How do I bid on Japanese auctions? What are the costs?

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[drmr_music]

JFTR: "Junk" (ジャンク) in Japanese store terminology means: untested (or at the most given a quick power-on test), unrefurbished, and uncleaned -- basically "as-is", usually with a no-return policy. It is for items where the cost of labour to test, repair, and clean would outweigh the resale value. It distinctly doesn't mean "garbage, " rather it is an easily pronounceable English word they repurposed.

Another term that is good to know is "wake-ari" (訳あり or わけあり), which in meaning roughly translates to "there is a reason this thing is so cheap." Those are functionally intact goods with only cosmetic faults, either from production or wear over time, and they usually come with a return policy.

Japan has a distinct "second-hand culture" and an accompanying ecosystem. By and large, they are very honest and extraordinarily specific about the cosmetic and functional state of second-hand items, and also their return policy (or lack thereof.) Even with heavily used or broken items they still want you to have a good customer experience, and they want you to know exactly what you are getting into.

[Edit: removed a paragraph that can be easily misunderstood, and is not really pertinent to the topic anyway.]

[dr_jaymz]

Seems like a great deal for everyone except the seller and buyer!

[JimGardner]

A friend of mine spent a billion million ordering a bootleg recording of a gig he was at in the 1970s. This was in the dial-up days before online video streaming (the gig in particular is now widely available on YouTube). It had sentimental value and was, at the time, a very rare performance. It came all the way from Japan even though the gig itself was recorded at Newcastle City Hall. He waited for weeks and weeks for it to arrive, having blindly sent off a cheque, and when it eventually arrived he put it in the video, exicitedly pressed Play, and reaslied to his horror the whole thing was ruined by some arse hole in the audience, next to the person recording it, singing along to every song at the top of his voice. My friend then realised that person was himself.

[dokols]

I've bought some things from japan on regular ebay and I must say the packaging I've received have been pieces of art. Packing peanuts lined up individually and everything neat to perfection. So pleasant to unpack 😀

[th-fbnl]

You don't leave behind anything and respect everything along the way including intros of your video. Your are one of the treasure of YouTube's community. I have always awaited for your video. I feel some kind inner happiness watching those, which i cannot explain you in words. You are a great human being.

[VeraTR]

Having worked in an air freight warehouse, you definitely need that kind of packaging. Boxes are tossed in huge crates, so they must survive a drop and there might be another ~1.5 meters of boxes on top of it which could be very heavy. And workers don't get enough time to do things gently, or else the conveyor belt will fill up, it's tough work (that's awful for your back).

[wal]

I was considering doing a video on a Japanese only product, so this is extremely helpful. Thanks for sharing your experience!

[SwitchAndLever]

The tape is actually the same kind of tape that Amazon uses, it's basically a woven paper strip that has glue applied to the strip just before they put it on the package. Makes a really strong bond and is really durable, and if you have the system much easier to deal with than sticky tape, and if you go through a lot of it it ends up being cheaper as well.

[MickeyD]

That thing was packed with love and care. It makes me happy.

[pmgodfrey]

I've shipped probably 28 very expensive rack mounted synthesizers with tons of bubble wrap. If you want it to arrive in perfect condition, it's going to cost a bit more due to materials and the size because I've protected it well. I would never stick something in a box without protection and call it done. I'd always be willing to pay more for someone who can pack well versus someone who doesn't care.

[philweight]

I've bought and had shipped (via Buyee) two great classic 70s hifi items including a large JVC turntable, at ridiculously cheap auction prices, and paid a little extra for the full protective shipping - perfect results both times and the result was huge savings. Couldn't be happier. No pre-depositing of funds either.

[mikeselectricstuff]

That foam stuff crushes really easily to get it down to bin size. Just jump on it.

[RetroCore]

Hi Techmoan. Fellow Northen Brit here who has been a follower of your channel since the beginning. Anyway, don't normally comment but I'm wondering why you have to pay Auction Win fees? (unless you mean commission for the middle man?) I've been living in Japan since 1998, yep, half my life and been a seller and buyer on Yahoo Auctions since around 2005 (actually sold a FM Towns to a Middle man yesterday) so I know the system very well and can tell you that we in Japan don't pay a special win an auction fee. Also, free delivery is kind of rare unless its a really cheap item. Also, in Japan people pack stuff extremely well, I mean way over done. So no idea why you think they don't pack well. I wonder if that's something the middle man company says so you pay them more for better shipping? Saying that, the packing on the item you bought is well done. I would imagine that the bubble wrap and brown cardboard around the item was original packing from the seller. That's standard. Then they'd put it in to another box with more packing.
The FM Towns I shipped yesterday is packed to Japanese standards and would easily survive a trip overseas. I'm kind of annoyed if someone has to pay more for a middle man to re-wrap something in a probably worse state.

Anyway, just thought I'd mention that. Looking forward to the next video 👍

[pongusikya]

Shipped from Yonago! A lovely city on the Japan Sea cost in Western Tottori. There's a quality hot spring in the city. Great off the tourist map place to visit.

"Medical grade tape" is just normal tape that you can get at the Japanese Poundland. Haha!

[ezg]

The wording on the packing material means it can be burnt in an incinerator.

Those UK import taxes are crazy!

[MonsieurAuContraire]

Looks like you bought £80 worth of packing materials.

[beanbandit]

This is the EXACT video I needed to help me start my Laserdisc collection. Thank you Techmoan!

[carolineleonard]

It's the packaging that does it for me. Superb. I've bought from Japan in the past, not as large as yours though, and the attention to detail in packaging has been fantastic.

[ryaneickmeyer]

The filming on this video is really great. Great job with audio and lighting specifically.

[WanJae]

I use Celga to buy from Japan (Yahoo Japan auctions or otherwise). They're a very small outfit, but you get personal service. If you're comfortable with it, they can even set you up with your Yahoo Japan account so you can do the bidding yourself, and anything you win goes straight to their warehouse.