Ordering Genki from amazon.jp in the US?

Hello! I’m trying to order Genki 1 + workbook and I was told to get it from amazon.jp (here) since it’s cheaper. Can I use my US Amazon account and ship to the US or is that not possible? The post I was reading made it sound like it was possible. If not, does anyone know where else I can get the 3rd edition?

Although I don’t live in the US the answer to your question is the same. You can’t use a US Amazon or UK Amazon account etc to order from Amazon Japan, you have to make a new, separate account with Amazon Japan.

You can change the language settings to English though to make it easier to navigate the website. I live in the UK and have a separate Amazon Japan account and have ordered from them multiple times with no issues.

Shipping can be expensive so keep an eye on that, maybe order some other books or bits and pieces that you would like to make it more cost effective.

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Also note that AFAIK right now Japan Airmail and EMS won’t ship to the US because of Covid. You would have to choose a separate shipping option if you wanted to ship from Japan.

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Ok, thanks for the heads up. Would you know of a better place to obtain Genki?

Probably just pay a little more on US Amazon. It will be cheaper than the current very expensive import options. Even under normal circumstances, shipping costs accounts for most (but not all) of the difference.

Can’t they ship with DHL? I’ve ordered stuff to Sweden recently and it came as quickly as always

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Shipping on amazon japan is actually not too bad even now. It looks like you can get it shipped for about $10 cheaper than the us version but it might depend if your bank charges you extra for conversion. Making an amazon japan account is easy and you can even use the same email as your us one if you want.

Sellers don’t always offer DHL services though.

I ordered some 3ds games from Yes!Japan that were supposed to arrive by the 17th of June, but they asked me to wait until mid July before contacting them again as regular international postage has been so delayed.

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Same here, all of my Amazon Japan orders have been sent with DHL. My most recent order was a few weeks ago and it arrived within 2-3 days of despatch.

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My last order from amazon.jp was ordered in early May and has yet to arrive. I also received a letter last week from Japan and it was sent in late April. :snail: :email:
But not everything has been slow either.

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Japan isnt currently shipping things to the US last I heard. You may want to make sure there are no coronavirus-related issues to keep you from getting your stuff.

They arent allowing visitors from the US, either, because our corona virus rates are still increasing.

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Time travel

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Japan is now shipping to most (if not all) of Europe, but the USA and Australia (where I am) are still no-go zones.

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Yea the whole ‘We are not mailing things to the US’ has really hit me hard. I have to mail in taxes becuase of how my state tax system is set up and I can’t mail in my forms. I also have to mail in information to manage a loan so it doesn’t get out of control. Of course right when I went to mail both of these out was when they stopped shipping things to the US.

I really hope they start shipping things soon so I can stop worrying about it.

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“since it’s cheaper”.

I hope you know there are more criteria in life than just a price, right?
like for example, supporting the local japanese bookshop is one other. Or paying taxes in the local country is another one, just say’ng. :roll_eyes:

You do realise that the price of imported Japanese goods are insanely overinflated in the western market, right? Aside from not being able to source more obscure material anywhere else, its one of the main reasons many of us buy JP media and entertainment direct from Japan.

In the UK I would pay around £56.70 for the newest edition of Genki I.
Importing from Japan - £29.95. Even with the current international postage charge it still only comes to £43.55.

Why would I want to dump a ton of money into the western economy for importing something produced elsewhere when I can order online for both a cheaper price and show appreciation to the country these goods originated from in the first place?

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Customs are a thing so this point is entirely irrelevant

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Last year, my mum hand-knitted me a hooded cardigan as a present and overestimated it’s value on the international postage form, so customs slugged me with import fees. For something made for me by my own mother, that I couldn’t have possibly purchased in the UK instead - or anywhere else for that matter :sweat_smile:

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Who cares about paying taxes anyway? Taxes are just a form of robbery.

I just looked at the OMG Japan website and saw this:

June 29th: We’ve added DHL Express shipping to the USA and Australia . USA and Australian customers are now able to checkout and ship via DHL. We’re working to add more countries soon. If you’re located in the USA and you have an unshipped package and would like to upgrade to DHL, please send us an email at help@omgjapan.com

@QuantumPie, OMG also sells Genki, if you haven’t ordered from anywhere yet…

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