My experience shipping Chinese exclusive Overwatch merch across the world to me
What I learned navigating the complex world of package forwarding companies and international shipping.
It began, as many foolish plans do, with a tweet. An announcement from the Hangzhou Spark Overwatch League team. Detailing an exclusive collaboration with one of my favourite anime, A Certain Scientific Railgun. It would be difficult to imagine a piece of merchandise more suited to my interests.
They gave the show’s protagonist, Misaka Mikoto an official team jersey number. As well as creating some exclusive merchandise.
The collaboration is not as surprising as it appears. The Spark’s owners, Chinese video-sharing site Bilibili, get their name from a Railgun reference. Bilibili is a nickname given to the protagonist Misaka. It is a Japanese onomatopoeia for the sound of electricity, like “buzz buzz” in English. It is translated as either “Sparky” (in the manga) or “Zapper” (in the anime). The name of their Overwatch League team, the “Spark” is also a reference to this. There was even a rumour their team name would be the Hangzhou Railgun.
All this meant that this was some merchandise I was very keen to get my hands on. There was only one slight issue… The merch was only available on Bilibili’s store, which is a Chinese language only site that only ships within China.
But that was not enough to deter me. A quick Google search introduced me to the idea of package forwarding services. These companies provide shoppers with a local address they can use when ordering. Their purchases are sent to a warehouse, where they can then be shipped anywhere in the world.
They mostly advertise themselves as allowing you to find cheap items on Amazon like mega-retailers like Taobao. They work just as well for exclusive niche merchandise though.
This seemed like the perfect solution. I quickly signed myself up for an account (which is usually free) and headed to the website to find what I was looking for. While I could find the store pages for the item thanks to Google Translate. I could not figure out how to actually pay for the items. Either the translation missed something, or I do not have access to a Chinese only payment method, I never figured out.
Luckily for me the parcel forwarding service I was planning to use also offered an assisted purchase service. All you have to do is provide a link to the store page. Then one of their agents, who can read the language, makes the order on your behalf. Through this service, I was able to get my items as far as a warehouse in Shenzhen.
The most nerve-wracking part of this process is the feeling of not being in control of your purchases. You have paid for and bought your items, and yet it’s still sitting in a warehouse on the other side of the world, which makes any small issue seem much larger.
One concern that I had was after my items were received at the warehouse. This was one of the pictures they took of the items. I was worried because to me it looked like some sort of canned soda had been included in the bundle. This was a problem because shipping food and drink items internationally is a whole lot harder and more expensive than other items.
Thankfully after a few anxious communications with their customer support, my worries turned out to be unfounded. I was able to confirm that the can was only the canister that the shirt was shipped in. With that, the last major hurdle to getting the merchandise shipped to me was dealt with.
The shipping options to me in the UK ranged from the too cheap to be true, to the exorbitantly expensive. I chose one somewhere between, and with that my items were on their way to me. After so much waiting the last few weeks they were in transit felt like no time at all.
It took way longer and required much more work on my part than any normal online shopping experience. Having gone through all that, I now own something that very few in my country, or even continent, have.
In summary, package forwarding can be a great way to get your hands-on items you would never be able to otherwise. Provided you’re okay with jumping through a few extra hoops and paying more than you would expect. Suffice it to say that I spent more on shipping and other fees than on the merch itself!).
Would I go through all the hassle and waiting again? For the right items, absolutely!
