rinkya speed?

[zakk]

Can any of you mainlander USians who use Rinkya comment on the shipping speed?

I've been using SMJ, but I'm starting to realize they're horribly slow. I have two auctions I won 10 days ago that they haven't even bothered to invoice me for yet, both of which are sitting in US storage (one that has been for a few days now.)

So is Rinkya any faster?

[EOJ]

Rinkya has been pretty fast for me. They tell you the day the item arrives from the JP seller, and usually ship it out the day you send payment. The last couple kits I got through Rinkya arrived at my place 5-7 days after the end of the auction. Pretty damn good!

[Elixir]

Personally, I wasn't a fan of their fees. They're overly expensive in comparison to SMJ for some reason. I've only used Rinkya once, everything went fine, but I'll continue to use SMJ instead.

[EOJ]

Rinkya is best for stuff from 40K-100K yen. You pay a flat $40 fee for items in that range, which is pretty damn cheap.

[Elixir]

So Rinkya is better for 50k+ auctions, and SMJ is better for cheaper ones?

[EOJ]

I've never used SMJ, so I don't know. All I know is Rinkya isn't really worth it for things under 40K.

[zlk]

Rinkya's shipping is fast.  However, if you are outbid on an auction you probably won't get an e-mail notice until well after the auction is over.  Also expect to pay $35 extra for any item you buy in fees.  A $5 item will end up costing you $40 + shipping.

[GaijinPunch]

Rinkya's 40,000 - 100,000 yen discount works if you catch them at a good time.  They updated their rate to 101 on July 3rd, when the yen closed at almost 107/$1.  They generally do rate - 6 yen.  However, they're not that fast to update it.  It's down about a yen from there, but still at 101.  So, it is kind of a shot in the dark.  SMJ's standard is rate - 4, so with a 100,000 yen item, you may be paying a flat rate of $40, but you're probably losing another $20 in FX fees.  Not that fantastic of a deal.

I've seen their rate unchanged when the dollar tanked though, so you can definitely use it to your advantage.

[gsl]

I can't say anything about Rinkya as I've never used them, but I've gone with Akibado a couple of times, and have been pretty happy with them.  It's been a little while, but to my last recollection their fee schedule was a bit cheaper than the competition.  Where they can get a bit spendy is if you have multiple items from multiple sellers, you get hit with their 500-yen base auction fee per seller, whereas multiple items under one seller only get a single fee.  Then again, I thought Rinkya charged by the auction, so...  Not sure at all about SMJ.