Yahoo auctions japan

[juggernaut]

I never tried Yahoo Auctions in Japan, but sometimes i read about people making great deals there. Problem is i don't know how to get started. And maybe worse.... Im a n00b reading japanese. Is there any hope?

Thx.

[Golgo13]

That's a good question. I am wondering about this myself.

[termis]

Check out this thread.

http://www.pcenginefx.com/forums/index.php?topic=2953.0

I bought some things off of yahoo auction Japan at prices one would never dream of in the west, but that was when I was actually living there and dealt directly with the sellers.  The problem for me now is that most sellers even refuse to ship outside Japan, and even if they're willing, it's a bit difficult to pay.  You can't use non-Japanese credit card, so the only other real option is direct bank transfers (which everyone does in Japan), but that's not so easily doable or practical once you're outside the country. 

So in order to do this, you pretty much have know someone in Japan to do the dirty work for you, or use middlemen services listed on the other thread.  It may still be worth the trouble for hard-to-find or big-ticket items, but I wouldn't bother going this route for a game or two here and there.

[FM-77]

www.shoppingmalljapan.com

All you need.

[kenomac78]

i always find good deals on yahoo japan! but its true without a japanese bank account, its almost impossible. paypal and ebay have yet to penetrat japan, i doubt they ever will,  i have talked with people here that have NEVER heard of ebay.

on the other side yahoo auctions in the us is running its final auctions this week

[FM-77]

i always find good deals on yahoo japan! but its true without a japanese bank account, its almost impossible.

www.shoppingmalljapan.com

All you need.

[retrodelee]

Okay... I signed up over at the shopping mall.  I don't know if I will ever really use that thing... but I thought I'd give it a try.

Now it is asking for a deposit.  I'm not understanding that part as much.
From what I'm understanding... if I give them $20 paypal... it will allow me to bid UP TO 12000 YEN. 

Will the $20 I just paid go towards the auctions I bid on?  Or is basically a fee I am paying just to use the service? 

Thanks....

[retrodelee]

Also... what pitfalls should I watch out for?  What 'issues' are there that would rack up service charges and stuff?

[cho_aniki]

  Yes, you can indeed pick some things up quite cheap on Yahoo auctions in Japan.  I am in Japan at the moment and just purchased a boxed 3DO system for 610 Yen last night ( about 5 US dollars). 

  I find myself buying a few things I would never have bought otherwise. 

  Anyhow, as someone mentionned, it is indeed rather difficult if you are outside Japan, as you can't use a foreign credit card, and most sellers won't ship outside the country anyway; however, some do, so it's still worth having a look at what's available now and again.  You will notice a small message in English beneath the item which you are viewing that says "Seller will ship internationally" or "Seller will not ship internationally", whatever the case may be.

  Another solution is to do all your purchasing when in Japan, if you happen to visit from time to time. 

[retrodelee]

After looking through items... it seems as though some of the bigger lots of PC Engine HU Cards are what I consider to be the best buys.  For instance:  a lot of 105 PC engine cards on ebay went for $360 last week.  The week prior to that the same people sold a lot of 105 PC engine cards for over $500.  All loose.  No sleeves, cases, nothing. 

Yet... a lot of 40 seems to go for around $40 US dollars.  Add in $5 for service fees... and whatever... plus more shipping.... it seems like a better bargain. 

$1 a game is a lot better then $6 or 7 a game on an average. 

[D-Lite]

After looking through items... it seems as though some of the bigger lots of PC Engine HU Cards are what I consider to be the best buys.  For instance:  a lot of 105 PC engine cards on ebay went for $360 last week.  The week prior to that the same people sold a lot of 105 PC engine cards for over $500.  All loose.  No sleeves, cases, nothing. 

Yet... a lot of 40 seems to go for around $40 US dollars.  Add in $5 for service fees... and whatever... plus more shipping.... it seems like a better bargain. 

$1 a game is a lot better then $6 or 7 a game on an average. 

So here in lies the problem.  I deal through SMJ as well and they provide a fantastic service.

BUT.

To make it work, you really need volume and a decerning eye.  A lot of stuff actually isn't worth it in the long run.  Let me give you some breakdowns:

If an auction ends at 2000 yen or less:
~$18 for the item itself
$5 service fee
$2.50 bank transfer fee
~$5 shipping within Japan
~$10-20 to ship to the US or to the SMJ site in the US and then to you
= $40+ for an item at 2000 yen

An item ending 2001-4000 yen is $8.  4001-10000 is $12.  And over 10000 yen add $1 per 1000 yen.

So what does that mean?  Buying bigger lots is much much better in terms of distributing the fees over you items.  That much probably seems obvious.  But beyond that, and how I'm able to sell stuff relatively cheap here and still make a tiny bit:  overall volume.

I regularly scour Yahoo JP for lots and in particular ones with systems involved.  Why?  Because I can mod the system, sell it at a reasonable price, and sell off the games at around break even or a bit over (~10-20%).  Plus I fill holes in my own collection in the process.  But I also have SMJ ship stuff directly to me by Surface Mail once they can fill a relatively large box.  So I can squeeze about 4 bigger auctions of stuff into a box that costs $80-90 to ship, even though it takes 5 weeks to arrive.  Once you're already paying to ship, it's less to make the box bigger, just like any mailing you'd do in the US too. 

Again, this is how I can sell off games at $1 each and not lose money of them (generally).  That's also why I ask for PayPal fees on stuff, since I barely break even on the cheaper games. 

So don't go screwing me on those auctions you bastards.

[retrodelee]

LOL! 

I more than likely won't use them.  It seems like a hassel more than anything.     I'll buy from you.  It sounds better. 

[retrodelee]

  Plus I fill holes in my own collection in the process

That's how I ended up getting a lot of my Atari Lynx stuff.  I bought in bulk at pretty good prices. Then I fill in the holes of my collection and then either used the rest as trade fodder... or sold them at a slight increase to get an overall profit.  I think at one time, I had my entire Lynx collection costing at nearly 50 cents per item.  I bought one $500 lot and then sold most of it later one. I ended up getting about $1500 from that lot.  I was in the green... basically my entire Lynx collection costing me nothing until I had to start spending extra cash for stuff like the homebrews and prototype reproductions. 

I understand exactly what you do though.  Nothing wrong with that either.  Hell... We all get great deals from what you are doing (in my personal opinion that is).