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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Stork, post: 7688766, member: 71642&quot;]Yet the Japanese auction houses only charge 10% buyer&#039;s premium.&nbsp; Depending on the place I can easily use Wise (Transferwise) which is super cheap, a bank transfer then sweat if I got the fees right and hope my bank is giving me a good exchange, or even PayPal for a mere extra 4.1%.&nbsp; I hate that but for a lower cost item PP can work out less than wiring fees and with the 10% bp it still feels more favorable than hoping whatever it is I&#039;m buying will show up for sale in the US.&nbsp; Hint, it probably won&#039;t. </p><p><br /></p><p>As for shipping, well that can vary but it&#039;s clear ahead of time.&nbsp; One prefers Fedex so that&#039;s about $100 but they will run customs for you (over whatever amount there is extra paperwork and occasionally will have to pay a bit extra).&nbsp; One uses a Japanese company that then partners with UPS for about $70 and will also call about customs over $2000.&nbsp; Trying to explain &#039;numismatic pottery&#039; (a clay coin) was a fun conversation with a nice UPS lady in Tennessee, she was fascinated.&nbsp; No customs fees per se, just a small charge to UPS for doing it for me.&nbsp; The other company uses EMS which is about $50.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Knowing all that, well, I&#039;m not buying $50 coins from them we will just say.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>It&#039;s a little more complicated than GC or Heritage or Stacks, but knowing to do the math ahead of time keeps you on track.&nbsp; There will be at least one email with/without the use of google translate.&nbsp; Money will eventually change hands.&nbsp; It will get shipped.&nbsp;&nbsp; EMS I have no idea how long it might take.&nbsp; Fedex about 24 hours, UPS about 48.&nbsp; From Japan.&nbsp; Safely.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Being fearful of bidding overseas is understandable, but it&#039;s not an unsurmountable problem.&nbsp; Just need to figure those bps into your calculations ahead of time.&nbsp; And understand the nature of wiring money.&nbsp; They can&#039;t always tell you exactly what it will be...there are hidden bank fees sometimes and the currency exchange fluctuates.&nbsp; If you are using dollars to tell them how much to send you get that many dollars taken out.&nbsp; If you say send so many yen, then your dollar amount may not be exactly known until it happens.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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