Japan Collector Guide

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Last updated: 2026-11-10 · Prices and fees checked: 2026-11-10 (see Sources at the bottom of each page)

How to Buy from Japan: The Complete Guide for Collectors

The short answer: there are three routes. Buy direct from shops that ship overseas (CDJapan, HobbyLink Japan, Play-Asia). Use a proxy when the seller only ships inside Japan — which covers most of Mercari, Yahoo Auctions Japan and Surugaya. Use a forwarding address when you can check out yourself in Japanese and only need a Japanese address. For used retro games and figures, the proxy route is the one you will actually use most.

Direct shops that ship to you

Route 1: Buy direct (no middleman fee)

CDJapan and HobbyLink Japan sell from Japan to overseas customers directly; Play-Asia sells worldwide from Hong Kong. You pay the item price plus the shop's international shipping — no service fee. Pre-order timing differs and matters: HobbyLink Japan states it never takes prepayment for pre-orders before the items are available; it charges when the item is in stock and allocated to you. Play-Asia's official disclosure says orders containing pre-orders are charged a few days before the stock is due to arrive (items ordered specially for you are charged at order time).

Route 2: Proxy buying (for Japan-only sellers)

A proxy buys the item for you, receives it at a Japanese warehouse, then ships it to you. You pay twice: first the item, domestic shipping and the proxy's fees; then international shipping once the parcel is weighed. The standard flow is: find the item, paste its URL into the proxy (or search inside the proxy), pay the first bill, wait for warehouse arrival, choose a shipping method, pay the second bill, receive the parcel.

Fee (checked 2026-11-10)BuyeeZenMarket
Service feeJPY 500 per orderJPY 300–800 per item (Mercari and auction bids: JPY 800; standard stores: JPY 500; Recommended Stores: JPY 300)
Extra plans / depositPlans JPY 0–500 per order (inspection / insured delivery)Funds deposit fee from 1%
ConsolidationFreeFree (included)
Free storage30 days60 days, then JPY 50 per day per item

Full breakdown with every optional fee: Proxy fees compared. Run your own total: Landed Cost Calculator.

Proxy services (fees checked 2026-11-10)

Route 3: Forwarding (you check out yourself)

A forwarding service only gives you a Japanese address and re-ships to you. It is the cheapest route when the shop accepts your foreign payment method — and useless when it does not, or when the platform requires a Japanese account in the first place. Mercari's own terms define its ordinary users as individuals residing in Japan, and Yahoo Auctions Japan requires a Yahoo! JAPAN ID with SMS authentication, so for those two platforms a proxy is the realistic route for most overseas buyers.

Taxes: the part nobody can quote you in advance

Customs duty and VAT are set by your country, not by Japan, and are usually charged on delivery or prepaid by the proxy for some destinations. ZenMarket's official fees page, for example, states that Australian parcels of AUD 1,000 or less are charged 10% GST at shipping, and European parcels of EUR 150 or less may have VAT prepaid. Treat any guide that promises one fixed tax rate for everyone as unreliable, and leave room for it in the calculator.

Where to go next

Start buying

Sources (checked 2026-11-10)