Since starting this website, the wheel info coming in has been overwhelming.  I’ve learned so much.  And I’ve also learned a lot about  how wheel enthusiasts around the world are buying and exporting wheels out of Japan.  I am lucky enough to have family in Japan that has helped me lots in the past with bidding on, receiving and shipping out my auction wins from YAJ or Rakuten.  Ten years into that however, I get the impression that wheel collecting is something I was supposed to have grown out of.  And as my mother in law ages, and my wheels get bigger and heavier, guilt starts to accumulate. I picture her carrying them up and down tight apartment stairwells, or down narrow sidewalks to the post office.

So when a number of you told me that you use Jauce.com to browse and purchase from YAJ, I thought I’d give it a go.

Now I’ve dabbled with other exporters in the past.  One single individual, whom I won’t name but rhymes with Messy Eater, has been great. However, when most of my purchases come from moments of boredom (like waiting in an airport for multiple hours), the ability to bid instantly myself is a huge win.  This is not something that is possible when your exporter is one dude who needs to send an invoice, then confirm payment before finally placing a bid himself… all from 15 time zones away.

Jauce, solves that problem with a website that lets you browse and bid on pretty much anything on YAJ… all in Google translated English.  Spontaneous purchases yay! And I don’t even have to worry about catching my in-laws off guard with a gigantic package sitting on their front door.

I’ve been using Jauce for the last year, on small items like books, magazines and small car parts/toys for kids.  Results have been great, although I have sometimes questioned overall costs.

I only recently used it to buy a set of wheels… and I think my questions about costs are answered now.

It IS expensive.

There are service fees at basically every step of the process. What you don’t see here, is that my 45000円 deposit was actually 46868円 out of my account.  Deposit money? Pay service fee.   Win an auction? Pay a fee.  Ship an item? Pay a fee. Make a withdrawal?  Pay a fee.

Now some of the fees listed here come from the actual seller, but by my math…

1868円 (deposit fee) + 4000円(auction win) + 2×4750円 (handling fee) + 2×2580円 (repacking fee) = 20528円 in Jauce fees.  That’s about $270CDN which seems pretty harsh, for what is probably no more than an hours work and a few yen worth of cardboard.  In all, my 16″ wheels, won for 45000円 cost me 90020円 shipped on a boat and arriving here in Calgary, Canada in probably 8 weeks.  That about $1200CDN which isn’t insane for what I got (new old stock Enkei RS-III), but I don’t have the same feeling of achievement that I’m used to having after a YAJ purchase.

Is the snazzy website worth it? Maybe if you really want what you’re buying.  If you are just trying desperately not to buy RPF1’s from Tire Rack then maybe not so much.  I think I probably need to exercise more patience and support my fellow hashirya who provide the same service without the fancy interface.