Volks USA or Volks JP/Int for Canadian customers?

I was wondering if anyone else who typically orders from Canada and pays in CAD prefers to buy from the USA or JP/Int Volks sites?

The exchange rate discrepancy between CAD-USD vs CAD-Yen is so awful right now that purchasing from the JP site seems to be an almost $40+ cheaper than the USA site depending on how much you buy. (And this is before shipping).

But surely there must be some kind of catch, so I'm wondering if maybe the shipping cost or process is more expensive or tedious, or is there some other benefit to buying from the USA site as a Canadian? Does the JP site still charge you in Yen even if your registered address is in North America?

I was a bit shocked at the crazy price discrepancy, so it feels a little too good to be true, but maybe it's not!

I only have experience ordering from Volks USA but the price in CAD had me checking other avenues, hence the curiousity about the JP site.

Hopefully this makes some kind of sense! And maybe even helps a little! I haven’t been awake long and definitely haven’t had enough coffee.
 

I can’t order from Volks USA because I’m Australian and I’m unsure if Canadians get any special benefit of ordering from the US apart from perhaps cheaper shipping. But even if I could order from Volks US then yeah… I’d still be ordering from Volks JP since the exchange rate is terrible here as well against the USD but great against the Yen. Buying anything at all from the US versus Japan is about the same experience for me, and the same applies to Volks JP. 
 

Volks will charge in Yen just as most US stores would charge me in USD despite shipping to Australia, but whatever payment method you’re using will automatically do the conversion for you depending on the exchange rate of when you purchased. I haven’t encountered any hidden fees or taxes from Volks JP thus far as they list their prices to include taxes upfront, thankfully! The only thing I can think of is payment processing fees like with PayPal, banks but those fees are usually fairly insignificant and just a few dollars, etc and have nothing to do with Volks themselves. 
 

Also just adding this disclaimer to say that this is my personal experience, hehe. 

Good luck and happy purchasing regardless of where you choose to shop! 

Edited December 23, 2024 by Zai

I haven’t ordered from abroad since I’m based in Japan, but if I still lived in Canada I would definitely order from Volks JP over Volks USA, unless they had something that was out of stock on the JP site (which tbf seems to happen fairly often).

There’s no benefit to ordering from Volks USA, all things equal. The exchange rate with the USD is terrible, shipping is outrageous considering how close the US is, and you’ll still get dinged by customs either way. Volks JP has the added bonus of declaring the total value in yen, which will lower your tax bill than if it came from Volks USA.

The reason for the large discrepancy in price is because Volks didn’t bother adjusting prices after the USD began inflating. If the yen ever regains its strength again, Volks USA might have more attractive pricing comparatively.

As someone still based in Canada, Volks Japan 100%. The exchange rate offsets any shipping savings easily. The other issue with Volks USA that doesn't get talked about as often is that they like to ship to Canada via UPS standard, which is a little cheaper in terms of the shipping fee itself, but they make it up by charging a percentage-based processing fee for customs, instead of a flat rate like every other service. I attached a pic of the bill for my Aisha last year. That whole $128.14 segment is just UPS fees and would have just been a flat $10-$30 if it were any other service. Canada Post is ~$10+tax, FedEx/DHL are ~$20-ish+tax etc. 

 

Spoiler

 

On 12/23/2024 at 3:34 PM, Zai said:

Hopefully this makes some kind of sense! And maybe even helps a little! I haven’t been awake long and definitely haven’t had enough coffee.
 

I can’t order from Volks USA because I’m Australian and I’m unsure if Canadians get any special benefit of ordering from the US apart from perhaps cheaper shipping. But even if I could order from Volks US then yeah… I’d still be ordering from Volks JP since the exchange rate is terrible here as well against the USD but great against the Yen. Buying anything at all from the US versus Japan is about the same experience for me, and the same applies to Volks JP. 
 

Volks will charge in Yen just as most US stores would charge me in USD despite shipping to Australia, but whatever payment method you’re using will automatically do the conversion for you depending on the exchange rate of when you purchased. I haven’t encountered any hidden fees or taxes from Volks JP thus far as they list their prices to include taxes upfront, thankfully! The only thing I can think of is payment processing fees like with PayPal, banks but those fees are usually fairly insignificant and just a few dollars, etc and have nothing to do with Volks themselves. 
 

Also just adding this disclaimer to say that this is my personal experience, hehe. 

Good luck and happy purchasing regardless of where you choose to shop! 

 

On 12/23/2024 at 3:59 PM, ragnamuffin said:

I haven’t ordered from abroad since I’m based in Japan, but if I still lived in Canada I would definitely order from Volks JP over Volks USA, unless they had something that was out of stock on the JP site (which tbf seems to happen fairly often).

There’s no benefit to ordering from Volks USA, all things equal. The exchange rate with the USD is terrible, shipping is outrageous considering how close the US is, and you’ll still get dinged by customs either way. Volks JP has the added bonus of declaring the total value in yen, which will lower your tax bill than if it came from Volks USA.

The reason for the large discrepancy in price is because Volks didn’t bother adjusting prices after the USD began inflating. If the yen ever regains its strength again, Volks USA might have more attractive pricing comparatively.

 

On 12/24/2024 at 2:23 PM, la_ said:

As someone still based in Canada, Volks Japan 100%. The exchange rate offsets any shipping savings easily. The other issue with Volks USA that doesn't get talked about as often is that they like to ship to Canada via UPS standard, which is a little cheaper in terms of the shipping fee itself, but they make it up by charging a percentage-based processing fee for customs, instead of a flat rate like every other service. I attached a pic of the bill for my Aisha last year. That whole $128.14 segment is just UPS fees and would have just been a flat $10-$30 if it were any other service. Canada Post is ~$10+tax, FedEx/DHL are ~$20-ish+tax etc. 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences!! It seems like the JP site is definitely the way to go then!