Mich486
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Not only that. The sites linked to Buyee/Tenso like Rakuten, Yahoo Auction JP, Mecari are only marketplaces. Even if you can access those sites directly without needing a proxy, you are still taking risks. It is like ebay. It is only because paypal is so buyers friendly that many people risk buying on ebay.
I am glad Jon paid through paypal which actually gives him a chance to recoup any losses. I am also worried that proxy service may decide not to accept paypal in the future because of exposure to risk posed by those dishonest sellers. In any case, I don't think Tenso is the culprit here. It is easy for people to look at these proxy service as agents but IMO the responsibility placed on them is disproportionate to what they make and they themselves are not protected because paypal is not the usual choice of payment on those marketplaces. It is not like Tenso etc are charging the rate/commission of a broker or personal shopper. What they are charging is just a few hundred yens plus a share of the shipping fee. Afterall, the marketplaces themselves like ebay are not exposed to such risk despite them getting a share of the purchase price.
On eBay people take risks because eBay always sides with the buyer. I don’t think you need to involve PayPal at all. Just file for item not as described and eBay will handle the rest.
Anyway, also the proxies do not all work the same way. On zenmarket you deposit money into your profile account and then you bid/buy. You can deposit through PayPal but I guess that way the PayPal protection is gone. If on Buyee you pay the auction directly from PayPal then I guess you are covered. I still prefer zen market though as it lets you declare the value of the items
I tend to buy new or lightly used stuff but I know that I’m taking a risk. I had zero problems so far with several dozens transactions. The savings compared to buying from a western shops are huge and worth the risk.
From zenmarket T&Cs:
“We are responsible for a purchased item from the moment it arrives at our warehouse until the moment when it leaves our warehouse. In case of an unforeseen situation we try our best to protect our clients. However, ZenMarket is not responsible for the acts of sellers, such as delays, the item not matching the description on their website, or delivery of broken or incorrect items. Our staff will help you to communicate with sellers to resolve disputes, but we do not guarantee positive results. If you buy new items from Japanese online marketplaces, such situations are very rare, but if you are worried about the condition of purchased items we recommend you use our "Item photo" service before shipping internationally.”