I have a complete G1 MP Season 1 Autobot crew, but I need a better Hound. Count me in.

(I also need a better Trailbreaker, Cliffjumper, and Gears, but I'm patient.)

 

I’m looking at hound on AJ and it says ¥14,625 but below that, it says ¥14,100. Which price am getting and how can I be sure that I’m buying either from TT or AJ?

 

I’m having similar issues decoding AJ for BB and Blackarachnia

 

It’s not that TT is using Amazon as a proxy site, it’s Amazon you’re actually buying from. No worries on that part. As for the price increase, that’s either the various options for buyers that Amazon always has, or they’re adding in a local Japanese sales tax that’ll get removed in the final checkout.

 

What about Blackarachnia? I can’t tell which buyer is amazon jp. Her page doesn’t look the same as the others.

 

Looking at her listing myself, it’s all proxy sellers. Looks like Amazon JP itself has sold out of her. Hound is definitely in stock though. It’s giving me a one-click preorder option, which BA doesn’t have.

 

Ah so that’s what’s happening. Any chance she’ll get restocked?

 

As far as I know, it could go either way. Frankly I’m surprised she’s sold out when Hound isn’t, but she is a femme fatale and I suppose more popular as a BW character than Hound is as a G1. Sorry I can’t help ya there.

 

Was curious about the price and went to check on my phone... the ¥14,625 price is from Amazon directly. There's a seller that has it for the lower price of ¥14,100, but they may not ship it to you. It specifically says that free shipping to Kanto region only.

Also like Prime of Shadows mentioned, when you do check out, the price for the figure should come down to about ¥13542 as you don't have to pay the 8% tax. But then you tack on ¥1,200 for shipping and 10-12% in Canadian taxes (import fees deposit is the line item for AJ).

 

I should get that 10-12% import deposit back though yea? I shouldn’t be paying import fees for a toy, if I understand correctly.

 

Sorry, but ya do. Just ask @Sam in Ireland.

 

That’s odd. Why would I pay import fees when ordering from AJ when I don’t have to when ordering from other sites like NY or HLJ?

 

The 10-12% is the sales tax (depending on your province's HST or PST/GST) you're paying on the item when importing into Canada. No duty. The term "import fees deposit" is the line item that you'll see on your Amazon invoice. You might get a few yen back off your deposit now and again. I think I got back ¥38 once... hurray 45 cents!

 

Dang, it’s always the taxes that get ya

 

Next time you order from NY or HLJ, check how much they've declared the item on their import declaration... if they're under reporting, say around $20, then you won't get taxed.

The worst is AmiAmi... they use DHL, declare the full amount, but don't pay for the brokerage fees. So you have to pay DHL $10-15 (can't recall) or get your own import broker to deal with paying the taxes.

 

Yeah, they declared MP44 at ¥2,100

 

I wanna pick up my MP-44 for 2100 yen

 

Just wait until they check the package contents at the border... Here in The Netherlands you'll still have to pay all the fees and you'll get a penalty on top of that. I'd rather pay a bit more and be risk free with Amazon Japan. Also, if there is a defect, like with my MP-44, I can return it for free to Amazon Japan, whereas with NY or AE for example you'll have to pay for the return shipping yourself. For cheaper Masterpieces I choose AE (never again NY, as they're very unfriendly if you have an issue) and I take the risk of getting caught and the risk of getting a defective item which I can't return then, but for more expensive items such as MP-44, Amazon Japan it is for me.

 

We still don’t know what’s up with Hound's big rifle, do we?

 

I'd always risk dealing with a defective item rather than paying exorbitant import fees. My MP-44 arrived yesterday, the total with shipping was 41850 JPY (about 350 EUR) from Nippon Yasan. If they had it declared full value, I would have paid another 110 EUR in import fees. Thanks to them marking it down for customs, I only paid 3 EUR for the customs check. If one in 4-5 figures has an issue and I have to rebuy it, I'm still ahead - and my figures rarely have issues that would cause me to rebuy them.