Aquilla's blog

Goody-Japan review

There comes a time I think in everybody’s life where something you want just can’t be found in your homeland. Well, if you share a love of things from Japan anyway, you will encounter this dilemma for sure.

I have encountered this dilemma many a time, being an avid fan of dollfie dream’s buying from Japan is one of the very few ways for a UK resident to get anything. Lately over the last several months, I’ve been pining for a different type of doll. One that is perhaps even harder to get then dollfie dream.

I wanted a Mama Chapp doll and virtually the only way to get one is via Yahoo Japan. So for me to buy on Yahoo Japan, I needed to use a 3^rd party bidding service.

After comparing fees and such with a few sites, I settled on using  Goody-Japan.

First Impressions:

The site is clearly laid out, the language is good and they have a great faq. They will bid on auctions on your behalf and also help with ordering from online stores in Japan too. From first impressions, they seem to do everything you could need them to do.

Ease of use:

I found the site very easy to work with. The registration forms were detailed, but not mind numbingly long. The pages for bidding and buying are equally simple and user friendly and if you don’t know where to find a bit of information, it links into the faq and shows you where to look via the use of actual screenshots of yahoo Japan auction pages. Very neat. I can’t see that anyone would have a problem using their service.

Commission fees:

The fees for Goody-Japan are very reasonable, I checked a few sites which offer a similar service and Goody-Japan’s fees were lower then Rinkya, Japan to Door and Crescent Shop to name a few. Another great thing about Goody-Japan is that they do not charge you the 4% paypal fee for received payments, which is always good to know.

Although Goody-Japan prefers paypal as method of payment, you can also pay via International Postal Money Order or bank transfer if you need to.

Deposit:

With Goody-Japan, you have to make a deposit before they bid on the item. This is for their protection and to make sure dodgy buyers don’t bid on items, then back out of the sale, leaving them facing the prospect of paying for an unwanted item, then having the hassle of reselling it to recoup their losses.

The amount you pay for the deposit is dependant on how much your bid is for the item, so make sure you either check the faq for the pricing chart, or email Goody-Japan and ask them what deposit to pay. They are very kind and will tell you exactly how much deposit they need from you. If you lose the item, you can either request your deposit be refunded, or you can leave it on your account as credit for next time you buy something.

Invoicing:

After I had won my auction, I had to wait for it to arrive at Goody-Japan, once it has arrived and they check the item, then you are invoiced to pay for your item and shipping costs from Goody-Japan to you. It took just 5 days for my item to reach Goody-Japan, but remember this will vary depending on how prompt the Japanese seller ships the item. If it takes longer, it’s not Goody’s fault.

The invoice was very clearly laid out and was very easy to see what they were charging you and why. The invoice includes the item price, their commission, bank fees and the cost to send the item to you. The amount you have already paid as deposit, is deducted from the final amount, so you only pay what it actually costs. They also send a paypal money request with the invoice so I could easily pay right away.

Delivery:

Once you have paid off the invoice on your purchase, Goody-Japan will send the item out to you via EMS shipping. Once you have paid the invoice, they ship the item really fast. In my case, I paid my invoice on a Sunday and they had the item shipped out on the Monday. EMS is a fast shipping method and usually takes about 5 days to reach its destination, well from my experience anyway. Different countries may vary. In the case of my Mama Chapp I ordered, she was delivered from Japan, to the United Kingdom within 3 days. I had to wait longer to get her though because in the UK, getting a parcel released from customs and delivered to your door is a complete hassle.

Packaging:

How an item is packed for shipping is very important, probably the most important thing of all. You want it to be packed well so the item is protected and doesn’t get damaged or broken during transit. Goody-Japan had packed my order superbly. The shipping box was good, thick and sturdy. Inside, the Mama Chapp box had been wrapped with tissue paper, then wrapped again in a thick layer of bubble wrap, and then the excess space in the box was wrapped and stuffed with scrunched newspaper. I don’t think they could have done a better job at wrapping her.

Overall, I really cannot fault the service that Goody-Japan provided. I will be using them for sure for all future Yahoo Japan transactions.