I order a lot of Japanese magazines and automobile accessories through Amazon Japan. And having ordered dozens of times from them, many people have asked me questions of “how I order from Amazon Japan?”, “how quick things take to get from Japan to the US?” and much more.
So, I decided to create this helpful post with tips for those who want to order from Amazon Japan:
STEP 1: Create an Amazon account on amazon.co.jp
STEP 2: Go to your account settings (you can compare with your regular Amazon.com to know which is which)
STEP 3: Change your language settings to English.
![[IMG]](https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8308/28398762093_119cc4d5df_z.jpg)
STEP 4: Ordering. For anyone who has traveled out of the country, it’s important to know that the majority of all banks and credit cards charge a small transaction fee. Unless you have a Charles Schwab, certain Citibank card that allows intl. purchase with no transaction fee, expect to see around $5-7 for $100 spent. If you spend $50, expect to see like a $1-$2 intl. transaction fee.
OK, so you are cool with paying a low intl. transaction fee…add your debit/credit card on Amazon JP like you would on Amazon.
Then start searching for products that you want and then make sure that the following message below shows. Because not all sellers will sell outside of Japan.
![[IMG]](https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8133/28911016812_17ca28d5c7_b.jpg)
OK, that’s it…place your order. An example is as follows…the total is: 3105 yen which is $30.91 US. They typically add $14-$17 for shipping. So, in this case, they added Y1694 ($16.86 for shipping from Japan to US).
And if you want to know the conversion, click here. 4799 yen is currently $47.74 US.
![[IMG]](https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8889/28983269916_4c6f54a206_c.jpg)
Remember…the heavier the product, the more cost on shipping. But I actually love Amazon Japan’s price compared to others places which have charged me over $75 on shipping (some with the gall after I paid everything including shipping to come back and asked me to pay even more money for shipping because they miscalculated weight – Amazon Japan never does this). I have never paid more than $50 for shipping and I ordered heavy products before.
STEP 5: DELIVERY
Amazon Japan ships sometimes faster than Amazon USA. Average shipping time from Japan to US is 2-4 days.
They will send you a tracking #.
They ship via DHL and although Japan says it will be delivered on a certain date, 9/10 from my experience, the shipments came the day before Amazon Japan’s delivery date.
Last but not least, because it’s DHL, a signature is required and if you are not home, they will attempt three times. BUT if you live in a safe neighborhood, you can put a paper on your front door with a message to DHL. I do the following:
DHL, please leave the following items (TRACKING # XXXXXX) on the front porch.
AND THEN YOUR SIGNATURE…
Track your DHL packages here.
Amazon Japan does pack their items very well. I have ordered from them several dozen times and never received any damage goods.
That is it and I hope this helps!
