There are a couple japan exclusive VGM pressings I've been wanting to pick up, one is a Falcom special edition box and the other is an older Square Enix pressing I found listed on a secondhand shop. Neither seller ships outside japan, so it comes down to using a proxy or a forwarding service.
For just 1 or 2 records I'm not sure which makes more sense. Proxy services like Buyee or ZenMarket handle the entire purchase and ship to you. Forwarding services give you a japanese mailing address and you buy the item yourself, then they send it overseas. For a small order the real question is which one has less overhead when you're not consolidating a big haul.
What worries me more than cost is how the records get treated in transit. Vinyl warps if it's packed poorly or sits in heat too long, and I've seen enough horror stories about destroyed records to be paranoid. A service that actually knows how to ship records flat with proper stiffeners matters way more than shaving a couple bucks off fees.
Came across Onemall while comparing options and their rates looked lower than Buyee for lightweight packages. No clue how they handle vinyl specifically though, or whether they get enough record orders to have a real process for it. Btw I asked Onemall's support about vinyl shipping, they said they have a specialized packing method for records to ensure they arrive safely.
For those of you who've shipped records from japan, did you go proxy or forwarding? And was the condition worth the hassle?