Rinkai - Japan Shopping Service, Frequently Asked Questions
Besides the product, P&H and payment processing fees such as from Paypal, how much does your service cost? For the current rates of our service please see the
cost calculator page.
Can I order items from any Japanese shop, online or physical, even those not on your "Japanese Shops" page?You can order from any online Japanese site (that doesn't ship overseas) if it did ship overseas you wouldn't need our service. We only take orders from physical stores if they can post the items to Osaka or if they are located in Osaka, however you may ask for us to go to Kyoto or nearby cities, however an extra finding fee will be charged. Usually if there is a shop, they can post it to us in Osaka, so the extra fee will not be necessary.
* Note, we do not mail forbidden items.
Can I change my order details such as quantity after the first order?Yes, we do our best to be a friendly service, so we will allow all changes to the order to take place
before we mail the order to you. If you don't make the change in time, we may charge a new P&H fee for the extra order.
Do you have support for English and Japanese?
Yes, I am a native English speaker and my wife is Japanese, and we are both bilingual, so between us we can handle both languages well. Please contact us via the "Contact Us" link on our homepage, you can write in either English or Japanese.
Can you deliver valuable articles such as Jewellery?
Yes, however we recommend that you take out insurance for expensive items which will cost extra.
We usually use Japan Post's EMS service, so you are able to track your item.
Can you deliver frozen or fresh food?As we are in Japan, if your order is from abroad, we are unable to send fresh or frozen food overseas.
Can I ask Rinkai to buy things for me on a Japanese Auction, such as Yahoo Japan? We are keeping our auction service low-key at the moment, until our staff gets into the swing of things and we make our service more effective. If you would like us to buy via an online Japanese auction, please let us know and we will do our best. It works like this: You let us know the auction number you want to bid on, Rinkai will bid for the product for you (you will need to let us know your maximum bid and give us at least half the money of your maximum bid). Once/If we win the auction for you, we will send you the invoice, once we receive the full payment from you we will pay for the auction and send the product to you. Our service fee will be a minimum and we will send the quote to you after the auction is finished.
Are your price quotations free?Yes, if we can get all the details online for shop, products postage etc. then the quotation will be free. If you are uncertain of the price of the product and we need to travel to a physical store to get the price there may be an extra charge for that. (Unless it's across the road at a convenient store)
Are all your products new and unopened?Yes, we purchase the products from the shop, and do not open them, however some outer excess packaging may be removed to allow for cheaper international postage.
How long does it take for the goods to be delivered?
Usually, it takes 2-4 days via EMS , and 2-3 weeks via SAL, from the date dispatched.
However, the delivery dates are variable from country to country.
How shall I pay for the products?
We will send you an invoice via paypal, which is a very safe, and efficient way to pay for your products.
You will have to pay a slight surcharge to cover Paypals fees (approx 4.5%)
Is customs tax included in the price?No, usually our orders are below the customs price required for tax, however if customs duty is required that is up to the customer to pay. The tax fee varies from country to country.
See Custom for further information.
How long do we have to pay for the product? We require you to pay for the product within 10 days after you have received our invoice.
* you may extend this time on special request.
Can I cancel my order?No, You are under no obligation to purchase the item at any time before we send you the quote/invoice.
after you have received the quote/invoice, and you have paid for the item, you cannot cancel it.
What if I am not satisfied with the product?We are careful to match your order with what you request, on the rare occasion that there is a mistake on our
behalf, we may refund the purchase, however if we are not at fault we cannot allow for refunds.
What if the delivery of the parcel is late? Please advise us on this occasion, there may be a number of reasons such as:
- The recipient was absent when the parcel was delivered. In this case, the parcel will be re-delivered.
- The parcel has been held or confiscated at customs.
- There was a mistake on the order form.
If your item is at customs, it could be becuase:
- The local customs authority cannot find the attached invoice.
- Your parcel contains prohibited items for your country.
- The local customs authority intends to check your parcel.
To avoid problems with custom clearance, please confirm that your order does not include any prohibited items.
We hope this answers all of your general questions, if you have other general inquiries, please write to us in this forum, if they are of a more individual nature, please use our contact form.
Regards,
Rinkai-Japan
