A Lesson in Patience - My Experience with Container Shipping

[coldradio1]

Not sure the best place to put this thread, but with the current economic craziness with imports and with shipping companies like UPS/FedEx seemingly making up fees on tariffs, I wanted to share my experience with container shipping.


As a disclaimer, I want to say that if you can, please support the many small US businesses that sell JDM and other parts for our cars. They are feeling the pain of these times as well. There are also plenty of instances where the savings from container shipping aren’t worth the squeeze and going through a vendor is better, even if that means it’s a few dollars more.

Anyway, this thread is going to cover how the process worked (for me), as well as the pros and cons of container shipping.


The company: I will not be listing the name of who I used for this process, but if you are interested, you can PM me. For those active on FB in importing groups, you’ll probably be able to figure it out using context clues. Basically the whole thing is run through a Facebook group. The owner manages the entire process through FB and FB messenger. He is no non-sense and doesn’t take shit from anyone. It is your responsibility to read his FAQ section, watch his YouTube tutorials, and figure out the process. If you ask stupid questions, you will be dragged or banned. If you waste his time kicking tires, you will be dragged or banned. If you don’t follow the process that is clearly outlined, you will be dragged or banned.

This is an instant turnoff for many and people will call him an asshole and that his business is a scam. While that’s understandable, you also must consider that it’s one guy running a group of 40k+ members and he gets hundreds of BS messages a day. Also, since he’s in Japan, these messages are flowing in at all hours of the day/night due to the time difference. So just keep that in your mind before reaching out to him.


Sourcing: This group is designed for shipping only. While they do sell some cars directly and will bid on cars/parts on your behalf, they don’t sell parts and they don’t source parts. YOU are responsible for locating the parts you want, whether those are new or used. When you find what you want, make a list of the links to the parts (i.e. the links to the exact parts. Don’t just say “you can find xyz on black hawk’s website”).

Ordering: Once you have your list of links, to order, you order through FB Messenger with the owner of the company.

NOTE: There are specific date ranges to place orders at a discounted rate. He will accept orders outside of those dates, but you will pay more. Just a forewarning there.

To order, you’re going to follow the directions he provides in the FAQs. You’ll provide your name, which container you’re wanted to use (I’ll cover more on this in the shipping section), the links to the products, and the price of each. He will respond requesting a deposit. It will typically be more than the pricing you’re seeing on the links you send. This will cover:

• Shipping prices to his location
• The container price
• Potential currency fluctuations
• Note that he incurs 3% fee for your deposit. So if you pay a deposit of $3000, it’s actually a $2910 deposit.
• Also note that things could turn out more expensive or less expensive than your deposit. So you may get asked for more money at the time of shipment or you may get a refund. So take that into consideration.

He’ll also ask for a screenshot showing that you sent the deposit.

Once he has ordered the parts using the links you sent, he will send you a screenshot confirming your order. Once he receives your order, he’ll tag you on a Facebook post with pictures of what you ordered.


THEN YOU WAIT….


Shipping: Currently, the company I used ships containers to 5 ports. Each container is numbered. When you’re ordering, it will be imperative that you note which container number that you’re using. You’re sharing a container with other members in this group, so your junk is going to sit until a specific date or until the container reaches 100% capacity. Once that occurs, it gets moved to the shipping yard and gets loaded on a big ol’ boat. Shipping times, once the boat sets sail, to the west coast typically take about 20 days, and shipping to the east coast takes about 40 days.

Customs: Yippee! Typically speaking, containers move through customs quickly. However, sometimes they get “randomly selected for inspection”. This happened to my container. This process takes an unknown number of days, depending on what they want to look at. I was told that it typically takes about a week, but with all the new changes with imports, it seems that they are extremely behind. My container sat for over a month… and get this… they didn’t even open it… They moved it to another yard, it sat, and then moved it back. They did however charge the shipping company for all of that process though. “U.S.A.! USA!” am I right?

I digress. Once the container clears customs, the company arranges pickup from the shipping yard and moves the container to a pickup location. At which point, it’s unloaded and sorted. You can either arrange pickup for free, or you can arrange shipping to your door for the actual cost of shipping. The choice is yours.

Cost: Fees are based on the number of links you send. Normal fees are $250 per link. The container sale prices are less. Mine were $69 per link, but he’s recently had to increase the price because of increased tariffs. Sale price as of September 2025, are $169 per link. He also charges a 3% fee for payment processing.

Pretty reasonable, right? I’m sure you’re wondering how those rates cover the tariffs. The short answer is they don’t. The group runs regular raffles to offset tariff costs. These raffles have prizes like cars, trips to Japan, cash payouts, etc. This sounds sketchy to some, but it’s legit and it works. That being said, even with these and the increased shipping rates, it’s a struggle for them to cover the new tariff rates. Hopefully things will improve and they can continue to provide this service.

To give you an idea on savings, I ordered a Fujitsubo exhaust and front pipe.

BHJ Direct
BHJ price: $2800
BHJ shipping: $1200
Tariff price (17.5% assuming UPS wasn’t adding their crazy rates that no one can understand): $490

Total: $4490



Container shipping:
BHJ price: $2800
Container shipping fees: $140 (would be $340 now)
Container shipping processing fees (shipping to container, payment fees, currency conversion, etc.): $410

Total: $3350


Total savings: $1140!!!


So pros and cons…

Pros:

• Huge shipping savings on large items
• No surprises with tariff fees
• Great option for JDM parts that don’t have US vendors.
• The guys running this are great and they have built a community for this process. They legit love what they do.

Cons:

• The waiting. Obviously, if you need something this close to Race Wars, you are out of luck.
• Since you’re using a third party to do the ordering, I’m unsure the process if your stuff gets damaged or is missing something on its way to them. I’ve heard that the owner will help where he can, but I would say there is some risk there. In those cases, buying from a vendor typically gives you support and representation in fixing issues.
• The value case for small/less expensive items is not as great. This is primarily better for large items with big shipping costs or parts that are very expensive and could get slapped with massive tariff fees.

In conclusion, I had a good experience and I saved a bunch of money. The money saved will be spent at vendors based in the US (and on these forums haha). I also want to note that I wouldn’t have bought the parts I ordered AT ALL if I wasn’t able to get the savings I did. I was dead set on this exhaust, but $4500 for an exhaust is insane in my eyes, especially considering that’s 10% of the value of the car. So it was either this shipping business (who is owned by an American) that got the business or nobody got the business.

If you have any questions, feel free to DM me.

Sponsored

 

[getRIGHT]

Nice write up

I personally think I would rather spend the money I will never get back than go through all that but I’m all for more options to get hard to get car parts

 

[Clark_Kent]

This is an interesting path, thanks for sharing your experience. My initial reaction is: this is a lot of work and the high risk may outstrip the upside. What concerns me is what happens outside of happy path. But I get it, something about paying a substantial amount more for something when I don't really have to doesn't sit well with me.

That shipping quote from BHJ sounds ridiculous. It's worth noting they aren't the only game in town. RHDJapan is a solid option and their shipping rates tend to be better and even more wo on multiple items because they have an option to consolidate. This feature is a huge cost saver. They'll ship both parts for less than $3,400. Now you have to care for import fees on the backend so that number ultimately will go up.

 

[coldradio1]

It was certainly scary to try, but I spent a while watching the group and reading other reviews and got comfortable with it. Would I do it again? Yes, without hesitation. I feel like now, there’s risk in just about any import. I’ve seen where people have had customs/UPS/Fedex hold their stuff hostage for months. The whole thing’s a racket these days.

 

[NeRO_CTR]

Cons:

• The waiting. Obviously, if you need something this close to Race Wars, you are out of luck.
• Since you’re using a third party to do the ordering, I’m unsure the process if your stuff gets damaged or is missing something on its way to them. I’ve heard that the owner will help where he can, but I would say there is some risk there. In those cases, buying from a vendor typically gives you support and representation in fixing issues.
• The value case for small/less expensive items is not as great. This is primarily better for large items with big shipping costs or parts that are very expensive and could get slapped with massive tariff fees.

This part. I wont begin to tell you about how long I've been waiting for Wheels, lug nuts, caps, bumpers. Thankfully, I still have the breath of life and patience to........wait some more.

 

[coldradio1]

This part. I wont begin to tell you about how long I've been waiting for Wheels, lug nuts, caps, bumpers. Thankfully, I still have the breathe of life and patience to........wait some more.

It’s seriously tough. I am not one to enjoy delaying gratification. Amazon Prime has destroyed what little patience I had. Three months felt like a lifetime. It also gave me an excuse to order more parts that would come in quicker to “tie my over” until this came in.

 

[NeRO_CTR]

I’ve yet to adopt the “prime” spirit, thankfully. Maybe, it’s because for the past 15+ years I’ve been the shipper - hang ups are real thing.

 

[CTR]

Thanks for sharing. A little too risky for me as you're relying on this one person/company to not go out of business in the meantime. It's all tied to this one guy that you are hoping doesn't screw you over. There are countless stories of things like this going sideways in various communities over the years. Maybe I'm just old and jaded...

 

[Ph8ed4life]

... if you need something this close to Race Wars, you are out of luck.

Besides the fact that your writeup was fantastic and informative, this shit right here made me literally LOL. Made my night, good job my dude

Sponsored