Shopping Mall Japan has two offices. One in Tokyo, Japan and the other in Trail Creek, Indiana USA. We offer storage and shipping from both locations.
North American Customers (USA and Canada only)
By default your items will take advantage of our batch shipping process.
A "batch shippment" is where your items and others from a multitude of customers are combined into one large Express Mail batch in Japan and then sent to the USA for storage. By "hitching a ride" with other customers items this has the potential to greatly reduce your overall shipping costs.
But some items do not benefit from batch shipping depending on their size and weight. In general any items over 3kg in weight benefit little from the batch. Our shipping staff in Tokyo will make this determination and if direct shipping is the better option they will be sent direct to you from Japan.
International Customers (outside North America)
Your items will be stored and shipped from the Tokyo office as normal.
Combine Shipping Automaticly
We automatically
combine shipping fees AND wire fees when you purchase auctions
from the same seller if we are able! So if you buy multiple
items from the same seller, we may be able to combine all
the shipping fees into one lower sum and only have to pay
a single wire fee. Please keep in mind that we can't ask a
seller to hold items or delay payment because you want to buy more. We can
only combine what the sellers allows us to. Rule of thumb is that auctions that end the same day can almost always be combined.
Internal Shipping Explained
You will notice on your invoices an "internal shipping" charge. This is the shipping cost to get the item from the seller or website to the appropriate storage facility. For example, internal shipping for customers that have items being stored at the USA office will include all the charges from:
The Seller ----to---- SMJ Japan storage ----to---- SMJ USA storage
International customers items will simply stop at SMJ Japan for storage.
USPS homepage for North American shipping rates and tracking.
Japan
Post homepage for Japanese shipping rates and tracking.
Requesting a Shippment
Items are generally stored at one of our offices untill you fill out the shipping request form. This allows you to stock up and ship multiple items at the same time. Our professional shippers will repack your goods from the original packing from the seller into a larger combined package. This practice can save you a large sum of shipping costs. The more you stock up and combine, the more you'll save in the long run. †
Auto-Shippments (from Japan only)
Sometimes it is necessary to ship your goods without warning. This may be due to the item itself, a large accumulation of items that must be moved, shipping restrictions due to the nature of the item, you have gone past the storage limit detailed in the Storage System page, or other unique circumstances that may lead to one. These packages are normally sent via EMS or another service that our shipping staff finds reasonable, however; if you want another form of shipping to be used by default contact us with your choice of EMS, Parcel Post (SAL-air), or SEA. Our shipping staff always keeps the security and value of your items as the highest priority and will determine the auto-shipping method accordingly.
To avoid common auto-shippments be sure to request your items before the storage limit is up. Also, be mindful of the quantity of goods you have stocked up and the room they potentially take up. Or, if you're like many of our customers, simply allow the items to be auto-shipped on a regular basis with no effort from yourselves.
Special Item Shipping (from Japan only)
SMJ recieves a large and unique array of goods on a daily basis. Some of which need extra special care, attention, and shipping. We do not charge extra for such items unless they require a unique or uncommon sized shipping container. In such cases we will charge for the cost of the box / container in order to safely ship your goods. Such items include large instruments like guitars, some sporting equipment, many automotive parts, and large electronics. You will only be charged what we have to pay for the container and it will be rolled into your shipping invoices.
Heavy
items are not cheap to ship: Please keep this in
mind when planning to bid on something large and heavy. The most common
shipping "banes" are printed material, and automotive items. Always be mindful to avoid a surprising shipping cost.
†
Only items stored at the USA facility can be held for up to
3 months. Japanese stoarge time limit is 1 month. Items left over that time whether paid, partially paid for, or
not paid may be considered abandoned and become the sole property
of Anime Chaos / SMJ. Items in the USA may be stored for longer periords of time
if proper arrangements are made.
