FS Joko3 Personalized Japan Proxy Buying Services Are Back

[Joko3]

Please forgive this for not being a PCB sale. A lot of people may have not seen my main thread, so I wanted to make this announcement here on the most trafficked section of the forum.

I have resumed my proxy services on a limited basis. Please see the main thread linked below for the new guidelines. Very similar to before, but with a few modifications based on last year's lessons learned.
https://www.arcade-projects.com/threads/joko-re-introduction-yaj-akiba-shopping-service-offer.19511/

My feedback can be seen on the main thread as well as the link below.
https://www.arcade-projects.com/threads/positive-feedback-for-joko3.19595/#post-359147

I also have a spreadsheet that I use to search for WTB items for people. If you message me I'll add your name and item to that list. My big rule is no Cave game requests if we've never done business together before. Also, items must be able to fit in a size 160cm box. No CRT tubes; most couriers won't touch them for overseas transport.

Finally, if you have a bunch of stuff sitting at the Buyee warehouse and they are trying to rip you off on the shipping; you can send it to me and I'll repack it. I've reduced 20-30k shipping charges to 5k-15k more than once. I've opened boxes from them where 2/3 of the box was entirely wasted space; they don't care. Even after me charging 1.5-2 hours for my time you'll still save money.

Thank you very much for looking and I look forward to working with you on your order : )

 

[Nebula]

Finally, if you have a bunch of stuff sitting at the Buyee warehouse and they are trying to rip you off on the shipping; you can send it to me and I'll repack it. I've reduced 20-30k shipping charges to 5k-15k more than once. I've opened boxes from them where 2/3 of the box was entirely wasted space; they don't care. Even after me charging 1.5-2 hours for my time you'll still save money.

I can assure this is completely true. I saved lot of money thanks to Joko's job. Much appreciated!

 

[Joko3]

^ This was the case with the package I did for @Nebula ; there were three boxes in one corner of the big box, and then just a crap ton of air packets placed haphazardly through the rest of it. The packaging made zero sense at all.

 

[rewrite]

Finally, if you have a bunch of stuff sitting at the Buyee warehouse and they are trying to rip you off on the shipping; you can send it to me and I'll repack it. I've reduced 20-30k shipping charges to 5k-15k more than once. I've opened boxes from them where 2/3 of the box was entirely wasted space; they don't care. Even after me charging 1.5-2 hours for my time you'll still save money.

Man, this finally sealed the deal on not using buyee anymore for me this last package. All wasted space. Every other proxy consolidates better.

Cool service to offer.

 

[Joko3]

Man, this finally sealed the deal on not using buyee anymore for me this last package. All wasted space. Every other proxy consolidates better.

Cool service to offer.

I can handle the entire Yahoo process from beginning to end as well, including from sellers that block proxies. No need to use these other services at all if I'm available at the time to help.

My Japanese is at an intermediate level, so I can also ask questions to sellers, but please note the response rate is very low. Unless the answer is positive, questions are often just ignored.

 

[kazuo]

Can back up Joko's consolidation skills. He ended up saving me some money by shrinking a box down enough that it just barely (we're talking 2-3cm) missed the cutoff for shipping on the slow boat. If the postal workers had been more chill about it (unlikely, considering it is Japan ), I would've saved a LOT more. I've also ordered from Buyee, approximately once, and never again, specifically because of how spectacularly awful and careless they are about repackaging. They literally just throw all of your parcels into a much larger box, then charge you hundreds of dollars to send it via DHL.

Send it to Joko instead!

 

[jammajunk]

Super interesting, i'll be considering it. Buyee shipping has gone to complete garbage now, it's incredibly expensive.

 

[rcboosted]

^ This was the case with the package I did for @Nebula ; there were three boxes in one corner of the big box, and then just a crap ton of air packets placed haphazardly through the rest of it. The packaging made zero sense at all.

Was this from Buyee? I also had issues with wasted space with From Japan, but not to this level.

 

[Bar81]

Was this from Buyee? I also had issues with wasted space with From Japan, but not to this level.

I've used Buyee a lot and have never had an issue (but I always select protective packaging for like $11).

Edit: Of course now my next shipment will come destroyed

 

[Joko3]

Was this from Buyee? I also had issues with wasted space with From Japan, but not to this level.

Yep this was from Buyee. My dog was happy:

 

[Joko3]

More pics; now I remember how this was attempted to be sent by Buyee. Just one normal sized PCB in each of these big inner boxes; they were from the same seller and both could have definitely fit in just one box (forgot to take a pic of the packing in them, but it was dumb). Chips were in the packets. Boxes were placed ON TOP of the packets and just to one side. All other space was filled with bubbles, but just on one side.

Essentially they just threw everything in one bigger box haphazardly and called it a day. After all, if that silly foreigner wants his stuff he’ll pay right?

 

[Bar81]

Interesting. Given that they get to pass through the cost there's not much incentive to be efficient. Plus no one is going to pack like a person who cares about his stuff. Given the choice I'd rather they waste space than under protect, but if you can save a person money and keep everything well protected then then why not. Do we just add your address to our Buyee account or something else?

Edit: So Buyee doesn't have some massive UPS rate corporate discount? I always assumed they did which is why I wasn't disturbed by the larger packaging.

 

[Joko3]

Interesting. Given that they get to pass through the cost there's not much incentive to be efficient. Plus no one is going to pack like a person who cares about his stuff. Given the choice I'd rather they waste space than under protect.

What a bad choice to choose from. Why not have your box be shipped in an appropriately sized box AND have it protected properly. To top it off, you get lots of extra pictures, the item is tested (if possible), and communication that isn’t done through a translation app. If anything is wrong, a return is at least attempted. If available, I can send broken items to a local repair shop, etc. Check out my main thread and feedback thread to see many packing examples and stories.

 

[rcboosted]

I rather they waste space than under protect too. But they put the packets with chips at the bottom, which would be more likely to be damaged from the weight up top. So they didn't even do that right. It's like how they love to ship mechanical harddrive back in the day. Put the HDD at the very bottom of a big box, then fill the top with cushion materials. Allowing the HDD to receive the full shock of box being thrown around while in transport.

I've also tried to ask From Japan what size boxes they use so I can attempt to do more accurate estimate of shipping cost before I submit. (From Japan doesn't let you see the shipping cost until everything has been packed and not able to be changed). But they ultimately came back with, they use a machine that customize box sizes for each shipment. Which I found to be true, but they also use fixed sized boxes. So I'd imagine Buyee would have those machine as well.

 

[Bar81]

What a bad choice to choose from. Why not have your box be shipped in an appropriately sized box AND have it protected properly. To top it off, you get lots of extra pictures, the item is tested (if possible), and communication that isn’t done through a translation app. If anything is wrong, a return is at least attempted. If available, I can send broken items to a local repair shop, etc. Check out my main thread and feedback thread to see many packing examples and stories.

You didn't catch my edit. Are you saying you can get comparable UPS shipping rates to Buyee? If so, you're absolutely right, what you're talking about makes a lot of sense.

 

[Bar81]

I rather they waste space than under protect too. But they put the packets with chips at the bottom, which would be more likely to be damaged from the weight up top. So they didn't even do that right. It's like how they love to ship mechanical harddrive back in the day. Put the HDD at the very bottom of a big box, then fill the top with cushion materials. Allowing the HDD to receive the full shock of box being thrown around while in transport.

lol at the HD thing, I can totally see it. The chips thing is asinine - there's no excuse for that. I've never ordered super fragile things or mixed heavy and fragile things intentionally because I suspected that this might happen. I basically use my knowledge of lazy/stupid people from my day job and take action to reduce risk. Of course, I get screwed having to pay more (as I have to split shipments) when I really shouldn't have to (in some other dimension where all people care about doing their job right).

 

[Joko3]

I pay the same Yamato rates as any other normal person living in Japan. I pay more as I’m not a large business. That being said, even after my service fees, the above example still saved money by going through me. I actually open the packages, take PCBs off the useless wood boards, etc. I do everything I can to reduce the size and better protect your item. I tested a Death Smiles board for a customer, found it to be broken, and had it professionally repaired by one of Tokyo’s best technicians prior to shipping. I will ask questions to sellers and even call shops on the phone for you. Buyee won’t do this stuff. In many cases, using me costs more than Buyee, but my track record on this forum speaks for itself. You’d be helping a community member help make ends meet, not a large company with multiple other businesses.

Also, as noted earlier, I can buy stuff from guys who block proxies like Buyee .

 

[Bar81]

I pay the same Yamato rates as any other normal person living in Japan. I pay more as I’m not a large business. That being said, even after my service fees, the above example still saved money by going through me. I actually open the packages, take PCBs off the useless wood boards, etc. I do everything I can to reduce the size and better protect your item. I tested a Death Smiles board for a customer, found it to be broken, and had it professionally repaired by one of Tokyo’s best technicians prior to shipping. I will ask questions to sellers and even call shops on the phone for you. Buyee won’t do this stuff. In many cases, using me costs more than Buyee, but my track record on this forum speaks for itself. You’d be helping a community member help make ends meet, not a large company with multiple other businesses.

Also, as noted earlier, I can buy stuff from guys who block proxies like Buyee .

Nice.

 

[kazuo]

I used to use From Japan until I had several (extremely valuable) items broken during package consolidation, due to poor packaging... and yes I paid for extra packaging. While they do a good job and make efficient use of space, they can be hit or miss, and I think it's likely entirely dependent on who ends up doing the packaging that day. I ended up moving on to another proxy after multiple damaged items.

Shopping Mall Japan is still the gold standard for me. Everything was ALWAYS packaged METICULOUSLY, with every item labeled with the item number, and absolutely no wasted space. All for no additional cost beyond the quoted shipping fees, which were always reasonable. RIP.

Joko is probably the next best thing. He may not be as affordable as some of the other options out there, but you get what you pay for - he's meticulous, takes great care with his work, and goes the extra mile for people. And he doesn't send you gigantic boxes full of air for 5x what it should really cost you to ship your stuff.

 

[rewrite]

Shopping Mall Japan is still the gold standard for me. Everything was ALWAYS packaged METICULOUSLY, with every item labeled with the item number, and absolutely no wasted space. All for no additional cost beyond the quoted shipping fees, which were always reasonable. RIP.

This was always my experience with Rinkya. Just perfect all around. Last I knew they closed off to new customers. They even shipped a couple cabs for me no problem (though ceased that service recently).

Zenmarket's still good but keeping a deposit somewhere sucks, honestly. I have up on FJ due to some real sketchy packaging too, but nothing broke. Made me fear shipping anything of real value through them. WhiteRabbit exists, but they charge a mint... All the big company options have their ups and downs.