Greetings!! It has been a while...  

This post had been in draft for too long, because I didn't have the motivation to finish it due to no internet at home and I still don't have internet at my home, but since I'm in a cafe with wifi I thought, I should not longer delay this post any further and soo.. here it is!

Today I'll be reviewing FromJapan Proxy Service. What's a proxy service you ask? Well, a lot of Japanese online stores don't ship out of Japan but there's another way to get the things you want! All you have to do is to use a proxy service; downside of it? You've to spend a little more money since it's not free, like, you'd wish it is. 

At one point, I was going to try their shopping service but then I decided to do it myself—Since I could save some money by ordering it myself. It's actually not that hard, use Google Translate and get a Japanese address by signing up with a Japan SS that offers forwarding service. I used their auction service and since it was my first time, I had troubles with it; even made a mistake because I was too lazy read the first timer guide. 

It's not really that hard to navigate around the site, just find an item you like on YJA!, Mbok, or any other auction sites; copy the link and enter it in the Bid/ Order bar.

The only sites that FromJapan provide real-time bidding system are YJA!, Amazon JP, カラメル, Zozo Town and Seven Net. Once you enter the link, you'll be brought to the Product Details page with all the information of the item. Before placing a bid, you must place a deposit in order to be able to bid. Which can be troublesome since you never know how much you'll be going to use. Always go for a few hundreds yen higher since there's a 200 service fee for per bidding. To place a deposit, go to "My Account" and at the top of the page, you'll see your deposit and points balance. From there, click the "Place a Deposit" button and enter the amount of deposit you'd like to have in your FJ account 

Once you win an auction bid, an email message will be sent to you shortly. You'll also receive email message from FJ when someone outbids you, to keep you up to date with the item you're auctioning. To 100% win an auction item is to refresh the page again and again until the very last minute to be sure that you're not being outbid. Oh, and one important thing is that when you place a bid, for the domestic shipping method, always go for the cheaper option instead of the secure unless the item is really valuable because I made the mistake of using secure shipping for a 2 piece of dresses and I ended up paying (¥1000+ shipping fee for each dress). When you've got everything you want, go to Charge 1; item price + ¥200 commission fee + 5% system fee, to pay for your items.

After paying for Charge 1, the next step is the Shipping Instruction, there are plenty of shipping methods for you to choose from. For me, surprisingly, FedEx is cheaper (I've read a bunch of comments in MFC and people said that EMS is usually cheaper than FedEx, which in my case is the opposite, I guess FedEx is cheaper for those who live in Asia Pacific?) and yes, the possibility of getting taxed using FedEx is a 100% as they have their own custom, so if the total cost of the item(s) exceeds, (which varies in every different country) for me, it's RM500 with shipping cost and insurance included—which is ridiculously low. I did get taxed because my shipment value is above RM500, there's a way to avoid tax, which is to mark down the declared value of the item(s) yourself, but if the parcel is lost, damaged or stolen, you'll only be insured up to the amount you've declared.

It takes a day or two until Charge 2; shipping fees (domestic & international) + 5% system fee + other services fee (optional), to be done. Important! Do pay charge 2 within 3 days once it's ready or you'll be charged for late payment penalty. The last step is to wait patiently for the parcel to arrive at your doorstep. 

PROS:

CONS:

RATING:

Will I be using FromJapan auction service again? Maybe, it's not that I'm unhappy with their service, as a matter of fact, I'm very happy with it but because of the cost, it's low but with this and that being  added up, the service does cost quite a lot. I don't think I'll use them again unless I've found something that I really want from the auction sites. 

Thanks for reading & have a nice day!!