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Best place to buy from to avoid Customs

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    Best place to buy from to avoid Customs

    Hey all,

    Can anyone recommend the best sites or Ebay sellers to use these days to avoid customs charges?

    Fancy finally adding to my Switch collection but want to keep the additional charges to a minimum.

    It used to be that you could avoid the charges with Play-Asia but don't think that happens so often these days.

    Any advice is appreciated

    Thanks

    Neil

    #2
    If you want to import from Japan I think you'd have to use a proxy site. I know importaku uses one a lot and I don't think he pays any import fees. I've also never had to pay import fees for any eBay purchase from Japan. They must get hundreds of requests a week for marking low values so most have just started doing it automatically.

    For American stuff I'd go with Video Games Plus for new games and Lukie Games for used. I've never had to pay anything when ordering from those two.

    I don't mind paying import fees when ordering Switch games from Amazon Japan as even with item price + shipping + import fees it costs the same as it would when buying from a Norwegian online store. I like that you pay everything up front as well so you have a total to go by. The shipping cost is pretty cheap and they always use DHL.
    Last edited by Nico87; 12-05-2019, 23:18.

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      #3
      I've used Solaris Japan a number of times and haven't been hit with customs charges yet. They have a slider where you can choose the price they put on the label.

      I don't buy from Japan too much, but they don't seem as hot with charges as when you buy from the USA. It seems to be rare to buy anything from the USA these days without getting hit.

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        #4
        Thanks guys
        I'm predominantly looking at Jpn stuff for the Switch as my shopping list is mostly just the 2D shooters so was after best recommendations

        Have used Solaris & Nin-Nin a while back & go through unscathed but last order from Play-Asia got clobbered big time so assumed others might be the same now

        Will look at Amazon Jpn though as never tried them & look at pre-paying

        Thanks again

        Neil

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          #5
          Sign up for Tenso and use the Japanese address that they’ll give you so that you can then forward things you buy from Japanese sites minus the fees.

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            #6
            Yes, Nin-nin is safe as well, forgot about them

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              #7
              Tenso is great but it's a double edged sword as the exchange rate means that shipping can be very expensive sometimes, especially if the parcel is heavy. I mainly use it as there's items locked away on amazon japan that you can't find anywhere else easily if at all, and using tenso means the rare stuff sold by 3rd party marketplace sellers become accessible. Sometimes it won't be the cheapest way to get hold of stuff no matter how hard you try. It might not be the best way to get stuff if you are going for cheap as possible but good if you are after something not available anywhere else.

              For example the giant hori pro taiko no tatsujin arcade controller i got was really expensive but on amazon japan i bought it for retail cost compared to the huge ripoff markups that play asia and other places were doing it at but the shipping was expensive but i cancelled out the import duty because i declared it way below the trigger point so in the end i got it a lot cheaper than if i had gotten it from any import seller online but the shipping to the uk was still crazily expensive.

              Amazon is weird though as sometimes you can order games direct but other times they then restrict them to japan only. I gave up trying to figure it out and just use tenso.

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                #8
                Not too much help but I put an order in with Zenmarket recently after hearing good stuff and I'm pretty sure it got caught in customs if the postcard I received from Royal Mail today is any indication.

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                  #9
                  I use From Japan, which is a YJ proxy site, as well as the usual Zozo Town, Surugaya, Amazon JP and the rest. When your items have arrived and you're filling in the shipping page you can enter whatever values you like for the declared customs value, and mark it as a gift. The downside of course is that you're throwing away your insurance value if it gets lost, but if you stick to EMS the chances of it getting lost are pretty small.

                  Some eBay sellers mark customs down but it's pretty much random chance if you find one that does.

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                    #10
                    Are y'all importing stuff mainly from Japan, or need anything from the US of A?

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                      #11
                      Originally posted by Lyris View Post
                      Are y'all importing stuff mainly from Japan, or need anything from the US of A?
                      You could become an unofficial reseller for Analogue consoles. Can I order a Super NT please?!

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                        #12
                        I haven't imported much in recent times and when I did, it was usually some english language asian release. I can't remember the last time I ordered something from the US but I'm tempted to get one of these:

                        Handheld Oregon Trail Game

                        So daft it might be cool!

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                          #13
                          The UK

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                            #14
                            Originally posted by Brad View Post
                            The UK
                            Nani?

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by importaku View Post
                              Nani?
                              Nigel?

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