Last month Tenso shipped 14 CDs (including 3 double CDs) for $113. Not bad considering it would have cost $280 shipped separately. The box was heavy and stuffed with air pillow packing. Several bundles of CD were bubble wrapped inside.
Tenso box from Japan (12x8x7.5″)
Tenso shipping box opened
Tenso box packing
bubble wrapped CDs in box
EMS package from Tenso
Three CDs arrived the other day in an Express Mail Service (EMS) pouch. I have to sign for EMS mail when it arrives. I bought all of them from Amazon Japan. All were listed as “Good-Used” but in much better condition than expected. NaNa Mizuki’s Trickster included a retail plastic cover. Trickster came in a Super Jewel Box which I’ve never seen before. It had rounded corners and opens by pressing instead of prying. The cover artwork is enclosed on all sides preventing it from falling out.
Tsuyoshi’s All ABOUT LOVE has varying styles of R&B. “tell me” is more a club mix. Kono Mama Zutto is a ballad which uses the Stylistics’ You Are Everything as a background melody. “Magic” is an another ballad with an older R&B sound and very pleasing on the ears.
There’s several tracks on Trigun’s OST which I like but PHILOSOPHY in a Tea Cup is my favorite. I like its soft jazzy sound.
Tenso package contents
NaNa Mizuki: Trickster
TSUYOSHI: ALL ABOUT LOVE
trigun the first donuts
You will have 14 days within the package’s arrival at Tenso.com to take advantage of the consolidation service. Make sure that you apply within 14 days as you will not be able to do so after.
Tenso sent me a notice saying I only had 2 days left to consolidate one of my packages. What does that mean? That means they’ll ship this CD by itself which costs about $20 by Express Mail Service (EMS). I was planning on buy-as-you-go from Amazon Japan. I still have 2 CDs that haven’t arrived at Tenso so I won’t be able to include them in the shipment. I’ll have to plan next time. I don’t want to get stuck paying $20 shipping just for one CD.
So I was forced to consolidate the 3 packages I have at Tenso now to avoid shipping one CD by itself. It came out to $35 or $12 dollars per CD. That’s still better than paying $60 dollars shipping them separately.
If a Japanese merchant fails to include the value of your package, Tenso cannot complete the necessary information for your Express Mail Service (EMS) package or the U.S. Customs form. Tenso also needs this information if you request insurance. Tenso will alert you with a pop-up to enter the package’s value.
Tenso: package value undefined
Click the package number and enter the package’s value. This might be difficult if you have more than one package missing values. In that case, check the merchant’s name, tracking number or date shipped.
Tenso: Edit package value
Amazon notified me they shipped my order.
Tenso notified me they received my Amazon CD. My shipment will cost $20 U.S. I was surprised it was so much. That’s the same shipping fee Amazon Japan charges for Express Mail Service. From the testimonials, I’ve heard shipping was $5 dollars. Later that day I logged on to their site and paid for my shipping.
Tenso site: Package arrival
Tenso ships my order. They gave me a tracking number along with link to track it. I couldn’t get the link to work so I navigated the JP Post office site. This is the link to enter your tracking number: Individual International Mail Search by Item Number. As of now my package is still at the Tokyo post office. Tenso has a shipping calculator at the bottom of their page. I’ll keep posting Tenso follow ups.
JP post office tracking