Yahoo Japan Auction

How to Buy From Yahoo Auctions Japan and Ship Internationally

As Japan’s biggest auction website, Yahoo Auctions Japan is the best place to shop if you’re looking for second-hand products or rare collectables to add to your collection. You can find almost anything from sellers on the site, ranging from first edition unopened Pokémon trading card packs to traditional Japanese kitchenware.

Buying online from Japan is easier than ever, especially with forward2me’s Japanese parcel forwarding service. The process of buying and shipping from Japan is simple, giving you access to unique products. We’ve put together everything you need to know about buying from Yahoo Auctions Japan’s online marketplace and how to ship your purchase internationally.

What is Yahoo Auctions Japan?

Yahoo Auctions Japan is the best Japanese online website to visit if you’re looking for second-hand items and rare collectables. Sometimes known as Yafuoku, the auction site sees millions of items bought and sold every day.

The marketplace rose in popularity in recent years following the closure of eBay in Japan, leaving it as the biggest auction site in the country. Yahoo Auctions uses an auto-bidding system, so you’ll need to use a proxy-bidding service if you live outside of Japan.

Does Yahoo Auction Japan ship internationally?

The Yahoo Auction website is for Japanese residents only, and most Japanese sellers will not ship internationally to other countries. You’ll also need to use a proxy-bidding service to be able to bid on items. The website only accepts a Japanese payment method, so you can’t use foreign credit cards or PayPal. All prices are in yen and this is the main currency used on the website.

However, with a Japanese forwarding address from forward2me, you can easily ship your new purchase to your home address. We can ship items worldwide, from Japan to the USA, UK, Singapore, Australia and other countries. Forward2me also offers a package consolidation and combine and repack service, which is perfect if you’re buying multiple items.

You may also be looking for Japanese clothing to get delivered to your home, outside of Japan. Discover more over at our guide on how to purchase Japanese clothing online and have it delivered to your door.

Once your item arrives at our warehouse, we’ll forward this onto you for delivery.

We can help you buy from Yahoo Auctions Japan – follow these easy steps:

Once you’ve purchased your items, we’re here to help them arrive with you. All you need to do is search for what you’re looking for, buy it and then we’ll re-ship it to your home address. The process is simple

• Get your free Japanese forwarding address
• Visit auctions.yahoo.co.jp
• Use the search bar to find an auction or use one of the listed categories
• Start bidding in your auction
• If you have the winning bid, make payment and use your Japanese shipping address
• Once your items arrive at our warehouse, we’ll get them to you via the courier service you’ve chosen.
• Enjoy your new purchases!

Why buy on Yahoo Auctions Japan?

As a popular marketplace, there are many reasons why people choose to buy from Yahoo Auctions Japan.

Exclusive Japanese item

It’s a great place to go if you’re looking for a specific item. There are millions of auctions run every day and a variety of sellers to choose from, meaning you’re sure to find what you’re looking for.

Variety of sellers

There are thousands of sellers on the platform and each offers something different. Whether you’re looking for a specialist in manga or lolita clothing, there will be a seller for you.

Items you won’t find elsewhere

One of the best reasons for buying goods on Yahoo Auctions Japan is to access things you won’t find anywhere else at great prices. The online store is full of exclusives. These will change every day as auctions update and each seller updates stock.

What can you buy on Yahoo Auctions Japan?

Yahoo Auctions Japan is full of rare items to be discovered, making it an extremely popular place to shop. With lots of second-hand items to start bidding on, you can find anything from rare collectables to Japanese fashion.

Pokémon cards

One of the most popular items sold on Yahoo is Pokémon cards. Trading cards have again grown in popularity and are highly sought after, especially first edition trading card sets and holos. You’ll be able to find everything from unopened packs to graded cards.

Limited edition Disney items

If you’re a Disney fan, there are lots of collectables to look through. From exclusive figurines of characters to handbags and clothing, there are lots to discover.

Vintage gaming consoles

Japan is well known for its gaming culture, and many of the world’s most loved consoles have come from the country. Avid gamers look on Yahoo to find everything from arcade machines to original N64 games.

Comics & anime

Another item people specifically shop for is Japanese comics and anime books, a lot of which are limited to release in Japan. Additionally, you can purchase clothing and memorabilia from popular comics and anime.

Antiques & collectables

There are also a lot of unique antiques to explore, such as coins, artwork, homeware, technology, screens, furniture and more. The auction site gives you access to items that you won’t be able to buy outside of Japan.

Japanese fashion

Japan is well known for its streetwear and fashion, and Yahoo is a great place to buy specific clothing items. You can buy everything from jackets and lolita dresses to bags, shoes and traditional Japanese clothing. There will be a merchant for you, lolita clothing. You can read more about how to buy Japanese apparel brands online in our guide today.

How to shop on Yahoo Auctions Japan in English

Most sellers on Yahoo Auction will speak Japanese, so you’ll need to use a translation service if you don’t. The best way to do this is to use Google Chrome while shopping on the auction page, as this will translate some text for you.

As this site is only available in Japanese, there is no English version and you might need help navigating. The easiest way to start shopping is to search for what you want in the search bar. It’s better to search in Japanese, so you may need to translate your searches. There are also categories listed down the left side of the website.

Each search is divided into three main categories: Furima (フリマ), Subete (すべて) and Okushon (オークション). Furima is the flea market where you can buy without bidding, Subete shows a combination of flea market and auction ads, and Okushon shows you auctions.

To start your search, you’ll need to learn a few basics to understand the process of placing bids. Genzai kakaku (現在価格) means current price, nokori jikan (残り時間) is remaining time, and to see the bids look for nyuusatsu (入札). Some sellers (Shuppinsha – 出品者 ) will offer a buy it now price (Sokketsu kakaku – 即決価格), so it’s worth looking out for this too.

You can further filter your searches by new (新品) and second-hand (中古) products. If すべて is displaying, then you’re seeing both new and used items. Once you’ve successfully bid, it’s time to ship your purchases. Remember to use your Japanese forwarding address. Your parcel will arrive at our Japanese warehouse and we will then ship it to you.

If you need further help on shopping in Japan, read our Japanese online shopping guide.

Auctions guide

Purchasing through Neokyo usually means that an operator is first going to review and validate the order before any payment is pro ceeded. However JDirectItems Auction are handled in real-time. When you place a bid on Neokyo, it is immediately reflected on JDirectItems Auction. This induce potential pitfalls which we introduce further on this page.

Auction Deposit

• Introduction to the Wallet & Deposit Guide

Set your bid limit

On Neokyo, you define the maximum amount you are ready to bid up to. Therefore we will automatically bid on your behalf in the case someone starts outbidding you, up to the amount you originally set.
Your maximum bid is beaten? We will notify you by sending an email.

Direct purchase

Some sellers set a direct purchase price option in addition to the starting auction price. By paying this amount, you immediately secure the purchase. This price is usually displayed in green. Please note that your auction deposit still need to match this amount.

How to start bidding now

To start bidding right now, simply follow the following steps :

1. Please make sure that you ackowledged the important points mentioned above as well as the common pitfalls list below.
2. After having logged in, head to account area, in the “Wallet” section. Add funds to your wallet by using Paypal or Stripe.
3. From the same page, transfer funds from your wallet to your auction deposit.
4. You can then bid or place direct purchase within the limit set by the funds available on your auction deposit. Your current bid limit is also displayed in the website header.
5. Use our searchbar to look for ongoing auctions, by selecting “JDirectItems Auction” from the provider list.

Common pitfalls

Usual precautions

First of all, and if you have not done it yet, we would usually recommand a read-through of our good practice guildelines. This page sums up the risk inherent to proxying in general and how to avoid the common pitfalls on all shops.

Ridiculously low-priced auction

Some sellers launch auctions with very low starting price to attract potential bidders. These price usually range from 1 to 99 yen. However those offers are often risky as the seller might have set a domestic shipping price as to be the rate where they are making their profits.
Use our button “Estimate domestic shipping cost” to have a look at the offered domestic rates.

Bidding on several low-priced auctions

At first you might think that placing bids on all those cheap auction is insteresting.
Well, keep in mind that for each of those auctions, you will quoted for the 250 yen service fee, the domestic shipping cost and potential wire fee.
Therefore, we would always advise to look for sets of item rather than individual items. It will in most case be a better deal. This advice is especially true if you are a trading card, video game or figure collector.

Real-time bidding means no screening by the team

Bidding through Neokyo means bidding directly through JDirectItems. It is your responsability to make sure that we can ship you this item.

Some auctions are pick-up only

This one is quite self-explanatory. Some shops (especially the ones dealing with heavy item) does not ship to the auction winners and expect them to pay a visit to their retail store to pick up the item.
We can unfortunately not deal with this kind of offer and no refund shall be issued in the case you bidded on this kind of auction. Thus another good reason to acknowledge the description using DeepL or ask us if you have any doubt

We do not temper with the items

This rule is actually tied to the forbidden item list. We will not empty a flagrance bottle, unmount a tire from its rim or unscrew an airbag out of a car wheel. Those are just sample examples but you get the idea.

There are no dispute or claim system

As suggest in the D bullet, JDirectItems is NOT a customer-friendly marketplace. We block seller profiles with too few or bad ratings by default, but nevertheless you should still aim at very highly-rated seller profiles to avoid any annoyance.
As an important reminder paying through Paypal does not means having a risk-free transaction! Disputing an amount due to an auction going badly is just blaming us for something which was your responsibility.

Text in the auction pics

While it is easy to use the translation tools to get a grasp of the auction terms, some seller place highly-important information in the item pictures, which can not translated. Please contact us in such case if you need an hand on understanding what it implies.
The Google Translate smartphone app can also let you scan pictures to translate those pictures if you wish so.

Purchasing from the same seller

We can not message a seller to ask for several won auctions to be combined into one shipment.
JDirectItems Auction automatically let the seller know when you have other ongoing offers and will usually suggest to offer a combined shipment for auctions won within 72 hours.
However the final decision is entirely up to the seller.

Once an auction is won

Here what happens once you win an auction or place a successful instant purchase :

1. The auction is now considered as an “Order” and can be found under this subsection on your user dahshoard.
2. We temporarily place the auction amount on hold on your auction deposit, until the auction is paid to the seller by our team (usually within 48 hours).
3. Once the auction payment is settled with the seller, we issue the final invoice for this auction (the domestic shipping cost might be deferred to a further payment if the seller opted for a Cash on Delivery shipment).
4. We automatically transfer the final auction invoice amount from your auction deposit to your wallet to ease its payment. You are notified that this auction can be paid through an email notification.
5. Payment is open for 7 days on your user interface. Please be aware that a delayed payment might induce a 200 yen weekly late penalty fee so we suggest clearing your invoices on a regular basis.
6. Once your won auction arrives at the warehouse, you are notified as well. You can then store it up to 45 days and ship it anytime with other orders as per our usual service features

Do you feel ready to bid?

JDirectItems Auction can be accessed directly through Neokyo by searching through our search bar.
After having initialised your auction deposit, simply follow our marketplace tutorial to learn how to use our searchbar. The searchbar can be accessed directly from the homepage or any product page