How To Buy Japan Limited Edition Of Sailor And Ship Outside Japan

[binbean]

*No affiliation*

Recently my friends asked me to help them order some limited editions from Japan because most sellers don't ship abroad. I did a quick research and figured out some ways to get these limited editions shipped outside Japan.

 

In my case, it is mostly Sailor fountain pens which they made with Nagasawa, Wancher, Bungu Box or Pen House.

 

For example, my friend want to order to California a Japan LE Professional Gear which is 20000 JPY in retail price, you will have these options to choose:

1. Ask your acquaintance to help. Cost will be: 20000jpy + 1600jpy(Japanese tax) + 2000jpy (EMS cost to California) = 23600jpy ~ US$212

2. Using a forwarding service such as Tenso, Whiterabbitexpress or Zenmarket , fees as follow:

• Tenso: 20000jpy + 1600jpy(Japanese tax) + 2000jpy (EMS cost to California) + 300 (handling fee by tenso) = 23900 ~US$214
• Zenmarket cost will be: 20000jpy + 1600jpy(Japanese tax) + 2000jpy (EMS cost to California) + 300 (handling fee by Zenmarket) = 23900 ~US$214
• Whiterabbitexpress cost will be: 20000jpy + 1600jpy(Japanese tax) = 21600 ~US$194, but Whiterabbit will charge $18.37 (EMS cost to Carlifornia) + $4 (handling fee by whiterabbitexpress) so final will be US$ 216.37

3. Email directly to seller such as Nagasawa and Wancher and ask them directly about model that you want to order. If they are okay to ship, the cost will be same as case (1). Some sellers are not good at english and process is very complicated. Some sellers do not ship abroad either.

 

4. Order from ebay, there are some sellers offer limited edition on ebay but price is normally 10-20$ higher than when ordering by (1) (2) or (3) method.

On ebay you can refer to seller pisuke, cooljapan, engeika or pensachi. These are popular japanese retailers that I could find.

 

5. Ordering from reseller that ship abroad. I have been always referring to Pisuke and Engeika as two of best retailers of fountain pen from Japan. Sad news: Pisuke is only on eBay and Engeika is off. So I searched around on Reddit, Instagram and Facebook and I found pensachi.com They are not popular yet but they to sell these limited editions and ship them abroad. There are lmited pens of Nagasawa, Bungu Box and Wancher on their site. For a 20000 models they sell it at $225 or $215 sometimes. There services are also in english so its a plus.

 

Note: in case (1) (2) and (3) there might be extra fee of domestic shipping and handling depending on each seller. Sometimes it costs me extra 1080jpy for shipping fee and 432 for cod fee which are around uS$10-15 extra.

 

I already recommended these methods to my friends, and now I don't order for them anymore. Some of them order by proxy shipping and some are using ebay and pensachi. I don't know if there are any other methods but my short research just came up with these. I hope it helps.

Edited April 28, 2019 by binbean

[mke]

Are you sure with the low fees for forwarding services? Unbelievable.

I heard they are adding at least 20% of the value as handling fee.

They are a business, they have costs (Paypal fees, labels, salaries) and want to earn money.

 

If I would have to order a 20000 yen pen for you, I would charge you at least 4000 yen - in addition to all cost.

Edited April 28, 2019 by mke

[binbean]

I am with Zenmarket then but when I am lazy for the long process i will probably go with Pensachi $215 is not a bad deal at all.

I think they get money from shipping discount since they are big company so they possibly get a good rate with Post Office!

Anyways, 300 yen cost is still incredible

Are you sure with the low fees for forwarding services? Unbelievable.
I heard they are adding at least 20% of the value as handling fee.
They are a business, they have costs (Paypal fees, labels, salaries) and want to earn money.

If I would have to order a 20000 yen pen for you, I would charge you at least 4000 yen - in addition to all cost.

Edited April 28, 2019 by binbean

[mke]

That is really unbelievable - but seems to be true.

[25_15_3]

I've used zenmarket and whiterabbitexpress. Both are good services. I tend to use whiterabbit if I need something quick. The long process of accepting the price on zenmarket isn't great when an item is limited; better used for buying auction items. I do think zenmarket is not actually a 300 yen service because of the 3.5 percent deposit fee.

[binbean]

I've used zenmarket and whiterabbitexpress. Both are good services. I tend to use whiterabbit if I need something quick. The long process of accepting the price on zenmarket isn't great when an item is limited; better used for buying auction items. I do think zenmarket is not actually a 300 yen service because of the 3.5 percent deposit fee.

I didn't notice the 3.5% deposit fee then. So probably the other option seems to be better.

[RMH]

I appreciate the research which you have provided.

 

Going further down the $£¥€ road....

[inkstainedruth]

I know that you aren't overly enamored of going the eBay route, but I can say that the one time I ordered a pen from pisuke2005 (my grey Pilot Decimo F) it was a joy. I got an apology (in advance) warning me that due to the time of year (late November/early December last winter) there might be unexpected delays in the listed 10-14 day delivery date.... Pen arrived on day 11 (!) after zooming in and out of US Customs in the NY area. Packages are sent economy airmail (so, $11 US for shipping) -- but the pen was still way cheaper than the one I'd previously gotten from a US dealer with contacts in Japan (and then lost ), and, well, eleven days instead of nearly 3 months.

And believe the 100% positive feedback ratings -- I would order something else from pisuke2005 without any hesitation. I wish all sellers were this good.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[KyleClapton]

So I searched around on Reddit, Instagram and Facebook and I found pensachi.com They are not popular yet but they to sell these limited editions and ship them abroad. There are lmited pens of Nagasawa, Bungu Box and Wancher on their site. For a 20000 models they sell it at $225 or $215 sometimes. There services are also in english so its a plus.

 

 

Thank you very much for mentioning Pensachi

I would like to introduce myself. My name is Kyle Clapton, currently working at Pensachi as product photographer (and sometimes customer service)

Since I joined Pensachi, my love for fountain pens grows up quickly and now I am not sure I am doing my job is mainly because I love photography or because I love fountain pens.

I am very happy to be a member of FPN, to be connected with other pen-enthusiasts. So if you need any help, just drop me a message.

I would like to help you (as friends!)

Have a nice day!

[Karmachanic]

One can buy directly from Nagasawa and Bungu Box.

There are also shops on Rakuten that shop overseas.