BT Trains Yahoo! Japan Auction Service

[rpierce000]

Over the last eight weeks Rich Crooks has been testing out using BT Trains to purchase items from Yahoo! Japan's auction site and have them shipped over to the USA with a BT Trains order. He is very happy with the service and we believe we are now ready to offer it to JNS forum members. The pricing we are listing in this message is for the next three months, then we will re evaluate whether it makes any money and determine where the rates will go from there.

 

1) Items are from Yahoo! Japan ONLY. They must be related to model railroading. This is not a general purchasing service, it is just for the model railroading community. This does NOT exclude special orders of new items via BT Trains, but they will be handled separately.

2) A deposit for the approximate value of the items to be bid on is required. Rich and I kept money "on account" to cover things, I would like to do that for future customers. The funds will be used to pay for:

    a) The item

    b) Any fees associated with the item's purchase

    c) Shipping of the item to my wholesaler in Japan

    d) Shipping of the item from my wholesaler to BT Trains in Seattle

    e) Shipping from BT Trains to you

    f) BT Train's fees

3) BT Trains pays all fees to the wholesaler and shipping companies. Any duties are yours to cover. BT Trains will pay them, but they are your responsibility, should they occur.

4) BT Trains collects the following fees:

    a) A 20% markup on all costs in Japan. These include the item, auction fees and shipping the item to my wholesaler. If this does not exceed 500yen, then a minimum of 500yen will be used. Customers who are using a bidding account and buying many items may have this minimum lowered or waived if the total monthly revenue justifies it.

    b) The costs of shipping it in BT Trains regular monthly shipments to the USA. For example the most recent block of 25 items we received ran just over $2 per item. This will vary depending on what you buy, but weight is king, then volume. Books are killer due to weight, very light large premade structures are also expensive, they take up a LOT of space. Engines are your best buy, low space and good weight density.

    c) Shipping to you by Priority Mail. We will insist on Priority Mail as we can track it. If your order is VERY large we can consider FedEx or UPS if they are cheaper, but we will judge that on a case by case basis.

 

Fees, rules, lots of text: WHY USE US?

 

We are cheap! We are experienced! We have a company ON THE GROUND in Japan to work with, not somebody working out of their bedroom!

 

BT Trains has now imported over 1000 pieces of N scale from Japan and will import at least 5000 more by year end. Our wholesaler has been in the hobby import export business in Japan for over 20 years. They are a medium sized company with large Japanese retailers as their customers. Our connection with them is via the CEO, he was Scoutmaster of the same troop in which I earned my Eagle. Our shipments come from Japan every 4-6 weeks and traveling with them is a very cheap way to go. Bulking items together saves money AND you get eyes one your products IN JAPAN. If there is a visible problem we see, we can start the resolution while the item is still in country.

 

If you are interested in trying out this service, please contact bob@bttrains.com

 

At the moment we are only offering this to JNS Forum members and their close friends. JRM is also welcome. If you wish to share with someone, please let me know first, we do not have the facilities set up for more than about 20 people to be using this system at once. We will expand that if it is successful.

     

[KenS]

This is a very intresting idea. I don't tend to buy from auction sites, even in English.  But I might consider it with something like this as a way to find out of production items.

 

The one comment I'd make is that you should consider offering something like direct EMS shipping as an option.  Your monthly shipment is a great idea for lowering cost, but if I'm buying that one thing I absolutely have to have, waiting that long would be excruciating.

[rpierce000]

There are people who offer the direct EMS option. I felt that was unreasonably expensive and that this pricing schedule would compete with them by offering a shipping option they could not.

 

Having said that, I do not see any reason that I could not expedite an item or set of items with faster shipping if the customer would like to pay for it. They customer is the boss, we only exist to serve.

 

Do you feel that limiting it to model railroading items is OK? I just don't want people buying boxes of manga or furniture and having to deal with customs on such items.

 

Thank you for your feedback,

Bob

[Krackel Hopper]

hey hey,

 

I've been using Japan Auction Center with great results.. but if there is a cheaper source, I am certainly interested.

 

I don't quite understand your system.  Could you write up a sample transaction (a rough estimate) of a purchase and your associated fees?

 

thanks!

[Guest ___]

I'm a bit lost too there, been thinking about this thread for a few hours, but do agree with Ken's reply about EMS. As a formal mailman, the less time something is in the system, the less chance of breakage, and let me tell, I've learned over the years, shippers love to break things in transit. If I stayed with the postal service, I'd be smashing product at a GS-15 level by now.

[rpierce000]

A sample transaction:

 

You see a LOVELY steamer on Yahoo auctions that you want for 5600yen. We buy it for you for 5600yen plus 300yen bank fees and 400yen shipping to us in Tokyo.

 

Our wholesaler in Tokyo looks it over and makes sure it looks OK. No testing, he is not set up for it.

 

Our next box leaves for Seattle in three weeks, your steamer is in it, that costs about $3.

 

When it gets here we repack it into a priority mail box and it heads off to you. For a single engine a small flat rate box is $5.20.

 

What does all of this cost you?

 

The cost of the auction is 6300yen. Add 20 percent for us, 1260yen, a total of 7560. At 74 yen to the dollar, that comes out at $102.16.

Shipping to Seattle in one of our boxes is $3.

Shipping to you is $5.20.

The total cost to you is $110.36.

 

If you want it EMSed to you, then the shipping from Japan to you would be a LOT higher, but doable.

 

I would be interested in how this compares to the service you have been using.

 

Bob

[cteno4]

Bob,

 

interesting and i may take you up on it as i have been looking at doing a yahoo auction.

 

i ship sal (like over 200 packages now) all the time and have never had any significant damage to one yet. i have had ems packages show up with similar amounts of exterior package damage as sal, so more time in transit does not seem to bear out more damage in my sample.

 

I am patient and can wait for my trains, the only things i would be getting from yahoo japan would be something special and i see no reason to have to rush it with ems direct shipping.

 

thanks this is something to think on here!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Guest JRF-1935]

All -

Yes I am happy to announce that I have been buying on Yahoo Auctions Japan through Bob and he is right - I am Very Pleased !  I have been lucky enough to find, bid on, and win the entire 1975 early Tomy feight cars, all in mint condition.  18 cars!!  Have also bought quite a few other things.  A brand new EF10 - cheaper through Bob than HS Japan, a mint Tomix #2114 EF81-300 (stainless steel) for Y2100,  the Micro Ace Shiki 810 - yes Jeff, the "beast" I always wanted and in blue, for Y8000.  2 other prizes were the Tetsudou #1 collection steeplecabs, 1 white stripe, 1 yellow stripe, both for Y3605 to name a few.  So if you want those items that are hard to find, or Shinkansen complete sets that go for ridiculous prices here in the US, go through Bob and his wholesaler in Japan.  This has been a win-win situation for me, especially for items I can't find in the states.  Being patient has certainly paid off for me.  My first order of 25+ items will be shipped on Mon by USPS Priority Mail from Bob.  Not a bad turn around time.

  I suggest using the Google Chrome translator, as this provides much clearer auction details in English.

If things work out, and I hope they do, Bob could be our #1 source for dealing direct to Japan, and cheaper too!

Rich C

 

[Krackel Hopper]

hey hey,

 

So I asked the girlfriend (RapitBunny) to do a comparison.. since she is the one who does the Japan Auction Center thing.. BT-Trains comes in a little cheaper.  Fees break down close to the same.  JAC has more base fees, but they take less of a percentage..

 

Using the 5600 yen example, BT-Trains comes in about $15 cheaper.. but that $15 is the difference between EMS shipping and waiting a few weeks for the BT-Trains shipping method.

 

So I would say BT-Trains is right in the ballpark with the Yahoo auctions thing..

[Krackel Hopper]

I still have some questions.  With the JAC method, when I deposit money, I am given the opportunity to bid on auctions with that money.  If I'm understanding correctly, when I use BT-Trains.. I'll "deposit" the max amount I want to bid on said item.  The people at BT-Trains are the ones who will place the bid and everything.. correct?

 

Then..

 

If the auction is lost.. do I get all of my money refunded?

 

If the auction is won for my "max bid", BT-trains will get the item.. and once it reaches BT-Trains is Seattle, I will be notified of the extra expenses I owe.. and once I pay the shipping, etc.. my item will be shipped from Seattle to me?

 

Finally.. lets say I deposit 7500 for an item.. and win for really cheap.. say 2500 yen.. Once BT-Trains gets the shipping and extra fees worked out, my item will be shipped to me and any extra will be refunded?

 

Just trying to get a solid idea of how BT-Trains Yahoo Auctions JP operates.

 

I will probably have to use your service for a Kato DD51 (7008-4) that nobody seems to have.

 

Thanks!

[rpierce000]

You tell us which auction you wish to bid on and the max you wish to pay. We send you a PayPal for that amount so we are covered.

 

If the unit sells for much less we would happily refund your "extra" immediately or "let it ride" for a future auction. We never ship until the shipping is paid for, so I will not worry about that. If you want us to hold that out of your refund we can do that, but it will be an estimate, we really never can get shipping QUITE right until we have the item in hand.

 

The issue for us is that we can get stuck with an item and no money. We have to cover ourselves. We are sitting on 24 hopper cars (anyone into Canadian Pacific Hopper cars?) that were ordered but not paid up front from someone we trusted. Now we are trying to get rid of them. $300 is not the end of the world, but I would rather it had been spent on Japanese inventory. Once the item is covered, we are fine. The worst case is that we have to sell it to cover our shipping, but I cannot imagine that happening unless there was a major disaster. We work with you on those. We understand these happen.

 

So, to make this brief, we take the money for a max bid, refund what you ask beyond our out of pocket and go from there. For individual cases, please contact me and I will get into your specific requirements. I am sure we can do something for almost any situation.

 

Does this help?

 

Bob

[Krackel Hopper]

Easy enough..

 

That's what I assumed, but I'd rather not assume and find out different halfway through the process.

 

Thanks for clearing it up for me.

[Guest ___]

Found some pretty cheap stuff on eBay auctions, shame I'm not suffer from LAS (Leica Acquisition Syndrome) at the moment, or I'd be gobbling up a lot of stuff for the layout.