Yahoo Japan

[Neo]

Has anyone used Yahoo Japan?  Here is the English version of the site: http://yahoo.aleado.com/

All the shipping quotes are very expensive, compared to when I have bought stuff via eBay, from folks in Japan. 

I tried to contact a couple sellers, but the link that says "question to exhibitor" does not lead to a contact form, and I didn't see any other similar links.  Does anyone know how to contact a seller on Yahoo Japan?

[erik1925]

Hey Brandon..

I would bet that Sean / crowzilla would be one of the chaps to ask and get the 'know how' scoop from.

 

[erik1925]

Brandon, did you ever get Yahoo JP all sorted, as far as how to contact sellers?

[Neo]

Brandon, did you ever get Yahoo JP all sorted, as far as how to contact sellers?

Yes and no.  

I spoke directly with Yahoo a few times, and got similar replies.  They said that most Japanese sellers there do not speak English and do not do business with people living outside Japan.

After doing a little research, most people who are outside of Japan who buy on Yahoo Japan use a "proxy service."  Basically, companies specialize in allowing people outside of Japan to buy from Yahoo Japan, and charge a percentage of the total price of whatever you're buying, and they take care of the whole transaction with the seller.  Prices and services vary, of course, and with the high shipping costs, it's a relatively expensive additional cost to buy anything this way.  

It would be good to know if anyone here has used one of these proxy services, and if I ever buy something from Yahoo Japan that way, I'll mention it here.

[erik1925]

Thanks, Brandon.

[Neo]

I purchased something from Yahoo Japan recently, and everything went well.  Not sure why I didn't think about this before, but I basically just asked a guy in Japan, whom I had bought some stuff from before, and asked if he could help me with the transaction at Yahoo Japan.  He charged me a few bucks, and the actual cost of shipping (from the seller in Japan to him and from him to me), and the grand total was only about $30.  This way is a lot simpler, as you're just dealing with one person, rather than all the policies and procedures and everything with a company that specializes in providing a "proxy service."

[erik1925]

It sounds like your 'connection' in Japan worked out well, Brandon.

Good to hear.

[Neo]

In case anyone was wondering about buying stuff at Yahoo Japan with proxy services:

I bought my last poster through From Japan http://www.fromjapan.co.jp/en/

It's a good site and everything went smoothly.  You just have to open an account, and put a deposit that will cover your maximum bid.  Then they'll let you know when they receive the item from the seller, and you can wait a while (up to a month if I recall correctly) to email them the shipping instructions to the USA, etc.  In that time, you can wait to win a few more things, and then have them all shipped to you with combined shipping.

The last package only took a few days to arrive, and they email you the tracking number when it's shipped.  Another big plus is the option to use their "sniper bid" tool on the website.


I just use Google Chrome to browse Yahoo Japan, as Chrome translates the pages easily.  Then I copy and paste a url into the watchlist form on the From Japan website to keep it on my watchlist and bid on it there.

The rates at From Japan are not bad, and as I mentioned, overall it's an intuitive, and fairly simple process.