I'm looking to get something I can't normally from Yahoo Japan Auctions, and I'm not sure Gerald does stuff anymore these days (I don't even know how to contact him anymore)...  I've searched the threads here and some people have used Shopping Mall Japan without complaint that I've seen... any thing I need to watch out for before using them?

Jerold is still around, I just did business with him less than a week ago.  His current email is jgllama ＠ mydestiny。net.  I tried SMJ a while ago because I liked the idea of having control over auctions and bidding at my convenience instead of relying on a middleman, but I don't like their system.  They require you to deposit money into a holding fund or something like that and then you use the funds out of that.  It was an extra layer I did not want to deal with.

If you choose to use Jerold, ask him what his current rates are.  I don't really care and just pay what he asks, but I know the added fees start to add up because it's intra-japan shipping + shipping to you + paypal fees + middleman fees.  All aside, I stand by Jerold for his service and availability.  A+++++++++++++++++.

~jb

I looked up his old fees, these are from 2006 so they are likely NOT ACCURATE.

38500 Winning bid
600 shipping within Japan
250 bank transfer fee
1000 fixed fee per auction
3850 10% of winning bid fee
44200 total

All said and done I think he is still cheaper than SMJ and other middleman services.

Much <3

Jerold's rates from January this year:
1800 Winning bid
250 bank fee
250 shipping Japan
1000 fixed per auction
180 10% of bid
139 fee for Paypal (since Paypal charges a fee for people to receive money)

3619 Total

I used to use Shopping Mall Japan, but Jerold is simply awesome.  There may be a little more delay than usual due to all of the earthquakes, which have affected Japan pretty heavily as a whole.

I believe intra-Japan shipping will vary as that's ultimately up to the auction seller, but good to know.  Thanks!

I love Shopping Mall Japan.  As of today I've done 46 successful transactions with them, never once had a problem.  Being able to bid on your own in real time is just amazing.  No waiting for another person to bid and you can literally have "bid wars" with other people if you need to, right up to the last minute.

Plus they're actually cheaper than Jerold (according to the prices raynebc listed).  SMJ's current price breakdown for that exact 1,800 yen auction would be:

1,800 yen final auction price = $21.57
Commission = $6.00
Wire fee = $3.00
Internal shipping (it varies as jb said, but I find it's usually between 300-600 yen, so let's take the average, 450 yen) = $5.39 (This price INCLUDES Japan->US shipping)
US->US shipping (their US warehouse to your US home address), I usually do Media Mail, which for this auction would be $2.50
Total: $38.46

Jerold's total from raynebc's post: 3,619 yen = $43.38

So you'd save $4.92 by going with SMJ on this particular auction AND you get to do the bidding yourself, in real time.  However, as jb said, SMJ does require a deposit.. but it doesn't work exactly how he explained.  What you do is deposit any amount of money (let's say $20) via PayPal.  They will multiply that amount by 5, giving you a bidding limit of $100.  Think of it as a security deposit.  I deposited $40 back in 2007 and I've done just fine with a $200 limit.  Plus, if I ever need to, I can put that $40 toward an auction and then just re-deposit in the future.

Thanks for your help guys.  Hopefully it all works out.

The advantage of using Jerold is you can give him a list and everything is taken care of.

You lose that advantage when using SMJ, since you must spend the time looking yourself.

I would recommend Jerold if you don't want to spend any of your time searching and SMJ if you want more control.

Funny coincidence for this topic to pop up. I just registered on Shopping Mall Japan myself yesterday. I haven't been looking on Japan Yahoo much in the last couple years, but I recently did and saw a promising auction. I though about contacting Jerold, but it's been several years. I only ever once completed a transaction with him, but there were several other instances in which I lost. After awhile, I started to feel like I must be annoying him. When I bid on auctions, I lose way more often than I win since I'm aiming for a good deal. The failed attempts don't bother me any, but it's just wasted time for someone who wants to complete a transaction and make some money. That's why I think I'm better off with something like Shopping Mall Japan. If any of the other middleman sites out there have a better rate, I'm all ears, though.

And I'm definitely going to be losing more often than not if I'm bidding on Japan Yahoo these days with this awful exchange rate, geez.