How Japanese Proxies REALLY Work (JPFans Misinformation)
Last week, I had made a thread outlining why I thought JPFans was bad, and even called it a scam. This is me clearing up the misinformation I spread. I’ve also linked a PDF guide below on how these services actually work and how to order from them. You can use it for yourself, or pass it along to your viewers if you happen to be sponsored by them.
Shell Company:
They just aren't, their main headquarters is in Singapore and its an operating business entity as you can see bellow. It's not some shady money scheme like I had assumed and made it seemed like. They have a physical address and part of their operations, like freight transports arrangements, go through here.
Extortion Shipping Fees:
Again, this was just misinformation on my part because I didn't understand how proxy services worked. As a lot of people pointed out to me, shipping is calculated by volumetric weight (both the size and weight of the box). On top of that, carriers like UPS have strict limits on how long a box can be before the price starts jumping up exponentially.
To get the cheapest shipping option, your box needs to be under 55cm long. If you see that cheap option greyed out, it’s just because you ordered a bunch of items with larger packaging, which forced them to use a longer shipping box.
The good news is they are actively looking into less expensive shipping methods, since JPFans is essentially at the mercy of the courier services' rates.
No Cancellation or Refunds:
Because it's a proxy service, and JPFans buy items for you from other market places like Mercari Japan, Yahoo Japan, ect., and they are at the mercy of these companies' return and refund policies. If you want a refund, JPFans has to go and negotiate with the original seller or site, which usually doesn't work out. That's exactly why JPFans and honestly, every other proxy service out there, has the same strict policy.
Here is ZenMarket's policy for example:
To help with this, JPFans actually updated the wording on their own policy pages to make it much clearer and easier to understand.
Final Thoughts:
I really think creators and anyone accepting sponsorships from these services need to do two things: 1) educate themselves on how they work, and 2) educate their audience. A lot of people mentioned they were shocked by the final shipping costs simply because no one had ever explained the process to them. Hopefully, this post and the PDF below help clear things up (feel free to share the guide around).
Lastly, just remember that even if an ad claims a site is the "CHEAPEST" place to buy action figures, you still need to do your own research before buying into the hype. Creators also need to do a better job of not misleading their audience into thinking they’re going to get figures for dirt cheap through a proxy.
Anyway, I just wanted to apologize and clear the air. Hope this helps!
New Video explaining all of this: https://youtu.be/Yc-IlJnZXCM?si=APXDYoR1mwIh1VTK
PDF file you can download: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uke7QCr9xConAqrtMnwz94iVfpOwatnC/view?usp=sharing