Kuretake Co., Ltd.

Mr. Tateishi, Ms. Yoshida

Q. Please tell us about your company's business, especially your business overseas.

 We are a stationery manufacturer based in Nara prefecture, Japan, and have been in business for 120 years. Our main products are India ink, and calligraphy supplies used in schools, and we also deal with markers and art materials overseas. We have been engaged in overseas business for about 60 years, and are expanding our business to the world through distributors in about 80 countries. Until recently, our overseas business was mainly sold through distributors, but since we could not directly listen to the voices of our customers and the recent trend of e-commerce, we launched a team specializing in e-commerce in 2018. Initially, we started with two people, but now we have increased our staff to six and are putting a lot of effort into it. We use Amazon and started with the American market, and expanded our sales channels to Europe and Oceania.

Q. What is the difference between Amazon VAT service and our services.

 When it comes to VAT, we first tried to handle and complete it on our own. After that, we found out about the Amazon VAT service and compared it with OPTI, but honestly speaking, we couldn't tell the difference in service content, so we started using the Amazon VAT service based on price alone. we thought this service was convenient because it downloads sales data from Amazon, but the actual contract was made directly with an overseas firm in Europe, and the service was also provided by the local firm. However, the actual contract was made directly with a European firm, and the service was provided by a local firm. The following three things did not match the quality of service and time frame we were looking for, and we canceled the contract.

 The first was the overwhelmingly slow reply to our emails. We know it is inevitable because of the low price, but for us, who are ignorant about VAT, it was a blow to not receive a prompt reply when we had questions.

 Secondly, lack of knowledge. We were particularly troubled about the deduction of import VAT, but when we asked questions, the only response was to ask Amazon or our own tax accountant, which took up a lot of time, and in the end, we had no idea.

 Third, they didn't explain the flow of the process to us. They just asked us to submit things by email as the deadline approached, and We were left in a situation where we didn't know what to expect next or how much time it would take to file.

 We signed up for the service thinking it would be convenient, but it often took a long time to communicate with them. We also wanted to handle the taxation matters properly, but when suddenly only the tax payment amount appeared one day, we felt the limitation of the local firm.

 We attended a lecture at Payoneer's forum and found OPTI. The point is that OPTI’s services and business were clear and easy to understand. When we asked questions later, OPTI responded immediately and politely. As a result, we decided to transfer our VAT from the Amazon VAT service.

Q. Please tell us your aspirations for your future business and anything you would like to say to us.

 In the future, we aim to further expand our sales area while increasing the number of sales and the number of products handled by our existing sales channels. We are also considering direct sales through our own website, and we would like to increase the number of our company's fans for this purpose. Since we are particular about products made in Japan, we would like to pursue the quality of products made in Japan. When we expand our sales channels, I would be happy if OPTI could accompany us in our efforts.