http://global.rakuten.com/en/

Just wondering if anyone here has tried it yet, and if so, what are your impressions of the service.

It's hard to find out what the actual cost of having an item shipped *is.* I guess part of the problem stems from having 30,000-odd stores on the market, but it's kind of a mess in that regard. It's hard to know how many little fees I would get charged if I bought anything on there and had it shipped to the US. They also have a "Buy a bunch of stuff from a bunch of different stores and just use TENSO instead" service, but TENSO is expensive.

Also you have to check every store to figure out whether they will a) accept your foreign money or b) deliver to your far away land. Oof.

A long time ago, I used White Rabbit Express twice.

I've had them purchase music CDs and an electronic
dictionary in Japan for me and ship it to the US.

http://whiterabbitexpress.com/

While Rakuten isn't really this, White Rabbit Express is.

These are called "Deputy Services" and there are tons of them.

Yeah, I wasn't thinking about a deputy service. I'm only thinking of ordering from one merchant on Rakuten's Global Market and having *them* ship it.

I was just wondering what, generally, have been folks on the board's experiences with Rakuten's Global Market. I generally avoid deputy services, because they charge way too much in fee after fee after fee.

This looks interesting, and answers my question... sort of:

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/business/T120415002652.htm

Quote:Rakuten, Inc., one of Japan's major Internet retailers, and Japan Post Group's Japan Post Holdings Co. plan to form an alliance to launch an international e-commerce service, it has been learned.

The partnership aims to expand business in the field by creating a system that would enable Rakuten shops to easily deliver goods internationally at a low cost.

The two companies plan to design a system on Rakuten's website to automatically create the shipping forms and other necessary documents for international mail-orders to clear customs.

This new system will provide a hassle-free way for Rakuten shop operators to start selling internationally. All they will have to do is print out the documents created on the website before delivery.

A registered airmail packet, a small packing envelope known as an international e-packet, will be used in the new system. Shipping costs for this item are 20 to 30 percent cheaper than regular charges.

Currently, animation-related goods and antiques are popular among foreign customers buying online. However, orders for houseware and other items are expected to increase in the future.

Rakuten President Hiroshi Mikitani said the company "aims to achieve 10 trillion yen in terms of distribution by boosting international transactions."

If I remember correctly, if a store on Rakuten does ship overseas, they only offer EMS shipping to do so, at least currently. You can get a rough idea of how much the shipping will cost, using the chart here, but as a note you'll need to take into account packaging weight as well:
http://www.post.japanpost.jp/english/fee/intel/ems.html

Aside from shipping and the cost of the items themselves, you may be charged a relatively small handling fee, but it's pretty negligible. (182Y on a 3,638Y order for instance)
I've generally had a decent enough experience with Rakuten outside of the stores occasionally messaging me sometime later canceling the order without giving a reason,but that's more something to do with the individual shops than the service as whole, I'm sure.

As for checking each store individually, I believe there's a box you can check while searching that will filter out stores that won't ship to what you've set the country of your shipping address to. I'm not sure if this only appears if you've made an account or not though.

Thanks for the info!