Sooo, holy crapnuggets. I just spent a small fortune on a big ol' box of plush happiness from my contact in Singapore. She e-mailed me saying that her arcades finally got the tiny feet big Nemuneko in stock, so of course I had to have one. I chose the white and brown, but then my husband exclaimed over the grey one, so I ended up getting that one, too, as a surprise gift for him. I also splurged on four (!) big Arpakasso. I got a winter-style, two strawberry series, and the elusive beige birthday boy.
Shipping was insane... more than USD50 >_< Suffice it to say that my budget has been smashed into tiny pieces.
Onward to (stock) pictures!
So, I already have the white boy and I got the beige <3
I got the white girl with the red polka dot earmuffs.
COME TO MAMA, TINY FEET KITTAHS!
I got A and C. I wasn't keen on this series at first but it grew on me.
I've ordered a few other cute things but I'll save those for another post after my wallet stops crying.
Ooooo, so exciting!!! I love the party arpakassos, I think they're one of my favourite series. Can't wait to see the unpacking pictures!
ReplyDeleteI love the party series, too! I am sooo stoked about getting the giant box! I feel sort of bad for our postal carrier, though, haha
DeleteOh goodness, alpacas, alpacas everywhere!
ReplyDeleteYour picks from the baby berry series are my two favorites from that series, haha. Actually, I just love most of the beige arpakasso! And I couldn't resist the little white with red ribbon guy when I saw him on YAJ!
It's a shame that international shipping is just so darned expensive; that's what kills me most of the time when I splurge on plushes. x_x Though I'm curious, are purchases from Singapore generally cheaper than those bought through YAJ/Japanese shopping services? I've only used the latter before, so I'm curious! But man, I'm glad you were able to get so many adorable alpacas!
I love the beige ones, too! They're so cute and usually have some of the cuter designs/accessories in a series, in my opinion :D
DeleteAs for cost comparisons, I guess it depends on the price you snag on YAJ or the fees for a ss. On YAJ or mbok I've seen some big plushes end at like 500~1000 yen and that's an awesome deal, obviously. But of course the shopping fees add up and then there is domestic shipping sometimes.
My big plushes from my Singapore lady have been SGD35-40 per plush, so like USD27~32. I don't think that's too bad. I ended up spending like $75 total on one of my big 50+cm plushes from Rakuten via Japonica Market. I gulped when I realized how much that was >_<
Shipping for bigger plushes from Singapore hasn't been too bad, either; I bought a big Nemuneko plush and shipping for just him was around SGD15, so that is really low (it was slow shipping, though, I think). This big box of six large plushes has a tracking number and even though it was pricy, I don't think it was unreasonable, especially since some eBay sellers charge like $20 economy shipping for one big Arpakasso.
I hope this helps! Thanks for stopping by! :D
I've gotten most of my plush from YAJ using shopping services (I'm fishcake on the arpakasso forums, haha, so you might've seen me ramble about some of them before), and indeed, many of the plushes end at low prices like that and usually come out to a decent price at the end, even with all the fees added on. I find that most eBay sellers charge very high prices - not just for the plush but for the shipping as well, like you've mentioned, so that's the only place I've stayed away from so far. xD
DeleteBut that's a very reasonable price for the large plush! o: The lowest I've spent is about 43 per plush in an order of 3, which is still a lot more than what you've paid. The shipping I feel was unreasonable in that experience that I had, so I'll have to watch out for coughing up too much for shipping in the future. >> But I'm with you, it's a lot of money, but when I see the giant alpaca sitting in the packing box I can't help but feel it's worth it, lol. I'm impressed that you snagged such a great deal - for six plushes, that's actually not a bad shipping price at all. I paid around $60 at the highest for just 3 (which is also why I'll never use Japamart again..even for EMS I think they overcharged on shipping. ;A; )
But thanks for giving me that info - I love kawaii blogs, so you'll probably see me lurking around... and I do hope your plush arrive soon so you can enjoy their pudgy alpaca cuddliness!
LOL, I was wondering if you were from the Arpakasso Forums! Yay! I have been slacking in terms of posting there the past couple of weeks >.< I received my contest prize (little Usazukin keychain in an Arpakasso hood :D) so I really should post a picture of it, at least.
DeleteThat sucks that you may have been overcharged :< It's always so difficult to tell with international orders since there is sometimes a language barrier.
Speaking of shopping services~I had heard of TaoBao through a member of the forums and decided to browse around on there one day. I found a Caltoy pig plush that I needed (haha) and an Arpakasso cell phone holder (not totally sure it's not a fake but it's cute and was reeeeally cheap so I am not really worried) and decided to try a Chinese shopping service (TaoBaoSpree). They have been super friendly and really fast. I paid $26 total for both plushes, domestic shipping, and the fee. I then paid about $40 for international shipping with tracking (registered airmail, I think, but it might have been bumped to EMS since it was 1.3kg. I can't remember the weight limits). I felt that the fees were extremely reasonable, though, and because the currency works in favor of the USD, I got both plushes for awesome prices. Again~for the hardcore collector, determining authenticity might be an issue, but it wasn't for me since I am not planning on selling my collection ;)
I have been too - I used to frequent it more often, but I'm busy with school currently. I feel bad since I promised a member that I'd write a guide (in which I attempted to be concise but failed, because I always just use too many words Dx), but haven't been able to finish that yet.
DeleteAnd yeah, the only thing I really dislike about shopping services, particularly when you're initially trying one out, is that there's no way to tell what the international shipping price will be. Sellers occasionally overcharge, even when you look at the rate tables, and price is usually higher than expected because of packing materials. The one service that I ended up adoring and that I feel charged a very reasonable shipping price is Noppin, which charged set me back about $25 in EMS shipping for 10(!) of the smaller (16cm) plush. They have reasonable fees to boot, but still, buying overseas is always expensive. Ah, darnit, why are there not more cute things around here? xD
I've recently come across some things on TaoBao as well - I was actually considering trying it out since I have Chinese relatives, who could probably hold the items for me until my family went over to visit them, haha. That is quite the awesome price, though - the good thing about Chinese products is that they're usually a lot cheaper, even though sometimes nonauthentic items are thrown in there. I don't mind either as long as the items are cute! xD I'm glad you were able to get a good deal on them - I love talking to other kawaii lovers and discussing different series and methods of attainment, haha.