How to Import Things From Japan
It is no secret that importing things from Japan is intimidating. From what I’ve seen, most people don’t even consider it as an option. This is a shame because there are so many cute aibo clothes and other accessories in Japan made by very talented artists!
But rest assured, the process of importing isn’t even half as difficult as it might appear. With the help of a proxy website and a little help, anyone can do it!
So, let’s dive into a comprehensive guide on how to import aibo accessories from Japanese websites.
Choosing Your Proxy
There are multiple different proxy options to choose from. For this guide, I will be walking you through Sendico, as this is what I have the most experience with. However, here is a quick list of the most popular ones:
It is worth noting that many community members do not like Buyee, and have had poor experiences with them when it comes to shipping.
If you have decided to try using Sendico as your proxy, read on to learn how to use it!
Importing With Sendico
The first thing you’ll want to do is create an account. This is super straight-forward and standard – there is nothing complex about this step.
Once that’s done, you’ll see a screen like this:
You should see your name in the upper right circle, along with your yen balance (which is likely zero). Mine is censored out, but yours will be there!
At this point, you’re ready to start your first order. There are a few different ways to order depending on where you order from, so I will go over both. Note I will not be going over bidding in this guide.
Ordering From Other Stores
If you want to order something from minne or any other website that isn’t Mercari, Rakuten or Yahoo, you’ll have to use the “order form” option at the top bar I have circled in red here:
Once you have clicked that link, you’ll be sent to a new page with an order form on it. This is what you should see:
Now, what you’ll want to do is copy the link of the item you want from the website of your choice directly from your address bar. Paste that in to the first field that says “item link”
For “item name”, copy the Japanese name of the item and paste it in to the field exactly how it is on the product page.
And finally under “comments”, put in any other information that Sendico needs for your order such as quantity or color. If that isn’t relevant, you can leave it blank.
Here is an example of what your order form should look like:
If you would like to add a second item from the same shop on to your order, hit “add item” and repeat the above process. Otherwise, you are ready to order.
If you click in the check box, Sendico will automatically order your items without giving you a price estimate first. This can be helpful if you are afraid something will sell out. Just make sure you have money in your wallet first (which we will go over next).
If you don’t choose this option, Sendico will send you a notification when they have a price estimate for your order and you’ll pay from there. It can take a day or two sometimes.
Adding Money
At this point, you’ll want to get some money to your account. You can do this by clicking the arrow by your name, and then going to “wallet”.
You will then see a page with this on it. Go ahead and click the big red “add funds” button shown below.
After that, you’ll end up here, on a page that shows you a bunch of different payment options.
You can choose any payment option you’d like from this page. However, I will give you a few tips to help you choose, because exchange rates and cost of buying yen varies quite heavily across all of these options.
Payment Methods
Going straight through your credit card will get you a high cost of buying yen most of the time, and it is uncommon to have Alipay and WeChat as options.
A bank transfer will take awhile, which may not be ideal unless you are just stocking up money on your account. However, the cost will vary heavily.
So generally, you will always want to use PayPal. However, there are some cases where this isn’t true, because PayPal tends to have high exchange rates that scale and can add a lot of cost on to your purchase.
This will be negligible for small purchases which is likely to be the vast majority for accessories – anything under $100 USD will be cheaper with PayPal (generally).
However, if you are adding more than $100 in yen to your account, Wise may be cheaper. Wise has very good exchange rates most of the time, but it has fees that make it not worth using for smaller purchases.
It can save you money on larger purchases though, and the bigger the purchase, the more it will save you. Wise, however, can be confusing to use, so keep that in mind. Eventually, I will make a guide for that, as it needs one!
Anyway, go ahead and enter the amount of yen you want on your account in the box, and then click “confirm payment”. If you used PayPal, the money will be on your account instantly.
Confirming Your Order
If you didn’t check the “buy instantly” button, this is where you’ll be waiting for Sendico to send you the total for your item. If you want to view your order, go here:
And at this point, you will see a page that shows all of your orders and their status. This is what my order page looks like – it is a good example of every type of status message you can get.
Your order should look like the blue one in this image – “payment pending”. Click on it and you’ll see this:
This means Sendico has yet to see your order and has not estimated the price yet. So for now, wait for that notification. Typically, they will email you.
Once you get that email, you will return to this page and click “purchase”. Sendico will then order your item (sometimes on a delay or a day or two), and now all you have to do is wait until it arrives at their warehouse!
At the Warehouse
After your item arrives, the status will change to “in our warehouse” and they will send you an email. It will look like this.
(Side note: if you are wondering what “contents check” means, you can pay Sendico a little extra to make sure everything is in your package)
This means you and your aibo can get excited – your item is ready to be shipped to you!
Go back to your “orders and parcels” page, and click the box next to your item. Then, click either of the “create parcel” buttons.
After that, you will choose your shipping service, enter your parcel value (important for insurance just in case it is lost in the mail system) and ship your item.
Generally, the most popular shipping option is FedEx. EMS is also a decent option and is safe to use. Try to avoid any options that involve sending things over on a boat as things tend to get lost this way, or they may take months to arrive.
Note that depending on the value of your order, you can get hit with extra import fees weeks after your item arrives. However, this is rare with small accessory purchases, and I personally have never had this happen.
Now, Sendico will package up your item and ship it out to you! Shipping can be pretty quick, especially with FedEx, so be sure to be ready to check your mail.
And that’s it! You’ve imported a cute aibo accessory from Japan for your pup. Enjoy! Now you can go wild and get as many accessories as you want.
If you struggle with any part of this, feel free to contact me and I will personally help you out with the process.