JR pass - buying from agent vs buying online?

When I first went to Japan years ago, I bought a JR pass from an authorised agent online before my trip started.

However I noticed there�fs an option now to buy the JR pass online from the JR companies directly, which includes the benefit of being able to reserve seats online too.
https://www.japanrailpass-reservation.net/

The direct online option is slightly more expensive based on the current exchange rates, but I like the advantage of reserving seats online.

Has anyone tried this before and what are your thoughts?

Yes, as you said, you can now buy it from JR online directly. And yes, it is more expensive - close to 15% more. But you can still buy it from a travel agent or sub-agent at a lower price, activate your pass in Japan (and future date its start if you wish, reserving seats as well). So the question is why would you want to pay more just to reserve seats really fast. There are certain peak periods in Japan like Golden Week, the end/start of the year, O-bon etc where that might be prudent, if you'll be competing with many others for those limited seats. Otherwise, why not just do it in Japan and save some money. Many people don't reserve any seats at all, and they do just fine. It depends on the time, route and your flexibility.

The price difference was much smaller than 15% from my research. In Australia, a 7 day adult travel pass is selling for $344aud. The JR website is selling them for 33,610yen which if I buy with my Visa card (that doesn�ft charge forex fees) is approx $355aud.

I�fm travelling with a family group so reserving seats, preferably online, helps with my planning.

You can purchase JR Pass after arriving Japan too. Here we go:
https://japanrailpass.net/pdf/JR_PASS_release_JA.pdf

This is only opinion... but I would think it would depend on how large of a group you are and where/when you are traveling. I am only speaking pre-Covid, but I personally found getting seat reservations from Hiroshima back to Shin-Osaka on a Sakura really hard and we were a party of two. They just book up far in advance with Japanese business travelers and there are very limited Hikaris that go all the way to Hiroshima. (We took one in the morning from Kyoto.) We were able to get non-reserved seats, but we were also a party of two, and we had to line up a good 30 minutes before the train arrived.

Some stations and some times of the day, the lines to reserve seats were just really long. Some stations limited how many reservations you could make in advance at any one time. In general, stations along the Hokuriku line and the Tohoku line were easier for booking seat reservations (both in terms of having space on the trains and in terms of waiting in line at the station to reserve seats) though again, I'm a party of 2.

I might buy passes direct when I eventually go back to Japan. Most of the agencies in the US charge shipping vs. I would think the ones purchased direct from JR do not. but it's all sort of moot until borders open further.

Since JR started selling directly online, I ran the numbers and got a 13-15% difference, but if you only see a $10 difference where you are now, and you have a whole family with you, it would make sense to me to go that way, if only just for the peace of mind.
I've never had any problems with shinkansen seating south of Kansai - I always rode in the unreserved cars and never had a problem finding open seats. The hardest part would be if traveling the Tokaido line between Tokyo and Kansai. Mostly I took Sakura trains, though a couple times I took the Nozomi trains with a JR West pass (full JR Pass holders are ineligible for this though).

Thanks @Ken

I don�ft think the local agents here have updated the pricing to reflect the currently weak yen. They�fve also added their own markup or commission on top of what JR says they should charge. This explains why the price difference is smaller than before

Pros of buying online:
-Don't have to wait for a physical voucher to be mailed
-Can immediately make reservations for trains
-(I'm guessing you don't have to fill out as much paperwork when picking up the pass)

Cons of buying online:
-Costs more

If you have plenty of time before your trip, it's probably cheaper to buy from a travel agency.
However, for express service from some travel agencies, sometimes the cost of buying online and ordering from a travel agency can be nearly the same.

Is there any difference in how the pass functions. For example do all passes now work with the automatic ticket gates regardless of if you buy from an agent vs direct?

Also for the ones that work with automatic ticket gates, do you get anything to protect the pass? Now that that version is like a regular train ticket it is much easier to lose or damage, especially if you got a 21 day pass and use it a lot.

Now that that version is like a regular train ticket it is much easier to lose or damage,
That's right, the old booklet versions are history and the new ones you need to really look after. On the plus side, you can use them to make reservations at a machine.
I have used some JREast passes in this format last year (they had a 1/2 price deal), and I was very careful looking after it even though it was only a few days and not a hugely expensive item like a 60,000 yen, 21-day pass.