Having the day off and whatnot I decided to make this post about the forwarding service I use. Ever since my otome collection started I always told myself that I shouldn't try using these services to buy directly from Japanese stores or else it'll get out of hand... But because I really wanted Honeybee's PC games which no site I normally order from has, I decided to try out the recommended forwarding services. I was between Tenso and baggage forward but my friend tried BF and had a good experience with them so I thought I would try it out myself. The main reason I went with BF was because it had many more shipping options than Tenso, which only has EMS.
The first time I used BF I purchased only from Animate, the two items I ordered was Ayakashi Gohan and Photography Journey Miyagi and Okinawa edition. The total shipment + service fee was 3,560円 which is about 30 USD and this was for EMS shipping. I first chose SAL but somehow they changed my shipping method to EMS and then I found out that SAL was more expensive in the long run... I found that pretty strange but it didn't bother me as I'd get my package sooner with a tracking code.
Since the first time went so well I decided to stick with this forwarding service but the second time, things got a little messy. Before using this service please acknowledge that they will only keep your group shipment open for 2 weeks and then they'll close it meaning you cannot add anymore items into that group. But they still won't ship your group until you unlock it. More detailed info can be found on their site. The first few items I had in my first group shipment were a plush from Animate, Amnesia later x crowd from Stellaworth, and Chronostacia LE from Amazon JP. I tried using their "buying service" to order from gamecity since they would not accept my credit or debit cards. And till this day that package still hasn't arrived yet therefore those items in my group shipment are STILL stuck in the BF warehouse... Even though I send an inquiry to BF about this issue, they did not respond helpfully.
But putting that aside, my group shipment for those items were closed so I opened up a new group shipment for these items (not knowing that it was possible to have them open up your group shipment by emailing them and requesting for it). That's when I tried their "auction service" where the staff would help you bid for the item you want. That went well but please do keep in mind that it takes a while for the items to arrive, I used that service twice and both took around 13 days or so. Moving on, about their inquiry service, they do reply quickly but somehow I believe they just resort to google translate or something. I asked them several times about this gamecity order and about the possibility of moving packages between group shipments but the answer I got the most was that I'm now able to add more items into that group shipment which they previously closed... which is not what I wanted. Despite all that, I do believe BF is one of the better forwarding services though I can't say for others since this has been the only one I tried. I would still continue to use BF for my future purchases though.
The following items are from my second group shipment for my second time using BF (as my first group shipment is still with them...). The total shipment + service fee was 14,805円 which is about 125 USD. Of course it may seem a little pricey but I actually had 14 packages in this group shipment and I used their "auction service" twice. I would say its still a pretty good deal and it arrived within 5 days, mainly because it was over the weekend that it was shipped. The packaging was sturdy and I think they put two boxes together since there were two levels. The dead-weight trash stuffing was minimal as I requested and the items were pretty compact together which would definitely bring down the weight. Though I really don't think weight matters as much in this case... Anyways, I purchased from several stores this time trying out different alternatives. Many of the stores you have to pay 500円 shipping fee for Sagawa express within Japan but Amazon JP sometimes offers free shipping so that was a good thing.
Here's the items I bought:
ㅇ Korilakkuma pillow (carefree cat series) [Amazon JP]
As fluffy and soft as it is, I'm not actually using this as my pillow, more like a cushion since smooth pillows are more of my thing ⊙ω⊙
ㅇ Utapri Maji Love 2000% - Tokiya plush [Animate]
ㅇ Tsukiuta - Tsuki Usa January/Mutsuki Hajime version [Yahoo auctions]
ㅇ Hakuouki - Kazama Chikage western outfit version [Animate]
So my birth month isn't actually January but Hajime is my favorite so of course I had to get his. My sister's birth month is January and I seriously think that they have better things for Jan than Oct... (starry sky for example)
ㅇ Kiniro no Corda 3 - Tougane Chiaki long cushion cover [Amazon JP]
ㅇ Kiniro no Corda 3 - Happy kuji multi-purpose cloth [Yahoo auctions]
I didn't really have a purpose of buying these since I don't have a body pillow (I'd die of embarrassment if my parents saw me use one...) or want to hang the cloth up so they're in storage atm but I couldn't resist since its Chiaki's items!
ㅇ Gakuen K regular edition [Amazon JP]
ㅇ Photograph Journey Aichi and Kyoto edition [Amazon JP]
ㅇ Diabolik Lovers - Shu tapestry [Animate]
I was debating whether or not to get this Photography Journey edition since I don't really like those two guys as much but I decided to get all the games in the series to support Honeybee~
ㅇ DYNAMIC CHORD vol. 1 rêve parfait [Animate]
ㅇ DYNAMIC CHORD vol. 2 Liar-S [Animate]
ㅇ DYNAMIC CHORD vol. 3 KYOHSO [Animate]
ㅇ Criminale! vol. 1 Gerardo [Stellaworth]
I was probably most excited for these CDs since I've been so crazy over dynamic chord lately~ Honeybee added the line, "Your boring days, the song will pierce your soul" but honestly speaking, the songs weren't even that good... I actually enjoyed the "intimate time" tracks more than the actual songs. I'm still kind of upset how Shinomune is a sub character but I like Sakura just as much and hes the vocalist for Liar-S so its fine. (๑•͈ᴗ•͈)
Ever since Soryu became my favorite otome guy, I've been quite interested in mafia related games and such so I decided to get Gerardo's CD. It's probably going to be the only one I purchase from the Criminale series though, since his seiyuu is Midorikawa Hikaru~
ㅇ Reject Cluster magazine 12/2014 issue [Amazon JP]
ㅇ My Forged Wedding official fanbook [Amazon JP]
I'm not really a reject fan but I decided to get that magazine for the poster book. (ㆁᴗㆁ) haha, I know, lame excuse... Anyways, I recommend the MFW official fanbook to all MFW fans! It's only 2700円 not like those overly priced fan books that are up for auction.
ㅇ Shu, Ruki, Subaru, and Shin wall stickers [SkiT Dolce/Reject]
ㅇ Vita/PSP pouch [Amiami]
I wanted to get Ayato's as well but it was already sold out T^T
And these items were from CDJapan which came separately but arrived on the same day. Before I decided to order these books I had 4108 points on my account so might as well use it for shipping since the shipping fees for books are ridiculous...
I wanted to get Ayato's as well but it was already sold out T^T
And these items were from CDJapan which came separately but arrived on the same day. Before I decided to order these books I had 4108 points on my account so might as well use it for shipping since the shipping fees for books are ridiculous...
ㅇ Brothers Conflict feat.Yusuke&Futo
ㅇ Brothers Conflict Purupuru Pururu 3
ㅇ Otome Nadeshiko Love Diary 1
ㅇ Otome Nadeshiko Love Diary 2 LE
ㅇ Puri Pia: Prince Pia Carrot regular edition
My brothers conflict novel&manga collection is now complete!
ㅇ Utapri POP Sticky - Tokiya
And that's all for now, thank you for making it to the end of this post and putting up with all my ongoing rants~
And that's all for now, thank you for making it to the end of this post and putting up with all my ongoing rants~
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