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Trying To Buy Hougado Sailor Ink From Rakuten Is A Nightmarish Obstacle Course.


Patrick L

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... Being a red ink fan I was craving to buy the Sailor Hougado Red Shirt ink from Rakuten. This ink (as well as the other Hougado inks) was unfortunately out of stock on their website but it was supposed to be available again in a near future. About two weeks ago I checked the Rakuten website again , and yes , the Hougado ink was available again . CHEERS !

I therefore clicked on the "purchase" button , but was surprised to discover that I could not buy this ink as they don't ship it to foreign countries. ... But the Rakuten website indicates that you can contact shipping companies (they list three of them) who can send it abroad. You contact the shipping company, register with them ( In order to do so you will have to scan and send them some personal documents, like passport, proof of address , ...) , and they then give you a Japanese address that you can use afterwards. To summarize , you go on Rakuten website , buy Sailor Hougado ink and use the Japanese address , Rakuten then ships to this address. When the shipping company receives the parcel they contact you , you then pay them and they ship it to your country. So far so good ? Not so fast. After having completed my purchase using my credit card , I didn't receive any feed back from Rakuten and the Japanese shipping company also told me that they had not received any parcel. I therefore contacted Rakuten , and from what I understood (their English is worse that mine ) they told me that they could not accept my payment because I was using a foreign credit card (not a Japanese one) , and that I could also pay them through bank transfer but that it had to be a Japanese bank ... That's where It stands now.

I would like to point out that I have purchased items from Rakuten before without any problem. They are a serious and reliable company. But the issue is that they don't export Hougado.

I really wanted to buy this ink and now feel distressed. Please provide and help/advice if possible. Many thanks.

Patrick

Edited by Patrick L
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I "feel your pain!"

 

I went thru the same hoops, but stopped @ faxing my passport information; I have no scanner to do so & seriously thought I had reached my limit by that stage of "registration."

 

I read about someone sourcing ink from "an individual," sent my request to Atsunori Tanaka, "Cool Japan," (his Ebay website,) @ "cooljapan21@gmail.com," requested the ink I wanted to obtain; he replies quickly & with a quote to include shipping, sends a PayPal request after your acknowledgment of quote & in about two weeks, you HAVE ink!

 

I also show a web address, "JAPAN STYLE," @ "www.japanstyle.info/contact. His prices reflect shipping & a profit for obtaining the ink, but are reasonable to me & I have received inks I would not have had, otherwise. Sometimes, he will inform you the ink is "sold out," but usually will give you a time frame when it will be available. There are other services used by fellow posters & each I am sure has it's advantages, but I have only used Mr. Tanaka & can recommend him for a source for the inks that prove elusive.

 

(I did manage to successfully order some inks from Rakuten recently, for which they arranged shipping & truly thought I had "pulled off the biggest coup, EVER" after my earlier attempt!)

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There are any number of proxy buyers who can help you out (White Rabbit Express, Buyee, FromJapan). Further, Amex seems to work better than other credit cards if you're buying on Rakuten directly; I have about a 60% success rate. Amex also works without incident on Amazon.co.jp. There are also some sellers who will accept foreign credit cards if you've ordered from them in the past.

 

What you consider a nightmare many of us on the board do on a monthly, or even weekly, basis.

 

I recommend against Atsu. I've had a bunch of flaky experiences with him, and if rumors are to be believed and 21tgif is his alt account (seems to be registered to his wife), he's absolutely eviscerating people on ink sales (I've seen auctions close at 700% of full retail). If there's a rare ink that you want that isn't sold out, he's more likely to buy it and auction it than serve as a proxy for you.

On the Hunt For:

1) Atelier Simoni ID Demonstrator Natural Rhodium (As if it existed.)

2) Moresi 2nd Limited Edition Delta Demonstrator

3) y.y. Pen Club #4 and #10

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There are any number of proxy buyers who can help you out (White Rabbit Express, Buyee, FromJapan). Further, Amex seems to work better than other credit cards if you're buying on Rakuten directly; I have about a 60% success rate. Amex also works without incident on Amazon.co.jp. There are also some sellers who will accept foreign credit cards if you've ordered from them in the past.

 

What you consider a nightmare many of us on the board do on a monthly, or even weekly, basis.

 

I recommend against Atsu. I've had a bunch of flaky experiences with him, and if rumors are to be believed and 21tgif is his alt account (seems to be registered to his wife), he's absolutely eviscerating people on ink sales (I've seen auctions close at 700% of full retail). If there's a rare ink that you want that isn't sold out, he's more likely to buy it and auction it than serve as a proxy for you.

I have to disagree. I'm sorry you've had "flaky" experiences with Atsu Tanaka; no-one's perfect. However, I've bought many times via & from him for years and every transaction has been fair & faultless. I wouldn't hesitate for one second to buy from him.

 

Re the 21tgif sales on eBay, s/he indeed sells desirable inks and these are put up for sale starting at $0.00, with no reserve. Not ridiculous Buy It Now prices so often seen on eBay by sellers of Montblanc LE inks, for example. The prices are purely market driven. If people want to pay really silly prices then they will. If the inks aren't wanted then no-one will buy. This is consumerism, so beloved of capitalists worldwide. No-one is fleecing them, or "eviscerating" , or forcing them to buy.

 

I don't buy from Atsu exclusively as I have other avenues. For ease of use I recommend White Rabbit Express, although this can be a more expensive option, depending on number of bottles.

Edited by migo984

Verba volant, scripta manent

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I've bought inks from Atsu. Never any problem, and what price you are willing to pay...well, that's up to you.

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I used to buy inks from Atsu occasionally, and never experienced any problems with him. He always shipped quickly and packed well.

 

However, after he started selling inks at auction as eBay seller '21tgif' he suddenly decided to stop replying to my messages when I asked him for a specific bottle of ink.

 

I assumed that meant he would rather sell them at auction on eBay as '21tgif' so I stopped asking him for any specific inks.

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I used to buy inks from Atsu occasionally, and never experienced any problems with him. He always shipped quickly and packed well.

 

However, after he started selling inks at auction as eBay seller '21tgif' he suddenly decided to stop replying to my messages when I asked him for a specific bottle of ink.

 

I assumed that meant he would rather sell them at auction on eBay as '21tgif' so I stopped asking him for any specific inks.

Not something I've ever experienced. He always politely replies to my requests for specific inks, albeit not always in the affirmative, as he is not always able to obtain the ones I want immediately. If his work is busy there may be a short delay of a few days before he replies, but he has never yet failed to respond.

 

But as I said before, no-one is perfect and I'm sure sometimes he overlooks some approaches.

Verba volant, scripta manent

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I think the thing that bothers me most about Atsu's recent behavior is that I actually bought something via 21tgif, then asked to hold shipment on a potential sale of another ink that I suspected he had. He said he couldn't confirm that he would be selling it (it was part of the same set as the ink I'd already won at auction), and then once I paid and he had shipped, he listed the very ink I'd asked for less than two hours afterwards.

 

That's not just selling inks at auction, that's gouging for shipping as well.

On the Hunt For:

1) Atelier Simoni ID Demonstrator Natural Rhodium (As if it existed.)

2) Moresi 2nd Limited Edition Delta Demonstrator

3) y.y. Pen Club #4 and #10

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I think the thing that bothers me most about Atsu's recent behavior is that I actually bought something via 21tgif, then asked to hold shipment on a potential sale of another ink that I suspected he had. He said he couldn't confirm that he would be selling it (it was part of the same set as the ink I'd already won at auction), and then once I paid and he had shipped, he listed the very ink I'd asked for less than two hours afterwards.

 

That's not just selling inks at auction, that's gouging for shipping as well.

Like I said in another thread, it offends me to do business with him.

I did buy a couple of bottles from him last year as suggested by other members in the sailor thread, but as soon as I got to know about his other account, I stopped. I'd rather look at other inks like iroshizuku etc. than give even a cent of my money to him.

I would ask other members to not buy from him, but others have tried that before and seems like other members are too blinded by sailor inks and continue to support that (bleep).

Edited by BCGGSM
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  • 3 weeks later...

I went to the post office today and received my inks. Without all of you this would have been impossible. So a big Thank You to His Magnificence Barkingpig , His Lordship Kenshiro , The Right Honourable migo984 , The Enlightened MalcomH, The Illustrious Chrissy ,The Right Worshipful BCGGSM , Augusta flexy.

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I went to the post office today and received my inks. Without all of you this would have been impossible. So a big Thank You to His Magnificence Barkingpig , His Lordship Kenshiro , The Right Honourable migo984 , The Enlightened MalcomH, The Illustrious Chrissy ,The Right Worshipful BCGGSM , Augusta flexy.

 

Glad to hear it all worked out!

On the Hunt For:

1) Atelier Simoni ID Demonstrator Natural Rhodium (As if it existed.)

2) Moresi 2nd Limited Edition Delta Demonstrator

3) y.y. Pen Club #4 and #10

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I am delighted to hear you got the inks you wanted. That is really all I care about, after discovering an ink based on certain user's comments here, I very much want to try them as well. I am sure there are many differing ways to purchase these Japanese made inks; each person's experience may dictate their preference for same. I am not as concerned HOW I purchase the ink as the purchase itself. Mr. Tanaka, Atsunori has always provided excellent service & delivery so I have had no reason to explore other services which seem to equally suit users of them.

 

Thank you for your report & I wish you great happiness using your inks.

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