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Tein Aristo Coilovers
Retail price $1,450
Import Monster price $740
 

19 Inch Work Euroline VIP rims
Retail price $2,800
Import Monster price $970
 

18 inch Vertec Manaray deep dish rims
Retail price $1,800
Import Monster price $824
 
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Monster Yahoo Auction Service Help


How do I browse the auctions?

Once you have logged in to our site, click the 'browse' button then select 'Yahoo Auctions' to start. We have a list of categories down the left side of the page, which you can use to navigate to the category / area of your choice. Once you are browsing a category, the auctions within that category will appear in rows in the middle of the page. Usually there is a tumbnail picture of the item, the current price (in Yen and Australian Dollars), the number of bids the auction has received, and the time remaining.

We list 50 auctions per page, there is a page browsing system at the top & bottom of each page.

You can sort the results based on time remaining, or price, both ascending & decending. This can be useful when you want to:

  • look for auctions that end soon, throw some last minute bids around
  • look for auctions that have a very low start price, bid a low price & hope nobody else bids!


About the Watch List

mport Monster has a 'watch list' which allows you to save auctions that you want to find later. This could be because you want to keep your eye on some auctions to see what price they close at, or because you want to come back and bid on the item later.

ADDING TO WATCH LIST:
On every auction page is a link 'Add to Watch List'. When you click this link a window will pop-up, asking you to give the auction a title. You can set the title to be anything you want, usually a name that will best describe the item up for auction. Once you have set the name, click the 'Add' button to add the item to your watch list. The pop-up window will then self-close.

VIEWING YOUR WATCH LIST:
In the top left corner of the site is a link 'Watch List'. When you click this link Import Monster will display all of the items you have added to your watch list. We will also load the latest auction information (auction price, number of bids, time remaining) for each, depending on the number of items on your watch list this can take a few seconds.

UPDATING / REFRESHING YOUR WATCH LIST:
If you are keeping your eye on an item in your watch list, you can click the green arrows button next to any item to reload the latest auction info. You can also click the green arrows button at the top of the page to reload all of the auction info.

REMOVING AN ITEM FROM YOUR WATCH LIST:
Below each item in your watch list, is a 'tickbox / checkbox'. You can tick as many auctions as wish to delete and tick the 'Delete Selected' link at the bottom of the page.

WATCH LIST LIMIT:
Currently there is a limit of 20 items per watch list.


How do I place a bid?

So you have found an item you wish to bid on! Below we describe the bidding process, how you can track your bids, and important information regarding certain auction types.

BID DEPOSIT:
Import Monster requires a deposit, 50% of the bid amount, to enable you to bid. You will need to 'Add Funds' to your Import Monster balance to do this. When you make a bid, we deduct the amount from your Import Monster balance, however these funds are not passed on to Japan or the seller, they are kept in trust until either:

  1. You are outbid, in which case we return your deposit to your Import Monster account
  2. You win the auction, in which case the balance costs are due

WHY A DEPOSIT IS REQUIRED:
On sites like Ebay, they allow you to bid on items without any form of deposit. That is because it is individual buyers & sellers making the deal, it makes no difference to the company if the sale does not go through. With Import Monster, we are the 'middle-man' between you the buyer, and the Japanese seller. Via our website, you are using Import Monster's Yahoo Japan auction ID to make purchases, essentially using our account for yourself. The Japanese are very 'honourable' people, and to place a bid on an auction and not complete the sale is not acceptable to the Japanese people at all. In fact if this happens, our Yahoo auction ID will receive a 'negative feedback' which impacts our credibility. This often results in other sellers cancelling other auctions currently being won by Import Monster, simply because they think we are 'bad people'. So you can see that not going through with an auction is bad for all Import Monster users! Because of this we request a deposit to ensure that bidders are serious about the potential purchase they are making. If deposits were not required, there would be nothing stopping people from signing up, bidding on items they have no intention on purchasing, and ruining it for all!

WHY SHIPPING INFO IS REQUIRED:
Buying an item for the auction price is not enough to complete the transaction. There are other costs involved, which mainly relate to freighting the item from the seller to your door, which must be paid. By requesting shipping information at the time of bidding, we are able to provide you with an approximate total price for the item, inclusive of all freight & various other costs. This way you know, in advance, the potential cost of the item, delivered to your door.

BID AMOUNT / MAX BID:
You can choose to bid the very minimum (say 1Y more than the current auction price) to hopefully become the winner of the auction. Or you can place your MAX (maximum) bid, the most you want to spend on the item. If you do this, Import Monster will automatically bid the MINIMUM amount required to get you winning the auction. If somebody else bids on the auction too, we automatically counter-bid until you are winning again, or we reach your MAX. This feature is exactly the same as Ebay offers.

LIVE BIDDING:
When you confirm your bid, Import Monster will place your bid immediately on Yahoo Japan, a process that takes around 5 seconds. Once your bid is placed, you are notified if the bid was successful or not.

SUCESSFUL BID:
If you are winning the auction, Import Monster will notify you of this once the bid is placed. You can keep track of the auction via the auction page, your watch list, the bids page and via email - Import Monster will notify you via email if you are outbid, or if you win.

UNSUCESSFUL BID:
If you place a bid, and Import Monster says your bid was unsuccessful, it is because somebody else has previously bid a higher amount. If your bid is higher than the current auction price, this means that the current winner of the auction set a higher MAX amount, your bid will drive up the price of the auction though. Whenever your bid is not successful, Import Monster will give you the ability to bid a higher amount immediately.

GETTING OUTBID:
If you are outbid, Import Monster will notify you via email immediately, and the status will change on your 'bids' page. If the auction is still open, you can place a higher bid, by repeating the same process you did when you initially bid.

WINNING AN AUCTION:
If you win an auction, Import Monster will notify you via email immediately. We will then deduct the balance of the auction price, and all other associated costs (as detailed to you during the bid place process) from your Import Monster account. We will also send you an email showing you what we have initially charged you, known as a 'provisional invoice'.


Are any auctions not supported?

Almost all auctions ARE supported by Import Monster. There are a few instances where auctions are not supported, note that many of these only relate to automotive parts only:

EXCHANGE AUCTIONS:
These are auctions where the seller is expecting you to provide an item in exchange for the new / refurbished item offered for sale. These sorts of auctions could be for certain refurbished car parts, such as a power steering pump or alternator. The seller is offering you a refurbished part, but expects you to return your defective part to them for them to refurbish and in turn offer for sale in the future. We do not support these auctions because of the additional work involved with obtaining your part & providing it to the seller. You can usually identify these auctions as there is mention of you returning an item in the auction description.

PROCESSING SERVICE:
These auctions are where the seller is selling a service, not an item, such as converting taillights to LED. The seller is expecting you to send them your original part for them to modify. We are unable to facilitate sending your item to the seller and therefore do not support this auction.

PICKUP ONLY AUCTION:
Almost all sellers will freight items. Very VERY occasionally a seller will not offer freight on an item, usually only for large, bulky items such as engines, gearboxes etc. The auction text usually mentions that the item is for pickup only. If you see text referring to shipping, or freight, this is usually an indication that the seller WILL freight your item.

If you are unsure about an auction, please contact us (see our contact page) and be sure to let us know the auction you are looking at (send us the link / web address / URL).


Are there auctions I should watch out for?

There are a few auction types which occasionally catch people out. It could be that the seller has not been descriptive in the auction text, or that the exact information has been diluted in translation. Below are a couple of examples of these auctions:

ITEM QUANTITY:
Sometimes an auction will be for 1 item only, when you might think it is for more. This quite often is the case for new car rims. The seller will set the auction price for 1 rim only, this is mentioned in the auction text quite often citing "exhibition is for 1 only - successful bid price x 4".  If you win, the seller expects that if you win the auction, you will specify how many rims you want, as you may not always want 4 rims. In addition to the description referring to the auction being for 1 rim only, the price is usually a giveaway. If the price seems way to cheap, then it could be because the quantity is for 1 only.

DATA AUCTIONS:
Some sellers will offer data or information for auction. Some examples of this could be a program for a POWER PC. These auctions can confuse some people because the auction image is of an Apexi Power FC, but it is only a program to upload into the Power FC that is being auctioned. These auctions usually have the word 'program data' or 'setting data' in the auction text. Once again, the giveaway is the price, if it appears way too cheap, it could be for the data only. Not saying you won't pick up a powerfc for $50 - but seriously, it's pretty unlikely ;)

EXCHANGE AUCTIONS:
Particularly for items like headlights, alternators, aircon compressors, led light conversions and so on. The seller is offering a service and generally requires the original part before he'll ship out the replacement. In these instances we can proceed either by locating you a suitable part in Japan to send the seller, you sending your original part to the seller or by negotiating for the price of the part to be included in the deal. Alternatively, we can negotiate a nominal amount to cover the sellers auction fees.


Can I cancel a bid or won auction?

If we cancel a bid or not complete a transaction for a won auction, this results in a 'negative feedback' against our Yahoo Auctions ID. The Japanese are very 'honourable' people, and to place a bid on an auction and not complete the sale is not acceptable to the Japanese people at all. In fact if this happens, our Yahoo auction ID will receive a 'negative feedback' which impacts our credibility. This often results in other sellers cancelling other auctions currently being won by Import Monster, simply because they think we are 'bad people'. So you can see that not going through with an auction is bad for all Import Monster users! Because of this we request a deposit to ensure that bidders are serious about the potential purchase they are making. If deposits were not required, there would be nothing stopping people from signing up, bidding on items they have no intention on purchasing, and ruining it for all!

If you need a bid retracted whilst the auction is open, notify us immediately and we will ask the seller if they will cancel our bid. It is up to the seller if they choose to comply with our request. You will know if your bid has been cancelled as you will receive an 'outbid' email from Import Monster. In this instance there is no cost to you.

If you wish to cancel your bid after the auction has ended, with you as the winner, we will negotiate with the seller to see what they will offer. Quite often we are able to pay the seller their Yahoo Auction fees, and they will re-list the item. In this instance there is no cost to you.

Very occasionally, a seller will get upset that we are not going to complete the transaction, despite our attempts to negotiate a deal. If the seller cancels our purchase via Yahoo, it will result in a negative feedback against our ID, and as per the description above, this has a negative effect on all Import Monster users. In this instance, a 'negative feedback' fee is charged to your account.


What are the costs and charges?

Cost and charges.

In order to do what he does, Import Monster takes a fee, which is a percentage of the final auction price. This is what makes it feasible for him to do all the running around and enables him to bring the best bargains in Japan to you. It allows him to pay for keeping www.importmonster.com.au progressing and making things easier and easier for you as time goes by. It pays for our staff and facilities in Japan and Australia and at the end, hopefully there is a little left over for the Import Monster to use on picking up his own bargains. At the end of the day, the Import Monster is just like you - he lives and breathes cars!

In addition to the Import Monsters fee, there are a couple of other costs involved in getting your bargains to you! Just think about what you pay if you use any popular auction service to buy something. You have to pay for the item, you have to pay to get the item to you, if it's from overseas there are taxes and duties that you sometimes need to pay - well Import Monster is no different to that, whatever the true costs are, the Import Monster passes those on to you so you're paying the absolute lowest amount possible. The Monster doesn’t believe in cashing in every which way. He charges a fair amount for what he does and the rest is passed on to you, at the actual cost. The Import Monster is as fair as fair can be!

The Import Monster difference!

The Import Monster charges ONLY THE ACTUAL COSTS! The Monster does NOT load up the fees here and there, adding a little extra to shipping here, throwing in a bank fee there, charging a shipping surcharge for sending your goods to you and trying to make our commission look cheaper. The Monster charges you everything AT COST. Import Monster makes no attempt to hide our fees inside other costs and charges. We are up front with what we charge for our service and we believe this is the absolute fairest way to deal with you.

These fees are applicable to all purchases for every auction.

Purchase price - what you win the auction for. Simple! You set this amount so there are no surprises!

Import Monsters fee - Minimum 2,500yen, then 20% of the purchase price up to a maximum of 25000yen. So even if you bid 500,000yen, the maximum fee you will pay is 25,000yen

Japan domestic post - AT COST!! (the calculator includes an average for each category, which will be charged when you win the item and any difference between the average cost and the real cost will be added/subtracted from your account once the true cost is known - usually within a week of the auction win!)

Postage/freight to you - AT COST!! (the calculator includes an average for each category, which will be charged when you win the item and any difference between the average cost and the real cost will be added/subtracted from your account once the true cost is known - usually within a week of the auction win!)

These fees are applicable only to Australian customers.

Import duty - if shipping in one of our containers, then Import duty is applicable - Import duty is 10% of the auction price. IE if the auction ended at 50.000yen, the Import duty is 5,000yen. Import duty is a customs tax which is charged on all commercial shipments, it is paid to the Government and not even the Monster can avoid it. We WILL NOT reduce the values of items in our containers to avoid or reduce duties and taxes so please do not ask.

For goods VIA Air/EMS, as long as they are under $1,000 aud in value there is no Import Duty applicable.

GST - Goods and Services Tax is applicable to ALL purchases where the goods are to be supplied within Australia. GST is 10% of the total costs. ie, it is added once all other charges have been applied.

Australian Domestic Freight - anything shipped via container will come into our Warehouse in Ringwood, Victoria and will be available for pickup from us here. If you can't pick up for any reason, such as being interstate, we will courier your items to you, at your cost. We will calculate an average amount based on the category your purchase falls under and bill you for that ahead of time, once your item has arrived, we will be able to calculate your exact cost - if we have overcharged, we will refund the difference, if we have undercharged we will debit your Import Monster account with an explanation. Thus there will be minimal delay once your new toys are in the country.


Can I bid on an engine?

An engine MUST have an intact engine number in order for the Monster to export it from  Japan. If it does not state in the auction that the engine # is intact then do not bid. The Monster can seek clarification from the seller on your behalf, so please send an email to support@importmonster.com.au with the URL of the auction and we will do our best to find out before the auction ends. Any purchase that proceeds on an engine with no intact engine # will be required to pay the normal Commission fee we would take for this purchase, plus any fees that the seller wants in order to cover the auction fees. If your winning bid results in Import Monster receiving a negative feedback from the seller, then a $55aud penalty will apply in addition to the normal commission fees.

Alternatively, we are able to dismantle a complete engine if you require parts from it. An hourly rate for our local mechanic in Japan will apply.


Can I bid on used tyres?

Import Monster is licensed by AQIS (Australian Quarantine Inspection Service) to import used tyres ONLY when they are fitted to a rim. We will not import used tyres to Australia unless they are mounted on a rim. So you can buy used rims and tyres, but you can NOT buy used tyres on their own. Brand new tyres are ok, but they MUST BE BRAND NEW!

If you wish to buy used tyres and rims seperately, we can have these fitted up by our local tyre shop in Japan. This will be at a charge of 2700yen per tyre and applied to your account.


 
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