The Import Playbook
Import without
getting burned.
For anyone importing used JDM wheels or parts from Japan. OPUS JDM buys them in Japan for you, inspects them by hand, and ships them to your door. Where people trip up: inspection, market price, shipping, duties, and who to buy from.
I'm Akinari, and I run OPUS. I wrote these myself. Not armchair theory — only my own deals and real stories from my customers.
01 · Inspection
Listed as +13. It was −13.
The listing said +13; the stamp and my tape said −13. A proxy is only responsible for buying. So get an inspection, and a way out, before it ships.
1 in 5sets differ from the listing
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02 · True story
The $2,800 set that came with a $945 bill at the door.
I shipped duties-unpaid, and my customer got hit with a bill at the door. Here's what I changed, and why you can trust me.
$945billed at the door
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03 · Shipping
What's a fair shipping cost from Japan?
Even for the same size to the same country, shipping varies a lot between sellers. As a yardstick, I'm posting every rate I use.
About 2×shipping gap between sellers
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04 · Duties (USA)
What's the real duty rate?
Google's 2.5% isn't current. If the wheels get misclassified, it can hit 37%, like the invoice in the photo. The conclusion: buy from a seller who ships duties paid.
37%→15%misclassified rate vs. correct rate
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05 · Resellers
See through reseller markups.
A BBS RG-R set: $1,192 in Japan, $3,533 on eBay. See the Japanese price first, and the markup has nowhere to hide.
$2,341markup on the same set
Read →The duties article (04) is about importing to the US. Shipping and market price are the same regardless of destination.
See your all-in price.
Articles can't give you an exact number. Enter your wheel size and destination, and the tool searches Yahoo! Auctions, Up Garage, and Mercari at once. You get a delivered price — market price, shipping, and duty included — right away.
Find wheels (all-in price)