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Rakuten Global & Ebates

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BostonCharlie
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Rakuten Global & Ebates

Post by BostonCharlie »

The Rakuten Global buying experience seems strange to US shoppers like me. I wanted to start a thread for collecting people's advice. I have yet to buy on RG, so I'm going to start by copy/pasting others' advice I have gathered. Since the path to RG deals typically passes through cash back site Ebates, that will show up, too.
 ! Message from: BostonCharlie
UPDATE: The cashback site Ebates is now also called Rakuten. There was already a Rakuten Shop (generally US-facing) and Rakuten Global (international), so why not also "Rakuten" cash back (lol)?
 ! Message from: BostonCharlie
UPDATE: Adding this general warning about using Ebates + RG from Kirk B (full post here) "... So, yes, honest to goodness, I finally did get $2,425 back for one transaction from Ebates. And honest to goodness I do NOT recommend to others that they do this. It all depends on how risk averse you are. Bottom line though, I'm not going to shout it from the mountain tops that others should take this risk. That's their call. You can win at this game, and I won with this Rolex, but I don't trust that you will for certain win every time. ..."

Read on to learn about the obstacles others have encountered and how they dealt with them.
Like any cash back program, you need to be logged into Ebates before you visit RG. Specifically, click the Rakuten Global link provided by Ebates before shopping. What if you haven't clicked through Ebates but you just found a watch you want to buy? This is what to do: 1) write down the item's product number, seller name or whatever else you'll need to find it later (don't use a bookmark), 2) clear your browser cookies and restart your browser, 3) log in to Ebates and follow their link to RG, 4) use the RG search function to locate your watch. Maybe this is overkill, but I've read that it reduces surprises.

Here's an outline of what to expect by RyanD:
1. Click through Ebates to Global Rakuten and place your order (order is NOT final at this point).
2. Check your Ebates account to verify that the purchase was registered. Should not take more than a few hours.
3. The seller will give you the actual total cost including shipping. This may be slightly more or less than you expect due to taxes, etc.
4. If everything looks good, follow the seller instructions to complete the order.
So placing a RG order will eventually result in the seller sending you an invoice. The advice I've read is to not pay this invoice until the purchase is registered by Ebates. Also, seems like I've read of buyers disputing charges on the invoice, like tax.

When it come to paying, you want to use a credit card with no international transaction fees. Then you want to pay in Yen, not dollars. IIRC, paying in dollars means that they perform the currency conversion, and you'll get a bad rate. I don't recall any advice specific to PayPal.

Here is advice from mannal:
I see lots of posts regarding eBates. "Some" indicate that the author may have not read the T&C's or fully understands the process. I have been a user of eBates since 2007 (yes, they have been around that long). If you follow a few basic rules, you will be 100% satisfied, like me.

1. Take the time to review the process on the eBates website - https://www.ebates.com/help/category/ea ... 5001466468
2. ALWAYS check to see if a Shopping Trip has been created in the Portal before you checkout - No number, no rebate.
3. If something does go wrong, follow the process for submitting claims before flaming customer service - https://www.ebates.com/help/track-cash-back . If you did not follow rule #2, good luck. This is where things get sticky.
***

Please correct or amplify anything I wrote above. Please add your experiences with Rakuten Global + Ebates and your experiences with specific sellers on RG. Thanks!
Last edited by BostonCharlie on Wed Oct 30, 2019 9:26 am, edited 6 times in total.
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Re: Rakuten Global & Ebates

Post by USMChawk »

PayPal’s foreign conversion rate is worse than my banks. If you use PayPal for a purchase choose the local currency and let your credit/debit card make the conversion. I bank with credit unions which, in general, have better exchange rates (and little or no fees), than national banks.
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Re: Rakuten Global & Ebates

Post by Penfold36 »

Great idea for this thread BostonCharlie. No joke, I was thinking today about starting this exact thread but thought I would do it when I returned home from the holidays. So thanks for beating me to it! Here are some additional tips and experiences.

1. Look for sellers that offer PayPal. Those are the easiest ones to deal with. Some sellers offer payment by credit card. I have tried that route and it has failed. I've even called my credit card company and cleared the purchase in advance and still couldn't get the transaction to go through. Other people have had more success with that, but in general sellers that offer PayPal are much easier.

2. Become familiar with the unique phrasing that they use. It can help with searching for a specific watch (ex: Omega Seamaster is also referred to as Cima Star), and it can help with understanding a watch's condition (ex: breath is bracelet; dragon's gargoyle head is crown, etc.).

3. The three sellers I have specifically dealt with are Nanaple, Gallery Rare, and Wassyoimura Japan. For Nanaple, I had the credit card problem described in #1. So no watch from them. Gallery Rare was great. Easy communication, watch shipped quickly, used PayPal, no problems. Wassyoimura seems pretty solid as well. My first attempt with them failed, but that was my fault. I currently have one pending with them. I will update when I know more.

4. Make sure you read up on the rewards system. You get points on GR (1 yen = 1 point) that you can use on future purchases. Shops will offer varying levels that change all of the time. Sometimes they will offer 5x or 10x the points. So that is obviously an advantage when making your own personal judgment on whether a deal is solid. Please note: I just had an interesting experience with this. I had 8322 points in my account. I went to make my most recent purchase, and for some strange reason I had 18,322 points in my account. I have no idea where the extra 10k came from. Maybe some sort of promotion? Anyway, because of these bonus points, the watch I purchased (a G Shock) was free! Best kind of deal!!!

Now, on to my question for the thread. I actually posted this the other day in the deals thread, but it wasn't really answered. A lot of watches don't necessarily come up on searches. Some people have suggested searching by model number (plus GR) on Google. You will get to other sellers that way. However, I am not positive that if you found a watch that way, added it to your cart, exited the site, went to ebates, then back to GR (via ebates), and purchased the watch, whether you would still get the cash back. I've heard conflicting information and it certainly contradicts much of what BC said above. Some clarification on that would be great.

The other question I had deals with shipping forwarders. Some sellers that I find on GR through Google will not post to the US. However, they recommend using a shipping forwarder. GR has their own and also lists another 4-5 companies as well. Does anyone have any experiences with these shipping forwarders? Which one is the best?
Last edited by Penfold36 on Sun Dec 30, 2018 9:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Rakuten Global & Ebates

Post by wahlaoeh »

Great thread. 2 comments from my experience

1) Some watches don't show up on GR searches. You have to go to Rakuten Japan and find them and either do a Google search with the model and seller, or to go back to GR and see it appear under your history. So long as it is purchased under the GR banner you should be ok

2) Beware of ebates. I've had a sales and rebates credited only for it to go missing weeks later. Had to file a dispute with them to restore it. Ebates is a bit shady for me. So always monitor your ebates balance

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Re: Rakuten Global & Ebates

Post by yinzburgher »

I was planning to start a new thread for this(I still may) but for the moment it seems appropriate to add to this thread. If you've ever perused Rakuten Global Market, you are likely aware that there some terms included in the watch listings that can be difficult to decipher. This glossary will hopefully make your RGM deal-hunting a bit easier. Please let me know by PM or posting to the thread what terms I am missing that may be of help to RGM shoppers. I will be editing this list to make it more complete. Thanks.

Rakuten Global Market Glossary
Belt - Strap
Blight Ring - Breitling
Breath - Bracelet
Cages - Oris
Cima Star - Seamaster
Clockface - Dial
Dragon-head gargoyle - Crown
Jin Ron - Longines
Junk Product - Used
Kurono - Chronograph
Lew's - Crown
Needle - Hand
Pickpocket wound - Ding/Scratch
Pross Pecks - Prospex
QZ - quartz
Rolling by hand - Hand-winding
Self-winding - Automatic
Windshield - Crystal
Yoon Hans - Junghans
Zhu Dollar - Tudor
Last edited by yinzburgher on Sun Dec 30, 2018 10:47 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Rakuten Global & Ebates

Post by watchpalooza »

Thank you for this thread...Rakuten is very unintuitive to me and this helps!
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Re: Rakuten Global & Ebates

Post by ILiveOnWacker »

yinzburgher wrote:I was planning to start a new thread for this(I still may) but for the moment it seems appropriate to add to this thread. If you've ever perused Rakuten Global Market, you are likely aware that there some terms included in the watch listings that can be difficult to decipher. This glossary will hopefully make your RGM deal-hunting a bit easier. Please let me know by PM or posting to the thread what terms I am missing that may be of help to RGM shoppers. I will be editing this list to make it more complete. Thanks.

Rakuten Global Market Glossary
Belt - Strap
Blight Ring - Breitling
Breath - ?
Cages - Oris
Cima Star - Seamaster
Clockface - Dial
Dragon-head gargoyle - Crown
Jin Ron - Longines
Junk Product - Used
Lew's - Crown
Needle - Hand
Pickpocket wound - Ding/Scratch
Pross Pecks - Prospex
Rolling by hand - Hand-winding
Self-winding - Automatic
Windshield - Crystal
Yoon Hans - Junghans
Zhu Dollar - Tudor
I think breath is bracelet


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Re: Rakuten Global & Ebates

Post by mplsabdullah »

Great thread. Thanks for the info guys.

How do I choose to pay in local currency? I've looked around in my PayPal account and can't find a way to set that

Edit: I think I figured it out.

If I pay with my PayPal balance then I'm.stuck with PayPal conversation rate and fees correct?
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Re: Rakuten Global & Ebates

Post by AndroidIsAwesome »

My 2 cents:

1More and Seiko specialty store 3s are the same store, and are very reliable.

Glories watch store is useless.
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Rakuten Global & Ebates

Post by Robotaz »

Chino is c-watch on GR. They have the SARK011 for $1566. $1158 with discount.

This is a column wheel chronograph with an incredible case and crystal. It’s thick, but gorgeous. I owned one and know all about it. Kickass deal.

They also have a lot of Laco and Junkers models.
Last edited by Robotaz on Sun Dec 30, 2018 11:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Rakuten Global & Ebates

Post by wake »

I’ve had excellent dealings with Chino’s store - c-watch company.


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Re: Rakuten Global & Ebates

Post by Robotaz »

wake wrote:I’ve had excellent dealings with Chino’s store - c-watch company.


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I’ve bought probably 10 watches from them. Whether it’s GR or their website, EMS shipping and flawless transactions. They know English and can email back and forth.
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Re: Rakuten Global & Ebates

Post by yinzburgher »

I've noticed in the past that whenever Ebates has increased cash back for Rakuten Global Market, many forum members have asked "What are you buying? Everything seems so expensive?" And often they are right. If you are looking for brand new watches, there are a lot of overpriced listings to sort through to find the few deals(particularly on the lower end of the price spectrum, where I typically shop). However if you are in the market for used and vintage, I think RGM is an absolute gold mine when these promotions are happening. Also, because you get an uncapped percentage of cash back from your total purchase price, the deals seem to look better as the watches go up in price towards the high end brands. Meaning it is often easier to find a great deal on a Zenith, Omega, or Grand Seiko than it is on a Casio, Orient, or Seiko 5.
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Re: Rakuten Global & Ebates

Post by AndroidIsAwesome »

yinzburgher wrote:I've noticed in the past that whenever Ebates has increased cash back for Rakuten Global Market, many forum members have asked "What are you buying? Everything seems so expensive?" And often they are right. If you are looking for brand new watches, there are a lot of overpriced listings to sort through to find the few deals(particularly on the lower end of the price spectrum, where I typically shop). However if you are in the market for used and vintage, I think RGM is an absolute gold mine when these promotions are happening. Also, because you get an uncapped percentage of cash back from your total purchase price, the deals seem to look better as the watches go up in price towards the high end brands. Meaning it is often easier to find a great deal on a Zenith, Omega, or Grand Seiko than it is on a Casio, Orient, or Seiko 5.
This is absolutely correct. You're better off spending more to save more as dumb as it sounds. Sometimes you get lucky though, like in August I got my brand new skx007k2 for $98. The prices on them aren't near that low today but you just have to hunt around.
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Re: Rakuten Global & Ebates

Post by AndroidIsAwesome »

I'm pretty experienced with Rakuten, but does their use of the word "Junk" differ from ours? I would assume it literally just means broken, but who knows.

Edit nevermind, just noticed it in the earlier post it means used essentially not necessarily broken
Last edited by AndroidIsAwesome on Sun Dec 30, 2018 12:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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