Wow...I always go for the cheapest shipping method (whether it be from Yesasia, CDJapan, Japan Discoveries, etc) and I have never had a problem ever. I've been using Yesasia the longest. I think Japan Discoveries is a good option for preorders (they had the best price on the mekuri calendar and photobook that I saw) but when you're getting into rare, difficult to find items then you do seem to get into more money.

I don't understand why the shipping costs so much. The last couple months I've had to ship a couple things from here to Japan for a friend and it didn't seem unreasonable for shipping internationally...but put the shoe on the other foot...for example, I love to buy manga but I will only read it in the original Japanese so my only option is online...if I want to buy a set of manga, the shipping fees usually end up being more or less equal to the cost of the books themselves...ridiculous. I lived in Japan for 4 years, but I really don't know much about mailing stuff back and forth internationally...(we had military addresses there so anything our families sent to us from the states and vice versa was still considered domestic) but I wish there was some kind of media mail option like we have in the states...

You know, in the back of my mind I kind of wonder if that shipping money really and truly is going to shipping or if some of it isn't just more profit for them....it just seems beyond exorbitant sometimes...