anyone used importmonster???

[bratwurst_boy]

hey guys, i've been looking at import monster (they buy from yahoo auctions japan) for the last half hour for parts and i've come across a facelift bumper which i desperately need. so i was just wondering if anyone has used them, or know of somewhere or someone who could get me a bumper cheaper. if it stays at its current price it will be $390 delivered to my door.

oh yeah heres a linky to the bumper.

http://www.importmonster.com.au/vie...mb-119510629769371.jpg&title=LEGNUM EC5W VR 4


cheers
dan

 

[VR-04-TT]

I have an account with them, but haven't used them yet. They are quite reputable from what I have been told.

 

[Kristian]

No but I find their ads really funny lol

 

[Guest]

I also have an account and have gone as far as putting my into the account, haven't actually bought anything yet though

Heard some pretty decent things about them, and so far it the process has been seamless, large range of items too.

 

[leebutts]

I've browsed their site, however because they are based in AU there's 10% GST to pay on top of their commission so I found the total price on most things pretty expensive.

Snickells posted a thread about a contact he has in Japan who can buy on your behalf from Yahoo Japan for a much smaller fee. I've spoken with him and he is very friendly and good to deal with.

So find the item via ImportMonster then give our man in Japan a shout

cheers

Lee

 

[Guest]

Hello gents, nice to see your forum taking off. Ex-GTO driver here, although I have an Aristo now as I needed a 4 door.

I've browsed their site, however because they are based in AU there's 10% GST to pay on top of their commission so I found the total price on most things pretty expensive.

Snickells posted a thread about a contact he has in Japan who can buy on your behalf from Yahoo Japan for a much smaller fee. I've spoken with him and he is very friendly and good to deal with.

So find the item via ImportMonster then give our man in Japan a shout

cheers

Lee

Yes we are an Australian business so we have to charge Aussie's GST. Probably explains why the site has been so popular in other countries though!

We understand there are other operators who offer Yahoo purchasing, and we take nothing away from them, some people do it just to help mates out, others as a hobby, however remember that:

Import Monster
- has full time staff in Australia & Japan, this is not a hobby!
- website allows you to bid yourself in real time 24/7 (so you can make list minute bids at 11pm!)
- has a real time watch list
- manned help desk running 8am - 11pm 7 days a week (quite often a lot later than that too!)
- all staff are guaranteed car nuts, we generally can help with searching for items, suitability of parts for your application, etc (llike dorifto-ex above, hardcore onevia boi!)
- has buyer protection on every item you buy
- has a retail outlet in Melbourne where you can come and meet us in the flesh, get an in-person demo of the site
- run containers into Australia once a month (frequency building FAST)
- charges shipping at cost, no shipping mark ups, all fees are 100% transparent (so it NOT possible for others to ship for less than us, however it is possible their commission may be less)
- offers combined freight. We store your items in our Japanese warehouse for combined EMS freight, or store in Melbourne for combined Aussie courier, quite often saving people 30% on freight
- credit card facilities in case you need to grab something & pay it off

If anybody has any questions about the site we welcome you to drop in, email, call for a chat, we love cars as much as you

 

[Guest]

i have an account and i have delt with aaron and i dont have anything bad to say bout them..

 

[Guest]

The best thing about Yahoo Japan auctions is the range. Somebody called me the other day who had a broken transfer case in a 1991 GTO. He had called everywhere to try and track one down, and was thinking that his only choice was to call Mitsu Australia and ask them how much it would cost to buy a brand new one, complete.

On Yahoo I was able to find 5 of them, two of which were for a series 1 TT GTO.

 

[dimi_108]

An old thread i'm reviving. I'm looking to purchase a set of wheels from Japan. I'm looking at doing this through Import Monster. I enjoy the site as it's easy to browse and view things.
Has anyone else dealt with them?
Their customer service has been very good so far.

 

[Guest]

I bought my springs through them, process was easy and well informed. Shipping was pretty good to, considering it had to go from the seller to the IM depot to my house (took 2 weeks shipped via EMS). Will definitely use again if the dollar wasn't so bad. A set of wheels could end up expensive, I'm guessing your getting them sent in the container?

 

[dimi_108]

Cool.
That's right. I'll have to get them sent via container. EMS is way too expensive. The total almost ends up triple the price of the wheels if done through EMS

 

[Guest]

Thats the unfortunate thing, the shipping prices are pretty expensive, before the dollar dropped they weren't too bad because they was HUGE savings on the product that you were buying making the total cost reasonable, not anymore.

Also, I think they have a rule somewhere to saying that if the rims are by themselves they can be shipped via EMS, but if they have tyres around them they can only be sent by Sea Container. Meh, as you said, shipping wheels by EMS is too much anyway, just depends how desperate you are

 

[Guest]

Hi Guys,

We understand that international shipping can be expensive, that's why we charge it at cost, no mark-up or loading at all.

Although the Aussie dollar to Yen rate is not as good right now as it has been, we've seen many items go for far less at auction, because there is less competition at present, so many items are now cheaper to buy, even with the lower exchange rate.

Keep an eye on our site for some significant changes / announcements on 1/12/08 - our 1st birthday.

 

[Guest]

That's similar to what the Iron Chef was saying in one of his recent updates (need to be on his Mailing List).

In recent times, not only has the Aussie dollar taken a dive - virtually all the currencies of Japan's major exporting countries have all taken a hit against the yen. So suddenly, importers from other countries can't afford to pay the prices they used to. Guess what's happening now? The prices of cars at auction in Japan are starting to tumble to compensate, and FINALLY, we are starting to see some of the more popular export cars being sold at prices much closer to what they really should be worth.

Looking forward to the changes Daniel

 

[Hotwire]

Daniel - I have seen items re-listed quite a few times. Can you ever offer lower than what they list them for?

 

[Guest]

esemte - Yeah the car guys would be finding that too. The dust will settle from this financial bizzo soon enough, local stocks will dry up then it will be back to normal.

Daniel - I have seen items re-listed quite a few times. Can you ever offer lower than what they list them for?

The Yahoo system does not allow this, however we are always happy to contact the sellers to ask. It depends on how desperate they are to get rid of something, some of them are happy to let the items re-list over and over, Yahoo do not charge you every time you list something, so the sellers generally let stuff re-list over and over again.

 

[dimi_108]

Okay, is this a mistake? I was thinking of trying to bid for a $5 magazine. When i chose to calculate costs, the total was $128? Wtf

 

[Hotwire]

Nope that is right, if you look at the cost breakdown
Magazine 500yen = $8.35
Jap Freight (to their shipping point) 1200 yen = $20
Their Fee 2500 yen = $42
International Freight 3000yen = $50
Total is approx $120,
then GST in Australia,
$132

Importing ANYTHING through them gets pricy just from their fee and their local shipping, HOWEVER in japan their is no other option as sellers dont sell to people outside of Japan.

 

[Guest]

Okay, is this a mistake? I was thinking of trying to bid for a $5 magazine. When i chose to calculate costs, the total was $128? Wtf

Hello,

The magzine wont cost you that

What we do is estimate you what freight *might* cost, and we have 6 categories to choose from. Category A (which is the smallest category) is overkill for magazines, so the estimate you get is over.

As per my posts above, we charge freight at cost. We estimate you what we think it could be, but only charge you the actual cost, and refund you the difference.

We take on board that the current category A does not cater for small items such as magazines, and this will be solved by the introduction of a new category specifically for magazines & DVD. This will be available in the latest website update released 1/12/08 to coincide with a range of other features we are adding to the site as part of our "1st Birthday" celebrations.

But lets take the given example:

Magazine 500yen = $8.35
Correct

Jap Freight (to their shipping point) 1200 yen = $20
This would likely be under $5, once we know how much the seller will charge us to ship to our local shipping point we refund you the difference.

Their Fee 2500 yen = $42
As of 1/12/08 this will be 1000Y or $16
For this we run staff in two countries, a help desk 8am-10pm 7 days a week, factories in two countries, and a super-slick website This is the ONLY place we make money, freight is at cost. But as of 1/12/08 this new category will reduce this fee for small items such as this.

International Freight 3000yen = $50
Would likely be $20, you can check the Japan Post EMS costs here:
http://www.post.japanpost.jp/english/fee/intel/ems.html

Total is approx $120,
then GST in Australia,
$132
Revised total $49.35ex, or just under $55 for Aussies.

So yes, a ~$10 mag or DVD can end up costing a lot more, but if you have a look above you can see how the price is made up, and all the various process your magazine must go through in order to arrive at your door step. Also, for small things you should bundle a few items together, to reduce your shipping costs. People who bundle freight often save 30% on freight costs

So no, you wont use us to buy brake pads or something else that you can easily grab locally. But yes you will use us for stuff that just isn't available in Australia

 

[SiliconAngel]

There are ALWAYS options, Lee