Yahoo! Japan - Experience? Best proxy?

[Sandman]

I used Celga a lot a long time ago like early 2000s. They were pretty good. I don't remember the process anymore but everything was done through email. That probably has changed now. I might have to look them up.

[Sandman]

Well I gave yahoo auctions a try through buyee. Apparently they have the same stupid bidders as eBay has. Thought I might be able to get some broken valks or valks with missing pecies at a reasonable price. Unfortunately those auctions all went for close to Msrp or higher(?)! Bid on like 20 auctions and didn't win any.

[Boobytrap]

Wow, that is a pretty high fail rate. I'd say to not give up on them. Maybe my experience is different than others but I have had pretty good luck with them, and walked away with some very nice deals. I haven't made a single purchase from Mandarake, Jungle, or eBay since finding YJA. Their prices and availability have made just about every other place obsolete.

[Sandman]

That surprises me. There seems to be too many idiots bidding past when they should or bidding way too early driving the price up right away. I will admit that there is a lot of sellers that are brave enough to list their auction really low but these bidders are just ridiculous.

Also is there a trick to searching other buyee. Everything  I try doesn't come up with anything. I usually have to browse the makoursu category. 

[ridgebacks]

I used zenmarket. I like how they do repack for free. From April to May, I brought about 8x BattleFairy Yukikaze 1/144 model, which are really  hard to find given that their original release date was 10 years ago. Average priced at around 3800 yen  (original price is around 2500. But that's a small price to pay for things that are out of print for 10 years). Also brought an unopened(as the seller stated) Isamu yf-29+super pack for 26,000 yen. Seems like a good deal. Still waiting for it to hit the warehouse before I can ship it thou.

[ntsan]

Well there was DX VF-171 Alto custom sold for less than 7000 yen, 1/60 SV-51 ivanov for 7800 yen, so yeah there is some good bargain there.

[spacemanoeuvres]

7 hours ago, Sandman said:

That surprises me. There seems to be too many idiots bidding past when they should or bidding way too early driving the price up right away. I will admit that there is a lot of sellers that are brave enough to list their auction really low but these bidders are just ridiculous.

Also is there a trick to searching other buyee. Everything  I try doesn't come up with anything. I usually have to browse the makoursu category. 

Checkout this reply from the what's it worth thread. You can use the same terms in closed and live auctions. 

I typically search yahoo auctions and then add the item/URL I'm interested in to buyee or zen market. I end up with a watchlist of about 15 items and usually get lucky with one or two  

 

[Duymon]

Yahoo Auctions have always been a great source of super cheap stuff. I used to use fromJapan as a proxy due to their pretty nice Bid Sniper system and their decent rates, but then I got married and I just have all my crap shipped to my wife's family home in Japan so shipping is like nothing. I even set up a bank account in Japan so it's super easy to pay for auctions without getting nailed by proxy fees.

After all that lemme tell you.

PROXY SERVICES ARE WAY CHEAPER THAN MARRIAGE

 

Edited May 27, 2017 by Duymon

[ridgebacks]

6 hours ago, Duymon said:

PROXY SERVICES ARE WAY CHEAPER THAN MARRIAGE

 

I was gonna say that the best way to buy stuff over there is to marry someone from there like you said. Then the last line hit me.

 

I will stick with proxy services for now

[Slave IV]

Lol!

[Boobytrap]

When I search I keep it pretty simple. I'm sure I miss out on some things but the results seem to be pretty comprehensive.

For Yamarcadia

"1/60 VF" and "1/60 YF"

For Bandai

"DX VF" and "DX YF"

[Sandman]

Does yahoo extend the auction after there is a bid? If so what is the purpose of the sniper bid then?

[spacemanoeuvres]

1 hour ago, Sandman said:

Does yahoo extend the auction after there is a bid? If so what is the purpose of the sniper bid then?

It depends. The auction will indicate if the seller has selected "automatic extension". If so, you have to wait until everyone has finished bidding (each bid will extend the auction 5 mins) and sniper bid is less effective. 

[chyll2]

12 hours ago, Boobytrap said:

When I search I keep it pretty simple. I'm sure I miss out on some things but the results seem to be pretty comprehensive.

For Yamarcadia

"1/60 VF" and "1/60 YF"

For Bandai

"DX VF" and "DX YF"

This is pretty much my keyword that I am using.

 

from time to time, I also search using マクロス with one of any of the keyword above since there are cases that some items are not using maybe DX or 1/60 in the title.

[no3Ljm]

7 hours ago, chyll2 said:

This is pretty much my keyword that I am using.

from time to time, I also search using マクロス with one of any of the keyword above since there are cases that some items are not using maybe DX or 1/60 in the title.

You could also try adding Yamato in katakana (ヤマト) or in hiragana (やまと).  

Or better yet, you might get lucky finding the rare ones if you use ロボテック. 

 

 

[Duymon]

Yahoo auctions is pretty ghetto in terms of getting boolean searches to work well on the platform unlike Feebay.

Usually you can only enter a few search terms.

Companies

Yamato: やまと　

Arcadia: アルカディア　

Bandai: バンダイ　

Hasegawa: ハセガワ

General Terms

Macross: マクロス

Chogokin: 超合金 (DX超合金 or just DX get hits too)

Renewal：リニューアル

Hi-Metal (Sometimes not listed in English) : ハイメタル

Usually a combo works. For example...

DX超合金 リニューアル brings up mainly Macross Frontier V2's.

Also, I find that Bandai valks are usually listed un-scaled so only put the scale when looking for Yamacadia or Hasegawa kits.

 

[kajnrig]

On 4/21/2017 at 4:39 AM, arbit said:

I've always used FromJapan. Is Buyee better?

Second this. I just bought two items that had been in my HLJ backorder for a while - a 1/100 HG Gundam X kit, and a 1/72 Tornado Messiah - and it's been as good an experience buying now as it was when I first used it. What advantages does Buyee have over FJ? I read earlier that Buyee is the official YJA proxy company, but using FJ has been pretty painless, all things considered.

[Lorindor]

I hate this thread. Or rather, my wallet hate this thread. It made me discover Buyee. Now I'm broke, but at least my list of rare toys that I want has been reduced by half.

[spacemanoeuvres]

A quick update on ZenMarket: I finally withdrew my leftover funds and they processed it as a return to my cc via PayPal (plus the service fee) so I got all of my money back. 

ZM is definitely cheaper than buyee because they only charge the 3% conversion rate to add funds and then 300 yen per purchase. There are no package consolidation fees or sneaky add-ons.

In contrast buyee charges 3% conversion rate, plus 5% of the auction, plus 200 yen per auction, plus 500 yen package consolidation fee. 

ZM communication is also much faster than buyee and the web interface is more user friendly imho (ymmv). If you're making multiple medium to large purchases you would do well to give ZenMarket a try. 

Edited June 14, 2017 by spacemanoeuvres
A word

[arbit]

I always use FJ. Dont know how it compares in terms of rates. But never had any problems with them.

Unfortunately, it has been impossible to load their site for months now on my computer. I use Windows Chrome.

Anyone else experience this?

[spacemanoeuvres]

I forgot to add; ZenMarket allows you to store your items at their warehouse for 45 days. Buyee only allows you to store items for 30 days.

[kajnrig]

56 minutes ago, arbit said:

I always use FJ. Dont know how it compares in terms of rates. But never had any problems with them.

Unfortunately, it has been impossible to load their site for months now on my computer. I use Windows Chrome.

Anyone else experience this?

Maybe delete your cookies for the site? I just bought some stuff using them and obviously could load the site just fine.

As far as rates go, FJ used to be fairly complicated a la Buyee, but they've simplified to a format similar to ZM since a few months ago. They still have a consolidation fee of 500 yen, but I don't think they have a conversion rate... could be wrong, though. I'll check my last purchase and let you all know.

[wmkjr]

3 hours ago, arbit said:

I always use FJ. Dont know how it compares in terms of rates. But never had any problems with them.

Unfortunately, it has been impossible to load their site for months now on my computer. I use Windows Chrome.

Anyone else experience this?

I'm on Windows Chrome too and it loads for me. I use this address:

http://www.fromjapan.co.jp/en/

[spacemanoeuvres]

4 hours ago, kajnrig said:

Maybe delete your cookies for the site? I just bought some stuff using them and obviously could load the site just fine.

As far as rates go, FJ used to be fairly complicated a la Buyee, but they've simplified to a format similar to ZM since a few months ago. They still have a consolidation fee of 500 yen, but I don't think they have a conversion rate... could be wrong, though. I'll check my last purchase and let you all know.

Yeah I'm curious. Zenmarket > Buyee; but if FJ doesn't charge a conversion rate then it's more reasonable than both in many cases. 

I want to say that I looked at FJ a while back but they were quite expensive. If I recall correctly they used to charge like 10-12% commission but I may be mixing them up with someone else. I researched a bunch around Christmas so it's a blur. 

Edited June 15, 2017 by spacemanoeuvres

[kajnrig]

Adding funds:
- Conversion rate is determined by however you pay. If using Paypal, use Paypal's normal 3(.5?)% foreign transaction fee. If using a credit card (or if you use CC through Paypal and choose to use the bank's foreign transaction fee), the rate is whatever your card issuer/bank charges. (The bank I use charges 1%.)

Looking at my FJ receipt for two separate orders that were shipped together (I'll just add them together)...

Charge 1:
- cost of item (7499 yen)
Charge 1 Total = 7499 yen

Charge 2:
- domestic delivery (1330 yen)
- payment fee (400 yen) (explanation in spoiler, same as 300 yen ZM fee?)
- Domestic insurance (1400 yen) (I shouldn't have bothered, I misread it when I purchased it)
- Tax on Charge 1 (599 yen)
- Overseas shipping (2900 yen)
- Int'l shipping insurance (none)
- Consolidation fee (500 yen) (flat fee regardless of how many purchases consolidated, 10 separate purchases consolidated is still 500 yen total)
- "Excess charge" (0 yen) (I'm guessing a credit applied if you get charged too much)
- Customs (0 yen)
- Any surcharge (0 yen) (Dunno how this would ever be more than 0)
- Box fee (0 yen) (Dunno about this, probably if you want FJ to repackage the items into their own boxes)
- Extra services (0 yen) (Similarly dunno about this, not sure what "extra services" they offer)
- Combination extension fee (0 yen) (I think this is if you hold items for more than 30 days)
- Charge 2 extension fee (0 yen) (Similarly, I think this is if you don't pay Charge 2 in a timely fashion)
Charge 2 Total = 7129 yen

----------------

Despite that wall of text, I think (emphasis on think) FJ is more or less comparable to ZM. Looking at your (spacemanoeuvres) post, most of the charges match, and the ones that were added are mostly my own fault.

 

The payment fee is to cover the general costs charged by financial institutions or banks when paying a store or seller. FROM JAPAN uses the main payment methods used in Japan for online shopping, and charges the following fees depending on the payment method used.

- Credit card: free

- Bank transfer: 200 yen

- Cash on delivery: charged at cost

Edited June 15, 2017 by kajnrig

[spacemanoeuvres]

I just signed up for an FJ account and it appears they do not charge a conversion fee so From Japan > Zen Market > Buyee. 

Wish I had taken a closer look at FJ sooner as I would have saved a few more bucks over the last few months. Seriously doubt I'll ever use Buyee again as it's 5% more than ZM and 8% more than FJ.

I wonder how FJ are making money just charging 300 yen per auction and 500 yen for consolidation. Maybe that's enough and the others are just charging what the market will bare 

Edited June 15, 2017 by spacemanoeuvres
A word

[kajnrig]

8 minutes ago, spacemanoeuvres said:

I just signed up for an FJ account and it appears they do not charge a conversion fee so From Japan > Zen Market > Buyee. 

Wish I had taken a closer look at FJ sooner as I would have saved a few more bucks over the last few months. Seriously doubt I'll ever use Buyee again as it's 5% more than ZM and 8% more than FJ.

I wonder how FJ are making money just charging 300 yen per auction and 500 yen for consolidation. Maybe that's enough and the others are just charging what the market will bare 

So do you mean that on top of the bank's conversion fee, ZM/Buyee charge their own conversion fee?

So like, let's say conversion rate is 100 yen:1 dollar, bank charges 1% fee, FJ charges nothing of their own, ZM charges 3%, Buyee charges 3%. You want to deposit 10,000 yen.

From Japan = $101
ZenMarket = $104 (+$1 bank, +$3 ZM)
Buyee = $104 (+$1 bank, +$3 Buyee)

That about right? If so, that's really super crap. Even more so with Buyee and their 5% of the auction price, too.

[no3Ljm]

With all those talk about conversions, fees, charges, etc. You guys might want to try and use eBay again. Just sayin'.

 

[chyll2]

7 minutes ago, no3Ljm said:

With all those talk about conversions, fees, charges, etc. You guys might want to try and use eBay again. Just sayin'.

 

to date, I never saw a good deal in eBay. It is actually a lot cheaper (generally) to get something from YAJ. Even with fees/charges, it will mostly remain cheaper than eBay.

[no3Ljm]

37 minutes ago, chyll2 said:

to date, I never saw a good deal in eBay. It is actually a lot cheaper (generally) to get something from YAJ. Even with fees/charges, it will mostly remain cheaper than eBay.

My point exactly.

 

[chyll2]

sorry, my sarcasm meter was off there

[spacemanoeuvres]

3 hours ago, no3Ljm said:

With all those talk about conversions, fees, charges, etc. You guys might want to try and use eBay again. Just sayin'.

 

I've found a deal or two on eBay but this thread is about yahoo auctions. 

Hey, maybe some of you have Jay-Z money and don't care if you are paying more than you have to 

However, I think most folks buying with USD would rather save an additional 8% if possible. I know I've spent enough on JYA such that 8% is meaningful and I would have rather put that money towards *drum roll* MORE TOYS 

Edited June 15, 2017 by spacemanoeuvres
a word

[juice14]

This topic should be renamed to "Which is the best proxy for Yahoo Japan?"

 

There is no doubt in my mind that Yahoo Auctions is the main place to get cheap stuff. In some cases, Mandarake auctions can gain you some interesting stuff but by and large Yahoo Japan Auctions has the most content.

[spacemanoeuvres]

The most cost effect seem to be From Japan or Zen Market. 

If you're a baller who only carries 100 dollar bills then use Buyee 

[Lorindor]

3 hours ago, juice14 said:

There is no doubt in my mind that Yahoo Auctions is the main place to get cheap stuff. In some cases, Mandarake auctions can gain you some interesting stuff but by and large Yahoo Japan Auctions has the most content.

I agree. The advantage of Yahoo Auctions is not only the lower prices, but that it has much more of the rarer stuff. For example, I've been searching a long time for the official Ai-kun plushie, but I have never even seen it on eBay or Mandarake. But there was one on Yahoo the first time I took a look and it wasn't even that expensive in the end. Sure, a bit anecdotal and maybe pure coincidental, but anyway. There's other rare stuff that I have in my sight now, but I won't tell you what, it's mine!