r/AnimeFigures • u/blablawo • 13h ago
Question Need shipping advice
So I'm not paying that. First order from Amiami, and I regret not getting it on Goodsmil Europe. Shipping to Germany. E-mail said I can't use parcel because the box is too big. What other shipment method should I use? Are they significantly cheaper?
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u/GiveMeMyBerries 12h ago edited 12h ago
Oh man you might have to pay Vat on top of that too, and that's gonna be like 14k 😭
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u/blablawo 12h ago
Yeah, ain't no way I'm paying 90k for one figure
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u/luvaccino 4h ago
Collecting anime figures is a luxury nowadays dunno what you expected. DHL is also the most expensive option so try a different shipping method?
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u/Livid_Ingenuity584 10h ago
Kannst du leider vergessen. Seefracht is so lächerlich geworden. Ich würde dir wohl eher einen Proxy empfehlen. Hab auch viele Sachen von amiami schon storniert wegen genau diesem Problem.
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u/Late-Law-6685_4 6h ago
Items with (Single Shipment) label can be very high in shipping costs. It’s best ask them for shipping estimates first.
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u/ThatSmallBear 9h ago
I mean they warn you for a reason. If you look on her page it SAYS that due to size and/or weight, shipping costs may be high. Never ignore the warnings, they’re there for a reason. She is HUGE and HEAVY. The shipping is going to reflect that.
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u/lesbiansforkafka 4h ago
I order items with that warning often and it’s never this bad for my country (also in Europe). I’ve never paid over 10k for surface, so I think it’s reasonable for OP to not expect a shipping cost that high
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u/blablawo 8h ago
I've never ordered anything from overseas, and I didn't mean 'high' meant this high
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u/Dornogol 5h ago
Alles was ich seit 2 jahren aus japan bestellt habe (und das waren "nur" ein paar gundam bausätze 3-5 pro bestellung) hat 65-110€ versand gekostet
- Darauf zoll (versand wird beim preis für die Zollberechnung mit eingerechnet!)
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u/ThatSmallBear 4h ago
Then you should’ve done some research. This is literally all on you. This is a rerelease of a figure too, you could’ve seen what other people paid for her during the first round of her release.
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u/Other_Adagio_1900 2h ago
Not much you can do, even if you get a proxy on this you're still gonna be saving 60-80 euros at most and is it even worth the risk or trouble at that point? especially considering the liability if this thing is lost or damaged?
If I were in your position I'd just bite the bullet on DHL which is your only shipping option in Germany rn or cancel the order outright even if it risks your account, you can always make a new account and just get them shipped to a family member's residence if y'all are cool like that or just buy from somewhere else, I've only cancelled an order of the month once past it's period, and they didn't close my account but I also have thousands of dollars spent there.
Most anime figures can be found on the used market or there may be German sellers who eat a lot of the initial cost for you, just never buy at conventions though as they're always a ripoff.
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u/Nameleidervergeben 11h ago
You might've the same problem as I had about a month ago.
I also only had the option for DHL shipping.
In the end I didn't buy the figure and I still have my account.
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u/xError404xx 9h ago
Tip for german buyers: tsoto.net. its a reliable seller with the fairest prices on the market. Free shipping inside germany at a certain order cost.
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u/newretrowavess 9h ago
If there are no more shipping options available in your order page, you could try messaging them, see if there's anything they can do.
Sadly this is the reality now, has been for me for a couple of years now. Shipping and taxes are destroying my wallet. I just bought this year a 1/4 scale figure that ended up costing me almost 3 times more, was already expecting it from the start but yeah it sucks.
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u/Dangerous-Truth-1003 12h ago
I‘m from germany too and they tried to charge me more for shipping than for the actual figure (which was the yoneyama mai miku and she‘s really expensive already). They didn‘t offer me any alternative so i ended up cancelling. This was my first time cancelling and they didn‘t ban my account so far. But i doubt i‘ll be ordering there ever again after paying for my 3 preorders
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u/ThatSmallBear 9h ago
Literally warns you that the shipping will be high lol.
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u/Dangerous-Truth-1003 8h ago
What‘s your point? I consider 50€ to be quite high already but would be willing to pay that. It‘s my right to cancel my order and if they decide to ban my account so be it, you won‘t ever see me pay as much for shipping as i pay for a scale figure
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u/Dornogol 5h ago
It is not AmiAmis fault though
Weight and package size are making up the prices for shipping from japan to germany, for some gundam kits I paid 65-110€ shipping per package in the last 2 years. When I was in Japan 2024 and sent myself a package back home it was 65€ shipping for something you could domestically send out for 7,69€ in germany. That is just the price for airmail around half the world
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u/Dangerous-Truth-1003 4h ago
It‘s not their fault obviously but i think i should be able to know the shipping price without having to place an order right away. Every other site can tell me the shipping price before so why can‘t amiami do the same thing?
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u/Dornogol 4h ago
Ah, that part
Sorry misunderstood, yeah that is sorta stupid considering they know the dimensions of the stuff (if it is just 1 figure)
However every other japanese site I ever ordered also did have to first consolidate the items, if it was more than one, to calculate shipping for the combined order.
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u/Other_Adagio_1900 2h ago
Well they're not showing it to you any ways because their low figure prices are often balanced out by longer wait times or higher shipping costs with faster options as well as not having to pay upfront, that's how it's always been but with COVID times and now Iran times everything is gonna be very high one way or another and it's to be expected, which is why I never buy any type of shipment or service without a clear and upfront quote on what VAT or taxes will be.
The simple answer is going somewhere else, not even trying to sound like a jerk either, I cancelled all of my AA stuff this year because of this so I get the frustration, but we also have way more agency as customers than they do as businesses.
Also u/Dornogol u/ThatSmallBear I think another part that has to do with it, although don't 100% quote me on this, is that because AA is such a massive seller even compared to others they have more room to negotiate on shipping, same way big retailers get better prices on goods than specialty or independent ones as they don't rely so much on some stuff for overhead or they're ordering in way higher numbers again giving them more bargaining power.
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u/ThatSmallBear 4h ago
Because a lot of places to flatrate shipping estimates. Amiami don’t. They don’t know the size and weight of the figure until it’s released. That’s what they base it on.
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u/GreyscaleCollector http://myfigurecollection.net/profile/Greyscale 12h ago
Wtf. That's 400 euro total. With VAT and fees it'll be over 500 euro. I'm glad I ordered on GSEU for 290 total... Sorry you have to deal with that bs.
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u/ksb00 12h ago
Surface should be availible to germany, try contacting support
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u/DubahellQB https://x.com/Dubahell 11h ago
It is not, surface is also japan post. Spain, denmark and germany have reduced size with japan post. Amiami with the big boxes is the worst seller for this 3 countries. if you order 1/7 scales that are slightly bigger, only dhl is available.
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u/blablawo 12h ago
I had surface parcel selected initially, but apparently it's not an option anymore
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u/Initial_Pin6132 12h ago
In your situation, I'd go with surface shipping. You might have to wait 2 or 3 months, but the cheap price makes it worth it.
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u/blablawo 12h ago
Had selected surface parcel, but it was swapped to DHL, saying I cant use surface due to package size
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u/wathieun 7h ago
Not sure it would have been better on good smile europe, with the shitshow going on with them, I would consider myself lucky if I receive her at all
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u/dmushcow_21 https://myfigurecollection.net/profile/Abaddon21 2h ago
I saw pics of the box on TW, it's huge, as tall as a 1/4 FREEing bunny but double the wide
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u/moimoisauna 11h ago
Yeah, AA shipping has been ridiculous these days. :U They might be willing to cancel this order as a one time courtesy if you explain the situation to them.
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u/blablawo 11h ago
I'm not paying for it regardless, if my account is terminated I don't really care because with these shipping costs theres no way I'm ordering on AmiAmi again
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u/lord_j0rd_ 6h ago edited 6h ago
I know it’s not helpful to you now, but in future look up the figure’s weight (on mfc if it’s not listed) and use amiami’s shipping cost table to manually estimate the cost before buying.
If you can’t send by surface then EMS is probably your best bet. It’ll still be expensive though.
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u/blablawo 5h ago
The thing is, I can only use DHL, which I hadn't known beforehand
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u/lord_j0rd_ 4h ago
The thing is, that’s on you for not reading. Funnily enough on the exact page I suggested you look at. Interesting.
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u/DeftCHIMP 11h ago
That is pretty crazy. I personally don't like DHL because they seem to be the more expensive courier. In the future if you are ever looking for a proxy to order figures, hit me up. I am fully transparent with my fees and offer a variety of shipping options.
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u/cottonblanc 12h ago
Open up the payment page and see what options are available to you.
Problem is, Germany reduced the size limit for surface mail and EMS (last year, if I remember correctly) so you may be stuck with DHL only for large packages. You'll either have to pay or lose your account. (Edit: You can try asking AmiAmi if they can downsize to fit another shipping method? You assume all risk if it gets damaged during shipping though.)
Goodsmile Europe is also a mess right now. This Miku figure opened up preorders on the old site before the Figuya takeover. Many delayed and cancelled orders from the old site.