Ordering from Yahoo Auctions Japan

Hi all, I'm not sure where to ask this, so I will ask it here.

Is there any good companies that allow you to order items from Yahoo Auctions Japan, and then will ship to you overseas? It seems that over 99.99% of sellers on yahoo auctions japan do not ship overseas.

I have found one company, located at www.mailorderjapan.com , but their fees are quite high. Does anyone have any experience with this company? Or does anyone know of any better companies?

I can navigate the Yahoo Auctions Japan site just fine without a translation tool, and can place orders, but it is useless since I can't get them to ship to me here in the USA....

Thank you for your help.

I've seen www.rinkya.com recommended. No experience with or knowledge of it myself.

Rinkya are the worst. They have terrible fees.

All the companies fees are somewhat high for a reason though.. there's a lot of legwork. If your looking to buy a couple of 1500-2500 yen items, it's most likely not worth it.

Part of the reason Japanese sellers are loath to ship overseas is, of course, concerns over language. The other part is concern over getting screwed over somehow by those rascally gaijins.

Naturally, that risk doesn't just disappear when a third party steps into the middle. The third party has to assume all the risk of loss, dissatisfaction, or scam. I'm sure there must be plenty of times they get left holding the bag on something.

Yeah, I could imagine those companies getting screwed over quite a few times. Since there doesn't seem to be much competition, the can charge steep fees and get away with it.

Someone on another forum suggested The Weeb Lounge
anyone have any experience with them?

The main reason (other than language barrier which can turn into a disaster) is there is no easy/cheap way to send money from US to Japan. Japanese hate Paypal for two very good reasons. 1) It sucks. 2) It's expensive. So, why bother? W/ the Japanese furikomi system, the buyer is always at risk, not the seller. Sorry, but this is the way it should be.

The third party has to assume all the risk of loss, dissatisfaction, or scam. I'm sure there must be plenty of times they get left holding the bag on something.

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Actually the 3rd party (the surrogate bidder in this case) assumes zero responsibility. If the seller turns out to be a deadbeat, the customer bidding is still responsible for the cost... commissions are presumably forfeited. If they offered to take the risk, commissions would be even higher to offset the risk (insurance)...otherwise someone with a friend in Japan could easily set up a scam and take the deputy for all they're worth.

zeroyon: I PM'ed you with some information. Check your inbox.

And I PM'd him with an offer to assist.

(I guess I must come over as sounding like a con-artist - have to work on that.)

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Another fact is that the "Japan Only" box is checked by default.

The parent poster complains about the high cost of handling items for yahoo japan auctions. As a customer/buyer from Japan, I feel your pain. GaijinPunc has given a good response about the amount of leg work. Whether its mailorderjapan or rinkya or shoppingmalljapan, they have to charge and they charge for their services. Let me explain the amount of work involved.

With their system, you get a sophisticated system where you can place your bids, track your items and see the entire transaction process. This is all automated but updating the system is manual and each entry has to be entered by someone. There is not way to automate this.

Now, let me explain the human touch involved:
They contact the seller for you and the seller contacts them back...2 emails.
They make the payment to the seller and informs the seller that the payment is made.One more email.

The seller ships the item. Items are received for you, properly registered on their online systems. You go to your account and see that the item has been paid for and it has been received as well.

95% of the time, the items need to be repacked for shipping abroad. The items also need to be combined since most bidders bid on more than one item. All this require more packing, taping, labor and boxes (plus the garbage needs to be thrown away as well. It costs per bag to throw away the garbage). Then, they call the post office for pickup and hand over the boxes to the post office. Now, the item is on the way to you.

Remember, that you are not the only customer. Each service provider for yahoo japan auctions handle 1000s of items a month. If you receive your items properly packed and shipped to you, I think its worth every yen you pay. They definitely deserve the yen for their services as well (though I am absolutely against rip off). This is just the amount of labor and computers involved. I would rather not mention the rental costs, warehousing, employee salaries, communication expenses, phone bills, and insurance costs. I heard that Japan is considered to be the most expensive country as well--for labor, rental and food.

I know all these details about the business because I run mailorderjapan. Anyone interested in Yahoo Japan Auctions, please mention this post in your contact email and I will give you some discount on our commission fees...most probably 10-20% depending on the amount of items you win on YJ.

And since you do the proxy bidding and communications, you also have to keep up with giving 評価 to sellers, because if you don't they will give you negative 評価 out of spite. And you must keep your 評価 up, because otherwise sellers won't deal with you.

I have purchased quite a number of things from Yahoo Auctions, and the process is considerably different and more personally involved than eBay. It isn't unusual to have to communicate 2-4 times to arrange bank transfer and shipping details....even on transactions with zero complications.

(Just got a vintage camera lens last night and am expecting a new one probably tomorrow....courtesy of Yahoo Japan Auctions. Fortunately I am in Japan and can handle the process myself).

Thank you for all the responses everyone. I didn't recognize all the work involved, so I understand the reason for the "high" commission fees now =)

I don't need the items immediately, so I will think it over for now.

I find Yahoo Japan much easier than E-bay! Furikomi owns Paypay anyday of the week. In fact I would love to get some funding to start a "Better" Paypal service!!

My wife's friend works for a company that helps people from Taiwan buy items on Yahoo Japan. They do a lot of business and make A LOT of money.

The problem with Yahoo Japan is the inconsistent way that communications are established. Some sellers e-mail you directly with payment information and shipping costs. Some e-mail you and ask how you want to pay, saying they'll give you the account info in a return e-mail. Some require you to go through the 取引ナビ and do some variation of the above rigamarole. On a personal buying level, I don't mind it. But for people running a proxy service it must generate a hell of a lot of extra work.

Some sellers e-mail you directly with payment information and shipping costs.

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These are my personal favorite. The most annoying are the ones that send you the bank information, but say "tell me your address and I'll give you the shipping amount". Then, the reply w/ just the shipping amount, and you have to dig up the old mail w/ the bank information.

In fact I would love to get some funding to start a "Better" Paypal service!!

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Wouldn't we all? There has to be one, but the fact that US banks don't want to come up with a cheap method for domestic wiring doesn't help. Their loss, as Paypal is making money that they are throwing away.

Not to derail this thread, but to azuma:

This is all automated but updating the system is manual and each entry has to be entered by someone.

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I'm not quite clear on this point. What exactly is manual about updating the system? Coding changes? The rest, I fully follow, although I hink the Torihiki Navi has helped a little bit. Still, it's a pretty poor effort. They could've easily implemented an auto-pay feature (better than kantan kessai) easily. Hell, I could do it in a day. Would save the buyer from copying & pasting his address 1000 times.

I know all these details about the business because I run mailorderjapan.

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Aaah.. more of a general question, how do you protect yourself on Paypal? I have always done quite a bit of selling but I now have a Japanese-based Paypal account for tax reasons. Seems you can't automatically block unconfirmed addresses w/ a JPN account (although you can manually I assume). I have personally had good luck w/ Paypal, but I've read the horror stories. Most of my dealings are within web forums (and very occasionally Ebay) so my "random scammer" ratio is somewhat low. I've always wondered how medium-sized businesses like SMJ, Rinkya, and even larger ones like Play Asia who are seemingly non-US based don't get charge backs by the boatload. AFAIK, even if you send EMS to an unconfirmed address, the charge back is a no-brainer (against the seller).
I see on your front page you have the "Paypal All Major Credit Cards" logo. Do you accept "normal" Paypal as well?

These are my personal favorite. The most annoying are the ones that send you the bank information, but say "tell me your address and I'll give you the shipping amount". Then, the reply w/ just the shipping amount, and you have to dig up the old mail w/ the bank information

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How about those ones who want to get paid but refuse to give you his address and phone number? We have a strict policy of no payment without full address and if the amount is more than 30,000 yen, we call them to confirm that his phone number is the right phone number.

Not to derail this thread, but to azuma:
I'm not quite clear on this point. What exactly is manual about updating the system? Coding changes? The rest, I fully follow, although I hink the Torihiki Navi has helped a little bit. Still, it's a pretty poor effort. They could've easily implemented an auto-pay feature (better than kantan kessai) easily. Hell, I could do it in a day. Would save the buyer from copying & pasting his address 1000 times.

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I was talking about items items registrations. We just registered 10 items with no customer name, no address...nothing. You have got to open the box to look at the item and then register it. Now, video games are simple to do. Its just a name. But a small car part like clip with no other info is a nightmare for us.
Torihiki Navi has increased our workload a little bit. I have yet to find a decent application that can handle buying on YJ like on ebay.

I've always wondered how medium-sized businesses like SMJ, Rinkya, and even larger ones like Play Asia who are seemingly non-US based don't get charge backs by the boatload. AFAIK, even if you send EMS to an unconfirmed address, the charge back is a no-brainer (against the seller).
I see on your front page you have the "Paypal All Major Credit Cards" logo. Do you accept "normal" Paypal as well?

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All large payment have to go straright to the bank/post office accounts. For smaller payments, you have to take some risk.

I have yet to find a decent application that can handle buying on YJ like on ebay.

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Yes, it's sad. Even sadder when you consider how easy web programming is. In most cases, they have your shipping address in Yahoo Wallet anyway. Just send that to the seller, and send the buyer the bank info. Done and done.

All large payment have to go straright to the bank/post office accounts. For smaller payments, you have to take some risk.

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So that's to say not through Paypal at all? Interesting. I know Europeans can often do cheap international xfers. From America, I was paying at least $40, if not $50 to send money back to pay off our Japanese credit cards. That would make the breaking point about $1000 at Paypal's 3.9% fees.

Buying stuff from the USA on eBay is quite tricky too, since is seems most refuse to ship abroad. Things are getting a little better though. I've managed to buy several items with no hassle, using my Visa card to pay. I've no idea how Paypal even works. Why is it needed when most people have bank accounts?

how about this one? they do aution support with reasonable fee.

futagotrader.com

look under "budoguten" then "how to order", then "special orders/bidding". they take credit card and paypal.