How overseas group buys work
Made-to-order goods from Japan and Korea are usually only sold through a domestic store, in one language, to one address. A group exists because of that. Here is the whole path, and where this site stops.
1 · The order window
A shop opens a listing for a few weeks — 受注生産 in Japan, 예약 판매 in Korea — with no stock and no resale. Miss the deadline and the run is gone. The order calendar on GuziBase exists for exactly this date.
2 · Buying it from abroad
Most Japanese stores refuse foreign cards and will not ship overseas. Two ways out: a proxy service that buys for you for a per-order fee (Buyee and FROMJAPAN charge roughly ¥500 per order plus the item price) or a forwarding address in Japan that receives the parcel for you. Proxies hold goods for a limited free period, often about 30 days, then charge storage.
3 · Getting it out of the country
Consolidated shipping ("集運") sends several items in one box, which is why a group is cheaper than everyone ordering alone. Air is fast and priced per kilogram or volumetric weight; sea is slower and much cheaper for plushies and acrylic bricks. The organiser decides the carrier and writes it into the group before anyone joins.
4 · Customs
Crossing into China, a personal parcel is taxed under the postal duty rules: a value limit per parcel (commonly ¥800 from Hong Kong/Macau/Taiwan and ¥1,000 elsewhere, single indivisible items excepted), duty bands by category, and no tax collected when the duty itself is under ¥50. A group parcel is far more likely to be opened than a personal one, so the split rule must be agreed in advance, not argued about afterwards.
5 · Splitting it up
The organiser repacks to each member and posts domestically. Each member confirms receipt in the group record; that confirmation is what lets the organiser mark the group complete.
What you actually pay
| Item price | Shop list price in its own currency. Exchange rate and who eats the difference belong in the group description. |
|---|---|
| Proxy fee | Per order, not per item — this is the line a group splits. |
| International shipping | Per kilogram or per cubic metre. Weight is shared, so more members means less per person. |
| Customs duty | Only if assessed. The group must state in advance whether it is split by declared value, equally, or paid by whoever declared it. |
| Domestic shipping | Usually paid by each member on their own leg (collect on delivery) so the organiser does not front it. |
What goes wrong, and what the record does about it
- The shop delays or cancels a production run — common with made-to-order. Nothing the organiser can promise; the group should say so.
- The organiser takes money and never orders. This is why the "ordered" step demands a screenshot of the shop confirmation with an order number.
- A parcel is taxed or damaged. The customs notice and the carrier photos in the record are what settle who pays.
- A member vanishes after the deadline. The house rules written at creation decide whether their share is refunded or resold.
- Exchange rates move between joining and paying. Fix the rate or the rule in the description before the first join.
What GuziBase does and does not do
- We do not collect payments, hold funds, verify receipts, or decide who is right.
- We do keep an append-only, timestamped record of every step, upload and confirmation, and we read reports against it.
- We do not screen organisers. Finished groups, hosted groups and reports filed are shown on every group page — read them before you pay anyone.
Start a group Back to group buys · Calendar
GuziBase does not collect payments, hold money or guarantee any group. Everything below is agreed between members. Keep your receipts here so a disagreement has a timeline.