FROM JAPAN vs ZenMarket: shipping to Germany

Local-currency figures are approximate, converted at the European Central Bank reference rate of 2026-10-01 (1 € = ¥178.5). 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 ¥877 actually goes

The whole difference comes from payment / deposit fee (ZenMarket pays ¥577 more) and service fee (ZenMarket pays ¥300 more). The largest of these is the payment / deposit fee. The import tax is the same ¥2,736 for both. One collects it at checkout and the other leaves it to the courier, which changes when you pay but not how much.

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 Germany.

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

The gap moves most with the price of the item: going from ¥3,000 to ¥50,000 shifts it by about ¥1,705 towards FROM JAPAN. After that, going from one item to three shifts it by about ¥658 towards FROM JAPAN, and going from 500 g to 5 kg shifts it by about ¥358 towards FROM JAPAN. 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 ZenMarket's moves by up to ¥518 depending on where it buys. All rows are the same ¥10,000, 1 kg order.

What each will ship to Germany

They disagree on 6 categories: airsoft and model guns (FROM JAPAN: refused, ZenMarket: with conditions); snacks and food (FROM JAPAN: with conditions, ZenMarket: not stated); adult doujinshi (FROM JAPAN: refused, ZenMarket: with conditions); replica swords and knives (FROM JAPAN: refused, ZenMarket: not stated); skincare and cosmetics (FROM JAPAN: with conditions, ZenMarket: not stated); and medicine (FROM JAPAN: with conditions, ZenMarket: not stated). 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; lighters; perfume; and plants and seeds on this route. Japan Post itself restricts items with lithium batteries on parcels to Germany, 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 Germany, so it is paid to the courier when the parcel lands. ZenMarket collects VAT at 19% at checkout on orders up to EUR 150. The amount of import VAT is set by Germany, 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

Both hold purchases free for 60 days, long enough to collect several purchases and send them together.

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. ZenMarket: 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.