We're Moving!

Image
Click for more info.

Rakuten Global & Ebates

Talk about your experience, good and bad, here.
User avatar
TheJohnP
Global Moderator
Posts: 11014
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2018 10:29 pm
Location: Atlanta
Has thanked: 46868 times
Been thanked: 35261 times

Re: Rakuten Global & Ebates

Post by TheJohnP »

AndroidIsAwesome wrote: Wed Oct 30, 2019 10:34 am Rakuten global is definitely a first come first serve basis. Over a three week period I have been tracking 42 watches, most of which are very unknown listings where the only way you'd find them is by going page by page in the watches category. What's interesting is that 23 of them have already sold out in the past 3 days. So if you are watching a listing that's a good price I wouldn't hesitate to buy even if it's only 18% Cashback. I find it incredible how many people buy watches from there outside of this forum.

Is there a big WUS thread on Rakuten Global?
I keep an eye out on another watch deal forum, WatchinTyme, and there is very little discussion on RGM that I have seen.
Click Icon To Contact Me



Far and wide I will find 'em and I ride 'em
Bricks and mortar get my licks just for kicks
AD or authorized I don't analyze
Retail, wholesale never fail
Online or offline, I find I don't redefine
Too big to fail or yard sale they all hale
Run or hide just for fun deals I find
User avatar
AndroidIsAwesome
MoT Member
Posts: 1683
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2018 3:08 pm
Location: The Great White North
Has thanked: 6327 times
Been thanked: 7025 times
Contact:

Re: Rakuten Global & Ebates

Post by AndroidIsAwesome »

TheJohnP wrote:
AndroidIsAwesome wrote: Wed Oct 30, 2019 10:34 am Rakuten global is definitely a first come first serve basis. Over a three week period I have been tracking 42 watches, most of which are very unknown listings where the only way you'd find them is by going page by page in the watches category. What's interesting is that 23 of them have already sold out in the past 3 days. So if you are watching a listing that's a good price I wouldn't hesitate to buy even if it's only 18% Cashback. I find it incredible how many people buy watches from there outside of this forum.

Is there a big WUS thread on Rakuten Global?
I keep an eye out on another watch deal forum, WatchinTyme, and there is very little discussion on RGM that I have seen.
No I think we have the biggest watch related thread for it. I genuinely don't know how it's so popular, all I can assume is it's just local Japanese people that buy from there, or actually go to the stores and buy the watches in person. But even that doesn't exactly make sense since all the purchases were made during the Cashback period
Follow my new watch Instagram page @Loupehole
IKEEPGOODTIME
MoT Member
Posts: 1301
Joined: Wed Dec 19, 2018 5:50 pm
Location: DFW (TEXAS)
Has thanked: 345 times
Been thanked: 5025 times
Contact:

Re: Rakuten Global & Ebates

Post by IKEEPGOODTIME »

You all may know this already but the maximum # of Super Points you can use on a transaction is 30,000. This is a little bit of a dissapointment for me since I have more points than that and I was counting on using them in lieu of $ on a purchase.
-- Enjoy your time
IG: ikeepgoodtime
feltharg
MoT Member
Posts: 126
Joined: Fri Apr 19, 2019 11:21 am
Has thanked: 38 times
Been thanked: 237 times

Re: Rakuten Global & Ebates

Post by feltharg »

Good to know, thanks for the heads up, as i also have around 30k points accumulated

valuewatchguy wrote:You all may know this already but the maximum # of Super Points you can use on a transaction is 30,000. This is a little bit of a dissapointment for me since I have more points than that and I was counting on using them in lieu of $ on a purchase.
feltharg
MoT Member
Posts: 126
Joined: Fri Apr 19, 2019 11:21 am
Has thanked: 38 times
Been thanked: 237 times

Re: Rakuten Global & Ebates

Post by feltharg »

CB back to 4% now
User avatar
AndroidIsAwesome
MoT Member
Posts: 1683
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2018 3:08 pm
Location: The Great White North
Has thanked: 6327 times
Been thanked: 7025 times
Contact:

Re: Rakuten Global & Ebates

Post by AndroidIsAwesome »

Perhaps the days of 24 and 26% Cashback are gone. Interesting
Follow my new watch Instagram page @Loupehole
User avatar
Kirk B
MoT Member
Posts: 244
Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2018 4:27 pm
Has thanked: 23 times
Been thanked: 358 times

Re: Rakuten Global & Ebates

Post by Kirk B »

AndroidIsAwesome wrote: Thu Oct 31, 2019 7:37 am Perhaps the days of 24 and 26% Cashback are gone. Interesting
Well it wouldn't surprise me. They were pretty unprecedented at the time, which is why I jumped on a few of them. Before late last year I don't believe I had ever seen more than 20% CB from RGM. I really don't see how that is a sustainable model for RGM. The holidays are coming though and I wouldn't be surprised if we saw it again during that time. I am considering one more large purchase, but just can't seem to justify it with a collection that is already excessive. :lol:
User avatar
rinsk21
MoT Member
Posts: 121
Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2018 8:11 am
Has thanked: 74 times
Been thanked: 105 times

Re: Rakuten Global & Ebates

Post by rinsk21 »

rinsk21 wrote:Update on my own personal watch soap opera for those that want to share in my anxiety:

I sent the watch with the broken main spring back to Japan after ignoring logic, reason and most people's opinions. The seller agreed to repair it for free and send it to RGX again at no cost. USPS to get it there and RGX back to me will total about $250, so rolling the dice to save $500. However, I think I mentioned in my last post that USPS would only insure up to $2500 without dealing with customs and a bunch of paperwork, so my biggest fear was a shipping problem. Especially when mailing to Japan, which had address formats that make no sense to me. I got word about a week ago that it made it there safe and sound. Phew. Today they emailed me and said that they are repairing it now and it should be mailed back to me by the end of the month. So, fingers still crossed but everything so far has gone pretty well.

ig: @watchesindc
Here is what I hope to be the final update:

We officially went from "everything is going smoothly" to "oh no what did I do" territory yesterday. I got a note a couple weeks ago that they had finished the repair in Japan and they shipped it for free to my RGX address. I then received word from RGX that they had a package for me and proceeded to pay for shipping back to me in the United States. RGX asked me if this was the same watch that I had previously purchased because I had given them a heads up that I was going to be sending something back for warranty. They said that they would mark the package appropriately as a watch repair so that duty would not be charged.

After sitting in customs for 10 days the package shows up at my office yesterday with a postal carrier asking me for a check for $1,200. I tell him that he is crazy and asked if I can take pictures of the manifest from United States Customs on the package. They applied a 14% duty to the original purchase price of the watch and did not note that it was for repair. He takes it away and tells me that it will be held at the Post office near my work until I pay the fee.

I then send a few hours yesterday and this morning making somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 phone calls to Customs, USPS, etc. Finally I reach one person who is able to tell me how to appeal this, in the NY customs office at JFK. So strange that was the location because I'm in Washington DC. She tells me that the package had the declared value and no mention of the repair shop they assessed the duty. The only option is to FAX an invoice showing the repair was made for free from the company in Japan, correspondence discussing the repair, and receipt for the shipping to Japan. She tells me that they will review the documentation, and if ruling is made in my favor, they will fax a letter back to the Post office to release the package to me.

So I spend another few hours gathering emails, etc, trying unsuccessfully to get an invoice and yelling at RGX some more because they screwed this up. I finally get enough correspondence that I decide to submit and walk to the Post office to ask them to fax. Because it's 2019, even the post office doesn't have a fax machine and they tell me that the fax number on the internet is wrong. They tell me they have no way to receive the approval from Customs and I'm SOL. I ask what I should do and the manager comes out to help move this along because there is a line now that I've taken ten minutes to explain this. I give him the same story and he starts poking around in the computer, reviewing my 10 page document that I have no way of faxing and looking generally frustrated. He also remembers me from sending the package to Japan because that wasn't easy.

Then after 2 more minutes of huffing and looking irritated, out of the blue he says "can I keep this paperwork?" I'm like, absolutely and he goes, "alright man, take it" and hands me the package. Makes me sign something electronically which I barely read and I'm out the door before he changes his mind.

So assuming that a Customs agent doesn't knock my door down looking for $1200 because those idiots at RGX forgot the word "repair," it's a happy ending. Long road, many ups and downs, lots of anxiety, but I spent $175 on shipping fees rather than the $750 to get it fixed locally. All's well that ends well, but I'm not sure that RGX is an option going forward without calculating in duty on any RGM purchases.

Sorry for the longest-winded post in the forum.



ig: @watchesindc

ILiveOnWacker
MoT Member
Posts: 135
Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2018 6:39 pm
Has thanked: 18 times
Been thanked: 208 times

Re: Rakuten Global & Ebates

Post by ILiveOnWacker »

So glad it worked out!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
User avatar
AndroidIsAwesome
MoT Member
Posts: 1683
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2018 3:08 pm
Location: The Great White North
Has thanked: 6327 times
Been thanked: 7025 times
Contact:

Re: Rakuten Global & Ebates

Post by AndroidIsAwesome »

rinsk21 wrote:
rinsk21 wrote:Update on my own personal watch soap opera for those that want to share in my anxiety:

I sent the watch with the broken main spring back to Japan after ignoring logic, reason and most people's opinions. The seller agreed to repair it for free and send it to RGX again at no cost. USPS to get it there and RGX back to me will total about $250, so rolling the dice to save $500. However, I think I mentioned in my last post that USPS would only insure up to $2500 without dealing with customs and a bunch of paperwork, so my biggest fear was a shipping problem. Especially when mailing to Japan, which had address formats that make no sense to me. I got word about a week ago that it made it there safe and sound. Phew. Today they emailed me and said that they are repairing it now and it should be mailed back to me by the end of the month. So, fingers still crossed but everything so far has gone pretty well.

ig: @watchesindc
Here is what I hope to be the final update:

We officially went from "everything is going smoothly" to "oh no what did I do" territory yesterday. I got a note a couple weeks ago that they had finished the repair in Japan and they shipped it for free to my RGX address. I then received word from RGX that they had a package for me and proceeded to pay for shipping back to me in the United States. RGX asked me if this was the same watch that I had previously purchased because I had given them a heads up that I was going to be sending something back for warranty. They said that they would mark the package appropriately as a watch repair so that duty would not be charged.

After sitting in customs for 10 days the package shows up at my office yesterday with a postal carrier asking me for a check for $1,200. I tell him that he is crazy and asked if I can take pictures of the manifest from United States Customs on the package. They applied a 14% duty to the original purchase price of the watch and did not note that it was for repair. He takes it away and tells me that it will be held at the Post office near my work until I pay the fee.

I then send a few hours yesterday and this morning making somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 phone calls to Customs, USPS, etc. Finally I reach one person who is able to tell me how to appeal this, in the NY customs office at JFK. So strange that was the location because I'm in Washington DC. She tells me that the package had the declared value and no mention of the repair shop they assessed the duty. The only option is to FAX an invoice showing the repair was made for free from the company in Japan, correspondence discussing the repair, and receipt for the shipping to Japan. She tells me that they will review the documentation, and if ruling is made in my favor, they will fax a letter back to the Post office to release the package to me.

So I spend another few hours gathering emails, etc, trying unsuccessfully to get an invoice and yelling at RGX some more because they screwed this up. I finally get enough correspondence that I decide to submit and walk to the Post office to ask them to fax. Because it's 2019, even the post office doesn't have a fax machine and they tell me that the fax number on the internet is wrong. They tell me they have no way to receive the approval from Customs and I'm SOL. I ask what I should do and the manager comes out to help move this along because there is a line now that I've taken ten minutes to explain this. I give him the same story and he starts poking around in the computer, reviewing my 10 page document that I have no way of faxing and looking generally frustrated. He also remembers me from sending the package to Japan because that wasn't easy.

Then after 2 more minutes of huffing and looking irritated, out of the blue he says "can I keep this paperwork?" I'm like, absolutely and he goes, "alright man, take it" and hands me the package. Makes me sign something electronically which I barely read and I'm out the door before he changes his mind.

So assuming that a Customs agent doesn't knock my door down looking for $1200 because those idiots at RGX forgot the word "repair," it's a happy ending. Long road, many ups and downs, lots of anxiety, but I spent $175 on shipping fees rather than the $750 to get it fixed locally. All's well that ends well, but I'm not sure that RGX is an option going forward without calculating in duty on any RGM purchases.

Sorry for the longest-winded post in the forum.



ig: @watchesindc
Man that is a MASSIVE headache to deal with. Sometimes things like that end up going to court and take literally months to sort out with customs before you get your package, so I'm glad the post office manager was nice to you. Hopefully you don't have any issues in the future with it all
Follow my new watch Instagram page @Loupehole
feltharg
MoT Member
Posts: 126
Joined: Fri Apr 19, 2019 11:21 am
Has thanked: 38 times
Been thanked: 237 times

Re: Rakuten Global & Ebates

Post by feltharg »

Im so happy for you, awesome you managed to get it out so quickly. And I did enjoy reading this thriller story, hoping for a happy ending.

rinsk21 wrote:
rinsk21 wrote:Update on my own personal watch soap opera for those that want to share in my anxiety:

I sent the watch with the broken main spring back to Japan after ignoring logic, reason and most people's opinions. The seller agreed to repair it for free and send it to RGX again at no cost. USPS to get it there and RGX back to me will total about $250, so rolling the dice to save $500. However, I think I mentioned in my last post that USPS would only insure up to $2500 without dealing with customs and a bunch of paperwork, so my biggest fear was a shipping problem. Especially when mailing to Japan, which had address formats that make no sense to me. I got word about a week ago that it made it there safe and sound. Phew. Today they emailed me and said that they are repairing it now and it should be mailed back to me by the end of the month. So, fingers still crossed but everything so far has gone pretty well.

ig: @watchesindc
Here is what I hope to be the final update:

We officially went from "everything is going smoothly" to "oh no what did I do" territory yesterday. I got a note a couple weeks ago that they had finished the repair in Japan and they shipped it for free to my RGX address. I then received word from RGX that they had a package for me and proceeded to pay for shipping back to me in the United States. RGX asked me if this was the same watch that I had previously purchased because I had given them a heads up that I was going to be sending something back for warranty. They said that they would mark the package appropriately as a watch repair so that duty would not be charged.

After sitting in customs for 10 days the package shows up at my office yesterday with a postal carrier asking me for a check for $1,200. I tell him that he is crazy and asked if I can take pictures of the manifest from United States Customs on the package. They applied a 14% duty to the original purchase price of the watch and did not note that it was for repair. He takes it away and tells me that it will be held at the Post office near my work until I pay the fee.

I then send a few hours yesterday and this morning making somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 phone calls to Customs, USPS, etc. Finally I reach one person who is able to tell me how to appeal this, in the NY customs office at JFK. So strange that was the location because I'm in Washington DC. She tells me that the package had the declared value and no mention of the repair shop they assessed the duty. The only option is to FAX an invoice showing the repair was made for free from the company in Japan, correspondence discussing the repair, and receipt for the shipping to Japan. She tells me that they will review the documentation, and if ruling is made in my favor, they will fax a letter back to the Post office to release the package to me.

So I spend another few hours gathering emails, etc, trying unsuccessfully to get an invoice and yelling at RGX some more because they screwed this up. I finally get enough correspondence that I decide to submit and walk to the Post office to ask them to fax. Because it's 2019, even the post office doesn't have a fax machine and they tell me that the fax number on the internet is wrong. They tell me they have no way to receive the approval from Customs and I'm SOL. I ask what I should do and the manager comes out to help move this along because there is a line now that I've taken ten minutes to explain this. I give him the same story and he starts poking around in the computer, reviewing my 10 page document that I have no way of faxing and looking generally frustrated. He also remembers me from sending the package to Japan because that wasn't easy.

Then after 2 more minutes of huffing and looking irritated, out of the blue he says "can I keep this paperwork?" I'm like, absolutely and he goes, "alright man, take it" and hands me the package. Makes me sign something electronically which I barely read and I'm out the door before he changes his mind.

So assuming that a Customs agent doesn't knock my door down looking for $1200 because those idiots at RGX forgot the word "repair," it's a happy ending. Long road, many ups and downs, lots of anxiety, but I spent $175 on shipping fees rather than the $750 to get it fixed locally. All's well that ends well, but I'm not sure that RGX is an option going forward without calculating in duty on any RGM purchases.

Sorry for the longest-winded post in the forum.



ig: @watchesindc
User avatar
Kirk B
MoT Member
Posts: 244
Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2018 4:27 pm
Has thanked: 23 times
Been thanked: 358 times

Re: Rakuten Global & Ebates

Post by Kirk B »

rinsk21 wrote: Wed Nov 13, 2019 8:50 pm So assuming that a Customs agent doesn't knock my door down looking for $1200 because those idiots at RGX forgot the word "repair," it's a happy ending. Long road, many ups and downs, lots of anxiety, but I spent $175 on shipping fees rather than the $750 to get it fixed locally. All's well that ends well, but I'm not sure that RGX is an option going forward without calculating in duty on any RGM purchases.

So... what about the watch? Was it repaired to your satisfaction?

During your research did you figure out if that 14% duty was reasonable or correct? That seems awfully high to me! I have never had to deal with duty from RGM or eBay overseas purchases, but I have been lucky. I thought it was more around 8%. At 14% duty I'm not sure that I would risk a RGM purchase with just 20% CB!
Penfold36
MoT Member
Posts: 208
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2018 6:00 pm
Has thanked: 251 times
Been thanked: 611 times

Re: Rakuten Global & Ebates

Post by Penfold36 »

rinsk21 wrote: Wed Nov 13, 2019 8:50 pm
rinsk21 wrote:Update on my own personal watch soap opera for those that want to share in my anxiety:

I sent the watch with the broken main spring back to Japan after ignoring logic, reason and most people's opinions. The seller agreed to repair it for free and send it to RGX again at no cost. USPS to get it there and RGX back to me will total about $250, so rolling the dice to save $500. However, I think I mentioned in my last post that USPS would only insure up to $2500 without dealing with customs and a bunch of paperwork, so my biggest fear was a shipping problem. Especially when mailing to Japan, which had address formats that make no sense to me. I got word about a week ago that it made it there safe and sound. Phew. Today they emailed me and said that they are repairing it now and it should be mailed back to me by the end of the month. So, fingers still crossed but everything so far has gone pretty well.

ig: @watchesindc
Here is what I hope to be the final update:

We officially went from "everything is going smoothly" to "oh no what did I do" territory yesterday. I got a note a couple weeks ago that they had finished the repair in Japan and they shipped it for free to my RGX address. I then received word from RGX that they had a package for me and proceeded to pay for shipping back to me in the United States. RGX asked me if this was the same watch that I had previously purchased because I had given them a heads up that I was going to be sending something back for warranty. They said that they would mark the package appropriately as a watch repair so that duty would not be charged.

After sitting in customs for 10 days the package shows up at my office yesterday with a postal carrier asking me for a check for $1,200. I tell him that he is crazy and asked if I can take pictures of the manifest from United States Customs on the package. They applied a 14% duty to the original purchase price of the watch and did not note that it was for repair. He takes it away and tells me that it will be held at the Post office near my work until I pay the fee.

I then send a few hours yesterday and this morning making somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 phone calls to Customs, USPS, etc. Finally I reach one person who is able to tell me how to appeal this, in the NY customs office at JFK. So strange that was the location because I'm in Washington DC. She tells me that the package had the declared value and no mention of the repair shop they assessed the duty. The only option is to FAX an invoice showing the repair was made for free from the company in Japan, correspondence discussing the repair, and receipt for the shipping to Japan. She tells me that they will review the documentation, and if ruling is made in my favor, they will fax a letter back to the Post office to release the package to me.

So I spend another few hours gathering emails, etc, trying unsuccessfully to get an invoice and yelling at RGX some more because they screwed this up. I finally get enough correspondence that I decide to submit and walk to the Post office to ask them to fax. Because it's 2019, even the post office doesn't have a fax machine and they tell me that the fax number on the internet is wrong. They tell me they have no way to receive the approval from Customs and I'm SOL. I ask what I should do and the manager comes out to help move this along because there is a line now that I've taken ten minutes to explain this. I give him the same story and he starts poking around in the computer, reviewing my 10 page document that I have no way of faxing and looking generally frustrated. He also remembers me from sending the package to Japan because that wasn't easy.

Then after 2 more minutes of huffing and looking irritated, out of the blue he says "can I keep this paperwork?" I'm like, absolutely and he goes, "alright man, take it" and hands me the package. Makes me sign something electronically which I barely read and I'm out the door before he changes his mind.

So assuming that a Customs agent doesn't knock my door down looking for $1200 because those idiots at RGX forgot the word "repair," it's a happy ending. Long road, many ups and downs, lots of anxiety, but I spent $175 on shipping fees rather than the $750 to get it fixed locally. All's well that ends well, but I'm not sure that RGX is an option going forward without calculating in duty on any RGM purchases.

Sorry for the longest-winded post in the forum.



ig: @watchesindc

Very happy to hear that everything worked out for you (so far...don't want to jinx you). As KirkB mentioned, 14% duty seems really high. There's been more than one report of customs officials not really knowing the true calculation so they just slap any old number on there. Anyway, hopefully the matter is finished. I hope the watch is fixed to your satisfaction. Enjoy it!
User avatar
rinsk21
MoT Member
Posts: 121
Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2018 8:11 am
Has thanked: 74 times
Been thanked: 105 times

Re: Rakuten Global & Ebates

Post by rinsk21 »

Kirk B wrote:
rinsk21 wrote: Wed Nov 13, 2019 8:50 pm So assuming that a Customs agent doesn't knock my door down looking for $1200 because those idiots at RGX forgot the word "repair," it's a happy ending. Long road, many ups and downs, lots of anxiety, but I spent $175 on shipping fees rather than the $750 to get it fixed locally. All's well that ends well, but I'm not sure that RGX is an option going forward without calculating in duty on any RGM purchases.

So... what about the watch? Was it repaired to your satisfaction?

During your research did you figure out if that 14% duty was reasonable or correct? That seems awfully high to me! I have never had to deal with duty from RGM or eBay overseas purchases, but I have been lucky. I thought it was more around 8%. At 14% duty I'm not sure that I would risk a RGM purchase with just 20% CB!
Yup. Watch is perfect, so that's the happy ending. Judging from the paperwork, 14% would be accurate if it was an actual purchase. There are some arbitrary customs duty assignment and it seems like the folks in NY are the only ones that are levying 14%, but if you're coming through that port, that it's your destiny. I'm still trying to figure out why I would've come that way to get to DC. But going forward, RGX makes me nervous and I'd stick with vendors that accept PayPal and can ship directly to the US without a freight forwarder.

ig: @watchesindc

User avatar
uaconcorde
MoT Member
Posts: 206
Joined: Sun Dec 30, 2018 4:05 am
Has thanked: 23 times
Been thanked: 302 times

Re: Rakuten Global & Ebates

Post by uaconcorde »

the anticipation is unbearable
Post Reply