Great Service From Komamono-Honpo A Global Rakuten Seller

[Bill P]

I recently puchased 4 items from Rakuten - PEN HOUSE...and they charged the shipping fee (items being shipped to US EMS), BUT then they also charged 8% for "overseas transaction"...

 

Anyone ever heard of the extra 8% ?

 

I questioned it and they said it takes more time and expense to process an overseas transaction, hence the 8% fee. ??

 

I mean overall it is still a good deal for the 4 items..but I wonder if another Rakuten company might have been a better overall deal.

[Dhruv_Sood]

It's true that it's troublesome for them to process international parcels. But not 8% trouble.

Not every Rakuten seller gets frequent international orders. Komamono-Honpo gets some international orders on a regular basis but still chooses to ship internationally once in 2 days because of shipment pickup cost. But that's no reason to charge 8% extra when you are already charging for post.

 

You should have declined and cancelled the transaction.

[Erik Dalton]

Thank you so much for this thread. Very informative and effective in lifting the veil of silence that surrounds so many Japanese products, especially Sailor.

I love sailor inks and pens but it is sometimes difficult to get information and service on them.

[stevesurf]

I recently puchased 4 items from Rakuten - PEN HOUSE...and they charged the shipping fee (items being shipped to US EMS), BUT then they also charged 8% for "overseas transaction"...

 

Anyone ever heard of the extra 8% ?

 

I questioned it and they said it takes more time and expense to process an overseas transaction, hence the 8% fee. ??

 

I mean overall it is still a good deal for the 4 items..but I wonder if another Rakuten company might have been a better overall deal.

 

Some Rakuten Stores charge an additional fee for us of the higher percentage use fee credit cards like AMEX, Diners Club, etc. I have seen this as high as an additional 5%, but not 8%. Still, that may be the reason unless you're already using MC/Visa.

 

Remember that Paypal can be linked to any credit card, so you'll pay an additional fee there as well, unless you use your PayPal funds directly.

 

Thank you so much for this thread. Very informative and effective in lifting the veil of silence that surrounds so many Japanese products, especially Sailor.

I love sailor inks and pens but it is sometimes difficult to get information and service on them.

 

You are very welcome! Remember that there are a number of sellers on here that can get you Sailor inks (cool-japan/Atsu).

 

Also, there is a great deal of postings on Sailor inks and pens and consider looking at VirtuThe3rdTV YouTube channel

[Dhruv_Sood]

 

Some Rakuten Stores charge an additional fee for us of the higher percentage use fee credit cards like AMEX, Diners Club, etc. I have seen this as high as an additional 5%, but not 8%. Still, that may be the reason unless you're already using MC/Visa.

 

Okay, I didn't know that. Sorry.

I have had a Rakuten seller directly charge my credit only once. That was the tomoe River paper transaction for 4000 sheets. He doesn't use PayPal. Otherwise I always pay using PayPal because bank conversion rate is higher than PayPal conversion rate.

I had to authorize that transaction first because bank didn't allow the seller to charge and declined the transaction.

[ThirdeYe]

I just wanted to give a good word about Komamono-Honpo as well. I ordered some Pilot inks from them a little while ago, and found out that I got a bit overzealous and my package was so heavy it would have to go EMS. Not wanting to spend over $50 on shipping, we corresponded back and forth and they ended up canceling my order at my request and I reduced the number of items I ordered to get it just under the weight to ship it via standard mail instead, thus lowering my cost to a more reasonable amount. They were very friendly, prompt and courteous. Great prices, too, even after the somewhat high shipping costs.

[bobje]

ThirdeYe, how many bottles of ink got your order eligible for shipment by standard mail?

[Almare]

I don't think it's been mentioned yet but Komamono-Honpo actually provides a third shipping option, besides EMS and small packet, namely "International E-packet". If you visit their store page you'll see it. The International E-packet is cheaper than EMS and provides tracking, so long the value of your shipment isn't over 6000 yen and does not weigh more than 2kg (same conditions as small packet).

 

I ordered 3 iroshizuku ink bottles + 3 mini iroshizuku's (you can choose each of the colours, how awesome is that!) two days ago and asked if he would give me an estimate of both the International E-packet (IEP) as and the small packet (SP). Including packaging material it would weigh 1800 gr. (so I think this is about max, or maybe 5 full iroshizuku's would still be just under the 2 kg). With IEP it would be 3200 yen and with SP it would come down to 2900. Considering it was only a 300 yen (about 2 euro's) difference I went with the IEP since it has tracking.

 

Also, I think the estimate given is a maximum, as eventually my shipping turned out to be 2995 yen instead of 3200 (--> "...total amount of your order comes to 8365yen. (5799yen+2995yen-429yen)...". By the way, I still don't understand the -429 yen. I mean I'm not complaining about the discount but is this standard or???

[Dhruv_Sood]

I calculated percentage of that amount and turns out, it's close to 8% Japanese consumption tax. Since they are exporting, they get a refund of the consumption tax. That's what india does in case of exports, maybe they do the same.

[Precise]

I followed the link in the original post which came up in Japanese.

Next I tried going to rakuten.com and got http://global.rakuten.com/en, which was in English.

But the search seemed relatively useless. For example "king of pen" brought up just about anything but what I sought.

 

I clicked on help, but the button was dead.

 

Alan

[Almare]

Yeah searching on rakuten is a bit chaotic, but you can make use of the filters on the left. Here is a link to the office stationeries & supplies products of komamono-honpo if you want to browse: http://global.rakuten.com/en/search/?sid=komamono-honpo&tl=100901 .

[Precise]

A quote from their site:

 

"Return Policy

We cannot accept any return/exchange on overseas orders."

[domer]

I have purchased pens/inks/paper from Komamono-Honpo in the past and received great service. Prices are amazing as well. Highly recommended!