Takkyubin from convenience store

Hi,
I've seen references made on this forum to the fact that you can send luggage from convenience stores using Takkyubin, but has anyone on here done this? Can you advise me on how realistic it is for me to attempt this, having no Japanese language skills at all? I'm hoping to have learnt some by the time I go in October but can't bank on it! I gather it'd easier to do this from a hotel where they help tourists with this all the time, but I'm looking at an airbnb for the first leg of my trip- the downside to this being no helpful reception!
Thanks!

i too am interested in this, in the past i have done it from hotels and even from a Yamato depot. Do convenience stores have the same tickets to fill out as doing from a depot?

Yes, the pink slips are the same everywhere.

I'd like to know as well - I also had the hotel do it and went to a depot. But at the depot the staff there didn't speak much English and seemed quite flustered so she called their English help line and we had a sort of three way conversation.....
Maybe you can call the English helpline first for some advice....just an idea....

A combini employee is even less likely to speak English than a hotel clerk.

Official web explained.
http://www.kuronekoyamato.co.jp/en/personal/
http://www.kuronekoyamato.co.jp/en/first_timer/

Need Japanese skill or not depends on store location and store staff.
For paper work no need Japanese text/letters
just need both address,name and phone numbers.
http://www.kuronekoyamato.co.jp/en/send/invoice/

At conveni(nick) not accept all size and date request.

Yes, if you send it from a combini, the "cutoff" time for next-day delivery may be earlier than if you send it through a Yamato office (I am not familiar with sending from hotels). To ensure next-day delivery, deposit it in the morning or early afternoon, and if you really need to send it in the late afternoon/evening, go to a local Yamato office instead (the cutoff time at Yamato offices is generally 18:00 or 19:00).

Similarly, goods can be delivered to basically any address in Japan, including private homes, offices, hotels, airports and takuhaibin service centers.

Thanks for your answers! Hants, I had looked at those links already and they gave me vague hope I could actually do it, but do I need to write the contents of my case in Japanese or will they accept English? Saying that I guess I could google translate it.

I gather from their site that you can send suitcases from convini but I hadnt even thought about using a yamoto depot, so I will look up the nearest depot to where I'll be staying in Shibuya so I know where to go in case of any problems. I'll also make a note of their English language help line number which I hadnt spotted before!
Thanks :)

I would rather go to a post office and do Yu-pack than a combini, to be honest. Just last month, I went to two Family Marts in Osaka to see if they could help with sending my luggage to the airport. Both locations told me they didn't offer this type of service with Takkyubin.

Luckily my Airbnb host suggested the post office where I was able to send my luggage to the airport and for a cheaper price than what I would have paid with Yamato. If you're sending it to a residence or hotel, then you should be fine with Takkyubin at a combini. But do keep this in mind if you intend to send your luggage to the airport as well.

I was able to send my luggage to the airport and for a cheaper price than what I would have paid with Yamato

No, it's actually significantly more expensive. For example for a size 120 from Kyoto to Narita, you pay 2080 with Yu-Pack and 1512 with Yamato.

@Firas

I don't have my receipts right this moment, but I am pretty sure I paid less with Yu-Pack. My luggage was 160 with Yu-Pack, 120 with Yamato. Not sure how it worked, but I remember telling my friend and my Airbnb host that I should have done all my deliveries with the post office because Yamato was more expensive.

I know all the Hotel Front Desk in Japan accept the Takkyubin service. You only go to Hotel Front with the baggage and say, 'Takkyubin please'. Show the address and TEL number of the Hotel you send to (better in Japanese), and the clerk would fill the label in Japanese. It might be a little expensive (+100yen-) and might need days (+1day) than convenience store. You better inform the next hotel that you sent your baggage.

Note that not all conbini do Takkyubin service.

Only those that put up Takkyubin flag will do.

You can also request for pick-up at your address at your own convenience time.

Hello,

I have another question relating to the topic.

I feel very anxious about doing things I haven't done before or haven't seen done before.

So I would like to ask: How does sending a package actually work? Do you ask the konbini/depot clerk for a shipping label, then fill it and hand over it with your luggage?

Also, I'm going with a relatively small budget so I would probably reside in smaller hostels/guesthouses, I wonder if they're fine with receiving packages too?

I have sent luggage and boxes from both hotels and residential addresses to the airport and from the airport, I have not done it from convenience stores but I know it can be done.
There are several companies you can use and some hotels and stores prefer the company that they use which is not always Black Cat or Yamato. All companies I have used have done an excellent job, there has been a couple of hundred yen difference in cost.
With Yamato if you call their English line either tollfree 0120 17 9625 or 03 67571061 you will find they speak excellent English and you can ask whatever questions you like. I speak extremely limited Japanese and I have had no problem. As for filling out their delivery dockets, yes it is in Japanese but if you check their webpage they have one and show what each section means. If you are sending to the airport, make sure you know your flight, its departure time, the terminal it leaves from, and preferably a phone number of some sort. Most places, hotels especially like 2 clear days for taking in your luggage having it picked up and taken to the airport. As I said on the forum yesterday in a similar post, sometimes I've had to pay cash up front for delivery and other times I've just paid with my credit card when I collected my luggage from the depot at the airport. Make sure you understand what will be expected.
Luggage from the airport to hotel, or residence is just as easy, on arriving at airport take luggage over to one of the depots on the arrival area, fill out the form ( these guys know some English and what is required) give your accommodation address and they will ask when you want it delivered.. usually the next day, either morning or afternoon. Great service if you are traveling with more than one suitcase or heavy bag. I recommend it, and wish other countries had such a service.!

I sent mine from a hotel with the very helpful receptionist translating the Japanese instructions for me, but I filled out the form in English (she said it was fine), and everything worked out! If you can find a translated copy of the form online, take that with you. Or go to a hotel and send it from there - they get a commission on it (I think), so they should be fine helping you (and most service people in Japan try their best to help anyway!).