i started with YesAsia, as it was easiest and had the so-c alled free shipping option. ok until i didn't get my 1st press KISS cd until 11 days after release. but that is ok with old items, like singles especially if you aren't looking for a COLLECTION but just want the real item to lhold and listen to. ^ ^ it can still come out cheaper sometimes.
switched to CDJapan. i pay with either a debit card(visa logo) or paypal. and had always used EMS because i had a bad experience or two buying from individuals in other Asian countries besides Japan. didn't have the option of ems, did manage tracking on one that took two months. the postal service, ours, had mislaid part of the items sent in separate packages and wouldn't even start looking until Singapore mail started asking questions at 8 weeks overdue.[they have a rule about waiting 8 weeks on international shipping before tracking stuff down. my local post office tried 3 times to find the goods during that time, but they were never logged into the system until ttwo days before they appeared at my door.
] eventually got the goods, in good shape too. but learned a BIG lesson. use online retail, auctions like ebay or yahoo or somebody i know and can bug, otherwise no deals.
as for dealing with CDJapan, no customs fees- actually, i've never paid a "customs" fee or had anything really held in customs more than a day or two on anything i've bought from Asia. i have recently tried the Fed Ex option with them. used it on TWENITY Box and FLA2, as it came out cheaper than with EMS or buying it from HMV with membership reductions. as example, twenity box: shipping for that box was 2290jpy, around 27usd then. bank charge for conversion of $ to yen was $2.11. those are the little charges Cath was referring to. almost always $1-3.00. VAMPS BITW + Mekuri's shipping was almost $38.00 [3100jpy] by fed ex, it was a considerably larger pkg. FLA2 shipping fed ex was 1800jpy, about 22 bucks. just to give an idea compared to the price Tracy paid for BITW.
have only ever used ems with hmv. only problems i have had with them are 1)the best deals require multi-buy, but it is handy to thrrow in an inexpensive older item to get those sometimes. 2) sometimes they keep an item listed after they can no longer get it. happened with SMILE Tour photobook and some mags. and magazines, you really have to want them because shipping costs as much as 3 x their cost. most magazines are less than 10 -15 bucks on their own.
i've used celga a couple of times, but onby to get something i couldn't find any longer (VAMPS 2010 Mekuri calendar for one, reasonable considering it was sold out). i got MV 13 preorder through Mukunoki JP. great except it took us forever to agree NOT to take the goods out of the box he received them in [the one that looked like a Marshall amp] and to just cover it with any old cardboard and send it!! [he eventually used a toilet paper carton (had a cute cuddly bear on it) he cut to fit and left a note to the post man to please be gentle! hahaha } lol, that one cost me a BUNDLE. though, to be fair, FLA2 cost a wee bit more. this is why we are poor.
i still usually go ems on most things just for the safety, security and peace of mind. even ebay if it's a special item or i want it fast. time does play a part. cheaper in most shipping means slower. fed ex is just as fast as ems in my limited experience and they send an email and call with a message when they ship out. only took 2 days to get here in NC. most ems takes 2-3 days. UPS, on the other hand, took 14 days to get my 2007 L'Anniversary calendar to me from YesAsia. you get what you pay for when it comes to shipping services i think.
sorry to be so long, but i've used a lot of different methods to get my Hyde fix over the years. ^ ^
