Hmm, that is an odd one, but it definitely shows up as two bids for me as well. Perhaps another person bid first, and then it was only your second higher (and currently winning) bid which was the second one. The other thing I forgot to mention, but which you've realised as well - but just for others reading this - is that a clear way to know you are winning something [but not necessarily a specific auction] is that the way ZM works requires you to pay all of your bid up front, thus, they will subtract your bid amount - at whatever the current increment is - from the total available funds. i.e. if you were outbid on something, those funds are 'freed up' and will go back into your account funds total. The only other way I could see something might have gone awry, but this does not apply to the way that ZenMarket works, is that some proxy services will bid manually on your behalf, and it is a 'human' doing it. In that case, they may have multiple anonymised bidding accounts (which happens), and could have.... maybe.... placed your bids separately somehow. BUT, as I said, the automated way that ZM works totally avoids that, so in this case it would be the explanation.
That is a good tip, and helpful here because it happens to be the only thing I'm bidding on at the moment. So if they have kept those funds, I must still be the high bidder Thanks again!
Anyone with experience buying from Buyee know how to get in contact with them regarding package consolidation? I like their simplicity overall but hate how their consolidation solution is simply to get both shipping boxes and put them in an even bigger shipping box. Its lazy and adds unnecessary increases in shipping rates, which make any savings you may have had marginal at best.
I just went through this. Contacted them and asked them to completely repackage five magazines to save on shipping. They wrote back to me that they couldn't do it. I think it's less about laziness and more of a cultural thing. You can try sending them a message but don't get your hopes up.
They can do it, they should, and they have. More than likely they won’t do it if you chose the standard ¥500 plan, which is what essentially ensures your item will get to you the way they received it, and why the boxes they receive just get put into a bigger box. The reason they don’t open up and repackage you’re stuff is because they don’t want to be held responsible for something being damaged in the repacked shipping. I’ve messaged them about opting out of the standard protection and having them open up my packages and reconsolidating, but decided not to because of the volume of packages I’d accrued. But they did tell me it can be done per my request, even after I’d chosen the standard protection. My only suggestion at this point is to e - mail their support direct and ask if you can opt out of the standard plan to have them package items into a smaller box.
Also, been super curious about this. I’ve got about 9 packages waiting at the buyee warehouse. Not sure if I should wait a bit longer for ems to come back or just go for dhl (assuming they have it). Kinda getting concerned how expensive it’s gonna be at this point.
Apologies for sounding like a privileged prick. Airing my frustrations, the shipping costs would be my only gripe with the service, otherwise they've been fantastic to me and delivered every single time. I assume the difference in pricing for buyee and Mandarake is due to what's been discussed in the other thread in regards to having an account with DHL but it makes it a challenge to be paying up to 2-3x more on shipping for the same sized toy. The process does make me rethink what is viable to chase on YJA and what i'll end up hunting on Manda. TL;DR: guy complains about shipping costs of dolls to the US.
Oh, I didn’t think you came off privileges at all! It’s a legitimate concern when it comes to dollars racking up over the abundance of items in a single box. I’ve paid well over $100 for EMS with Buyee before, and that was having all original boxes put into one, big one. I’ve been told DHL is currently available, but I’m not sure if they have the same system as Manda’ where they can afford to ship cheaper than usual.
I would definitely wait for EMS to come back. Sending boxes within boxes like that is going to be extremely expensive with DHL based on their pricing model. FedEx is another option but they will be expensive also. Ive got stuff sitting in my warehouse since like February. EMS is pretty much my only option.
I have a bunch of stuff sitting in Japan as well awaiting consolidation. It is a genuine concern, for us as well as them I think. Thankfully they have extended usual holding periods, and I think everyone is trying to adjust as best they are able, but certainly the incredible shipping rates the past couple months had made things less attractive, or at least warrant hard consideration when making a purchase. As you've said, for people who don't have stacks of money sitting around, these small margins on hunting toys on a budget, makes a big difference. And especially when you start adding them together - and might get hit by incredibly ridiculous duty fees, as I do - it can quickly sour a planned joyful purchase.
Thanks so much for the advice, I think yer right. I’m just gonna tough it out and (hopefully) wait for ems.
Has anyone else been prompted to "Verify AliPay Account" when trying to place a bid thru Buyee? I've PayPal + CC normally for but I can't seem to find a way around this all the sudden.
It absolutely moved. I had the same issue, which i why i chuckled as soon as I saw your help request.
