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First and maybe my Last amazon Loot
6 Nov2009
Received my amazon.co.jp loot yesterday. Thanks to DHL super speedy shipping, I actually received it Wednesday, a day before the estimated delivery date but since no one was at home during the day, it was sent back to the office and I had to re-schedule the delivery date the next following day.
If I decided to choose another title for this post, it will be called “The POISON Loot” because clearly each item inside is poisoned to me by someone in some way.
So to break it down:
As shown above, the following items are :
- Yui Horie 空散歩日和 (SORASANPOBIYORI by Yui Horie)
- Minori Chihara First Photo Book -Crescendo-
- Hayate no Gotoku!! POSTERS!
HOCCHAN is so :3
Yui Horie 空散歩日和 was a book I saw Zen received last week and now I have my own copy this week. If anyone asked me if there was one item someone recommended me to buy in less than 12hrs from the time they received or posted it, then it will have to be this. I was instantly hooked from the preview of her post and curiosity got the better of me so I followed my heart instead of my head. :D
So basically Yui Horie 空散歩日和 is an A5 photobook. It includes lovely photos of herself at different places and her favourite items and possessions. Full with 128 pages of HOCCHAN goodness, I’m happy I got poisoned. (It pains me to say that last bit even though I am happy :P. ><) xD
The next 2 items was added in, to level out the ratio between total goods cost and shipping cost. I will explain a bit more down below when I get there but as you can already see, they are Minori Chihara First Photo Book -Crescendo- and Hayate no Gotoku!! POSTERS!.
I like this photo. ^^
Minori photo book was poisoned by myself as I was snooping around cdjapan. Before I had a chance to place my pre-order, it went out of print very quickly so I kinda not bothered to find it anywhere else. Now since amazon.co.jp has multiple copies (new and used), I just couldn’t help myself in adding it in, to balance that ratio out. Besides, I AM a Minori fanboy. xD
LOL
Hayate no Gotoku!! POSTERS! artbook was the last item that popped into my mind before I placed my order. I recall nat doing an outstanding review and since I’m a big Hayate no Gotoku! fan, it was a must get. Intentionally, I was gonna do an over-the-counter order at my local Kino store but since I haven’t had the time lately, I just added it instead. Doing the math in my head, it’s gonna work out cheaper overall so bundling into this order was the right choice than ordering it on it’s own.
Now the 2 downside I picked out in ordering from amazon.co.jp
- Ridiculous shipping prices
The reason why I added those 2 items in, was to level out ratio between total goods cost and shipping cost because if I bought Yui Horie 空散歩日和 alone, the shipping price would’ve cost me 1.5x more than the item alone. I was so shocked my jaws almost fell out.
When I got the confirmation email for my order, I found they use DHL as their courier. My god, it all makes sense because DHL is one of the worlds more expensive shipping couriers. If I knew beforehand then I would’ve thought twice about making my order but what’s done is done. People who know me well, I hate paying for shipping and I always go for the cheaper alternative, SAL. Since they don’t offer EMS and they only offer ‘international shipping express’ I just got pissed when I found out it was DHL. ><
- Damaged package.
As seen above, another reason why DHL fails me. So I paid 2x more than EMS just to get a damaged package in the end. Thankfully each item was wrapped up in good shape but really even SAL doesn’t fail me as bad as this. :/
It just goes to show, I prefer Australian Post over any other courier services. Not only they are cheaper, they do their job right.
So will this be my first and last order from amazon.co.jp? Most likely unless there’s another particular item I get poisoned again. ><
I’m just gonna finish it off and say, amazon.co.jp will be my last resort.
Look forward to all 3 reviews coming soon. I will try and deliver one out before I head off to SG.
So which one you want to see first based on the preview? xD
25 Responses to First and maybe my Last amazon Loot
Merun
Twitter: meruni
November 6th, 2009 at 11:37 pm
I also use Amazon as a last resort. DHL is annoying here, not always leaving notice, it’s expensive, and you always get taxes, unlike EMS or SAL. I mostly use mangaoh for books and magazine, which sadly only has EMS. I’m looking for a shop which would do the same but in SAL…
Blowfish
November 7th, 2009 at 1:08 am
I end up with DHL no matter what since its the main delivery service over here in Germany.
SAL? DHL EMS? DHL Express <.<
I never bothered looking at Amazon.jp because of their High Prices.Im quite stingy when it comes to this.
So we get to the most important question:
Any Katsura-sensei Posters inside? :P
zchronos
November 7th, 2009 at 1:08 am
DHL sucks. Fedex RULZ.
zchronos´s last blog post ..COSAS POR HACER DESPUÉS DE INSTALAR OPENSUSE 11.2
Matteas
Twitter: Matteasu
November 7th, 2009 at 3:35 am
That’s one big a hole. But seriously, I wouldn’t like to see how they handle the packages. It needs a lot of force to make a hole like this one, because the Amazon Japan’s boxes are quite sturdy. At least the one I received once was.
Matteas´s last blog post ..ISML 2009 Winner – Katsura Hinagiku
Smithy
Twitter: BlueWaveSmithy
November 7th, 2009 at 4:10 am
Aoch, always makes me cringe when I see a banged up parcel box like that. Luckily the goods seem to be ok.
Amazon Japan shipping rate is odd, they’ll charge a certain amount for books, a certain amount for DVD’s and if you mix, they’ll take the most expensive fee out of the two, but that fee doesn’t increase with -normal- additional items. So it can be reasonable if you get a certain lot of items.
It was sent with DHL? Odd, when I get stuff from amazon.co.jp it’s always shipped with Fedex. Haven’t had any issues with their service so far, except that it is indeed expensive.
Smithy´s last blog post ..Queen’s Blade 2nd season 7
phossil
Twitter: phossil
November 7th, 2009 at 8:59 am
Thats not a damaged package, thats an opened package.
Someone besides customs did something.
I havent ordered from amazon yet, mostly because I dont know how they handle 2-3 orders from different providers. 1 shipment? several? I dont know..
phossil´s last blog post ..Google Adsense Earnings
natalie
November 7th, 2009 at 11:15 am
Lol XD Poisoned!
It’s uncanny, but DHL always manages to completely destroy any box from Amazon Japan for me too. Most of the time though, I end up with Fedex delivering it. It’s some kind of luck of the draw system from them. But luckily, nothing inside has been damaged yet and they’ve had plenty of chances.
Meruni – Books and magazines and SAL = bk1.jp They’re good and reliable, and cheaper on shipping than the other places.
natalie´s last blog post ..Shigunyan Art Works 2003-2007
Yi
November 7th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
I never really liked Amazon at all, especially because they’ve taken some shady political stances in the past.
Yi´s last blog post ..Celebrating 100 Posts
Tommy
November 7th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
I bought figures from Amazon once, but it turned out to be quite expensive because I was using a deputy service, and they decided to ship my single order in two separate packages that arrived on the same day. “orz
They have really nice sales on figures. But I’m not ordering multiple items from them again.
I think it might’ve been cheaper for you if you ordered through goody-japan or something since they can ship with SAL. Doesn’t Amazon Japan charge 300 yen extra for each additional item as well?
And speaking of DHL, my aunt ships with DHL exclusively…told me they’re cheap. “orz The funny thing is that Canadian customs will tax DHL packages no matter what the declared value is. Got taxed $100 on a personal items package with a value of $0.
Tommy´s last blog post ..Kotobukiya Asuka Langley Shikinami
Guy
Twitter: GuyShalev
November 7th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Well, I remember when I wanted a certain book, went to Amazon Japan, and found it’d be about 3,400 yen for the first book, and 300 yen for each additional one.
I said, “No way, Jose!” and went elsewhere, LOL. The Tony Taka Shining Wind x Tears book.
But somewhere along the way I found a cheap deputy service, I think Goody Japan, maybe another, which only gives you an address, but doesn’t actually do the ordering for you. Their commission is about 490 yen, so they actually make Amazon Japan a competitive choice. And they do ship SAL.
Guy´s last blog post ..Naruto’s Intelligence; Anime vs. Manga.
ELTboy
November 7th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
The damaged parcel really sucks especially since you pay a lot for the shipping. Now I am wary of DHL.
I never tried amazon directly before. Had bought figures from them and it was all via proxy service. I am also one of those that never uses EMS where possible. SAL is the way for me too.
ELTboy´s last blog post ..Queen’s Blade Rebellion Yumiru
e-jump
November 7th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
You can consider HMV.co.jp.
I got my IrodoRie from them, and choose EMS (or was it sal, i cant remember).
But the package arrived just fine, and theyre selling IrodoRie at reasonable price :)
e-jump´s last blog post ..VOCALOID Photoshoot
Chappy
November 8th, 2009 at 2:48 am
If i ever buy from Amazon, it will be a big pile of loot. They have a base charge for shipping then additional amount of $$$ for additional item, so it’s amazon is quite a good choice when buying lots of stuff. That time, my friend and I ordered about 20 books and 10 DVDs so it’s quite worth. XD
As for the shipping itself, my parcel is always safe. I guess that problem lies with the postman or the post office.
Chappy´s last blog post ..现世报
Miette-chan
November 8th, 2009 at 4:01 am
That must have sucked for you. Ironic since one of the things I love about the American Amazon is their free shipping. Although sometimes I do end up buying more than I wanted to qualify for free shipping.
Hmm…I’m curious about that photo book now.
Reltair
November 8th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
The shipping people in the major companies probably don’t really care about the packages and just toss them into the plane/ship/truck at each hub transition.
Most unfortunate. I’ve never bought from amazon.jp myself though.
Merun
Twitter: meruni
November 8th, 2009 at 9:13 pm
I heard of bk1, but I though they didn’t have magazine. Guess I will check again. Thanks
Merun´s last blog post ..Scan: Ryohka’s icon. 01
M
November 8th, 2009 at 11:00 pm
hmmm. Hayate no Gotoku posters. I’m feeling the poison already.
M´s last blog post ..PSPgo Gets A Slice in Japan Hardware Pie
Guy
Twitter: GuyShalev
November 9th, 2009 at 8:01 am
Miette-Chan, that’s only for USA-residents. It never applies to international purchases, and Optic does not live in Japan, so the analogy doesn’t work ;)
Guy´s last blog post ..Naruto’s Intelligence; Anime vs. Manga.
Optic
Twitter: mroptic
November 10th, 2009 at 12:11 am
@Merun
The thing is, my dad worked at the same DHL branch where they took care of the delivery and a lot of bad stuff comes out from there. The reason he quit after 2 years in that hell hole was the service provided and being treated unfairly. To sum it up, he was literally treated like a dog. >< @Blowfish
It's the taxes in ur country that scares the shit out me. lol
My method of 'the more u buy, the more u save' will not work there. >< I already answered ur Katsura-sensei question via MSN. XD
@zchronos
Welcome zchronos. Hope ur enjoying ur stay.
Fedex don't do delivery service in our area. They hand it over to our local postage services. Still, a lot better than DHL for sure.
@Matteas
What the box needs is a label stating its' fragile inside. The diagram is just too small for them to pickup it up really. Anyway, it's logic sense to treat each package with care.
@Smithy
I won't be buying DVD's from there at my main online retailer for that is cdjapan. They have a SAL and EMS option which is better and cheaper.
I guess DHL doesn't do delivery service in ur area so it's handed over to Fedex. Fedex don't do delivery service in our area so it's handed over to our local post.
@phossil
If it's opened, then there should be a note by them or customs to inform me it's opened for a check up. Clearly I didn't get one so it's not. -_-
@natalie
It's not ur fault, I blame ur reviews. >< Does that mean, it's only a matter of time before the worst comes to worst or u still think lucky is on ur side and it won't happen. My vita figure almost got destroyed so I don't consider myself lucky anymore. -_-
@Yi
Still, they have many items I want where I can only find there. :(
@Tommy
I don't wanna find out what's their shipping cost for figures. Looking at the price for this loot and I know it's twice as more. @_@
From what I read, they have a baseline for each item and if you add extra items on top that, it will cost half or 1/4 of the normal shipping price of that item. I didn't really do much research as it's merely a one-off purchase.
@Guy
While I haven't tried deputy service myself, I'm just reluctant to pay that extra cost and any other additional cost including shipping to get that item along the way. I rather pay a one of total and be done with it.
Maybe it's just me but using a deputy service looks like it requires a lot of work. :S
@ELTboy
I consider all SAL option as much as possible. It's just cheap and box is still intack. I understand in manyy countries, if u use SAL, it's likely the package will be destroyed or lost but in Aus. it's just doesn't happen.
@e-jump
I had a browser at their site today and I like what I see.
Will think about more when the time comes to make another purchase. ^^
@Chappy
DHL here suxs. Nuff said. >< I realised that when I compared the price between 1 item and adding a similar item on top of that. Thanks for the tip. ^^
@Miette-chan
Welcome Miette-chan. I hope you will stick around more. ^^
I envy your country who qualifies for free shipping on certain items. Unfortunately there is not system here to do that. ><
@Reltair
I should file a complaint and make them pay. :D
But... it's more work for me. :(
@M
If u find a copy at ur local store, u know u want it. ;)
M
November 10th, 2009 at 1:02 am
@Optic
I barely visit local stores. :D Saved my wallet from many poison attempts. hahaha
M´s last blog post ..Xbox Pirates Banned From Own Hard Disks
Guy
Twitter: GuyShalev
November 10th, 2009 at 9:27 am
Optic, one deputy service doesn’t order for you, and just takes the package, and puts it in the mail again. You pay them 490 yen, and the added cost of internal shipping. For Amazon Japan, it’d be a bloody godsend.
Get over your fear, explore the world, conquer it!
Guy´s last blog post ..Naruto’s Intelligence; Anime vs. Manga.
anonymous_object
November 11th, 2009 at 5:25 am
Haven’t ordered anything from Amazon Japan in over a year and don’t plan to order anything in the future either. Their prices aren’t that great and the shipping costs are ridiculous. I only bought books from them though so I just use BK1 now. They offer EMS and SAL^^
anonymous_object´s last blog post ..Moving
B-Mecha
Twitter: BMecha
November 12th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
what?! the shipping price is 1.5x of the item?? O_O
I should stick with EMS. EMS impressed me once where it only takes 1 day from japan to singapore.
B-Mecha´s last blog post ..PSP: Gundam VS Gundam Next Plus
Optic
Twitter: mroptic
November 13th, 2009 at 10:25 pm
@M
It doesn’t work with games does it huh? ;)
@Guy
Well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to give it a go. Besides, it could be my first and last loot using the deputy service as well. lol
@anonymous_object
I don’t intend in ordering from them anytime soon but ever since I got this loot, I’ve been tempted in getting other items as well when I go on exploring.
GAHHHHHHH, self poisoning myself is bad. :(
@B-Mecha
Welcome B-Mecha. I hope u enjoy ur stay.
Indeed it is, so if you ever make an ordering in the future, make sure u order in bulks.
Gordanham
November 22nd, 2009 at 4:33 am
I hate over priced shipping>.< I tried ordering fro HLJ's free shipping special, but I don't think it's going to turn out to well….
Gordanham´s last blog post ..New Manga and Anime