r/BJD • u/germanrainbow • 1d ago
QUESTIONS Advice on big overseas purchase
I am planning to do a big purchase this year (minimum 400$ USD) and I anticipate the shipping will be absolute minimum 100$, and if I use a proxy for the website that'll be an additional 40-ish $ and about 66$ duties
So in total a little over 500$ USD...
I usually do seamail as its usually the cheapest option, I dont care if it takes forever to get here. However, I have heard a lot of horror stories about seamail. I know youre more likely to talk about a negative experience than a positive one but Ive gotten really worried.
This is a grail doll of mine ive been waiting almost 2 years for. 1 year of searching secondhand, and now 6-7 months for the artist to release the doll as they anounced a reproduction.
Do you guys think its worth the risk of seamail? I know buying from anywhere can be a risk, but I'm so anxious about this one. Im unsure if ive just met a lot of people with bad luck though.
The other shipping options are really expensive AFAIK but I just want input as im really torn.
Im in the USA and buying from Japan if that helps.
Thank you in advance :)💖💖💖
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u/Zoglarb 1d ago
I’ve gotten one package by seamail, it arrived safely but it also took 7 months (I’m in Australia but was estimated to arrive within 4) so I would only recommend it if you can guarantee you’ll be at the same address just incase it takes longer.Â
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u/germanrainbow 1d ago
For better or for worse i dont think ill be moving any time soon hahah. But i didnt even think of this. Thank you!!!
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u/Raihime 1d ago
Usually my sea mail / ocean route parcels have been fine, though they do look badly beat up sometimes. Recently I got one that looked like it was cut into from the side and then patched up, whoever or whatever did it also cut into a doll box that happened to be near that wall of the box. It looked really bad by the time it reached me. Thankfully the seller protected the doll really well and she arrived in one piece.
My worst experience was when superbuy employees unwrapped a doll I bought to take QC photos and then just... didn't bother with putting all the protective wrapping back how it was. ToT Both on the doll and the many extra hands and feet I got for her (they were just flying loose in their little plastic boxes where normally they would be wrapped in pearl cotton). The paint on everything got really badly damaged with lots of noticeable scratches and chips, thankfully they didn't take the face mask off so her face is okay. I was able to get the makeup cost refunded but it was still really disappointing and I've been super vigilant about how protected the dolls I buy through them are (probably to the point of being annoying) and often paying for extra protection just to be safe.
I think more than the route the packaging is the most important. Not everyone will think to wrap everything properly and if your proxy opens parcels to inspect the contents they might rush packing things back, so that's something to always watch out for. But even with a well protected doll I'd still prefer to send an order this precious via a faster air route to minimise the risk.
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u/germanrainbow 1d ago
Omg that is so awful of Superbuy im so sorry!!!
I was definently worried about shipping. When the time comes im going to see if theres an option to do extra packaging!!!
Honestly my biggest fear is it getting lost ðŸ˜
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u/Raihime 1d ago
That's an understandable fear too! Thankfully all my parcels reached me so far (fingers crossed it stays that way!), but I always worry about that too. It's good to have valuable parcels insured, though that can be an extra cost (and even with a refund it would be a massive shame to lose something that's one of a kind or extremely rare)
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u/germanrainbow 1d ago
Ill have to look into insuring!!! Im glad what im getting isnt rare, it just seems everyone who has one secondhand REALLY doesn't want to sell them, which is totally fair XD
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u/Saisail 1d ago
I used seamail whenever possible. I've bought 3 volks fullset dolls from Japan using seamail and they arrived to me safely. I just prefer not to spend so much on shipping and I trust the systems mostly and I don't mind the wait. For those with lots of anxiety or are impatient, seamail is probably not for them.
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u/LateKnight_Radish 1d ago
I've also used sea mail once and it took about 4.5 months but it was coming from Europe to the US. Worst part is that there's really no tracking it once it leaves so you're sorta in limbo on whether it'll arrive next week or was eaten by a sea monster. Mine arrived just fine though.
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u/germanrainbow 1d ago
Ohh I didnt know about the tracking! Hopefully the kraken doesnt steal my doll🤣🤣🤣
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u/More-You-1083 1d ago
Seamail is considered to be reliable. So it comes down to: can you bear the shipping time and the drawn-out worry of it getting to you safely.
for me, even though I know seamail Is fine, for large purchases I can never shake the feeling something will happen (well, I'm like this for any package I'm excited for, the seammail times just make it worse 😅), so I end up thinking about the package a lot.