The deal on some of those " Japanese " dealers that appeared on Amazon.com ...

A while ago, a lot of "Japanese" dealers seemed to suddenly appear on Amazon, selling via the third party route.

If you shop Amazon, you've probably seen these--when you seen one, you often see a bunch of them on the same title. Usually expensive titles that one would not expect to be available in large quantities in Japan (i.e. not Japanese issues).

Anyway, I was talking to someone who works...in "fraud prevention"...for Amazon and other etailers. We got to talking about seller scams, and I mentioned this one.

He laughed and said that the scam here is that they don't have the item. They will mark the item as shipped--no tracking number or else one that doesn't work.

Since the items are being shipped halfway across the world, the allowed arrival window is pretty long. Amazon won't investigate missing item claims--or allow you to open a case--until the window is passed. So the sellers don't actually ship anything and hope that by the time that window has passed--several weeks--you'll have forgotten about it. If you do, they keep the money. If you complain, they IMMEDIATELY refund the money with an apology about how they are so sorry, and things get lost in the mail.

He said Japan was a favorite origin for these scammers A) Because it's far away (long delivery window) and B) because Japan generally has one of the best reputations for reputable dealers.

He said that these guys can clear a LOT of money before getting closed down (and then they pop up again under a new name).

 

Strange, 1. how can you forget the albums you have purchased from Japan? 2. The Japanese delivery window is mostly very short: I recieve these sometimes even in just 3 (!) days! (when coming from my own Europe it's taking mostly much more time)

 

Only a small fraction of buyers probably forget. But you only need a small fraction to make good money when you're not stocking or selling anything. All you need is a computer terminal.

The Japanese delivery window is long, even though often a legit dealer will get it to you quickly. What matters is AMAZON'S delivery window, not how quickly it might actually get to you in a legit transaction.

 

Not to mention they probably make money by holding your money while the item is "in transit".

 

I have had items delivered from Japan in 3 days also. Almost all of the items I've purchased from there we're delivered 5 days max.

 

I dont know if this can be called a scam based on time alone as ive been dealing with a seller on discogs who sells out of japan and depending on shipping speed paid for my goods can take 11 days
https://www.discogs.com/user/Surface_Records nice guy anyone here ever deal with em

 

Negative interests rate in Japan

 

It seems like this happened to me. I ordered a Brian Eno set from Tokyo Zinshop on Feb13. Waited and waited for it until May12. Sent them a message through Amazon asking if it shipped?
They claimed it did, so I rechecked with my postman. Nope, hadn't seen it.
I asked the seller for their post tracking number?
They gave me a code, I check it with JP post office, it was bogus.
I asked the seller if they might recheck the tracking number because of possible typo...
They suggested the package got lost in the mail, but offered a full refund plus $1. I felt bad that they were out the product and we're kind to offer me a refund.
I told them to keep the dollar, but thank you for the refund.

Now, I think that the OP scam is most likely what happened here.

 

Took 5 weeks for an order to come from Japan on Discogs to Toronto so, can take a while.

 

Are these the ones that all have the same message "We are going to ship from Japan"? I believe I ordered something once from Japan and it got here relatively fast. I know Japanese and English translations are hard to do correctly but I would expect that since that same phrase pops up so often it's the same group.

 

they guy ive been dealing with happens be from mexico but lives and works in japan as a Latin dance instructor my first order i was weary i even posted about it here Thriller 35.8p.11 but it tuenwd out to be legit im still waiting on a copy of BAD 32.8p.200 and Dangerous ‎– ESCA 5500
not denying there are scams just saying time should not be a factor now if you have not gotten it after 2 weeks there is a issue always insist on registered mail at a 8 dollars

 

I ran into it again, but I thought that I was safe because I had recently ordered and received a Prince Cd through these guys with no problem.
I ordered in June and it hadn't arrived yet, so I sent out the email to ask if it shipped. They sent the reply below, and then immediately issued a refund.
Appreciate Kwadguy starting this thread.