On June 13, 2023 (JST) we will be officially transitioning from JPY to USD on our site!
This means you will immediately notice some changes on our storefront, so let’s talk about those real quick. Then we’re gonna go into some common questions and concerns we’ve been getting!
What changes you’ll notice right away
Prices
All of our products will be priced and charged in USD as of 15:00 June 13, 2023 (JST).
Any previous purchases made will remain in JPY and do not need to be changed/updated.
You can still use the currency converter tool on our site to get an idea of the price in other currencies, but please understand that these are based on current exchange rates separate from our payment processor’s exchange rate (so there may be some discrepancies).
Points
Our point program will remain the same with the only difference being cents instead of yen.
So, 1 point is equal to 1 cent when you redeem points.
And for earning, our tiers will get:
PLATINUM: 5 points per $1 spent
GOLD: 4 points per $1 spent
SILVER: 3 points per $1 spent
BRONZE: 2 points per $1 spent
NO TIER: 1 point per $1 spent
Outage
While we implement this change, our shop will be down for an estimated 15 minutes.
Our current scheduled time is 23:00 PST on June 12, 2023 (15:00 JST June 13, 2023).
While we estimate this procedure to take around 15 minutes to complete, please understand that there is always a possibility that these scheduled times can change without notice.
Why are we doing this?
We’ve seen some people wondering if we’re doing this so we can set our own rates to make more money. Or if we’re doing this because we believe the Japanese yen is tanking and we’re jumping ship to another currency.
No. And no.
We wanted to offer a better exchange rate for our customers, which is why we're changing payment processors.
Unfortunately, this can only be accomplished by switching USD.
While of course it is a big change, a lot of our customers are based in the US so there’s also no more conversion fees involved if you're based there. And even if you're not in the US, our new payment processor's exchange rate is, for the most part, better or the same as what you're used to paying.
And please note that all of our internal prices are still based on our JPY prices — it’s really just our storefront where everything is being converted into USD.
How do you determine the exchange rate? Will it be bad or good?
We do not set the exchange rate ourselves. Instead, we use our same JPY prices as before internally, and our payment processor now converts that into USD based on their current exchange rates.
As an example, we can use an Early Bird item (discounted pre-order).
We offer a percent discount on the MSRP to get our Early Bird pricing. Let’s say the price is ¥10,000 MSRP and we are going to offer a 10% discount on the pre-order. In this case, we set the price for the pre-order to ¥9,000 in our internal database, which then gets pushed to our storefront, at which point our payment processor converts the JPY value (¥9,000) into USD.
Unfortunately, all banks determine their exchange rates and/or fees so it is impossible to say whether this conversion would affect you positively or negatively since it can vary so widely.
Some more common questions we’re seeing
Will prices fluctuate now that they’re being converted?
Unfortunately, yes. Fluctuations should be very minor unless exchange rates change drastically — we have implemented some solutions to prevent prices from jumping around too much if the exchange rate difference is incredibly minor.
Can I get a refund if the exchange rate is better than when I placed my order?
Unfortunately, no. Due to the nature of exchange rates and their constant fluctuation, we can’t process refunds for these situations.
There is a good chance that maybe, one day, the rate you paid will be higher and you’d be due a small refund. But there’s also a good chance one day it might be lower and you would have to have paid more.
While you are welcome to cancel your order, our usual cancellation fees/policy applies.
Do I have to re-order in USD since I paid JPY?
No, all open orders in JPY are completely fine and do not have to be changed in any way.
We will process these existing orders like normal and nothing really changes for you.
Will my order invoice (for customs) show USD or JPY?
First, just to prevent any confusion, there are two kinds of invoices we’ll be referencing in a second.
The first is an order invoice — this is directly from us and serves as a receipt. A lot of our customers use these invoices when requested for proof of payment/order from their country’s customs office.
For an order invoice, there are two possibilities:
If your order was paid in JPY = your order invoice will show JPY values.
If your order was paid in USD = your order invoice will show both USD and JPY values. The JPY values will be shown strictly for reference only, with an annotation clarifying this.
Next is the customs invoice — this is an official customs document/invoice that is required to be attached with any international shipment. It documents the internal contents of a shipment, including the contents’ value.
For the customs invoice attached to any shipment we send out, the value amounts will always be in JPY.
Will my refund be in USD if I paid in JPY originally?
No. You will always receive a refund in the currency of your order.
So, if you paid for your order with JPY, your refund will be in JPY.
If you paid for your order in USD, your refund will be in USD.
Will you refund any difference of my pre-order based on the current exchange rate?
No. Please reference the FAQ above titled “Can I get a refund if the exchange rate is better than when I placed my order?”
Is there any other way for me to pay in a different currency?
Not really — while you can pay in Euro still using our bank transfer options (e.g. Sofort), it doesn’t change that the default currency is now USD.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions about the change! We know it’s a big one, but we hope this helps clarify any major questions.
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