I have bought like a dozen times from Japan, all using EMS and usually they are in RM3xx to 4xx range, highest was RM480 including shipping. All reached my doorsteps without any fuss.

i wonder if it has something to do with seller not declaring this properly.

Amazon Japan uses DHL only, and u get your items as fast as in 3-4 days. And no worries because Amazon and DHL declared the item price and shipping costs clearly in the invoice attached. I got a big box in, like, 35 to 40cm at the longest dimension yet the shipping costs is only 1400yen.

If your area is not serviceable by DHL u will see a message in your tracking number "delivery arranged no details expected". It means is coming to you the next day - they passed the parcel to poslaju to complete the delivery. Those in penang and kl shouldbt have this issue though, DHL delivers it to u directly.

It is FedEx from what i know that had the tendency to get into trouble with customs. And shipping big boxes from USA is very expensive.

This post has been edited by EXkurogane: Jun 11 2015, 08:13 PM

Ah, items not fulfilled by Amazon will not use DHL. Amazon japan seems to have some kind of contract with DHL, hence cheap price; i think they ship a lot of stuff in bulk at once, probably at least half the content in a cargo plane is Amazon stuff. It makes sense because all DHL shipments by Amazon use Hong Kong as a transit stop for a few hours before being dispatched to Other countries. They have a HQ there.

Registered SAL is relatively safe, customs are not that strict. From japan to Malaysia average 12-15 days.