Rakuten Global Express review

Rakuten Global Express receives goods bought on Japanese e-commerce sites at a domestic warehouse and forwards them overseas. It can combine orders from different web shops into one parcel and can handle a single item.

Shoppers use it for everyday Japanese goods such as food and sweets, cosmetics, supplements and anime goods. Goods from shops that lack overseas delivery can be sent to the domestic warehouse and then forwarded abroad.

Goods from shops outside its group can also be forwarded, including other Japanese e-commerce sites. Peer marketplace purchases and parcels from family or friends are not accepted.

Purchased goods are gathered at its warehouse in Kawasaki before overseas shipment. Undeliverable prohibited goods are forwarded only to addresses inside Japan.

Support is available in Japanese, English, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese. Automatic registration applies to qualifying orders from its group marketplace and bookstore services.

Purchases from several shops can be gathered at a domestic warehouse and consolidated into one overseas shipment. Goods that a shop will not send abroad can be routed through a personal shopping address in Japan. Some items are excluded from overseas shipping, which limits what can be combined in a single package.