Online shopping: Have you had any trouble, such as items taking an unusually long time to arrive; they did not arrive at all; they were defective when they did arrive; or they were the wrong items?

No problems with Amazon. Plus, Free Amazon Prime+.

Sorry @Dave. So, then what’s the backup plan for us?

Yes, over the 20+ years doing online shopping, it happened frequently. Amazon pre-Prime days, Amazon in various EU countries, Amazon JP, Rakuten, Aliexpress,....... Either way longer than advertised delivery dates, or it did not arrive, or it was defective. In all cases, it was either exchanging the goods, or refunding by the seller/selling platform, in few cases canceling the transaction by my bank/paypal/card company. Really bad experience where I did not get the goods and lost money was like 5 years ago and it was like 5USD.

The most issues i've had in Japan while online shopping was clothes/shoes sizes that did not match to advertised ones.

Problem is that the only 2 working online sites in Japan, in the english language are Amazon and Zara.

the others are ridiculously complicated or Japanese only.

i have seldom had a problem and none worth complaining about with Amazon.

Had a problem with a monitor I bought from Amazon. They sent me another one even before I was able to return the broken one. Awesome service!

In Mercari Japan, sellers in my experience have been nearly 100% honest on the conditions of the used items they were selling. Can't regret any of the experiences I've had so far on that website.

Rakuten as well has been great over the years but I think their website has absolutely the design EVER!!! While rheir services so far have been great, I detest browsing over Rakuten.

GoPro as well has been great, recently. I've read so many bad comments about their customer service and shipping but I haven't had any problems. Recently got a GoPro directly from their base in Singapore and from clicking "order" to my door it took five days. Not even surprise extras from customs in Japan.

And buying stuff at Yodobashi and being able to pay and pick up at the store is great too.

Lots of problems, most were the wrong product being delivered, wrong size and defective. But that's the price you pay for online shopping.

The biggest trouble with Rakuten is them forcing you to unclick the spam email boxes every time you buy something. They have it as an opt out, not the opt in it should be.

As a default, I try to buy everything s/h on Yahoo Auctions.

Well just got my refund from Amazon today, as my item did not come.

Zichi

i expect every business to respect its customers. I will speak Japanese socially and when i sell something but any company wanting my money in Japan will have to speak the universal business language: English. Particularly foreign companies in Japan. Over 3 million foreigners live in japan now, most can speak English. Any business ignoring this market segment is not worth giving money too.

20+ years and no great issues to speak of and that includes buying from Asia, UK, US, & Australia.

Consistently Efficient Solid Service.

The only real problems I've had, have been with goods that are not up to the advertised level - but they've been purchased at low prices independent of the main dealers, so I wear that as my own fault.

Check and make sure China is not involved anywhere in the chain.

Hint on buying leather goods from abroad: Japan charges an exorbitant tax on such "imports" (including online shopping), so have them sent via a third address abroad (I use an American family member) to you as a "gift." Boom: tax-free.

Check and make sure China is not involved anywhere in the chain.

Yeah, good luck with that.

But to answer the question... ordered online dozens of times over the years, never had an issue of any kind.