Buying off Yahoo Japan

Very good point. Some of the games are sold much higher on eBay than I find them on YJ. I've been on a Marty purchasing streak lately, and Raiden was running $30 over there while it was running $119 on eBay. Count in $30 in fees/ship to get the game over here, and you're still at a high net gain overall compared to an eBay purchase.

That's pretty much how I shop. I don't run around willy-nilly buying easy-to-find crap, but I do look for the diamonds in the rough so to speak. I've used SMJ for probably two years now and based on the prices of items I've bought, used, and in some cases sold, I've come out well ahead.

So yeah, it's not necessarily just a matter of availability. I don't understand the people buying commons either, unless they're larger lots at a deeply-discounted price from the same seller. Any other way and you're almost screwing yourself.

 

There's a reason for these fees.
Read me. 2nd page, 2nd paragraph specifically, or you can read the whole thing if you don't want to cut to the chase.

 

Is it really that hard?

That's kind of a bummer. I've got a friend who's going to Japan this summer, he hopes indefinitely, and so I guess I'd have him open an account in his name and then I'd transfer funds electronically to it as needed.

We're going to be bringing over mostly car parts (engines, aftermarket stuff, etc...), as long as complete vintage Japanese sports cars (S30 Z's, Hakosuka GT-R's, Honda S800s, etc...). The biggest problem is going to be for him to find storage space over there so that we can ship big blocks at once rather than as we acquire. I'd much rather just ship by container rather than airmailing huge shit like exhausts and rims.

 

That is of course, possible, but everything will be in his name, and he'll have access to it (unless he gives you all the bank books and the hanko it's registered with). This is of course if he gets a gaijin card. AFAIK, it's impossible without.

 

I was thinking about offering a bidding service at some point in the future, but something smaller. I still use Yahoo Japan so at this point I can't compete against my own customers, but I could probably get off of Yahoo in the near future.

I was thinking about just charging a flat fee for unlimited auctions for 10 accounts max. No commissions or any of that stuff, just one price per month for as much as you want. That's why I'd limit the number of accounts to 10, just to be able to manage it, and to still be able to give good service. If someone closes their account then there would be one "slot" open for a new buyer. The buyers could be anyone, a foreign store who wants a lot of smaller games and systems or maybe a collection of buyers using the same account for rare items.

Just a thought...

 

About Yahoo Japan Auctions

Now there is also a new website

[[/URL]

Advantages are
1) Low commissions
2) No handling fee on international delivery, no hiden costs
3) One handling fee for multiple auctions won from the same seller
4) Best exhange rates (rates of Paypal)
5) Real-time bidding
6) Simple bidding system
7) No need to register your credit card
8) Flexible delivery

Thanks
Nichido

No sales with first time posts. Sorry.

 

Thanks, and welcome to the boards!

 

Yeah I've seen some prices from the bidding services that don't make any sense. What I don't get is that there's no recourse if there's anything wrong with the system. Rinkya is just a transfer service. What happens if you receive a broken item?

 

You get a broken item. That is, unfortunately, the only way to do it. Why should Rinkya eat the costs of a dead-beat seller? It's impossible for any middleman to guarantee the quality of the item. Sucks, but is really the only fair way.

 

Lately I've been thinking I should not bother with auction sites anymore. If I add up a year worth of commision+shipping I might as well fly to Japan once or twice a year.

Although it can be hard to find what you want even if you are in Japan. I was in Akiba last year and was not impressed with the PC Engine selection. There were racks of PCE titles but the good stuff (shooters, Dracula, etc) was nowhere to be found. Just zillions of common average titles. Years ago I it was being much better...

So, I'm kind of split. Do I get my wanted titles from auctions or do I take my chances and fly to Japan to hunt for them myself...

 

Did you not check the showcases? Trader2, SuperPotato, and MediaLand always have a nice selection of the primo titles.