IN TRADUZIONE
I have been studying Yahoo! Japan Auctions a lot in the last few months, and there are so many gems there that I really do not know why people do not use it more. It may be because it is in Japanese and that you cannot just create an account and use Paypal like on eBay, but there are several great options to help you buy on Yahoo! Japan Auctions, so I have decided to make a tutorial to help as many Bladers as possible obtain what they want for sometimes reasonable prices!
Here is the category exclusively for Beyblade-related auctions:
http://list4.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/%E3...egory.html
Before showing you a list of services you can use since we do not live in Japan and that Yahoo! Japan Auctions only ships locally in Japan, let me explain a few features on that auction site :
- If, in the auction's profile, it shows a judge's hammer on the button, it is indeed an auction, but if you see a shopping cart, what is next to it is actually a buyout price : essentially eBay's "Buy it Now" option;
- Snipe-bidding : Technically you can bid at the very last minute, but most, if not all auctions will extend to fifteen extra minutes if there is less time than that left in the auction;
- Automatic bidding can be done by setting a maximum bid : it can vary, but usually the automatic extra is 500 yen. So, for instance, if I bid 4,000 yen maximum on an item and that someone tries to bid 3,000 yen, it would bump the item still to me, but at 3,500 yen.
(The following options are in alphabetical order. All are middleman services, but some are personal while others are more corporative. The personal ones are those with the "Middleman" annotation.)
Here is a summary:
- Buyee
- Mail Order Japan
- Middleman - OkinawamTS
- Middleman - RiderProxy
- Rinkya
BUYEE
This middleman service is integrated directly in Yahoo! Japan Auctions. On every auction you will browse, there is a banner right above the profile of the auction that is Buyee's advertisement.
By clicking on the first section, it allows you to see the auction translated into English, and from that translation page, you also create your Buyee account.
Pros:
- Seemingly affiliated with Yahoo! Japan Auctions, so easy to use directly on Y!JA;
- Payment methods include Paypal but also the traditional credit card numbers input;
- Translates the pages for you.
Cons:
- According to some reviews, Buyee charges your credit card or Paypal account at multiple instances to make sure the funds are indeed available, so if you have extra costs for too many operations on your credit account or if you cannot afford to be charged too much and then reimbursed, it may cost you more accidentally;
- Does not necessarily ship items together in one package, therefore more shipping fees;
- Charge you for the whole anticipated bid even if you do not win the auction; they will of course refund you afterwards, but if your credit or Paypal account has a limit, this could be bad for you.
MAIL ORDER JAPAN
AnnieDuck had actually written a very comprehensive guide back in 2007 at the beginning of the site, and everything still applies so go read her tutorial!
http://worldbeyblade.org/Thread-How-To-U...rder-Japan
Pros:
- They have a real warehouse and can therefore keep your items for a long period, although perhaps not without fees for extended times;
- I have no idea if this is true anymore, but you used to be able to chat with a contact person from Mail Order Japan for any concerns;
Cons:
- Lack of communication sometimes.
MIDDLEMAN - OKINAWAMTS
Hey, one of our own! OkinawamTS is located in Japan, so he offers to be a middleman for Bladers but also other hobby fans out there. All communications work by email, so you can contact him here and ask for his email address to let him know your desired purchases.
Like any personal middleman, OkinawamTS buys the item for you, gets it delivered to his house and then ships it back to you.
Pros:
- Requires only a deposit of a certain percentage of the anticipated bid : for instance, if you want to put a maximum bid of 10,000 yen (approx. 100 dollars) on a Beyblade lot, what will be important to send him is the portion of that one hundred dollars he asks you;
- His middleman fee is of only 500 yen per item;
- He goes out of his way to find the best prices for you : since he is personally interested in most of the popular Japanese hobbies, if you send him an auction you want to participate in but that he knows he could find one even cheaper elsewhere, he will offer to do that for you and indeed find a better option for the same item;
- Can definitely ship your items all together in one package;
- Can definitely try packing your items one within the other if possible and if you do not mind, to try to save on the size of the box that will be shipped;
- Fast shipping;
- Offers you at least two shipping options;
- Speaks French, English and Japanese.
Cons:
- While it can be a huge advantage, like mentioned above, that he is personally interested in some Japanese products, sometimes it means that he is already bidding on some auctions for himself, especially with rare Beyblades; meh, can we really blame him?
- Requires Paypal.
MIDDLEMAN - RIDERPROXY
As a personal middleman, she also receives won items at her house, then ships them from Japan to you. All communications are done by email, although sometimes you can reach her by chat and on her Facebook Page. She specialises in Kamen Rider products, but you can definitely use her service for any auction you want. Here is the page where you can find her contact details :
http://riderproxy.com/contact-us/
Pros:
- She is very available, although there will sometimes be one or two days without a reply, so try to send links to auctions you are interested in as soon as possible, three days before they end; sending a certain amount of money first also helps making her more aware that you are waiting for a response;
- Most personal middlemen can probably do it too, but I can testify that she can contact sellers to ask them your questions and even try to negotiate better prices with them;
- Fast shipping.
Cons:
- Requires Paypal;
- Requires the full anticipated max bid amount up-front, but she will absolutely refund you if you lose the auction or if you win it for less than your maximum bid;
- Her middleman fee is 900 yen per item, which is not much but still higher than OkinawamTS's.
RINKYA
Most people use them for their inline translating service as far as I know, but if you would also like to use them for purchases, they are also available:
http://www.rinkya.com
You create an account on their website, bid or buy items, then request for your orders to be shipped from their warehouse.
You can see their fees here:
https://www.rinkya.com/en/front/page/fees
Pros:
- Their translating service;
- You can leave your won items stored in their warehouse for up to 2 months;
Cons:
- Supposedly pricy, probably in terms of middleman/service fees;
- Requires a credit card;
This is it for the middleman services associated with the Beyblade community. Of course, there are a lot of other middlemen out there, and it's not because we do not mention them here that they cannot be trusted, but those above are the main ones used by Beyblade fans.
Of course, any of them can be used for items that are not Beyblades too, from clothing to figurines to DVDs and much more.
If you have had different customer experiences with any of the above middleman services and really want me to correct something, go ahead and reply in this topic and I will address your concerns or issues.
To post or be aware of interesting Beyblade-related auctions on Yahoo! Japan Auctions, use the following thread :
http://worldbeyblade.org/Thread-Yahoo-Ja...ions-Topic
![[Image: OdngHMS.png]](https://i.imgur.com/OdngHMS.png)