A company in Japan that buys an item on your behalf, receives it at its warehouse, and posts it to you. You need one wherever a Japanese seller will not ship abroad, which includes almost every second-hand marketplace. This site compares FROM JAPAN, Buyee, ZenMarket, Neokyo and Doorzo.
Service fee
The proxy's charge for buying the item. It is charged per item, per purchase or per order depending on the company, which is why the cheapest service changes with the number of things you buy. For a Mercari purchase: FROM JAPAN ¥500, Buyee ¥500, ZenMarket ¥800, Neokyo ¥350, Doorzo 3% of the item price (¥200–¥300).
Domestic shipping
Postage from the seller to the proxy's warehouse inside Japan, paid by you even when the listing says "free shipping" to Japanese buyers. Buyee gives a range of ¥150–1,500 per order. It is the one cost on this site you enter yourself, because it is set by each seller.
Yahoo! Auctions (JDirectItems)
Japan's largest auction site. Some proxies list its items under the name JDirectItems. Auction purchases generally cannot be cancelled once won; ZenMarket, for example, does not allow cancellation of auction or flea-market purchases at all.
Mercari Japan
A second-hand flea-market app, and the most common source for proxy purchases. ZenMarket charges more for Mercari items (¥800) than for most shops.
Direct-shipping shop
A Japanese shop that sells to overseas customers itself, so no proxy fees apply. Only relevant to new items; second-hand and auction items are only available through a proxy. On this site: CDJapan (CDs, Blu-ray and DVDs, books, games, figures and anime goods); and Solaris Japan (new and pre-owned figures, video games and anime merchandise).
Fees
Deposit or payment fee
A percentage charged on the money you pay in. ZenMarket's is 3.5% of the whole transaction, which works out at about 3.63% on top of what you actually need. FROM JAPAN and Buyee charge none.
Packing fee
What the proxy charges to box your items. FROM JAPAN, Buyee, ZenMarket and Doorzo include it in the service fee; Neokyo charges by weight.
Protection plan
An optional or bundled package covering things like shipping insurance and inspection. Buyee sells 4 plans from ¥0 to ¥500; this site prices Buyee on its free plan.
Photo service
Photographs of an item taken at the warehouse before it ships, useful on second-hand purchases. FROM JAPAN charges ¥500 for 3; ZenMarket charges ¥500 for 3; Doorzo charges ¥500 for 6.
Export clearance fee
A charge for customs paperwork on high-value parcels leaving Japan. FROM JAPAN ¥2,800 above ¥200,000, Buyee ¥2,800 above ¥200,000 and Doorzo ¥3,200 above ¥200,000.
Shipping
Free storage period
How long a proxy holds your purchases at no charge, counted from arrival at the warehouse: FROM JAPAN 60 days, Buyee 30 days, ZenMarket 60 days, Neokyo 45 days, Doorzo 60 days. Past it, storage is charged and items are eventually disposed of.
Consolidation
Sending several purchases together in one box. Because postage is charged by weight band, one heavier box usually costs much less than several light ones: three 1 kg parcels sent as one 3 kg box save ¥2,200 to ¥5,600 in EMS postage, depending on the country.
EMS
Japan Post's express international service, tracked, offered by every proxy. 1 kg to the United States costs ¥5,300.
Weight band
Postage is charged by bands, not by the gram: a parcel pays for the whole band it falls in. For EMS, the first band ends at 500 g, then 100 g steps up to 1 kg, 250 g steps up to 2 kg, 500 g steps up to 6 kg, 1 kg steps up to 30 kg.
Postal zone
Japan Post groups countries into price zones. Zone 1 includes Taiwan; zone 2 Hong Kong and Singapore; zone 3 Europe, Canada and Australia; zone 4 the United States.
Airmail small packet
A Japan Post service for items up to 2 kg, much cheaper than EMS at low weights: 1 kg to the United States costs ¥2,720 against ¥5,300 by EMS.
Surface (sea) parcel
A parcel sent by ship: the cheapest for heavy parcels and the slowest. 5 kg to the United States costs ¥5,400 against ¥15,100 by EMS.
SAL (economy air)
A Japan Post service between air and sea. It is still in Japan Post's rate tables, but Japan Post states that SAL acceptance is suspended entirely, so it is not offered on this site.
Tax and customs
Import VAT or GST
A consumption tax your own country charges on imported goods, usually on the item plus the international postage. United Kingdom 20%, Australia 10%, Germany 19%, France 20%, Singapore 9%, Taiwan 5%.
Duty-free limit (de minimis)
A value below which parcels enter without duty or tax. Several have been removed recently: United States, Germany, France and Singapore no longer have one for these parcels.
Tax collected up front
Some proxies collect your country's VAT or GST at checkout, so nothing is due when the parcel arrives. The amount is the same; only the timing changes. For the United Kingdom: ZenMarket (up to GBP 135).
Courier handling fee
What a courier charges for paying your import tax at the border on your behalf. None of the five proxies publish it and it varies by carrier, so it is not in any total on this site.
HS code
The international classification number for a product, which decides the customs duty rate. Because duty depends on what the item is, totals where duty applies but cannot be pinned down are marked as minimums.
Landed cost
Everything you pay to get an item into your hands: item, fees, postage inside Japan, international postage and import tax. A ¥10,000 Mercari item sent 1 kg to the United Kingdom lands at ¥18,280 through Doorzo.
What can be sent
Prohibited and restricted items
Things a proxy or Japan Post will not send. Model paint and thinner; spray cans and topcoat; lighters; perfume; and plants and seeds are refused by all five to all nine countries on this site. Refusal happens at the warehouse, after you have paid for the item.
Lithium battery rule
Anything with a built-in battery, from LED figure bases to handheld consoles, is judged as a battery. Japan Post will not carry them to Germany at all. Examples: LED or sound figures, handheld consoles, electronics, power banks.
