Item Name: Love Live! Sunshine!! - Rubber Strap Kimi no Kokoro wa Kagayaiteru kai? 9 version pack box
Order date: May 5th, 2017
Initial Cost: 4,130 Yen
Shipping Method: EMS
Payment Method: PayPal
As of that date payment was not submitted yet. Basically you are putting in a request for the item before you pay for it. Also, the shipping amount is not included. Only the method.
May 6th: email received with shipping amount and total order cost. Also informed that I had until the 13th to submit payment or order will be canceled.
NB: they send payment reminders via email.
Payment submitted: May 9th, 2017
Shipping: 2, 000 Yen
Cost: 6, 130 Yen
NB2: Costs are in Yen/JPY
Item shipped: May 10th, 2017
Sadly, I lost all the pictures I had taken on my work phone of them. I will try to update this with actually images of the items sometime soon.
Pros:
+ International availability of items (a lot of the series I want to purchase merchandise from are 'Ship within Japan Only' so I'm really happy Love Live items can be shipped overseas)
+ Numerous Shipping methods/ Choices for Shipping Method
+ Large range of Merchandise
+/- User friendly site: this is an iffy for me as initial ventures to this site confused me to no end. But I have since gotten used to the site but still need to master it.
+/- Shipping time: honestly, I'm neutral on this. I don't go out of my way to get a purchase instantaneously nor at snail's pace. To get speedy shipping you gotten pay a bit while cheaper shipping is slower it is also risky due to company's not taking responsibility for lost packages and sometimes damaged packaging. As long as I can get my packages in 2 to 4 weeks from shipping date I'm cool.
Cons:
- Shipping fee initially unknown: this is the biggest annoyance for me. When you place an order, you only have an idea of the price of the item based on the Shipping Method page info they provide and/ info gained from previous purchases from AmiAmi or anything purchases from Asian merchandising sites.
- 'Shipping within Japan only' Availability: this one is something that I have no choice but to accept. That is just how the industry in Japan works. I know there are ways to order these types of items i.e. via proxy services or having someone with a Japanese address to order and ship them to you (personal/business requesting) but I'm personally not comfortable with those kind of services yet.
Overall Rating: Recommended
I would continue to order from AmiAmi for any Anime merchandise but I do suggest doing proper research on any and all (or as many you can find) anime merchandise selling store since each has their own pricing, shipping, range of products and international shipping availability.
If there is anything that you would like to know that I did not mention, don't hesitate to ask.
Hope this was helpful and has made your journey to ordering from AmiAmi easier.
Till next time!
Take care and May the Lord God keep you through 2018!
Chibi J