FROM JAPAN vs Neokyo: shipping to United Kingdom

Neokyo does not publish a payment fee, so it is counted as ¥0. At 3.5%, the highest payment fee any service here publishes, this order would come to ¥18,480 with FROM JAPAN and ¥19,408 with Neokyo, which does not change which is cheaper.

Local-currency figures are approximate, converted at the European Central Bank reference rate of 2026-10-01 (1 £ = ¥209.1). Your card or the proxy will use its own rate on the day.

Totals include the proxy's service fee, packing, domestic shipping inside Japan, international postage, any deposit or payment fee, and import tax. Where a service collects tax up front it appears in the “pay the proxy” column instead of “pay on delivery”. The tax is the same either way.

Where the ¥350 actually goes

The whole difference comes from packing (Neokyo pays ¥500 more) and service fee (FROM JAPAN pays ¥150 more). The largest of these is the packing.

Does it hold for your order?

One example order proves little, so we priced the same pair on 24 orders: four parcel weights, three item prices, and one item against three separate items, all from Mercari Japan to United Kingdom.

• FROM JAPAN cheaper
• Neokyo cheaper
• Darker means a bigger gap. Each cell is the difference in the final total.

The gap moves most with the weight of the parcel: going from 500 g to 5 kg shifts it by about ¥450 towards FROM JAPAN. After that, going from one item to three shifts it by about ¥300 towards Neokyo, and the price of the item barely moves it. The lead never changes hands inside this table, so the headline holds for ordinary orders.

Depending on where you buy

FROM JAPAN is cheaper whichever of the 7 marketplaces you buy from. FROM JAPAN's total is the same whatever the marketplace, while Neokyo's total is the same whatever the marketplace. All rows are the same ¥10,000, 1 kg order.

What each will ship to United Kingdom

They disagree on 3 categories: snacks and food (FROM JAPAN: with conditions, Neokyo: ships); adult doujinshi (FROM JAPAN: refused, Neokyo: ships); and medicine (FROM JAPAN: with conditions, Neokyo: refused). If your item falls into one of those, that matters more than the price gap above. Both refuse model paint and thinner; spray cans and topcoat; items with lithium batteries; airsoft and model guns; lighters; replica swords and knives; perfume; and plants and seeds on this route. Japan Post itself restricts items with lithium batteries on parcels to United Kingdom, so switching service does not get around it.

Highlighted rows are where the two differ. "Not stated" means the company publishes no rule, so the decision is made at the warehouse after you have paid. Each company's own wording is quoted on the what you cannot ship page.

When you pay the import tax

FROM JAPAN does not collect it up front on EMS parcels to United Kingdom, so it is paid to the courier when the parcel lands. Neokyo does not collect it up front on EMS parcels to United Kingdom, so it is paid to the courier when the parcel lands. The amount of import VAT is set by United Kingdom, not by either company, so it is the same whichever you use. Where it is paid on arrival, the courier usually adds its own customs handling charge on top, which neither company publishes and which is not in the totals here.

Storage, packing and payment terms

FROM JAPAN holds purchases free for longer (60 days against 45). That window is what lets you collect several purchases over a few weeks and send them in one box, which usually saves more in postage than the difference in service fees.

What each includes for the money

FROM JAPAN: 60 days of free storage, consolidation of several purchases into one parcel, a guarantee on the domestic purchase, an inspection of the item on arrival, insurance on the international leg. Neokyo: no extras bundled at this plan level. A cheaper total with no inspection and no insurance is not the same product as a dearer one that includes both. On a second-hand auction item, where the seller's description is the only thing you have to go on, that difference is worth more than the gap above.

What we could not confirm

Neokyo: payment fee is not published; treated as ¥0