Blackship forwarding or ZenMarket? (Page 1 of 1) MyFigureCollection.net
Hello. I've been using Blackship/White Rabbit forwarding service for a while now because Tenso is highway robbery.However, I just came to realize that it may be cheaper to order from ZenMarket or J-Subculture...? But there are several things to think about, and I can't decide where to go from here.
Blackship, formerly White Rabbit forwarding service (not to be confused with their shopping service):
$3 USD consolidation fee per item + $1 receiving fee per item.
Pros: They seem to... undervalue for me? I'm not sure. I sent in my own customs form but they kinda put their own, I didn't have to deal with any duties unlike the $50 I expected to get slapped with, and it got through fine. I haven't had to deal with duties most of the time with them.
I can get items immediately and I don't have to worry about Zenmarket being too slow and buggy. Less chance of things selling out before the proxy can get to them, which really, really upsets me.
Doesn't charge more than once per package from each seller. I believe a longer storage time. I don't have to do the silly deposit fee every single time. Probably better service, but that isn't saying much lol.
Cons: Big minus: charges me in USD. Costs me $5 CAD each package in fees.
I'm doing all of the work ordering so that's utterly ridiculous if I'm just getting small items. Shipping service charge of 5%, mailout fee... www.blackship.c... Fees add up to become a nightmare if I'm getting things from Otamart... but that wouldn't really improve much with ZenMarket. Can't order from Yahoo Auctions.
Otherwise it's usually not that bad... but would it just cheaper to just get from Zenmarket and suck up the long response time it takes...?
ZenMarket: I know little from this service as I only just started using them.
Pros: Charge in yen for 300 yen an item, but I don't understand if that's 300 per item even if it's all from one store, or 300 yen per store?
Cons: From what I hear, really slow. I can't risk that with rare and/or timesale items, which I often get, which is a big minus. Missing out on an item just because my proxy was too slow is a source of great stress for me.
I have to pop in each store link manually, which is a pain.
Charge for deposits and withdrawals.... which is ridiculous tbh and would've cost me $25+ on everything in my last package.
Snipe bidding seems to be broken? I thought I had that set, then I woke up, and someone beat me to a very rare item I still can't find. Very upsetting.
Also I shouldn't have to pay $50 in duties on second-hand old books and charms that are for myself. That's silly. I don't get store points.
I don't know: I've never had big packages from them so I have no idea how much they'd cost to ship and how their insurance works. For all I know, with insurance, their costs could make switching to them not worth it.
J-Subculture: I know little from this service.
View spoilerCons: 500 yen per item.
auction.j-subcu...
I know very little about this service and I don't know what they charge for shipping either. All I know is that their snipe bidding seems to work?
Comparison of last package:
My last package was consolidated from 13 packages, was 7002 grams and 59 x 36 x 24 cm, and ended up costing me $202 CAD ($151.97 USD) in fees and shipping for a lot of merch. I left the packages there for while a while so they accumulated over months.
Through ZenMarket, it would've been ~ 13268 yen, or $163 CAD, plus insurance... but I would've likely missed out on several of the items, and ZenMarket doesn't deal well with emergency Otamart purchases, and I might've ended up paying close to $200 anyway if they put in my customs form as I put it.
What do you think, should I just stick to ZenMarket whenever possible from now on? I'm really worried about missing out on items just because they're slow. I don't know if it would be cheaper or more expensive to use both services in a balanced way...
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