So, I finally took the plunge and signed up first with Rinkya, then with Celga afterward. No real reason why i joined Rinkya first, but after winning two bids I don't know if I'll stick with them. Turns out you have to do the following:

Put at least $20 to bid up to $100 on YJA
$20 commission fee
$15 for inner-Japan shipping

I still need to pay shipping from Rinkya to my house.

So there's an instant $35 markup on top of whatever I have to pay for the winning auction(s). Yow...

It looked like Celga wasn't that bad but I'd like to find out if people have used both, or just one and their experience.

Thanks!

here's my latest bill with celga for a rumble monsters figure:

auction ended at: 5,500 yen = $66.00
wiring fee: $2.00
shipping w/in jp: $10.00
mark up for 1,001 yen to 10,000 yen: $10.00

total: $88.00 (before shipment to me)

What's the fee for the 40-50,000 yen mark?

Up to 1,000 yen $5 (minimum fee per transaction/auction/shop item)
'
1,001 to 10,000 yen $10
10,001 to 20,000 yen $20
20,001 to 30,000 yen $30
30,001 to 40,000 yen $40
40,001 to 50,000 yen $50

Pete I think me and you discussed this but after 50,000 yen it goes to a flat fee. Not really sure thought on that.

I believe Celga's rate goes to a flat $120 for anything over 50000 Yen.

Opps it was me and you Tim that talked about it.

hoo man. So here's what the end result was for an auction I won through Rinkya for a new X-Plus fig:

Price on YJ: 1200 yen ($13.95)
Commission: $20.00
Handling fee: $15 (YJ to Rinkya)
--------------------------------------------------
Total due: $48.95 (excludes S/H to USA)

Looks like this was waaayyyy over what Celga would have charged

Almost $50 for a $14 figure?
Ouch...

Celga has been good to me, but while we're on the subject has anyone used Crescent? http://www.crescent-shop.com/index.htm The fees are cheaper for items under 4000 yen, which would be nice.

Celga also tacks on:
Bank Wire Transfer Fee: $2.00
Internal shipping in Japan from the seller to Celga: $5 and up

All things considered, those Celga (which I don't use) fees look pretty reasonable. Several of those fees have nothing to do with the service itself but are fees which every buyer on YJA pays. Celga's commission (~10%) is not at all outrageous, though the rounding up thing is a bit obnoxious. For some reason, I had thought their fees went up last year.

Anyway what's really driving these costs up is the strong yen. You're paying 25% more than you would have a year ago. According to Japanese retailers I've spoken with, the strong yen is laying waste to the number of orders from overseas customers.

CCPfan...you going after that hedorah that you pm'd me about?

I've used Celga and Rinkya...prices seem about the same but then again I was using Rinkya prior to the US economic catastrophe and Celga after. Celga seem to respond to emails quicker than Rinkya did for me. Both services seem good...Celga must be doing better because they put gold stickers all over their boxes...seems a little bit unnecessary but I can't complain because I paid a lot of $ for them to ship me a very fragile piece and it arrived nice and safe.

When I opened the last Celga box I got (last week) they had laid out a full intact cut out of some japanese model on top of all the packaging. Didn't know if it was a joke or what.....

I can't wait till the day this is all null and void and everything is DIRECT. Personally all this middleman crap, as much as it's necessary at this point, really leaves a bad bad taste in my mouth. After being hosed for fees and shipping it kind of makes it not worth it on most purchases.

C.

wow, those Rinkya fees really blow....

celga has been good to me. Celga Gold is the only way to go.

Took me a full minute to figure out what this meant... I had images of them sticking a picture of a Gundam (plastic) model or something on top.

Joke or not, that's pretty unprofessional for a professional middle-man service. I use ripped pages from catalogs for shipping sometimes, and I even try to leave out the underwear section or whatever. I mean, who knows if somebody's wife or girlfriend is going to open the box up?

Celga has always done me well and is the only service I have used. I don't think I have ever seen them take more than 2 hours to put in a bid (not a gold member), fees seem reasonable all things considered, boxes are always packed well and they do a great job combining multiple items won from the same seller, which has really helped me out with savings a few times. I suppose my biggest complaint is that I don't like how the main fee doubles (from $10-20) after you hit 10k, which of course is not too hard to reach with a lot of toys.

Celga just sent me a vinyl toy with a horn broken off. Hooray. It wasn't real expensive, but there were only like 10 made.

UPDATE: To their credit, they were very nice about it and have offered to either help with a return or claim, or give a markdown on the handling charge.

Sorry to hear that!
Now you have me worrying about the parcel they are shipping to me. It's a consolidation of many toys. I hope they pack it safely so they don't abrade each other

Just completed my first Tokyobuyers transaction today. It went very smoothly and they were quick to respond to auctions that were ending in a few hours.

Please let us know how the Tokyobuyers experience goes, as I am interested in but not fully sold on them. I did a Google search for deputy services a while back and was shocked at how many there are. I bought something using Celga once, but didn't have the best experience, so I'm eager to find another reputable service.

I'd be interested to hear how the Tokyobuyers transaction turns out as well. They've been in the back of my mind as possible resource. But yeah, I'll echo Lixx's sentiment and hope for more direct sales in the future.

i keep buying from celga.

though they have been unresponsive to my requests for help with my account on the beta site

i just got hit with my yearly YJA membership fee last month.

Tokyobuyers does seem to be pretty solid - at least there are some places to look at for options on buying! Rinkya, though, is removed...

Did you guys ever manage to get refunds for your deposits from celga in case you DON'T win an item?

I put down a pretty big deposit and lost the auction, and they have been ignoring my requests for a refund.

You have to nag them often for this....Keep sending emails they will respond eventually.