Yeah, really the only way to get stuff without paying rinkya's exorbitant fees is to find a friend in Japan to help you. Rinkya and the few other auction service sites recognize that it's hard to get stuff from YAJ without being in Japan, and since they know they'll have demand, they can charge as much as they want.
plus, when items are getting shipped out of the country as merchandise (instead of a "gift"), you get customs charges out the wazoo, and having shipped many things from Japan when I was living there, I know that shipping charges really are expensive.
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