Buying from Japan to Hong Kong

Which service is cheapest for Hong Kong

The same order through all five. The postage is identical; the differences are each company's fees and whether it collects the tax at checkout. Choosing ZenMarket instead of Doorzo costs ¥1,031 more on this order.

Local-currency figures are approximate, converted at the European Central Bank reference rate of 2026-10-01 (1 HK$ = ¥20.1). Your card or the proxy will use its own rate on the day.

Head-to-head for Hong Kong: FROM JAPAN vs Buyee, FROM JAPAN vs ZenMarket, FROM JAPAN vs Neokyo, FROM JAPAN vs Doorzo, Buyee vs ZenMarket, Buyee vs Neokyo, Buyee vs Doorzo, ZenMarket vs Neokyo, ZenMarket vs Doorzo, Neokyo vs Doorzo.

Import tax in Hong Kong

Import tax is set by Hong Kong, not by the proxy service you choose. All the proxy decides is whether it takes the money at checkout or leaves you to settle with the courier at the door. The amount owed is the same either way. That is why the totals on this site are split into what you pay now and what you pay on arrival, rather than merged into one figure that would make the companies who collect honestly look dearer.

The numbers

• Import VAT / GST: none; there is no general consumption tax on imports
• Duty-free threshold: not applicable, since nothing is taxed in the first place

Nothing to pay on arrival

There is no tax for a proxy to collect and none for you to pay at the door, so the question of who charges it up front does not arise. The total you pay the proxy is the total, and you avoid the courier customs handling fees that apply almost everywhere else.

What that means in money

Two orders to Hong Kong, both from Mercari Japan, both about 1 kg packed and both with ¥700 of domestic postage inside Japan, priced through the cheapest service available for each:

Nothing to pay on arrival. This destination charges no import tax on general goods.

Tax at six different prices

No import tax is charged at any price on this list. The only costs are the proxy's and the postage.

A Mercari Japan item, 1 kg packed, EMS. Tax is shown for the cheapest service; the last five columns show when each service takes it.

How Hong Kong compares

Of the 7 countries where the tax can be calculated, Hong Kong is the 2nd cheapest place to receive the same ¥10,000, 1 kg order, at ¥14,150. None of it is tax. The postage differs too, since EMS prices by zone.

The handling fee nobody quotes

Where tax is not collected up front, the courier or postal operator pays it for you at the border and then charges a fee for having done so. It is not part of the tax itself. None of the five services publish it and it varies by carrier, so it is deliberately left out of the totals here rather than guessed at. It is still a real reason to prefer a service that collects at checkout where you have the choice.

EMS postage to Hong Kong

Japan Post puts Hong Kong in EMS zone 2, together with Singapore, which pay the same prices. EMS is charged by weight band, so a parcel pays for the whole band it falls in (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). Some of the bands:

For the same 1 kg order, other Japan Post methods: Sent by airmail small packet instead of EMS, the same order comes to ¥12,660 through Buyee, ¥1,490 less. The trade-off is time: EMS is Japan Post's fastest service and surface parcels its slowest.

Japan Post's published rates. A service is only counted where its own site lists the method; the shipping methods guide shows which do. SAL (economy air) is not shown because Japan Post has suspended it.

The first band costs ¥3,800 per kg; at 30 kg it is ¥1,112 per kg. That is why sending several purchases together in one box saves money. The EMS guide compares all nine countries.

What cannot be sent to Hong Kong

All five refuse model paint and thinner; spray cans and topcoat; lighters; perfume; and plants and seeds on this route. For replica swords and knives, no service says it will ship to Hong Kong: some refuse, and the rest publish no rule, which means the decision is made at the warehouse after you have paid. None of these is blocked by a Japan Post rule specific to Hong Kong; where something is refused, it is the company's own policy, and another service may accept it.

Company rules and Japan Post's rules for Hong Kong combined. See what you cannot ship for each company's own wording.

By what you are buying

Typical orders for different kinds of item, each through the cheapest service that will take it to Hong Kong. Weights and prices are assumptions; the guides explain each one.

More for Hong Kong

• Cheapest proxy to Hong Kong, by marketplace
• Shipping by weight to Hong Kong: a manga volume, a boxed figure, a 2 kg parcel, a 3 kg parcel
• Paying import tax up front or on delivery
• Import tax in all nine countries