Review - Visual Shoxx
Posted by Kim
Several years ago I found out about Visual Shoxx while looking for Jrock merchandise. They sold several items on their website, from merch to jewellery and clothes, and also took pre-orders for CDs and DVDs. I bought several items from them and later on, when they started offering fanclub enrollments, I asked them to help me join Gazette's. Over the years I've ordered from them so many times that they now know who I am, although I use them differently than in the beginning.
What do they do?
As I said, they used to tell items on their website. Nowadays their website still shows some goods, but the posts are old and no longer updated. Things they do still offer are: fanclub enrollments/renewals of Japanese artists, auction services for Japanese auction websites, purchase of concert tickets, and shopping services for shops with a Japanese URL. In short: they offer personalised service concerning Japanese goods etc.
How does it work?
Simple: you e-mail them at visual_shoxxx@yahoo.com.sg and explain what you want, to which they will reply with the information they need and how much it will cost.
For fanclubs: Tell them the artist/group/band, name of the fanclub, and provide a link to the website. They'll let you know the price (of course you can inquire without obligation; just make sure they know you're doing that - not sure if this is a rule, but it's the polite thing to do anyway) and what they need to know to fill in the application, you send them the money and the information, and wait for them to tell you the process is done. It's all up to the fanclubs from there. Gazette's used to allow you to join with a foreign address (as they do now, although it's much easier nowadays), so joining or renewing was literally all Visual Shoxx had to do for you. Any post was sent straight to your home, and if you had any questions about fanclub goods aimed at Japan or things you could only get if you knew Japanese, they helped you out. Then PS Company changed their policy and you needed a Japanese address for a while (this was when the global PSC fanclub appeared), so Visual Shoxx gave the option of a refund or changing the address to a Japanese one. I chose the latter and all items (letters, renewal goods, etc) were sent to this Japanese address and I then paid for shipping to my home.
For auction services: I've only used them for Mbok auctions and was very satisfied. You need to make sure there are at least 24 hours left of the auction. I usually chose 'buy it now' but if you're bidding, you give them your limit and they'll let you know if you've won the item or not. They let you know the total, you pay and provide your shipping address and everything is shipped to you ASAP. When emailing them about this, make sure you put the links to the items below each other and place the price you're willing to pay after each link. Again: easy!
For concert tickets: I asked them to get me some concert tickets today, actually (and didn't have to pay until they got them and knew the shipping costs; I guess they know I'll pay by now). What you do is send them the link to the artist's website (I usually link them directly to the concert/live part of the site), tell them the artist, the date of the concert you wish to go to, and the number of tickets you need. They let you know if it's sold out or not, and, if not, tell you the total, which you generally pay beforehand. If there are priority tickets or there's a lottery before the general sale, they might ask you if you'd like to try for those tickets instead. They cost a little more, but especially for popular groups or if you like being closer to the front it's a good idea to do so. They ship the tickets as soon as they can (in Japan this is sometimes only one or two weeks before the gig, so make sure your hotel accepts post or see if you can get someone else to accept them; sometimes, especially in the case of eplus, they can print and send the tickets immediately) and then you just wait for them to arrive. If they know your ticket number (Japanese concerts usually use a numbering system, even for standing gigs), they'll let you know which number you've got.
For shopping services: Admittedly I don't have much experience with this myself, but I have asked them to get me a Black Line CD once which was unavailable from most shops (or they didn't ship overseas). I sent them a direct link to the CD in the shop (Like an Edison) and gave them the name of the band and the CD, just in case the link was incorrect. They let me know the price, I paid, they let me know when it was ready for shipping, I paid for shipping, and that was that!
What about shipping?
They used to offer all kinds of shipping, for SAL to EMS, then switched to Registered SAL, Registered Air Mail and EMS, and now I've mostly gotten offers for Registered Air Mail and EMS. I'm guessing this is a safety thing, but they might offer you different shipping if you ask. I'm not too bothered, so I haven't asked them myself. You pay for shipping at the end. Only once they've got your order will they let you know the shipping costs. In some cases you may need to pay for shipping to the Japanese address as well. The prices of this depend on the seller.
Are there any fees?
Unfortunately, yes. They charge 20% of the cost as a service fee plus 4.5% for the Paypal fees. This seems a pretty average amount to me, though there are apparently cheaper services. Then there are fees they have no control over, which include bank fees (usually not too high), shipping fees within Japan, printing fees in the case of concert tickets, for example (also usually not very high), and any other fees the seller might charge. As I said, in the case of concert tickets there may be an extra fee for priority or the lottery.
Would I recommend them?
I would. It's probably because I've been using them for so long and am always satisfied with their service. They do little extras too: last year my fiancée and I went to a SCREW concert and their website said something I could vaguely make out to be a handshake event. The details were unclear and Google Translate wasn't very helpful, so I asked them if their agent could tell us what was going on. The agent did, and were able to meet the band after the gig! I also first joined Gazette's fanclub on my birthday, using my birthday money, and they were kind enough to wish me a happy birthday once they saw this in my application information. Their replies usually don't take too long either. If you don't mind their fees, you should definitely give them a go!
What do they do?
As I said, they used to tell items on their website. Nowadays their website still shows some goods, but the posts are old and no longer updated. Things they do still offer are: fanclub enrollments/renewals of Japanese artists, auction services for Japanese auction websites, purchase of concert tickets, and shopping services for shops with a Japanese URL. In short: they offer personalised service concerning Japanese goods etc.
How does it work?
Simple: you e-mail them at visual_shoxxx@yahoo.com.sg and explain what you want, to which they will reply with the information they need and how much it will cost.
For fanclubs: Tell them the artist/group/band, name of the fanclub, and provide a link to the website. They'll let you know the price (of course you can inquire without obligation; just make sure they know you're doing that - not sure if this is a rule, but it's the polite thing to do anyway) and what they need to know to fill in the application, you send them the money and the information, and wait for them to tell you the process is done. It's all up to the fanclubs from there. Gazette's used to allow you to join with a foreign address (as they do now, although it's much easier nowadays), so joining or renewing was literally all Visual Shoxx had to do for you. Any post was sent straight to your home, and if you had any questions about fanclub goods aimed at Japan or things you could only get if you knew Japanese, they helped you out. Then PS Company changed their policy and you needed a Japanese address for a while (this was when the global PSC fanclub appeared), so Visual Shoxx gave the option of a refund or changing the address to a Japanese one. I chose the latter and all items (letters, renewal goods, etc) were sent to this Japanese address and I then paid for shipping to my home.
For auction services: I've only used them for Mbok auctions and was very satisfied. You need to make sure there are at least 24 hours left of the auction. I usually chose 'buy it now' but if you're bidding, you give them your limit and they'll let you know if you've won the item or not. They let you know the total, you pay and provide your shipping address and everything is shipped to you ASAP. When emailing them about this, make sure you put the links to the items below each other and place the price you're willing to pay after each link. Again: easy!
For concert tickets: I asked them to get me some concert tickets today, actually (and didn't have to pay until they got them and knew the shipping costs; I guess they know I'll pay by now). What you do is send them the link to the artist's website (I usually link them directly to the concert/live part of the site), tell them the artist, the date of the concert you wish to go to, and the number of tickets you need. They let you know if it's sold out or not, and, if not, tell you the total, which you generally pay beforehand. If there are priority tickets or there's a lottery before the general sale, they might ask you if you'd like to try for those tickets instead. They cost a little more, but especially for popular groups or if you like being closer to the front it's a good idea to do so. They ship the tickets as soon as they can (in Japan this is sometimes only one or two weeks before the gig, so make sure your hotel accepts post or see if you can get someone else to accept them; sometimes, especially in the case of eplus, they can print and send the tickets immediately) and then you just wait for them to arrive. If they know your ticket number (Japanese concerts usually use a numbering system, even for standing gigs), they'll let you know which number you've got.
For shopping services: Admittedly I don't have much experience with this myself, but I have asked them to get me a Black Line CD once which was unavailable from most shops (or they didn't ship overseas). I sent them a direct link to the CD in the shop (Like an Edison) and gave them the name of the band and the CD, just in case the link was incorrect. They let me know the price, I paid, they let me know when it was ready for shipping, I paid for shipping, and that was that!
What about shipping?
They used to offer all kinds of shipping, for SAL to EMS, then switched to Registered SAL, Registered Air Mail and EMS, and now I've mostly gotten offers for Registered Air Mail and EMS. I'm guessing this is a safety thing, but they might offer you different shipping if you ask. I'm not too bothered, so I haven't asked them myself. You pay for shipping at the end. Only once they've got your order will they let you know the shipping costs. In some cases you may need to pay for shipping to the Japanese address as well. The prices of this depend on the seller.
Are there any fees?
Unfortunately, yes. They charge 20% of the cost as a service fee plus 4.5% for the Paypal fees. This seems a pretty average amount to me, though there are apparently cheaper services. Then there are fees they have no control over, which include bank fees (usually not too high), shipping fees within Japan, printing fees in the case of concert tickets, for example (also usually not very high), and any other fees the seller might charge. As I said, in the case of concert tickets there may be an extra fee for priority or the lottery.
Would I recommend them?
I would. It's probably because I've been using them for so long and am always satisfied with their service. They do little extras too: last year my fiancée and I went to a SCREW concert and their website said something I could vaguely make out to be a handshake event. The details were unclear and Google Translate wasn't very helpful, so I asked them if their agent could tell us what was going on. The agent did, and were able to meet the band after the gig! I also first joined Gazette's fanclub on my birthday, using my birthday money, and they were kind enough to wish me a happy birthday once they saw this in my application information. Their replies usually don't take too long either. If you don't mind their fees, you should definitely give them a go!
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