Rakuten Global & Ebates

[Kirk B]

Well... I tried to get the tax taken off, but no luck. Plus they are hitting me with $72 USD for shipping and I lost out $224 due to the conversion rate change. Oh well... such a great deal that I'm going to buy anyway. Go to check out with PayPal and I get this:

"Sorry, we can’t complete your payment
This payment exceeds your PayPal sending limit. You can find information about lifting your limits in your Account Profile."

Of course there is absolutely zero info in my account profile that they linked me to - nothing about limits. Yes, I've had an account since 2002 and my bank and credit cards are all linked and verified. Yes, I'm under the $10,000 limit too. I don't know what the deal is, anyone else have this problem? I'm going to try calling Customer Service again tomorrow when they're open.

One note - I can still do a "guest" checkout through PayPal and pay with my credit card, but I assume they are going to hit me for sure with the PayPal conversion rate instead of my credit card's rate.

EDIT - Looks like it might be a system problem with PayPal. I tried going through as a Guest (and it does let you switch to Yen for payment) and it won't process the order... Either something is wrong with my order or something is wrong with PayPal. PayPal conversion rate by the way was $300 less favorable.

[ILiveOnWacker]

Well... I tried to get the tax taken off, but no luck. Plus they are hitting me with $72 USD for shipping and I lost out $224 due to the conversion rate change. Oh well... such a great deal that I'm going to buy anyway. Go to check out with PayPal and I get this:

"Sorry, we can’t complete your payment
This payment exceeds your PayPal sending limit. You can find information about lifting your limits in your Account Profile."

Of course there is absolutely zero info in my account profile that they linked me to - nothing about limits. Yes, I've had an account since 2002 and my bank and credit cards are all linked and verified. Yes, I'm under the $10,000 limit too. I don't know what the deal is, anyone else have this problem? I'm going to try calling Customer Service again tomorrow when they're open.

One note - I can still do a "guest" checkout through PayPal and pay with my credit card, but I assume they are going to hit me for sure with the PayPal conversion rate instead of my credit card's rate.

EDIT - Looks like it might be a system problem with PayPal. I tried going through as a Guest (and it does let you switch to Yen for payment) and it won't process the order... Either something is wrong with my order or something is wrong with PayPal. PayPal conversion rate by the way was $300 less favorable.

I haven’t seen that before with PayPal. As for shipping, I’ve found that they do it by weight. The speedy pro moonwatch I got earlier in the year had about a $100 shipping charge, due to the ginormous box and accessories that came with the full kit.

My seamaster that I just bought has a $22 shipping charge.

Something seems off in your math though. The exchange rate has changed by about 0.75% in the US (from 0.009145 on 12/30 to 0.009214 as of yesterday). If the $224 difference due to exchange rate was correct, your purchase would have far exceeded the $10,000 PayPal limit. Assuming you are in the US.


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[Kirk B]

As a follow up - there was a problem with my order. It was close to a million Yen and the shipping pushed it over. Somehow the seller could not accept PayPal payments over a million Yen. They had to drop off the shipping (gave me close to free shipping) and re-send the invoice. Then my preferred cash-back credit card got declined. Had to spend an hour to sort that out with the credit card company. Then PayPal flagged the transaction too. OMG, it literally took me two days to actually check out and pay, just crazy. Was it worth it? Well with the shipping discount, 26% cash back from Ebates, and 1.5% cash back from my credit card I got a grail watch for $3,190 under US fair market value! We'll see what shows up at the door, but I am anticipating that I will be very satisfied and consider this worth the hassle.

[Kirk B]

As a side note about buying pre-owned from Japan. Watch these videos from Austin Daniels on the subject. Note that Austin has lived in Japan for 15 years and still uses Rakuten for purchases. Part 1 and Part 2:





In summary, what Austin says is that Japan may be one of the best foreign markets to buy from used because brick and mortar businesses tend to be very honest and show macro pictures of any defects. They want to make sure that buyers know what they are getting and are satisfied. He says that their culture means that it's probably a safer bet buying from there than even US sellers! Very small chance of fakes or misrepresented watches. The one big thing to watch out for though is the polishing that they always seem to do to used watches. Austin is extremely uptight about polishing though. When I bought used I specifically looked for watches that had macro shots of any wear and that clearly were unpolished.

[ILiveOnWacker]

As a side note about buying pre-owned from Japan. Watch these videos from Austin Daniels on the subject. Note that Austin has lived in Japan for 15 years and still uses Rakuten for purchases. Part 1 and Part 2:





In summary, what Austin says is that Japan may be one of the best foreign markets to buy from used because brick and mortar businesses tend to be very honest and show macro pictures of any defects. They want to make sure that buyers know what they are getting and are satisfied. He says that their culture means that it's probably a safer bet buying from there than even US sellers! Very small chance of fakes or misrepresented watches. The one big thing to watch out for though is the polishing that they always seem to do to used watches. Austin is extremely uptight about polishing though. When I bought used I specifically looked for watches that had macro shots of any wear and that clearly were unpolished.

Glad it worked out (so far)!

I’m getting my first used watch from Japan and am hoping for the best. Mine doesn’t looked polished but I noticed several others that were.


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[AndroidIsAwesome]

I was about to buy a used Oris for $300 ish. Too bad I missed the Rakuten Ebates lol. But I do want to get a used Seamaster off Rakuten in the coming summer.

[Kirk B]

Yeah, I still have one watch that I want to buy in 2019 - an Omega Speedmaster Professional moon watch. $3,500 is grey market new in the US. Same price in Japan. But with 20% back I could get it for $2,900 (with shipping) from Ebates and Global Rakuten. That is without a question the best deal on new that I will be able to find. I'm just waiting for the next go-around with Ebates. I've seen 20% cash back from them 2 to 3 times a year. I had never seen 26% back before though...

[Kirk B]

Feedback on my RGM purchase from Kaiul Brand Shop:

https://global.rakuten.com/en/store/kaiul/

Kaiul is basically a pawn shop, but Austin Daniels in the videos already posted explains how pawn shops in Japan are different from in the United States. I got my watch today and it was for the most part as described. It had a few more minor scratches than what I expected from the photos and description. They described the watch as a 9.5/10 (SA rating). What I got was more of an 8.5/10, but with a good washing, some minor hand polishing, and some minor brushing I was able to get the watch up to a 9/10. Overall then I'm pretty satisfied with the purchase and would buy from Kaiul Brand Shop again. Communication in English was good. They did not take off any tax. They took PayPal and shipped Japan Post EMS and I did not pay customs/duty.

[BostonCharlie]

As reported by yinzburgher around midnight, 12% Ebates cashback for Rakuten Global purchases are now rocking. The Ebates site features a "One Day Only! Triple Cash Back" banner, and it shows triple cash back for a number of other retailers like JCPenney, Kohl's and Sierra Trading Post. Will the RG 12% last longer than 24 hours? If so, then will it jump to something higher in the following days? The T&Cs exclude purchases made via the Ebates app, and there's at least one report of a buyer here getting burned by that last time around.

UPDATE: 24 hours later and it's back down to 4% cash back.

[PetWatch]

I wanted clarification in regards to recent Ebates RG promo's omitting any mention of “sitewide”, something I had seen listed on their promotions page before. They now list Department category sales promo's. I inquired about the recent 12% promo, to which they promptly replied.

“The advertised percentage of Cash Back is almost always site-wide unless stated otherwise.”

Not exactly definitive, leaving a loophole open, but it certainly settles the matter. When I pressed the issue they also separately confirmed that all 3rd party merchants in the Rakuten Marketplace were included barring any noted exclusions.

There IS a need to look for Exclusions under Cash Back Terms, which is currently on the left margin of the promo website page.

Bear in mind this is all in reference to Ebates – RG specific promo's. Ebates promo offers with other merchants may vary from this format, some mention site-wide, some do not, but mention specific Cash Back Categories which may vary in % CB, as opposed to noting exclusions.

They sure don't make it consistent and easy.

[BostonCharlie]

uvalaw2005 reports 15% cash back from Ebates for Rakuten Global (was 4%).

From the exclusions: "Cash Back is not available on a purchase placed through the Ebates app."



https://www.ebates.com/globalrakuten.com

[mplsabdullah]

Just saw this message from Ebates that I've never seen before

This is when using my phone's browser the way I always purchase from RG (and pretty much any other sites)

[Kirk B]

Quick question that seems appropriate to post here... When getting your Big Fat Check from Ebates they offer PayPal as a "free" method of receiving the money. Doesn't seem right to me that PayPal would do this "free". Anyone get their payment this way and can confirm that there are no PayPal fees? I've always just gotten the check and so can confirm that option is indeed totally free.

[pneuma2018]

I have gotten my GR rebates through PayPal and I can confirm this is no PayPal fees.

[Kirk B]

I have gotten my GR rebates through PayPal and I can confirm this is no PayPal fees.

Okay, got it. I figured it couldn't hurt to ask...
Thanks!