shipping and third being if I can use PayPal instead of a credit card, both of which From Japan also provide. If you don't want to use a service based on that you need to put up money at an earlier stage, well I guess that's your prerogative.

That too.

 

You can use PayPal on Buyee now. You touched on a negative point with Buyee, only express is possible which does raise the price up dramatically. I've always had good service from Buyee though, they are super quick at responding to emails and so on.

 

Buyee do have SAL shipping, but you need to request it, which is a bit of a pain. As to emails, Buyee and From Japan seems about the same to me.

 

What about using FedEx through From Japan?

And what would be the best shipping method for this steering wheel assembly for an F-Zero AX arcade machine that I am restoring?

http://page11.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/n120537447

 

It will cost you 2 billion dollars to ship arcade parts. I'll put it this way. Two 10cm figures cost be $40 just to send through EMS with fees from Buyee. If there's other things you want, throw it all together in one package. Fedex will be more, and isn't an option through Buyee.

 

I wouldn't mind paying $100 to have it shipped, but what is the cheapest shipping option?

 

Surface shipping would be the cheapest option, though it'll probably take close to 2 months to arrive. You can probably request that option though whoever your proxy is.

 

I don't know what this panel is made of, but keep in mind that surface mail is also limited to 30kg for each parcel.

 

People didnt like Fedex from when I read up on it. Sure, it was marginally cheaper, but it was more likely to get hit by customs fees (almost 100% of the time I think), and other fees add up to make it cost more in the end, while possibly even taking longer!

 

...Fuck. I chose FedEx for the F-Zero AX card(s) I won off of Y!J through From Japan. Is there a way to change it to EMS? I feel like I'm going to get screwed.

 

It depends on if you already paid for shipping or not. When they get shipping quotes, they quote all of the services anyway.

 

I didn't pay for shipping yet because FJ hasn't received the package yet. How do I go about changing it? I am a total dipshit when it comes to these things.

 

FromJapan waits until you tell them to combine and ship. Even if you've already starting the shipping process, you should be able to change it since the item hasen't arrived so they haven't actually started shipping it yet. In that case, send them a message telling them that you'd like to change your shipping to surface or something.

 

Even still, they will ask you to confirm your shipment choice when you go to pay for it, listing all the various choices and their prices

 

I hope this is the case.

 

When I used to get packages from the US via FedEx, they went out of their way to declare a duty on it, mainly b/c they stick a 500 yen handling fee for paying the duty up front. Fucking hate FedEx.

 

Which is the better shipping method? SAL or EMS?

 

Lots of asterisks in there. EMS is automatically insured, and very fast. There are two kinds of SAL. SAL Small Packet (under 2kg -- pretty cheap) and vanilla SAL which is not all that great if you're in certain locations (North America, for one). SAL Small Packet is a pretty big favorite to those in Europe.

 

EMS is air mail, it's fast but expensive. SAL is a combo of air and land shipping, it's cheaper than EMS, but slower. Not as slow as surface though, which makes it a happy medium between EMS and surface.