Buying reels from Japan

[Bullett]

Im new to the site and have a question. I live in Texas and was wondering if any one has ordered a fishing reel from Japan? I was wondering if US Customs charged anything to get it in the country and how much that might be. Any information would greatly be appreciated, Thank you have a nice day

[FishTank]

I would guess about a third or more of the members on this site have ordered from a JDM website.  The downside is, no warranty but the value and quality are great. 

 

What you see when you check out is pretty much what you pay unless PayPal charges you a currency conversion fee.

 

Good sites to order from..... Digitaka and Japan Lure Shop. 

[Bullett]

Thank you for the help. Also I was wondering about which reel to get a Shimano Bantam mgl or a Metanium mgl 

[Texas Flood]

Most of my reels are from JDM accounts on Ebay. I havent had any issues and they actually get to my home faster than TW orders sometimes.

[Bullett]

Thank you Texas Flood that's where I've been shopping at

[Dwight Hottle]

Getting charged custom fees would be very rare unless your buying several at a time. I have never had any extra charges buying one or two at a time & think I have probably bought over 20 reels. 

[Choporoz]

@Bullett, you aren't with US Customs Office, are you?  Doing a bit of fishing?

 

JK....to best of my knowledge you need an order over $800 to even have the question/conversation.  I haven't hit that threshold on an order, so I'm uncertain what happens then.

[Bullett]

thanks alot I've never ordered anything from overseas all of my stuff usually comes from tackle warehouse but those Japan prices look real good

[ABU is overpriced]

Haven't bought a single reel locally since 2011🤣

[Bankc]

I don't understand exactly how customs works.  But I do know I've purchased a lot of stuff online from all over the word through the years, and never had an issue.  It usually goes through a customs office at some point and might sit there for a week or so.  But then it clears and I don't have to pay anything or do anything. 

 

I've heard of people having to pay duties on things they bought online, but it's usually big and expensive stuff. 

[Bullett]

Thank you guys looks like im going to go shopping for a new reel.

[king fisher]

I ordered a Zillion from Digikita a couple years ago.  It got to my address in the states in three days.  I did not have to pay any shipping or duty.  My only complaint is it was way to easy, and the price to cheap.  The Bait Monkey has been on my back whispering Zillion Japan in to my ear, over and over every day for over two years now.  Before you buy a reel from Japan, remember the road to bankruptcy starts with one small step.

[Texas Flood]

26 minutes ago, Bullett said:

Thank you Texas Flood that's where I've been shopping at

You bet buddy! Just a heads up, you might get a call from USPS to come pick up the reel. Ive had to do that one time but all the others have been dropped off at my house. 

[Darrell Shep]

Sucks you don't get the warranty but, the Yen is significantly less than the USD, you can snipe some high quality reels for very cheap. The downside is it takes a week or two to get them.

[MN Fisher]

6 minutes ago, Darrell Shep said:

The downside is it takes a week or two to get them.

Depends on where you order them from - I get my Digitaka orders delivered in 3-4 days.

[NorthernBasser]

2 reasons why I have yet to buy from JDM sites. And correct me if I'm wrong on these, because I'm definitely no reel expert. I'm basing this off of what I've read/heard.

 

One, aren't the handles shorter than their US counterpart? And two, don't JDM reels use aluminum gears, while US uses brass? And it's my understanding that brass is much more durable?

[ABU is overpriced]

Warranty should never be a reason to not purchase from Japan (not to mention that some Japanese shops will warranty the reel for you, but you gotta send it back to them in Japan). Unless we're talking about the Curado and its thumb bar that falls apart, reels don't break, so there's nothing to warranty them for. And if a bearings goes bad, its an easy replacement if you're reasonably knowledgeable when it comes to fishing reels, or just send it in for someone to do it, its not expensive. 

11 minutes ago, NorthernBasser said:

2 reasons why I have yet to buy from JDM sites. And correct me if I'm wrong on these, because I'm definitely no reel expert. I'm basing this off of what I've read/heard.

 

One, aren't the handles shorter than their US counterpart? And two, don't JDM reels use aluminum gears, while US uses brass? And it's my understanding that brass is much more durable?

With the micro module from shimano, its much better to get brass gears because their aluminum ones are really bad, and become noisy extremely quickly. As for Daiwa, their newer style of gears that they've been using since 2016 (steez sv tw) is amazing, and there's no reason to even have brass, its only gonna be heavier.

[GReb]

My memory may be a little fuzzy but I’ve ordered 7 or so reels from Japan.
 

Digitaka was by far the best experience. The price on their site is what is charged to my card. It’s my go to. 

 

Japan lure charged me $30 more than what their site said. When I asked PayPal they said it was my credit card company’s exchange rate. I think it was really JL had the wrong conversion on their site. It was a $550 order and they threw in a “free” jackhammer so it wasn’t the end of the world but worth noting. 
 

My first order was with Asian Portal. No complaints there but their website kind of sucks. 

[MN Fisher]

23 minutes ago, GReb said:

Digitaka was by far the best experience. The price on their site is what is charged to my card. It’s my go to. 

Ya - orders over a certain amount get free shipping, and since they're out of the country they don't have to collect sales tax.

 

Digitaka is currently down for maintenance until sometime tomorrow...their time or our time I don't know.

[garroyo130]

If you're weary, you can always use Amazon japan and get some of the benefit with less of the risk. You'll know exactly what you're paying upfront and as long as the customer service provided by Amazon, its almost risk-free. 

 

I picked up a Shimano Complex XR from there a week ago for $115 that should arrive today.

[casts_by_fly]

2 hours ago, Bullett said:

Thank you for the help. Also I was wondering about which reel to get a Shimano Bantam mgl or a Metanium mgl 

 

I have the Bantam, Met, and Zillion, all in JDM form.  All three great reels and you won't go wrong with any of them.  Bantam vs Met- the bantam is a little heavier.  I think it has a little higher line capacity, but that's just going off memory.  Both of mine are MGL spools.  Both look like they have a good few interchangable parts.  Maybe the Bantam is a little more rugged?  Also maybe that's my impression because I put it on my big rod while my Met is on an all around.

 

I wouldn't ignore then Zillion either.  Last I looked, the Shimanos you could get were in the $250 -$265 bracket.  The JDM Zillion is $205-210.  If I needed to buy a reel now I'd save the $50 and get another zillion even though I'm a shimano reel guy generally.

 

1 hour ago, NorthernBasser said:

2 reasons why I have yet to buy from JDM sites. And correct me if I'm wrong on these, because I'm definitely no reel expert. I'm basing this off of what I've read/heard.

 

One, aren't the handles shorter than their US counterpart? And two, don't JDM reels use aluminum gears, while US uses brass? And it's my understanding that brass is much more durable?

 

Sometimes and it depends on the reel.

 

That's the short answer for your questions and the only way to know is to compare specs like for like.  That said, I don't mind the shorter handles on the ones I have and I'll take aluminum over brass for the weight difference.

[shackman]

3 hours ago, Bullett said:

Thank you for the help. Also I was wondering about which reel to get a Shimano Bantam mgl or a Metanium mgl 

I’d get the metanium mgl..smooth as silk, lightweight, very comfortable to palm and casts great. I’ve ordered 2 off of digitaka with no problems. Took about a week to receive them. 

[jigheadworm]

Ordered 22 Zillion hd from Digitaka Sunday 7/21 delivered Tuesday 7/23 ordered some stuff from another site at the same time just delivered today .

[Bullett]

Ive been eyeballing the Zillion reels also. I'm not a real fan of any one brand I've got Lews, Daiwas, 13 Fishing, and Shimano reels. I'm a tackle junky man I spend all my money on fishing gear and God knows I don't need nothing when I order something. Makes my wife mad because I try to buy stuff I really cant afford but Im an addict, shes happy with a Zebco 33, but when I bought my first Shimano Bantam 100 in the 80`s that I still have and still works, I was bit by the bug

[Wprich]

Don't forget some will throw in free baits I ordered a Vanquish I believe from Japan Lure Shop and received a Vision 110 in the box as well.  I've ordered 3 reels each from different sites Japan Lure Shop, Asian Fishing Portal, and Digitaka thus far.  No issues with extra charges and longest it took to receive was 7 days because I ordered the night before they closed for a holiday.