Wanted: J-Yahoo Auctions Middle-Man

[Todric]

Hi, I am (unfortunately) living in the US right now, and would like to buy some things off yahoo Japan auctions, but none of the sellers are willing to ship internationally. I was wondering if I could buy some things, and then have them shipped to someones place and have them forwarded to me here? Kinda an odd request, but it pisses me off to see Neo-Geos with controllers and games going for 1000 yen and not be able to buy them. I'm a huge fighting game fan, and a Neo over here goes for scads, if you can even find one. I would gladly pay whoever could do this for their time, in advance, or send you whatever from America you want. Any takers?

[NeoNecroNomiCron]

Hi, I am (unfortunately) living in the US right now, and would like to buy some things off yahoo Japan auctions, but none of the sellers are willing to ship internationally. I was wondering if I could buy some things, and then have them shipped to someones place and have them forwarded to me here? Kinda an odd request, but it pisses me off to see Neo-Geos with controllers and games going for 1000 yen and not be able to buy them. I'm a huge fighting game fan, and a Neo over here goes for scads, if you can even find one. I would gladly pay whoever could do this for their time, in advance, or send you whatever from America you want. Any takers?

They wont ship because the shipping isway more expesive over the cost of the unit. I go on Yahoo auctions (japan) all the time. But its often hella hard to win a bid.

There are loads of neo geos on sale here, actualy a good one goes for about 30 or 40 dollars. But I guess you will also want games?

[Kuang_Grade]

Don't know anything about these companies myself, but they seem to do what you're looking for

http://www.rinkya.com/

http://www.celga.com/

Its a bit old but you might find this of use as well
Guide to Yahoo Japan Auctions
http://www.collectiondx.com/feature.asp?ID=9

[Todric]

Thank you all so much! Awesome!

[Seraphis_Set]

Edit: Mistaken

[Mulboyne]

This Yahoo Auctions Guide is also up:

Beginner's Guide to Yahoo Japan Auctions, how to bid on your own

A lot of people want to bid on Japanese internet auctions themselves not using any deputy services. You search for your goods yourself, bid your money directly, and if you know some basic Japanese, it won't be completly impossible for you to deal with the seller and get your goods sent to you. Here on this site I give you some help on how to start Yahoo Japan Auctions. In Japan there are several other internet auction sites. But not so popular as that of Yahoo Japan. Yahoo Japan has nearly 70 percent of items listed on all the auction sites. So I choose only to explain Yahoo Japan.

[fatslug]

Hi, I am (unfortunately) living in the US right now, and would like to buy some things off yahoo Japan auctions, but none of the sellers are willing to ship internationally. I was wondering if I could buy some things, and then have them shipped to someones place and have them forwarded to me here? Kinda an odd request, but it pisses me off to see Neo-Geos with controllers and games going for 1000 yen and not be able to buy them. I'm a huge fighting game fan, and a Neo over here goes for scads, if you can even find one. I would gladly pay whoever could do this for their time, in advance, or send you whatever from America you want. Any takers?

They wont ship because the shipping isway more expesive over the cost of the unit. I go on Yahoo auctions (japan) all the time. But its often hella hard to win a bid.

WRONG about shipping ! Ive been selling shit and sending shit to all parts of the world for over 5 yrs now ! From japan the postage has gotta be the cheapest in the world.......especially when you use stamps they never check the weight ! Also sometimes when it hits a certain weight it is cheaper to use EMS - strange; not only cheaper but also faster..

[Mulboyne]

Neo's talking about the general chance of finding sellers on Yahoo Japan Auctions who are willing to ship overseas. There aren't that many.

[NeoNecroNomiCron]

Hi, I am (unfortunately) living in the US right now, and would like to buy some things off yahoo Japan auctions, but none of the sellers are willing to ship internationally. I was wondering if I could buy some things, and then have them shipped to someones place and have them forwarded to me here? Kinda an odd request, but it pisses me off to see Neo-Geos with controllers and games going for 1000 yen and not be able to buy them. I'm a huge fighting game fan, and a Neo over here goes for scads, if you can even find one. I would gladly pay whoever could do this for their time, in advance, or send you whatever from America you want. Any takers?

They wont ship because the shipping isway more expesive over the cost of the unit. I go on Yahoo auctions (japan) all the time. But its often hella hard to win a bid.

WRONG about shipping ! Ive been selling shit and sending shit to all parts of the world for over 5 yrs now ! From japan the postage has gotta be the cheapest in the world.......especially when you use stamps they never check the weight ! Also sometimes when it hits a certain weight it is cheaper to use EMS - strange]

Wrong about shipping! If you buy a Hand held Neo Geo for 500 - 1000 yen (easy to find this price) shipping is /500 just in Japan for EMS, well over 1000 for rest of the world, although USA is cheaper. Plus who wants the hastle of dealing with gaijin for the sake of /20 profit?

[Mulboyne]

Don't know anything about these companies myself, but they seem to do what you're looking for

http://www.rinkya.com/...

Profile of Rinkya in the Arizona Republic:

Tempe entrepreneur brings Japan to the States

It's more than 5,800 miles from Tempe to Tokyo, but one Arizona company can get fans of Japanese pop-culture artifacts such as anime, robots and other toys there in just a few seconds. Rinkya is a proxy-bidding company that helps Americans bid on items in Japanese online auctions despite the language barrier and other technical obstacles - and it raked in more than $4 million in 2007. So far, more than 10,000 bidders from around the country have created accounts with Rinkya. The company has averaged about 25 percent revenue growth every year since it started in 2001 by charging a commission based on the price of each item clients purchase using the service.

Rinkya has its roots in company founder Heather Russell's first visit to Japan in 2000. She moved to Tokyo soon after and discovered that many of her friends back in the States had a yen for cells from rare animated Japanese movies called anime. She began selling them to collectors who couldn't penetrate the language barrier. But as the digital revolution shifted anime away from the use of cells, Russell's market started shrinking. "I realized my market was about to go kaput," she said. However, Russell guessed that if people wanted anime cells, others must be clamoring for Japanese kimonos, toys, guitars and furniture. So she started Rinkya.

Jason Kiningham, owner of Red Hot Robot, a central Phoenix shop that specializes in unusual toys, says proxy-bidding services like Rinkya can help diversify his selection. Each week, customers ask for Japanese items that are not available from his sources. He has tried to bid on sites such as Yahoo!Japan but found out just how difficult it is to bid solo in Japanese. "You get lost, and you have no idea how to check out," Kiningham said. "You have no idea what their policies are." Even if you wind up winning an auction, many Japanese sellers won't ship out of Japan, he said. That leaves a large mess for an American bidder to clean up, all in a foreign language.

The few collectors Kiningham knows who get Japanese items typically have contacts who speak the language or live abroad. A service such as Rinkya, he said, can level the playing field. Collector Natalie Carpenter, 30, of Las Vegas, is part of Rinkya's target audience. She first became aware of Rinkya while attending a collectors convention. Because Carpenter doesn't have a Japanese address, she wasn't even allowed to register for a Yahoo!Japan account. She crunched the numbers for several proxy-bidding services and chose Okshon.com and Shoppingmalljapan.com. "Price is the key for me," Carpenter said. "I don't want to pay 38 to 45 dollars for a $5 item. Between the commission, handling and shipping, it can get out of hand quickly." She seldom uses her Okshon account since making a friend in Japan who is willing to bid for her. For those without friends in Japan, though, Carpenter believes a proxy service can help get items that normally wouldn't be available.

Russell says her service also provides a rush that collectors can't find on domestic Web sites. It's the same rush she felt as a Godzilla fan moving to Tokyo and being able to see campy monster movies on the big screen every day. "It's exciting to find a treasure you can't find on American Web sites," Russell said. "I know how my customers feel!"

[Charles]

But as the digital revolution shifted anime away from the use of cells, Russell's market started shrinking. "I realized my market was about to go kaput," she said. However, Russell guessed that if people wanted anime cells, others must be clamoring for Japanese kimonos, toys, guitars and furniture. So she started Rinkya.

What a loser. Everyone knows that porn is where the money is. Just ask Peter Porn Payne.

[Taro Toporific]

Profile of Rinkya in the Arizona Republic:

Tempe entrepreneur brings Japan to the States

It nice that the Arizona Republic newspaper placed this advertisement for Rinkya.com just as they are being Godzilla stomped by "YaBay"...



Via the old FG Thread: Ebay Ties Up With Yahoo Japan

[floatl][/floatl]
Yahoo Japan, eBay to tie up in Internet auction business
Tuesday, December 4, 2007 at 16:41 EST, TOKYO --&#8230]…more…[/URL]

... If I was one of these companies I would really be shitting myself right now:

http://www.rinkya.com/
http://www.celga.com/
http://www.shoppingmalljapan.com/
http://www.us-buyer.com/

I'd also be pretty damn unhappy if I was running jList.com:
http://www.jlist.com/