Ordering M4/3 stuff from Japan


 

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How does Rakuten ship to SG? Through Tenso or direct?
 

apex84 said:
Did u have to pay gst? Or does tensor allow us to declare your own item value? U saved almost 100 bucks, good buy!
Click to expand...

Yes, the price I mentioned is with GST. Somehow for buying through Tenso, Singpost will declare the GST on our behalf based on the invoice.

I am happy with the saving and a brand new lens.
 

Bank of Japan has just announced very aggressive monetary easing policy for the next 2 years, so we can expect the yen to drop even lower.
Purchases from Japan are going to be even cheaper! Great news for us all!
 

I just blew a bundle buying a lot of things in tokyo. Its really v worth it here...
 

Wow. Yen interest rate already closeto zero already still weakening
 

damn i just got a 25mm from amazon us for $711 in total ;(

list price is USD499, but converted to sGD at 1.311(!!!!) to $654.19!!!

for amazon.jp is exchange equally robbery like?!

shipping and handling only $10 plus and import fee of $46 plus i assume is GST...
 

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i'm looking at the OMD in amazon jp the kit set cost about 1.2k + Tenso usage fee 3980Yen is around 1.3k SGD. not sure if i got it right. local i think selling at $1.6k?
 

chongster said:
damn i just got a 25mm from amazon us for $711 in total ;(

list price is USD499, but converted to sGD at 1.311(!!!!) to $654.19!!!

for amazon.jp is exchange equally robbery like?!

shipping and handling only $10 plus and import fee of $46 plus i assume is GST...
Click to expand...

ALL credit card exchange rates are "robbery"-like.
They (the banks) need to buffer their rates against volatility (the spread). In times of stability, they usually buffer 3-5%.
But now that USD and Yen are so volatile, they are buffering 5-7%.

Hence what you see - the high exchange rates that are higher than the xe.com rates.
But if you pick the right products, you can get them very much cheaper than in SG.
25/1.4 is NOT one of those products. That lens is relatively cheap in SG.

Look at 12-35, 35-100, 75-300/II.... all these are like 20-30% cheaper in Japan, even if you add in shipping and GST.
 

is the exchange rate from amazon or from the credit card??
i thought it's a amazon exchange rate. credit card wont be so bad actually.

the list price was a tempting USD499, which is a long way from what i actually paid.

anyway, still about 12% cheaper than in SG, BNIB in places at cathay and MS is about $800. buy sell people want 750 for a used copy?!
 

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It should be credit card.
When you buy from Amazon US, you pay in USD. When you buy from Amazon JP, you pay in Yen.
Any exchange rates they show on their site are just estimates.
 

chongster said:
anyway, still about 12% cheaper than in SG, BNIB in places at cathay and MS is about $800. buy sell people want 750 for a used copy?!
Click to expand...

haha, sometimes Buy/Sell people really from another planet lah.
Just saw a USED 35-100 Japan set asking for $1450. Crazy!
Can buy new for less than that now.
 

chongster said:
damn i just got a 25mm from amazon us for $711 in total ;(

list price is USD499, but converted to sGD at 1.311(!!!!) to $654.19!!!

for amazon.jp is exchange equally robbery like?!

shipping and handling only $10 plus and import fee of $46 plus i assume is GST...
Click to expand...

You still save close to 100 lah, not too bad....local set i checked was about 800 :)
I am interested in the 20mm and 17 1.8mm but prices are about the same as in sg. :(
 

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may i now how much was the price in yen when you bought? now its Yen 88,820 for the pana 12-35mm from joshin webb
 

Hirzi Hussain said:
may i now how much was the price in yen when you bought? now its Yen 88,820 for the pana 12-35mm from joshin webb
Click to expand...

FYI, there are sites you can use to view item price history, and even track and notify you when it drops.

Amazon price tracker, Amazon price history charts, price watches, and price drop alerts. | camelcamelcamel.com is one example.

womLdDA.png


Source: Panasonic

The reflected price in the chart sometimes takes a day to update. There was a drop y'day. Amazon: ¥78XXX 3rd Party (usually joshinweb) ¥75XXX.
 

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Wow. Good news :)

I will probably get that 35 - 100 now ;p
 

dolphinss said:
anyone tried vPost japan recently or white rabbit express?

The Oly 45mm F1.8 seems very attractive on Amazon jp. Less than S$350. ie no GST?
Amazon.co.jpF OLYMPUS ƒ}ƒCƒNƒˆêŠá PEN ƒŒƒ“ƒY M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm F1.8: ‰Æ“dEƒJƒƒ‰
Click to expand...

Not sure.. But many bros think tenso giving better service than vpost for JP.

Vpost is terrible. I personally stopped using vpost for USA purchases and moved to com gateway. Ymmv.
 

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