- How buying from Japan through a proxy works, step by stepEvery charge between clicking buy and the parcel landing, in the order you pay it.
- Which Japan proxy is cheapest? 1,512 orders pricedFive services, seven marketplaces, nine countries: how often each one actually wins.
- Consolidating parcels from Japan: when one box saves moneyWhat combining purchases saves in postage to each country, and what storage costs while you wait.
- EMS from Japan: the weight bands and what each step costsThe full EMS price table for nine countries, and where a few grams cost a whole step.
- When is an item from Japan worth the shipping?How much the overhead adds at each item price, and where it drops below half the item's cost.
- Reading a Mercari or Yahoo! Auctions listingCondition grades, who pays the postage inside Japan, how bidding works, and the words sellers use.
- Lost or damaged parcels from Japan: what each proxy coversWhich services pay out themselves, which only pass your claim to Japan Post, and the deadlines.
- Buying from Suruga-ya, Mandarake and other Japanese anime shopsWhich shops ship abroad themselves, which proxies cover each, and what several items from one shop cost.
- Customs duty on goods from Japan, country by countryWhere duty starts in each of nine countries, and what it is on figures, books and consoles.
- EMS, airmail or surface: the cheapest way to ship from JapanEvery Japan Post method priced for nine countries, and which proxies offer which.
- Paying import tax up front or on delivery: what each proxy doesWhich services collect VAT or GST at checkout for which countries, and the limits on it.
By what you are buying
The same calculations, worked through for one kind of item at a time: what it weighs, who will ship it, and what it costs to each country.
- Buying figures from JapanBoxed scale figures, prize figures and figures with lights, priced to nine countries.
- Buying Gunpla and model kits from JapanPlastic kits ship anywhere. Paint, thinner and spray cans do not, whoever you use.
- Buying manga and artbooks from JapanWhat a full set of volumes costs to bring over, and why one at a time costs so much more.
- Buying trading cards from JapanA 60 g parcel pays a 500 g postage band, and an expensive single can cross a tax limit.
- Buying doujinshi from JapanLight parcels, a per-item fee that adds up, and which services refuse adult titles where.
- Buying game consoles and handhelds from JapanA console with a built-in battery cannot go by Japan Post to some countries at all.
- Buying anime merchandise from JapanAcrylic stands, badges and keyrings: why ten small items cost so differently between services.
- Buying CDs and Blu-rays from JapanDiscs are among the easiest things to send: what three of them cost, new or second-hand.
Where to start
If this is your first order through a proxy, read how it works first: it walks one real order from the purchase to the doorstep and shows what each step costs. If you already use a service and want to know whether another would be cheaper, the 1,512-order count answers that for typical orders. If you buy cheap items, the guides on consolidation and on when an item is worth the shipping will save you the most money.
What the guides found
Each guide runs the calculator across many orders rather than describing a single example. In one line each:
- How buying from Japan through a proxy works, step by step: A ¥10,000 item sent to United Kingdom costs ¥18,280 by the time it arrives. The advertised service fee is ¥300 of that.
- Which Japan proxy is cheapest? 1,512 orders priced: Doorzo was cheapest or joint cheapest on 1,032 of 1,512 orders. Picking the dearest instead cost ¥1,771 on average.
- Consolidating parcels from Japan: when one box saves money: Three boxed figures in one box instead of three save ¥2,200 to ¥5,600 in EMS postage, depending on the country.
- EMS from Japan: the weight bands and what each step costs: To United States, a 500 g parcel costs the equivalent of ¥7,800 per kg; a 5 kg parcel, ¥3,020 per kg.
- When is an item from Japan worth the shipping?: On a 1 kg parcel, the costs on top of a ¥1,000 item come to 310% to 638% of its price.
- Paying import tax up front or on delivery: what each proxy does: ZenMarket collects tax at checkout for 5 of 8 countries; FROM JAPAN collects tax at checkout for 2 of 8 countries; Neokyo collects tax at checkout for 1 of 8 countries.
All of them use the same fee, EMS and tax data as the rest of the site, checked against each company's and each authority's own pages. When a rule is not published, the guides say so rather than filling the gap with a guess. If you spot a figure that has changed, the contact page is the quickest way to get it corrected.