Yahoo Japan Guide



I get a lot of questions asking me where I buy all my Sailor Moon toys and how to use Yahoo Japan Auctions. Hopefully this guide will be useful so you can all shop for Sailor Moon toys and goodies!

How do I make an account on YJA?
In order to make an account/bid/purchase, you need to reside in Japan.

I don’t live in Japan, does that mean I won’t be able to buy from Yahoo Japan Auctions?
Luckily for us (I don’t live in Japan either), we can still buy from YJA with the help of “deputy shopping services”. They are companies that charge commission fees and help you buy/bid/shop!

What are some of these deputy services?
Some popular ones are Noppin, Shoppingmalljapan, FromJapan, TreasureJapan, Rinkya, Celga. I know many collectors who use these services and many have spent thousands of dollars with them with no problems. How you choose really depends on what your priority is, their fees are all slightly different, some allow real time bidding, some give you a multiplier bid limit. You’re going to have to read into each service and their terms to determine what fits your needs best. Personally I use FromJapan and have found their commission fees to be the cheapest out of all of them.

How do I know how much something will cost in the end?
Each deputy has slightly different commission fees so you will have to check the details. I can give you a general example though!

Auction End Price
+ Commission fee (either a % or flat rate)
+ Domestic shipping (sometimes this is listed on the auction, I find small items are usually 150-750 yen, larger items are around 800-2000 yen)
+ Bank transfer fee (this is unknown until they bill you, usually between 250-500 yen)
+ Handling fee (this is unknown until they bill you)
+ International shipping (varies depending on size/weight and shipping method)

Finally the current exchange rate at the time of writing (November 2012) is really bad for us. Something that costs 5,000 yen equals USD$65.

My general rule of thumb is to just double the auction end price for the “real price”. If the auction end price is below 1,000 yen, then triple it. Yahoo Japan Auctions is not cheap, but it’s the only place you’ll find rare Sailor Moon items. If you’ve seen any of my unboxing Sailor Moon toys videos on my Youtube channel, then you’ll know I usually get my items in huge boxes all at once. The reason is combined shipping is usually cheaper than getting everything shipped individually. However just to give you a realistic estimate, shipping those boxes usually cost between $100 – 150 via EMS. Most deputy services have warehouses where they will store your items for 30 days, this helps if you want to combine shipping or if you need time to come up with the funds.

What do I search on Yahoo Japan Auctions to find Sailor Moon toys?
Since it’s a Japanese website, you need to use Japanese! A free and easy tool is Google Translate, just know a lot of the times it’ll be broken English/gibberish but you get the general idea what it’s trying to say.

Here are some popular search terms:
セーラームーン: Sailor Moon
セーラームーン コンパクト: Sailor Moon compact
セーラームーン スティック: Sailor Moon wand
セーラームーン ぬいぐるみ: Sailor Moon plush
セーラームーン 人形: Sailor Moon doll
セーラームーン フィギュア: Sailor Moon figure
セーラームーン カード: Sailor Moon card
セーラームーン バンダイ: Sailor Moon Bandai
セーラームーン 食玩: Sailor Moon candy/food toys
セーラームーン 原画集: Sailor Moon Artbook
セーラームーン コスプレ: Sailor Moon cosplay

I usually just search the basic セーラームーン because I don’t want to miss anything, there are hundreds of pages to go through but that’s what you have to do! Unlike eBay you can’t see completed listings.

Check out the FAQ for a step by step guide on using FromJapan to shop Premium Bandai (or any other Japanese sites).

25 Comments

  • Serena

    April 15, 2014 at 5:50 pm Reply

    Hey! I was just wondering, I live in the Uk and I can’t go on FromJapan and shops like that because it is in dollars. Do you know anyplace where they sell them here? If you do, you will be a lifesaver!
    Love,
    Serena!
    Xxxxx

    • smcollectibles

      April 15, 2014 at 10:57 pm Reply

      Those shops actually use the Japanese Yen since they are located in Japan. If you use Paypal it does the currency exchange for you so you can pay with whatever your local currency is.

  • XianLian

    December 4, 2013 at 2:02 pm Reply

    Hi i just registered on fromjapan and im liking the results *despite the high prices* but um i tried to place a bid on an item where it said enter 9,000 yen or more so i put in an amount but it says the input was incorrect is there a specific WAY to enter amounts like ebay or do i write like 9,000yen? im curious

  • Misu

    November 16, 2013 at 1:03 pm Reply

    Hey ˆˆ
    i have an anime forum
    we have a section to guide people to buy anime merchandise, is it ok if i share your guide there? <3

  • Lori

    November 13, 2013 at 12:53 am Reply

    I had a question about the “buy It now” on Yahoo Japan. I found an item and it has that option so I made an account with FromJapan, I have entered the item’s ID and it’s taken me to the translation page. Now it isn’t giving me the option to buy it now, just a place bid. I haven’t made a deposit yet into my account. Could that be the reason why? I was wondering what I should do.

  • carlos lopez

    October 31, 2013 at 4:58 pm Reply

    Hi!!

    I m Carlos!!

    I just want to know where can I find these 2 dolls misb:

    New Sailr Jupiter 2003
    New Sailor Venus 2003

    from the same seller!!

    I m asking this because I just can t find them togheter!!

    Thanks for your help!!

  • Sailor Moon

    October 19, 2013 at 9:27 am Reply

    I use ebay lol I can not find my way in the japanese language.
    I have many interesting toys lol and all the wands boxed, exept the japanese kaleidoscope. I only need the sailor scout transformation wand but that is not sailor moons wand and then I have all the wands woohoo lol.

  • Jen

    October 3, 2013 at 9:12 am Reply

    I noticed from japan has a calculator to estimate costs, do you think it is fairly accurate for estimates? I’m looking on this stuff for the first time and am a little worried I’ll buy something for $100 and then it become $400 somehow >.<

    • smcollectibles

      October 3, 2013 at 3:22 pm Reply

      I’ve actually never used their calculator before haha ^^;; It won’t be that crazy unless the item is gigantic and weighs a ton. Usually the fees are like 500yen domestic shipping, 200yen bank transfer fee, 200yen commission, and +5% if you’re using Paypal.

  • Joshua Zuniga

    August 23, 2013 at 4:04 pm Reply

    Hello,
    I was just wondering about shirt sizes because I want to order a Sailor Moon shirt from Bandai and I don’t know if I should get it in my regular size or get a size up? What do you recommend I do?

    Thanks and lots of love!

  • ChiChi

    August 21, 2013 at 10:19 pm Reply

    Hello!! I’m so sorry to ask this silly question here but I will be going to Japan in December for my honeymoon and was wondering what is my likely hood of being able to find wands/lockets/dolls and etc? I’m not even sure if you’ve travel to Japan but I was just wondering if you had any feedback on that.

  • Lindsay

    November 17, 2012 at 3:23 pm Reply

    Hi there! Thanks for the great guide! I do have one question though, do you have any tips on getting Sailor Moon printed fabrics from Japan? Thanks! <3

    • smcollectibles

      November 18, 2012 at 2:13 pm Reply

      You’re very welcome! ^^ Yup, there’s a few on there right now if you use セーラームーン 生地 for your search term. Also I’m selling a really cute piece on my shop now if you’re interested!

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