A few weeks ago I was complaining about not having any clothes to wear, and asked for suggestions on how to order from o/s. It started out with me wanting some maternity clothes, so I looked on "motherhood" and while they ship internationally, the shipping cost is determined by the cost of the clothes you buy, so up to $100 costs $55 to ship. We have also bought stuff from REI in the past, and they have the same shipping pricing policy. The only problem with REI is that they wont ship certain brands to Japan. This is probably because the retail price in the US is often half if not less what you pay in Japan for EXACTLY the same items.
Anyway, Illahee suggested Expat Express (thanks!), so I tried them out, and I have to say that I was pretty impressed. You do all your online shopping as normal, pay by your own credit card, and get the items shipped to their US address. You can buy from as many stores as you want, Expat Express will re-pack everything into one box and send it to you in Japan, with the shipping price based on WEIGHT.
This time I bought from Old Navy, Motherhood (cheap and comfortable maternity tees and hoodies, and some cute long sleeved shirts for K) and also from REI (3 pairs of shoes!!!, one for me, 2 for J, and some camping equipment for J). I also ordered a pair of room pants for me, but not knowing American sizes, I messed up and ordered way too big. But I guess that is the risk of buying online. The shirts all fit perfectly, and shoes, I already had the same shoes so just ordered the same sizes and no problems there.
Expat Express charged a flat rate of $15 for each order, then $1 extra for every item over 10items, so for 20 items, we payed $26 handling. The shipping was a mere $47.87, so I think it worked out pretty cheap! We had to pay the customs fees when the box arrived, as COD to the shipping company, which was a bit of a bummer (as sometimes in the past, it has been hit and miss, and we have gotten away without having to pay these fees in some cases) but it was only 10% of the entire order, which I think still worked out cheaper than if we had have tried to buy through each store individually.
If you are looking at buying a few different things, from different shops, I would recommend Expat Express. From the time I ordered until everything arrived only took 2 weeks - a week or so for each shop to send to the US address, then as soon as the last item had arrived, Expat Express shipped it out to us straight away, and it was here in 6 days.
All in all a happy shopping experience! I can see my credit card getting a work out in the future like this...
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
Expat Express
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Thanks for that I am sure it will come in handy for future purchases. I can't buy shoes here at all so usually stock up when I go home (but that isn't happening in the near future) so I am constantly looking for places to buy shoes.
ReplyDeleteI usually buy from Ezibuy and have my parents ship it if it is small or pay the $40 delivery and have them do it. The advantage there is they are the opposite seasons to us so I can usually buy everything VERY cheap.
Here's happy shopping to all of us!!!
Ooh glad that you could get some maternity clothes and lots of other fun stuff! I am a bit of a shopaholic so it would probably be dangerous for me to check out. I thought being pregnant would stop me from buying clothes but I keep finding all these long tops and think oh yes I will wear these even when I'm not pregnant and buy them. I probably won't be caught dead in them!
ReplyDeleteHow are you feeling? I am 20 weeks tomorrow and feel really good. Lots of the tiredness seem to be gone but unfortunately can't say the same about my appetite :-)
that's great! glad you had a positive experience, i really should order something from 'the mall' myself!
ReplyDeleteChecking out expat express sounds like it could be a pretty dangerous thing for me.... oh well to be honest, for Naoki's credit card, lol!!
ReplyDeleteGlad that you were able to get some maternity clothes (and all the other stuff as well!!). I went to Shimamura on the weekend and got myself a couple of XXL long sleeved shirts because I am sick of my tummy getting cold, lol!
yep, it is definately dangerous, use at own risk!! I might have to hide my own credit card for a while so I don't buy up again! lol.
ReplyDeleteI also had a quick look at Akachan Honpo recently - their maternity and nursing stuff seems a lot better this year than it has been in the past. And I bought some fleecy pants and around the house pants from UniQlo too, there stuff in bigger or mens sizes is good to get me through! I just really wanted some non-Japanese style clothes to brighten up my wardrobe and my mood, so I tried the US stores.
achan: That Ezibuy site looks good, and cheap! I always thought that shipping from home (oz) is so much more expensive, though. I do like how the seasons are opposite - my family often get good bargains for us that way too!
nikintheguch: wow, I am coming up to 19 weeks - how fast is that!! Have lost the fatigue and cravings, and am pretty much feeling "normal". Apart from lots of peeing, and not very comfortable sleeping. Could almost forget I am pregnant....