The recent Amazon Japan Kindle deal got me thinking if it is possible to use tenso, the forwarding service to buy clothes from Uniqlo Japan. Anybody with experience or insight please respond.
Uniqlo Japan help
LR2ndom on 26/01/2013 - 20:12
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"the only issue I have with tenso is they only use EMS"
In Japan when shipping internationally, I find that the other methods aren't much cheaper than EMS.
maybe check for a forwarder in Hong Kong (cos theres large parcel traffic coming from there and china and probably better competition leading to cheaper forwarders)?
That is probably the best way! As shipping from Japan to Australia(or other places) is generally expensive, about the same as AusPost(minus the crappy service).
There are heaps of stores in China and Hong Kong, use either forwarder depending on their shipping cost. Even better if you have friends over there to help with purchasing the goods.
As far as I know, most products sold Uniqlo in Japan are made in their China factories anyway, except for some leather goods. You're not buying Japan made Uniqlo goods in Japan stores.
I've bought from Uniqlo Japan lots of times using shipping forwarders. I normally use FromJapan or Sharp Service Japan. Fees are similar. It's definitely viable. I always ship using ems and it comes within a week. My last order of 7 button shirts, 2 trousers, socks, jocks and knit jumpers was around $60 in postage. It was a rather large order
how does the fees there compare with tenso?
Think it's usually 5% fee
Thanks. Are uniqlo Japan sizes similar to Australian sizes?
They have product measurements for each item which are accurate but generally it's smaller than the us market (similar to aus so the sizing in the us would be larger)
There is a Uniqlo US online store so you could use US proxies like shipito if you wanted to. Not sure on costs
smaller than Oz sizes. on a whole Japanese people are smaller than westeners (at least in eastern Japan where I lived for 4 years.) I'm 185 cm, size 34 waist, 38 cm neck, large in tshirts and size 11 US shoe. I found it extremely difficult to find clothes that fit me.
Hey - you are my size twin!!!
As has been corrected by a few folks, Japan sizes are indeed smaller that both US and Aus.
I am 170cm tall, thin build. I am 'S' in Australia - and half the time 'S' is still too big. I am 'M' in Japan, and it's mostly a perfect fit.
I feel like a midget in Australia…
Did you order from the Japanese Uniqlo store? I see that the online shop isn't in English - is it easy ordering as such?
Yep the Japanese one. Use Google Chrome to automatically translate.
When ordering through a proxy you just need to give them the link to the item and the size/colour you want.
What's Uniqlo's quality like? Or why buy clothes from Japan? I've seen them during my last trip to Japan and really liked how warm (and light) their clothes are for the weather there but didn't buy any. Just curious :)
Good quality basics for a great price
No, Japan sizes are smaller. I am a Medium in Oz and a Large at Uniqlo.
Quality is high much like most products produced for the Japan market But also remember Uniqlo is a 'budget' retailer so it's not top of the line.To sidetrack, Uniqlo are apparently planning to open a store in Melbourne soon.
They didn't sponsor Novak Djokovic just to boost their already large Japanese market share. They have big plans to go global.
I think it's great that they are going global, can't wait until they open shop here in Melbourne. I don't get why their shops don't allow international e-commerce though, the hassle of going through a forwarder seems barely worth it.
well would you buy from the melbourne store if they shipped at a much better price from their japan store?
Fair point, however they can just ship to countries where they don't have a presence yet, and the Melbourne store is likely to be cheaper and far less hassle once it opens because then we don't have to deal with the forwarding and google translate.
Hey at least I can try on the clothes here and buy online later if the Australian tax is too great.
Have been wearing Bonds chesties for year now, but for what it's worth, I no longer support them, and many other rip-off local brands.
Like Zara, I bet that the Uniqlo store in Melbourne will be priced much higher than other countries too. Pretty much anything that goes on sale in Australia is not a sale when the tax comes into the equation.
What's worrying us online shoppers is that the government started to see this trend and wanted to further reduce the low value import threshold ($1k) to a paltry $30 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-07/gst-deal---lower-onlin…
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/online-shop…
Others proposed to simply cut it lower http://www.smh.com.au/business/cut-in-gstfree-threshold-eyed…
Or want us to pay another 10% tax for online shopping http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/federal-t…
Back to topic, my personal experience with Uniqlo Japan has been great, tailors custom fit trousers and accessories (such as cutting the belt to my size) on the spot, and usually its done in a day or a few hours. Each store has at least a person that could speak conversational English too (in Tokyo). I also bet that the soon-to-be open Melbourne store will ask you to go to an alteration shop to pay $20 to alter your $20 Uniqlo jeans/work pants.
dont see why not as long as Uniqlo is willing to deliver to a jap address
I use tenso to buy items from sellers on rakuten..
the only issue I have with tenso is they only use EMS (which can be pricey) and handling is between 480-980 yen and there is also a fee for consolidating shipments
so even if uniqlo is cheap, it might not so cheap after tenso, unless you really love their stuff