Yahoo Japan Auctions (How to)

[thermal_treasure]

Hi,

I figured some forum members have used YAJ/Buyee for arcade stuff before, can anybody explain to me in layman's terms how it works? Anything to be mindful of when bidding on or purchasing goods? I've seen some non-gaming goods on there but can't help but think theres a catch. Are sellers willing to ship to the UK? Can goods be purchased with Paypal?

Apologies for all these questions, I'm pretty sick of ebay these days and any help would be much appreciated

 

[pobtastic]

I always use https://shoppingmalljapan.com/ they actually handle buying the items for you, they then get forwarded to SMJ and then you get them sent to you from SMJ themselves as an intermediatry.

You do have to pay shipping twice, and a fee for the service. But it's very good, and I've never had any issues with them.

(I believe they all work in the same way ^^)

 

[penrhos]

My original thread on this subject is here:-

https://forum.arcadeotaku.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=2989

for one-off purchases Buyee is fine but if you buy loads of stuff and want to consolidate it in Japan and bulk ship then SMJ is the way to go...

penrhos2019-05-20 21:59:21

 

[jimmerd]

In many cases it's cheaper to buy outside of Japan.

You will be asked to put down a deposit. Payments can be made thru PayPal, you can typically hold items before shipment for 30 days.

Be aware that most proxy bidding services won't retract bids or leave negative feedback on your behalf should something go wrong.

I've used SMJ service a few times and it is excellent even if the website is not as modern as some of the others.

jimmerd2019-05-20 22:09:08

 

[penrhos]

Some of the stuff is getting stupidly expensive and can be purchased off ebay/forums cheaper..

What I use it for is getting parts/pcbs that are not normally available I just bought a box of candy cab locks, an aero city control panel, some vewlix parts & a TTX2 nesica PC (for $220 + shipping).

 

[qjuk]

I used to use Rinkya ages ago, the service then was excellent. No idea if that's still the case nowadays since it's been years since I last used them.

 

[phillv85]

I used to use Buyee when I was importing. You used to be able to edit the item costs on the shipping slip, so could pay less tax, but they stopped it. I tried SMJ as well. Had no problems with either.

You bid on YAJ through their sites, if you win they take the item, you can choose to bundle any items, then pay for shipping. It can work out real expensive if you're only buying one or two items though.

My first buy to test it out was a KoF 98 MVS cart. 1000 yen purchase price (about £7 at the time). Then domestic shipping £5, handling fee £4, repacking in bubble wrap £3 overseas shipping, £12. All in it cost about £30 for the cart.

 

[thermal_treasure]

Thank you all for the advice and sharing your experiences. That guide penrhos put together is excellent. Will sign up today and give SMJ a shot for the odd item I can't find anywhere else!

 

[penrhos]

Thank you all for the advice and sharing your experiences. That guide penrhos put together is excellent. Will sign up today and give SMJ a shot for the odd item I can't find anywhere else!

Your saying that now.....It's addictive. I have two boxes of stuff in transit, two PCB's in SMJ store and 20 items on my watchlist (bidding on some 40cm tall arcade stools later today).

 

[thermal_treasure]

It's definitely opened up a new avenue of rampant consumerism, good job I'm a student with limited funds

. The services listed should allow for a spend every few months