Money transfers to Japan

[neorichieb1971]

Hi all,

Is there a way I can send UK money to a recipient in Japan by means of them opening a bank account?

They are not techie people. I heard HSBC allow transfers this way. I have a distant family member over in Tokyo and want to buy stuff from Japan using them, but they don't seem to be able to use paypal.

Thanks for any help.

[MintyTheCat]

Hi all,

Is there a way I can send UK money to a recipient in Japan by means of them opening a bank account?

They are not techie people. I heard HSBC allow transfers this way. I have a distant family member over in Tokyo and want to buy stuff from Japan using them, but they don't seem to be able to use paypal.

Thanks for any help.

As someone who uses the HSBC I can tell you that they offer the shittest rates.

Have a look around for deals on converting amounts to Yen and having it placed in an account in Japan. You WANT to 100% know EXACTLY what the rates are and any fees and do not leave it to the evil HSBC.
A lot of this though boils down to how much you wish to send. Anything under a couple of thousand pounds is not really something that you'll notice. You can even send it through Paypal if they have it or draw up some kind of draft but these are traditional methods. Honestly, the best way these days is to simply use an exchange service with an agreed rate.

How much you talking to convert?

[SuperDeadite]

All legit banks can do an international transfer. You just need to go to the bank, find what they need (routing numbers, etc) then get that from the Japanese bank. Each bank will charge a different amount for the service though. And it needs to be a real bank Japanese Post Office accounts are not good.

Another option is an International Money Order through the Post Office. I did this to send money from Japan to USA once, it had been so long since the Post Office staff had done it that it took about an hour for them to prepare, but was a cheap way to do it.

[neorichieb1971]

I am needing someone to pick up some items for me from the Japanese stores.

My immediate interest is the Neo geo mini JP version, but I want a proxy buyer in Japan who can use all manner of websites as well.

I tried to get my distant relation to use paypal but they don't want to get into that for some reason. Might be just shoving me off.

Would using something like western union work?

Of course if anyone reputable on here wants to help me out i'm all up for that as well. I have nearly 700 positives on ebay and my feedback here is very healthy.

On a normal basis, i'd be buying about £150-£200 every 6 months. Until my wanted list runs out, which isn't anytime soon I keep adding to it.

[trap15]

Honestly, just use Zenmarket, they're really good.

[Kumasan]

I am needing someone to pick up some items for me from the Japanese stores.

My immediate interest is the Neo geo mini JP version, but I want a proxy buyer in Japan who can use all manner of websites as well.

I tried to get my distant relation to use paypal but they don't want to get into that for some reason. Might be just shoving me off.

Would using something like western union work?

Of course if anyone reputable on here wants to help me out i'm all up for that as well. I have nearly 700 positives on ebay and my feedback here is very healthy.

On a normal basis, i'd be buying about £150-£200 every 6 months. Until my wanted list runs out, which isn't anytime soon I keep adding to it.

Yeah you can use Western Union. I've had American family transfer money through it towards a Japanese bank account and it was totally free. It just took a few day (or maybe a week) for it to clear. You just have to have all the routing numbers and what not.

[SuperDeadite]

Japanese bank laws make paypal a royal pain to use here. Basically you can send money to your friend's paypal account, but it is basically impossible for him to transfer that into his bank. Really all he can do is use that money as paypal credit to buy something else from a place that accepts paypal.

[GaijinPunch]

Dude -- you only need one mother fucking website for this: TransferWise
I am telling you as someone that has been sending money back and forth for over 20 years, it is criminally cheap. If you send under $10,000 USD (or a million yen, forgot which) they don't even require a SWIFT account. Takes about 2-3 days. Easy as piss.

The problem with all of the above is they will give you bullshit rates, even though the fees are cheap (or free).

[GaijinPunch]

Japanese bank laws make paypal a royal pain to use here. Basically you can send money to your friend's paypal account, but it is basically impossible for him to transfer that into his bank. Really all he can do is use that money as paypal credit to buy something else from a place that accepts paypal.

I think you did something wrong. I used a J-domicile Paypal account withdrawing to a few different Japanese banks for ages. A friend set one up for a venture we're doing as well.

[neorichieb1971]

I will try a few different options mentioned.

Zenmarket seems like a proxy buyer site right? I bet thats interesting using Yahoo auctions.

I'll also have a look at GP's idea. Shitty rates is doable if your getting 50% off of ebay prices for the same item.

I got a Neo geo mini, Amazonjp decided to let the foreigners in after a while. Which is interesting because all the import sites in the UK were charging up to £180 per machine. Its not even for me, I'll probably get one if the hysteria around it calms down. Personally I want an AES version of it, not a cab.

[SuperDeadite]

Japanese bank laws make paypal a royal pain to use here. Basically you can send money to your friend's paypal account, but it is basically impossible for him to transfer that into his bank. Really all he can do is use that money as paypal credit to buy something else from a place that accepts paypal.

I think you did something wrong. I used a J-domicile Paypal account withdrawing to a few different Japanese banks for ages. A friend set one up for a venture we're doing as well.

Damn, why does my bank keep refusing it then? I can withdraw from my account, but that's all. Guess I'm going to have to call them, this should take about 3-5 hours or so. XD

[MintyTheCat]

I'll also have a look at GP's idea. Shitty rates is doable if your getting 50% off of ebay prices for the same item.

Don't pussy-out and allow banks and other actors to rip you off. This is exactly what the big banks want you to do and if enough of us raise a stink they'll change their ideas pretty fast. Never justify to yourself when someone is robbing you that it's ok. Get good, agreed rates and go with that.

[neorichieb1971]

I'll also have a look at GP's idea. Shitty rates is doable if your getting 50% off of ebay prices for the same item.

Don't pussy-out and allow banks and other actors to rip you off. This is exactly what the big banks want you to do and if enough of us raise a stink they'll change their ideas pretty fast. Never justify to yourself when someone is robbing you that it's ok. Get good, agreed rates and go with that.

Well, shitty rates might be better than zenmarket rates. I've got to play the field and get the best deal. To be honest I just go with whats easiest. I don't value little savings here and there, i'd probably be a lot richer If I did. Its like a situation recently with selling shares of my company, go through a website with tons of reading to be doing and possibly making a mistake sifting through all the jargon or just get them to do it over the phone. It cost more, but peace of mind and easier dealings made it a breeze.

But yeah, point taken.

[GaijinPunch]

I'll also have a look at GP's idea. Shitty rates is doable if your getting 50% off of ebay prices for the same item.

Why not save another few percent? It adds up, especially w/ pricey items. I may be involved in another YJ Proxy soon, and I suspect this will be the method most people use to fill their accounts with, considering they'll get more bang for their buck.

I got a Neo geo mini, Amazonjp decided to let the foreigners in after a while. .

They've always let them in - just don't ship all items (same as all other Amazons).

Well, shitty rates might be better than zenmarket rates. I've got to play the field and get the best deal.

Don't waste your time. TransferWise is as cheap as it gets by a large margin, and requires only a bank account on the other side. They tell you the exchange rate you're getting right then and there [spoiler: it is pretty much the current exchange rate] and it's locked in for a couple of days.

Details of my last transaction:
Amount sent: $1950
Fee: $23.30
Converted to yen: 215,540
Rate: 111.87 (it even closed at a 111.116 later that day)

With Paypal, even with no "fee" to the user, it would have been at best 213,271 yen (I'm assuming rate -2.5 but it's closer to -3), and then 3.9% in merchant fees on the other side, or a small fee (forgot what it is) if you send friends and family. If you're buying from a vendor, they are going to find some way to pass that 3.9% on to the end user.

Not sure if TransferWise will ever try payments. To do so they'd need to incorporate some type of buyer protection to properly take on Paypal, which quite frankly would probably turn some vendors off, I'm sure. Will be interesting to watch though.

[GaijinPunch]

Japanese bank laws make paypal a royal pain to use here. Basically you can send money to your friend's paypal account, but it is basically impossible for him to transfer that into his bank. Really all he can do is use that money as paypal credit to buy something else from a place that accepts paypal.

I think you did something wrong. I used a J-domicile Paypal account withdrawing to a few different Japanese banks for ages. A friend set one up for a venture we're doing as well.

Damn, why does my bank keep refusing it then? I can withdraw from my account, but that's all. Guess I'm going to have to call them, this should take about 3-5 hours or so. XD

Okay, so what's the bank you're trying to xfer to? I am guessing you have the information entered wrong, which can be loads of things (katakana vs. romaji, considering there is no standard), missing middle name, first name <-> last name ordering wrong. It ain't easy being a gaijin. So, for me, the easiest way to ensure that it's not the details, is get someone with an account at a bank that has a nice web interface (I use Japan Net Bank, and for this it's awesome). Have them look up the name associated w/ your account through their interface. Most banks allow this, but some only during working hours. I can actually help if need be. That will minimize the errors.

I had the same thing recently trying to send dough to a friend at his SMBC trust account - supposedly a gaijin friendly bank. Turns out it was the name of the bank that was wrong. There are a few Mitsui Sumitomos. Annoying.