Kelly Schmidt saved my bacon (or crane)

[Surfson]

I have bought several items from Yahoo Japan auctions using Buyee and haven't had any problems.  Until recently.  I bought a tsuba a month or so ago, in fact one that was discussed on another thread (see below - I didn't reveal that I was the one who bought it since I wanted unfiltered responses to it).

 

http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/28904-nice-tsuba-on-yahoo-auction/

 

Anyway, things were going smoothly until they informed me that it needs an export permit.  I insisted that this can't be right, since I have bought several other tsuba in the past with no problem.  They just kept telling me that it does need a permit without any explanation as to why.  I wondered whether it was because the seller had described it as "weapon" in the declaration.  We went back and forth on it and eventually they informed me that either I give them an address in Japan to which it can be shipped or it will be "discarded".   Seriously.  

 

That is when I started to panic, as we were about to travel in a few days (to Japan for a business trip as it turns out), and I felt that I had to resolve the issue before leaving.  It eventually dawned on me to contact Kelly.  Many of you know that Kelly runs a bidding and buying service by which he bids for his customers on auctions in Japan and purchases armor, swords and other things for collectors out of Japan.  If they win the items, he handles permitting, packing, shipping, customs etc.  I had once asked him to bid on an expensive item for me, as it exceeded my bidding limit, and even though I was outbid and didn't win the item, I had his email.  Anyway, I contacted him late at night (his time) and he responded immediately.  He agreed to help me, and within a day, and just before we left on our trip, the tsuba was on its way to Kelly.  Close call!

 

it turns out that the tsuba was shipped to him loose in the box, another big no no.  I have had a tsuba break away from its mooring in a box and be scratched, a common thing.  Kelly rewrapped everything, applied for the required permit and shipped it out once he had the permit.  It just arrived today and I am including a few photos.  I plan to take some close up photos of the amazing "hada" that this tsuba has, but this post is about how Kelly saved my ass.

 

As it turns out, any purchase that is over Y200,000 requires a permit.  

 

I am posting this so that others on the NMB know about this limit above which a permit is required - please keep this in mind if you use Yahoo Japan and Buyee!   I also recommend that you be careful about assuring not to ship tsuba loose in their box.  Most of all, I encourage any of you that bid on auctions in Japan to consider using Kelly and his service.  Without his help, I may well have lost this amazing piece of art.  Cheers, Bob

 

[ChrisW]

Kudos to Kelly for saving a piece of art and something that represents our board!

[Stephen]

Lucky it wasn't soft metal.

I recived much worse with mine.

[Vermithrax16]

Great work Kelly! Glad it worked out Robert.

 

Is that a fact about the 200,000 YEN? I think the most expensive thing I bought on buyee was 180,000 so not sure. Sucks if that's the case.

[Rivkin]

200,000 yen, all "weapons" and all things potentially of important historical value.

For the last one they go by the item's 1 line title description.

 

If it says "Important Nambokucho autograph document by Ashikaga Yoshiimitsu" even at 175,000 yen chances are they'll get it returned by the post office and you'll need export permit.

Things to avoid I guess - references to pre-Edo date, "tokubetsu" and attributions to important historical figures. But it seems you need at least 2 out of 3 before post office declines to ship it.

 

Kirill R.

[Japan auctions]

Thank you for the kind words, Robert.

 

Yes, I have been sent numerous items by Buyee, either because they require a permit (which begs the question why they don't just learn how to do them) or because the box exceeds the EMS size limit (usually because they use wa-ay too much packing material, but a few months ago I received a full armor... still on the stand...)  I called them once some years back and asked if they would really discard an item if the buyer didn't have a Japanese address to ship to, and the particular person I talked to (an American - so probably not the boss, nor authorised to say so) didn't give me a clear answer.  Maybe they resell??  Other proxy services like Jaunce apparently do not reship within Japan, so then you don't even have the option.

 

As for tsubas in the box... I've seen them break loose and hammer the lovely kiri box to pieces, or worse, like you said, the moor breaks away and the two steel pins scratch the tsuba.  So, if you do buy through Buyee or one of the other proxy services, by all means request their repacking service, give them clear instructions how you want it done - and hope they follow them.

 

As for nihonto, all blades over 15cm (ie. longer than a kozuka) have a police registration which must be cancelled and an export permit must be applied for.  The proxy services will not do this for you, so please be careful. 

 

Yoroshiku Onegai shimasu~

Kelly

Japan Antique Auctions

[DaveT]

Kelly, JAUCE is a proxy service and will clear nihonto and items over 200,000 yen.8% comission.

[Shogun8]

Kelly's a good guy. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend his services.

[Surfson]

Agreed.   His email address is:

Kelly Schmidt <kschmidt1127@gmail.com>