Geeky Goods Spotlight: Forwarder, Buying Service & Proxy Bidding (Anime Goods)

Anime Goods Forwarder, Buying Service and Proxy Bidding. This post is mainly for those who are comfortable with online shopping and are ready to go to the next level of their geeky goods collection. Or if you just want to know a little more about these services.

Updated July 2023: Updated some new features introduced by the various forwarders/proxy-buying companies. There are some new exciting updates/improvements from the companies, stay tune for an update!

So recently, I have received several questions on where and how do I buy my anime goods and loot, especially for event and special campaign exclusive items. As such, I thought I’ll do a short series of introductory guide posts on buying geeky (anime) goods and manga.

For a mini guide and overview on nendoroids + tips on buying nendoroids, you can refer to my post here: Nendoroids: A guide to buying Good Smile Company Nendoroids

If you like to know more about Animate Cafe Collaborations and Exclusive Goods, read this post: Animate Cafes (How-to & Tips)

Feel free to ask questions or seek clarifications in the comments below, or contact me via email or twitter. (◕‿◕) I’ll try my best to answer your questions, if I can. Let me know what other topics you would like me to cover as well.

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Overview

Ever wondered how some overseas fans are able to buy event exclusive and/or special campaign anime goods despite not attending them or able to buy them directly from the Japanese Shops? Well, read on because this post might be of interest to you. (≧◡≦) ♡

For me, about 60% of my anime goods are bought from the various online Japanese shops that ships overseas and my local anime goods shops. 20% are from my travels (which includes all the cafes and events and conventions I go to ^ ^) and the other 5% are gifts from my friends and family. (Yes, my anime obsession is a well-known thing LOL).  15 % are from other platforms which includes buying from shops that does not ship overseas, as well as trading and/or buying from Japanese fans themselves.  And this brings me to the main reason for this post.

As many of you are aware, a lot of Japanese shops do not deliver their items overseas. (｡•́︿•̀｡) Several might not even accept international credit cards or you need a Japanese address/phone number to set up an account. All of these restrictions make it difficult for overseas fans to buy stuff. It can be very frustrating to want to buy something only to find out that they don’t deliver/ship to you or have limited payment options.

Fortunately, the internet is here to save the day with the sprouting up of a new but growing industry. ٩(◕‿◕)۶ The solutions? Providing a Anime Goods forwarder service and/or a buying service.  

In this post, I’ll be sharing with you some of the anime goods forwarder, buying service and proxy bidding service providers that I have used and recommend. But first, I’ll address some of the more common questions that YOU might have. Everyone else, feel free to jump straight to my recommended companies.

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Forwarder, Buying Service and Proxy Bidding – What do these terms mean?

Forwarding services (Forwarders)

• A Forwarding service or a Forwarder is basically a company that you can sign up an account with to get a local address (usually a storage in said company’s warehouse) of a country. In our case, it’s a Japanese address in Japan.
• With this address, you can now buy items from Japan stores (by yourself) and ship it to this local address. When the items arrive, you then pay a fee to ship it to your own country. Most forwarders also allow the consolidation of packages so you can buy from multiple shops and then ship them together back to your country.

Note: The type of fees charged and number of storage days differs from company to company. Therefore, always read up on them before you use any (anime goods) forwarder services.

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Buying Service

• As the name suggests, companies that provide a buying service “buys” an item on your behalf.
• Most Buying Services allows for the consolidation of packages so you can buy from multiple shops and then ship them together back to your country.
• What happens is that after signing up for an account with the buying service company, you generally provide them with a “link” (url) to the item you want them to buy on your behalf. They will then buy and pay for the item on your behalf.  You will generally pay the cost of the items and all the fees (e.g. shipping fees, buying fees, handling fees etc.)

Note: The type of fees charged and number of storage days differs from company to company. Therefore, always read up on them before you use any buying services.

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Proxy Bidding

• Now Proxy Bidding is an interesting service. It is basically having “someone” helping you to bid on items on online auction platforms, namely Yahoo Auctions Japan.

Note: The type of fees charged for using proxy bidding and the rules differs from company to company. Therefore, always read up on the usage guides before you use any proxy bidding services.

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Some Quick Questions

What is the difference between a buying service and a plain forwarding service? (•ิ_•ิ)?
The key difference between the two is that for a buying service, you do NOT directly buy/pay for the items to the shop selling it. You pay the buying service company to buy and pay for the items. For Forwarding services, you are the one who buys/pay for the items DIRECTLY and arranged for it to ship to the forwarding address given to you by the forwarding company.

Why do we need to use a Anime Goods buying service or Anime Goods forwarder service (or for other stuff)? (・・ ) ?
You don’t need to but sometimes you just want to! ヽ(o＾▽＾o)ノ Joking aside, a lot of shops and stores in Japan still do not ship internationally. Moreover, there are a lot of special collaboration campaigns and events that which you have to physically be at the shop/event to purchase or pre-order these goods. So, having a local address which you can then ship goods to is a good workaround the non-international shipping.

Why do we need to use proxy bidding? (•ิ_•ิ)?
As mentioned in the Proxy Bidding section, proxy bidding is usually used for online auctions in Japan, such as Yahoo Auctions Japan. As of now, you can’t sign up for a Yahoo Auction Japan account if you do not have a Japanese address and a valid Japanese phone number. Moreover, many sellers on the Auction platform prefers bank transfers as payment so you need access to a Japanese bank account as well.

Why Yahoo Auctions Japan? (・・ ) ?
Online Auctions is actually really big in Japan and you can find quite a fair bit of treasure trove of anime goods as the Japanese uses it to sell some of their extra goods and merchandises. You can often find exclusive items or old anime items on them.  Moreover, as many of the anime trading goods are sold in blind packaging, you might just be able to find that specific favorite character of yours on the online auction bidding platform.  I have even once bought an entire Kuji prize set at a steal on Yahoo Auctions before! ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶

What is Mercari? (•ิ_•ิ)?
Mercari is an online flea market of sorts. Similar to Yahoo Auctions Japan (minus the bidding), it is a platform where Japanese can use to sell some of their unused or secondhand goods. There can often be a treasure trove of anime goods on the platform.

Should I use a buying service or a forwarding service? (・・ ) ?
It really depends on your comfort level, how much you are willing to pay for convenience, the fees involved, and the type of items you are buying.

• Buying services are generally recommended for those who doesn’t want to grapple with the language barrier or the hassle of signing up for an account with different shops to buy your stuff. With a buying service, you just sign up for one account and they can help you purchase your items.
• Forwarding service is good when you would like to accumulate loyalty points/reward system with the shops you are purchasing for. In addition, it is also useful for someone who prefers to buy/pay for their items by themselves. It is also handy to have a local shipping address for pre-ordering of goods at events and/or exhibitions which you can ship to without missing out on them. 

Note #1: Nowadays, most forwarding companies provide a buying service as well and vice-versa.  

Note #2: Do Take note of what is prohibited and what is okay to buy and/or ship when using these companies. Different companies have different policies.  Different companies also run different promotions from time to time so always keep a look out!

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My Anime Goods Forwarder, Buying Service & Proxy Bidding Recommendations

In this section, I’ll share some of the anime goods forwarder and buying service companies which I have been using for several years. ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶
Do note that you can use these companies for non-anime goods as well.

Disclaimer: Some of the companies that I’ll be sharing on have a referral program that I am on. If you sign-up via my referral links, you and I will both get points/rewards that we can use. ٩(｡•́‿•̀｡)۶ Details of the referral, if any, will be in each section. A big thank you to those who clicked on the referral link! Hope you are enjoying the extra points/rewards for your anime goods purchases!

For ease of reference, everything in this post will be in relation to Japan and the buying of anime goods, unless otherwise stated. There are of-course forwarders and buying service companies for other countries such as USA, China and Europe as well.

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FROM JAPAN (Now known as One Map by From Japan)
(Buying Service + Proxy Bidding)

Important: To successfully get the 500 From Japan (FJ) referral points, you need to click on my referral link. Thanks to those who did so. The referral programme is still ongoing, so the link works.

From Japan is a company that provides buying services and proxy bidding services for online auctions. It has been around for quite some time and is one of the more established companies that anime fans have used. I myself have used it for several years and I like how it is constantly improving to stay competitive.

Update 2023: From Japan has re-branded themselves as “One Map by From Japan”

Here’s my referral link: http://www.fromjapan.co.jp?afid=Z19244

Likes: (≧◡≦) ♡

1. 45 days of free storage and consolidation
2. Free consolidation of packages (If you change your specified shipping method after consolidation, you need to pay a repacking fee)
3. Free and automatic removal of outer packaging for consolidation of items
4. For online auctions, you can combine domestic shipping of items and payment fees if its from the same seller. (*Rules apply: must be ‘won’ by the same proxy bidder account and the auction time of the items ends on the same day.)  
5. No more payment fees! [NEW]
6. English support is very good
7. Easy to use and mobile friendly
8. Transparent fee structure (Flat usage/payment fees)
9. Multiple international shipping methods
10. Can ship within Japan!
11. Promotions and Contest Giveaways from time to time (e.g. Promo Codes and Platforms discounts)
12. Able to buy doujinshis (unless it’s labelled as adult doujinshis than it is a NO NO)
13. Their Q&A section is informative and easy to understand.
14. Able to pay in your own currency (over 20 currencies) via credit cards [NEW]
15. Discount coupons on plan fees [NEW]
16. Showing the weight of the package in the International Shipping section for proxy buying [NEW]
17. Automated Mercari purchases are now possible! [NEW] – In their bid to “fight” against Buyee for the share of Mercari proxy buying services, they are frequently issuing discount campaigns. If you sign up for an account via my referral link, you’ll get an additional 500 FJ points! (1FJ = 1yen)

Dislikes: (￣ヘ￣)

1. Unable to buy Adult Doujinshis
2. Charge 300 yen service fee for EVERY item in an order. However, multiple quantities of a same item will only have a one-time service fee. Every item bought would also automatically have a protection plan.
3. Slight delays in purchasing items for non-auction sites.
4. Unable to buy from Mercari (Buyee seems to have an exclusive partnership with Mercari for international users.)

*For more information on the rules, please refer to the first time user guide and the service fees guide.

*Do note that for From Japan, a day ends at 5.59pm (Japan Time) for Yahoo Auctions Japan.

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My From Japan two cents (Review)

I have been using From Japan for a couple of years now and my experiences have generally been pretty good. I have used both their proxy bidding services and buying services, with proxy bidding more often. Their packaging (for consolidation) is pretty secure and my items usually arrives in good condition and are well-protected. In addition, their response for buying services is quite fast as well.

However, what stands them apart from the others is that they allow domestic shipping in Japan! ٩(｡•́‿•̀｡)۶ This is great if you have plans to travel to Japan and you can arrange for the items to be sent to your hotel/location in Japan. This will save you quite a fair bit of international shipping fees. The free storage period is also quite generous at 45 days and they offer FREE consolidation of packages!

However, for their shopping services, purchases are likely not done in real-time, i.e. there would be a time delay for them to purchase the items (unlike their proxy bidding services for auctions which is instantaneous). As such, for time-sensitive sales (especially during weekends), they might not be the best option.

I found this out when I used them to buy some items during a weekend sale and they could only purchased it on the next working day. By then, the item had increased its price. From Japan would email you to ask if you still want to purchase the item, and if so the difference in price could be paid during charge 2 of your payment. To be fair, the delay in purchasing items is probably the same for most buying services platforms. So my advice is that for time-sensitive sales items, a workaround is to use a forwarding service rather than a buying service.

I believe I should be one of the earliest international users of From Japan. Back then, they still had this complicated fee structure (for proxy bidding) and this confusing samurai tier membership.  However, they have since streamlined their payment and service fees and made it such that it is now really straight-forward, transparent and easy to use. ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶ Gone were the days where you had to calculate the various fees via percentage. Now it’s all flat usage fees which makes it really transparent. So, I really like how From Japan really try to stay competitive and improve unlike many other forwarding, buying service and proxy bidding companies that still sticks to rigid rules and fees. (*Read Update April 2021)

UPDATE December 2020: From Japan has changed their “product protection plan” from “700 yen per order” OR “0 yen per order” to charging 300 yen PER ITEM in an order (multiple quantities of the same item is only charged as 1 item).

UPDATE April 2021: Having checked out more similar proxy buying services companies, I realized that there seems to be an ‘industry standardization” of sorts among these companies. Most companies have “agreed” on a 300 yen” as service fee, either as an per item cost (e.g. From Japan; ZenMarket), OR a per order cost (e.g. Buyee) OR a package consolidation cost (e.g. Buyee/Tenso), or a per weight cost for receiving packages (e.g. Masadora JP). Please read the respective sections for more information on the fees & possible additional service fees on top of these with each company mentioned.)

As a user of forwarding services/proxy buying myself, I fully understand the pain of incurring extra fees just to get items not available in your country. So having come to my attention that From Japan has changed their service fees of their “buyer/production protection plan”, I cannot give a flat out high recommendation to them (as I did previously) without adding a caveat.

Why? Simply because the change in this production protection plan means that it’s actually now more EXPENSIVE to use their services! I have no idea why they did this. (Update: I think I found out why. Read Update April 2021 )

So with the implementation of the buying protection fees to a flat rate of 300 yen per item, there was a need to update this guide.

Because here at Geeky Travels Fandoms, I fully understand the concerns of normal fans like you and I won’t sugar-coat things.

To be fair to them, Masadora adds a 10% service fee to each item bought via proxy buying and Tenso takes around 20 to 30% of the package weight shipping costs as handling fees. Buyee also has a service fee per order. So actually, sometimes when you do the sums, From Japan can still be cheaper than the other two mentioned companies. It’s just sad that they introduced this because the services of From Japan is still pretty good and I had pretty much good experience with them.

The Buyer/Product Protection Fee includes an inspection of your items and provides insurance if the items arrived damaged/wrong. Personally, I much preferred the old system where we could choose to use this service (700 yen) or not (0 yen). It was also per order which is much better than the per item now.

Nevertheless, I do still recommend using the services of From Japan, especially if you are not getting multiple items in a single order or yahoo auction, i.e. maybe 1 item from a shop or multiple quantities of an item from a shop.

Note: I am still using From Japan. My last proxy buying from with them was in July 2023. ^ ^

Their services are still quite good, with the customer service quite prompt in their replies. From Japan has also started giving out more promo codes which you can use to offset some of the cost in your orders. These promo codes/coupons are often between the range of 300 yen to 500 yen, and sometimes even 1000 yen to 10 000 yen, depending on amount spent. And the fees are really transparent, which is a huge plus. Some of the other companies have hidden fees which sometimes can result in a nasty surprise when it comes to final payment of your items.

For example, after comparing prices/fees with the other companies, From Japan was still cheaper despite the added “Buyers’ Protection Fee” because I bought 2 items in a set which was considered as 1 fee. I also sometimes use their Rakuten discount promotions or coupons which also helped offset some of the service fee so overall, its still cheaper using From Japan.

Update February 2023: Happy to share that despite the 300 service fee per item bought, From Japan has been running frequent coupon campaigns (e.g. service fee point back campaign, coupons/promo codes) so I have still been using their services quite often. They have also removed the additional payment fees for most services. Consolidated items are still well-packed and consolidation of packages are still free! They also run this post-service survey where after you received the items and reply a survey, they give you a coupon (usually 300 yen) to use for Charge 2, although the expiry date isn’t very long.

With the seemingly industry standardization of service fees across proxy buying/forwarder companies, From Japan’s decision to change its buyer protect/service fees is now understandable. (I still prefer if it’s per order though instead of per item though).

So my recommendation is to just choose the company you are comfortable with. If you are comfortable with the final fees (inclusive of the service fees), and find it reasonable, please do continue to use From Japan. I am still using them and will continue to use them for single item orders from different shops, as well as Yahoo Auctions Japan. I might think twice about using them for multiple items in a single order though. Hopefully, they hear the customers feedback and improve. If they do, I will be sure to update this guide again.

If you do decide to try From Japan, you might like to sign up via my referral link below. The 500 yen credited to your account after your first purchase can be used to offset your next purchase/order, which is useful with the changes in the “buyer protection fee”. It’s always good to have a few different companies you used so you can switch around when situations arises.

If you sign up for an account via my referral banner or URL and make a successful purchase, both of us will get about 300 500 From Japan (FJ) points! (FJ has increased it to 500 points!)

Every FJ point = 1 yen which you can use to offset your purchases! (ღ˘⌣˘ღ) Points will be credited to the account after 2 months of the successful purchase.

Here’s my referral link: http://www.fromjapan.co.jp?afid=Z19244

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Tenso (Anime Goods Forwarder)

Tenso is another forwarding company that I have used for several years now. It basically provides a forwarding service while its sister company, Buyee, provides a buying service and proxy bidding service.  By signing up with a Tenso account, you can have access to Buyee as well. You can also sign up for these accounts separately. I am not on any referral program with Tenso.

URL: https://www.tenso.com/en

Likes: (≧◡≦) ♡

1. 60 days of free storage
2. Good English Support
3. Can pay in your local currency or USD
4. Easy to use
5. Multiple international shipping methods
6. Able to accept a wide variety of items from a lot of Japanese shops, including those that sells adult doujinshis
7. Consolidation of Packages will automatically remove outer packaging of items to lessen weight for international shipping.

Dislikes: (￣ヘ￣)

1. 30 days for consolidation (They are really strict with this.)
2. Consolidation Fee for packages (200 yen for the consolidation processing fee and 300 yen for every package consolidated)
3. Handling fees are not that transparent (Often its like 20 to 30% of the international shipping cost!)
4. Little to no promotions for Tenso (unless its for Rakuten Japan which they often give international shipping coupons)
5. Does not ship domestically within Japan

*For more information, please refer to the Usage Guide.

My Tenso two cents (Review)

I frequently use Tenso for forwarding my items from several Japanese online stores. It is my usual go-to company for my anime goods forwarder. You can use them for non-anime goods of-course. They are quite reliable and very convenient to use. The packaging (consolidation) is really good and the items generally comes well-protected and in good condition. There are some online stores that I prefer to have a personal account to earn points which I can then use to offset my purchases or for redemption of prizes, so I generally use Tenso quite often as I just need an address to send my items/purchases to. It is extremely handy when I attend events/exhibitions to send my pre-order anime goods in Japan too.  

However, to be perfectly honest, I find Tenso to not be very competitive in the industry, especially with so many forwarding companies in existence now.  For instance, I personally find their handling fees to be one of the more expensive around. (￣ヘ￣) I could never quite figure out how much their handling fees are and how they calculate it. From observations, I think its about 20 to 30% of the international shipping cost. Moreover, they also charge for consolidation of packages when so many of their competitors have stopped doing so. In the early days, they were quite generous with giving “coupons” that you can offset certain fees or shipping discounts.  However, nowadays they only run promotional campaigns for selected shops/platforms such as Rakuten Japan.   Occasionally they will run some Paypal payment promotions too.

UPDATE MAY 2020: Tenso has included a section on their handling fees and usage fees. You can find it here. (I wonder if their staff saw my review and decided to make the fees more transparent. I would like to think so! ^ ^)

UPDATE Feb 2022: Tenso has added more shipping methods/companies. For users in Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, USA, you can now use ECMS which is generally cheaper than EMS. However there are some restrictions and no insurance, so do check out the requirements before you use them.

That being said, I still use Tenso very often as my anime goods forwarder despite my grouses because I’m familiar with them (a.k.a too lazy to change and update my address for all the different shops I frequent) ┐(￣∀￣)┌ and they generally allow for a wider variety of items to be forwarded internationally compared to the other companies. But they are expensive. So I am on the hunt for alternatives while still using them. Let me know your recommendations for your anime goods forwarder!

Note: There is a Tenso and a Tenso Japan. This is for Tenso.com.  As far as I know, they are two different companies. I have not used Tenso Japan so I can’t comment how their anime goods forwarder service is like .

URL: https://www.tenso.com/en

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Buyee (Buying Service & Proxy Bidding)

As mentioned, Buyee is the sister company of Tenso. It provides a buying service and online auction proxy bidding services. It also has a direct partnership with Mercari that you can use its services to buy items from.

Update July 2023: Buyee has just recently introduced a refer-a-friend programme so if you are keen to use the service for the first-time, do click through the link below, it would be greatly appreciated. You would receive a discount coupon for up to 1000 yen off, and I will receive a coupon for use as well. Please note that the coupons are only issued if your orders are 5000 yen and above.

URL: https://buyee.jp?fc=64b7ba4ce5d0d

Likes: (≧◡≦) ♡

1. Preferred Partnership with Mercari (Buyee’s integration with Mercari is pretty good. The platform is easy to use and has default English translations)
2. Frequent promotions and coupons (e.g. free service fee and/or shipping discounts)
3. Wide variety of shops and platforms to buy from
4. Platform is user-friendly and mobile friendly
5. Transparent Fee Structure
6. Good English Support
7. Estimated fees calculator for Mercari seems pretty accurate.
8. Email support is quick and detailed.
9. Multiple international shipping methods
10. Able to ship domestically within Japan (additional shipping processing fee)
11. Consolidation of Packages will automatically remove outer packaging of items to lessen weight for international shipping.
12. Package Consolidation is now free!! [NEW]
13. Integration of shopping cart on more shopping sites for global shipping. [NEW]

Dislikes: (￣ヘ￣)

1. 30 days of storage and consolidation (storage fee will be calculated every day after based on percentage of package weight)
2. Many types of fees involved.
3. Consolidation fees for packages
4. For Auctions/Mercari: Cannot combine shipping even if you purchase multiple items from the same seller. (From Japan allows you to do so providing you fulfill certain rules, Buyee flat out doesn’t allow)
5. Not everything on Mercari can be bought by Buyee.
6. Promotions T&C are not very clear at times. (However, their email support is good at clarifications)
7. Payment in local currency and not Japanese yen. (To be fair, I know some users like that they can pay in their local currency but do you know that very often, this actually is more expensive to you then you would have paid in yen?)

*For more information, please refer to the Usage Guide. For Fees and Payments, please refer to this guide.

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My Buyee two cents (Review)

I have used Buyee’s buying service quite frequently. They have a pretty good integration with Mercari which is another treasure trove for anime goods that might be hard to find. (´｡• ω •｡`) Like Yahoo Auctions Japan, it is also a good place to find trading goods of your favorite characters. Think of it like an online flea market where people sell their second-hand items. It could be brand-new or used items.  And now that From Japan has also gotten on the Mercari action, Buyee has been aggressively issuing discount/service waiver coupons pretty frequently.

Back in 2019, I’ve tried buying something for the first time on Mercari using Buyee. ヽ(*・ω・)ﾉ It’s pretty easy and convenient. I like how seamlessly they have integrated the Mercari platform with their own, making it very easy for international users to use. The language is by default translated into English and its quite accurate. I took advantage of its free service fees spring campaign on Mercari so I felt that the additional fees I paid was alright for the items in question.  A quick check on their renewed website and I am pleasantly surprised at the wide range of shopping sites and stores they have partnered with.

Unfortunately, like Tenso, Buyee has quite a lot of additional service fees and payment fees which can add up considerably. (￢_￢;) Consolidation of packages is NOT FREE although there is a cap of 1000 yen for more than 3 packages which is way better than Tenso which has no cap. (Like “From Japan”, there is a repacking fee after you have applied for consolidation which is fair.) Fast-forward to 2023, Buyee has FINALLY implemented more customer-friendly services by having FREE consolidation of packages. YAY!

An important point to note is that you only have 30 days of free storage for your packages! (o_O) This is pretty stingy in the industry.

UPDATE APRIL 2021: As a fairer comparison to From Japan (after the latter’s revised fees structures), Buyee offers a flat rate of 300 yen PER SHOPPING ORDER compared to From Japan’s 300 yen for EVERY ITEM in an order (except for multiple quantities). HOWEVER, From Japan offers FREE CONSOLIDATION of multiple packages whereas Buyee requires you to PAY for multiple package consolidation. [2023] Both companies now offer free consolidation of packages. Moreover, From Japan’s service fees automatically includes a protection plan for items bought without payment fees, Buyee allows you to choose if you require an additional protection plan but charges service/payment fees.

So you might need to do a little homework to compare which service might be cheaper and better for you.

The positive side is the fees are quite transparent, especially for Mercari. A good work-around the fees is to watch out for their promotions and coupons which can be pretty good. Examples including giving multiple coupons for free service fees (which can amount to 200 yen per order on Mercari) and generous international shipping coupons if you fulfill the requirements. The downside though is sometimes the details of these promotions are not very clear. I had to email their customer support to seek clarifications although they were pretty fast and detailed in their explanations.

Mercari is possibly one of the biggest reasons I would consider using Buyee often. There are quite a lot of special collaboration anime goods that I saw on the platform that is not available on Yahoo Auctions Japan. However, one of my biggest gripes about Buyee is that Buyee treats every “purchase” on Mercari as a separate order and does not allow for combine domestic shipping, even if the seller allows it. This means that if you buy 2 listings from the same seller on Mercari, you’ll will end up submitting 2 separate orders with you paying 2x service fee + 2x payment fee + consolidation fee which can considerably add up. I do hope they take a leaf from “From Japan” playbook and allow at least the possibility of combining orders + payment fees and domestic shipping from the same seller so long as certain requirements are fulfilled.

Have you used Buyee? What’s your feedback on it? Do share your experience with me!

URL: https://buyee.jp?fc=64b7ba4ce5d0d

If you register as a new member of Buyee from the URL, you will receive a discount coupon for up to 1,000 yen worth in item value!
https://buyee.jp?fc=64b7ba4ce5d0d

*Clicking the URL will take you to the top page of the Buyee site. You will receive the coupon upon completion of member registration.

Buyee is one of the largest proxy purchase sites in Japan
https://media.buyee.jp/pr/buyee_beginner/en/

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Masadora (Anime Goods Forwarder + Buying Service)

Yes, for HXH fans, this company’s name is derived from THAT Masadora island. ^ ^ This is actually a China-based company operating in Japan, as such it mainly caters to users from China. The language support is thus naturally in Mandarin. However, they do ship internationally to most countries which is why I use them as well. (They ship to my country!) I personally am quite well-versed in Mandarin too so I have no problems using their website and services. ٩(｡•́‿•̀｡)۶  I have used them for a few years and I generally have a positive experience with them. I am not on any referral program with the company.

URL: http://www.masadora.jp/

Likes: (≧◡≦) ♡

1. 90 days of free storage
2. Free consolidation of packages (there is a final one-time packing fee and a repacking fee)
3. Good Mandarin Support (As their target audience is Chinese users, this will be a positive attribute)
4. Wide variety of anime goods and shops. (Partners with a lot of anime goods shops, manga stores and doujinshi stores)
5. User-Friendly and has a mobile app.
6. Able to buy doujinshis (including adult doujinshis)
7. Frequent tie-ups with pop-up events shops
8. Frequent promotions, campaigns and coupons
9. Forwarding services fees are transparent: 300 yen per 500g; 150 yen for removal of outer shipping packaging of items for repacking. [NEW]

Dislikes: (￣ヘ￣)

• Quite a few rules that you need to familiarize yourself with. (Different rules applies to buying from different shops but it’s nothing too complicated)
• Doesn’t ship domestically within Japan
• Consolidation Packing method (Basically they just put packages together and ship it internationally)
• 10% of cost of item as service fees for Proxy Buying (Minimum 100 yen if 10% of the item cost is less than 100 yen)
• Outer packaging removal fee and you need to request for it
• Payment methods and currency are limited. (This is not a problem for me but may be one for non-paypal users)
• The Packages Forwarding UI platform and instructions might be a tad unclear for those new to the service

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My Masadora two cents (Review)

For those who understand Mandarin, you can really consider using the services of this company. Masadora (魔法集市). They have partnered with a lot of the major anime goods, doujinshi stores and manga shops in Japan and integrated them on their platform. ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶ As a result, the variety of anime/manga goods you can use their buying service for is really vast. The company has also branched out to start selling anime goods on their own storefront as well (so business must be really good).

The various payment fees/service fees are quite transparent as well. There are quite a few rules you need to familiarize yourself with but they are not too complicated. However, it definitely requires an understanding of Mandarin to navigate the site. I have used Masadora’s buying services to purchase items from various anime goods shops and book stores for a few times over the years. Packaging is pretty secure.   However do note that there is a 10% service fee for every item bought via their buying service. (Note: It will be a minimum of 100 yen if the 10% comes up to less than 100 yen)

For payments, you can choose between Zhifubao or Paypal (they have a calculator for the conversion of RMB to Yen based on daily exchange rate). Consolidation of packages are free although they do charge a packing fee for the final (consolidated) package. For a fairer comparison with companies like Buyee that charges a fee for the consolidation of packages, Masadora’s free consolidation packing method often includes just bundling the packages together. If you like to remove the boxes/packaging to reduce weight for international shipping, you need to pay a “packaging removal” fee. For Buyee and Tenso, the consolidation fee automatically have them removing the outer packaging and putting all the items purchased into one box or parcel. For From Japan, it’s all free and automatic.

You can also earn points from your purchases which can be used to offset some of the fees. What sets them apart from other competitors is that they offer free storage of items for up to 90 days for their buying services! That’s extremely generous, considering how there is no consolidation fee. There is a one-time packing fee but it is not too expensive.

One interesting feature they have for the users in China is that they even allow combined shipping for users staying in the same city/area. I have never used this feature, since its not applicable for my country, but I have read feedback that it does help to make shipping costs cheaper for the individual. Masadora also runs a lot of promotions and has a reward point system. They have branched out to provide an anime goods forwarder service as well. I will provide an update on how the anime goods forwarder experience is after I have used it for a few times so watch out for updates!

Note: Masadora actually has two separate websites (which are linked) but for ease of reference, I will only include the URL in this post that is likely to be more relevant to the international users here.

 I will do a more in-depth overview of Masadora if a fair number of you ask for it. ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶

URL: http://www.masadora.jp/

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Some other Words…

And that concludes this long post! I do hope that it was helpful and useful to you on your anime goods collection journey! Have you used any of these anime goods forwarder, buying service and proxy bidding? Share with me in the comments!

If you found the information on anime goods forwarder, buying service and proxy bidding useful, perhaps you could consider buying me a coffee to keep the website running? ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶ Much appreciated.

Feel free to ask questions or seek clarifications in the comments below, or contact me via email or twitter. (◕‿◕) I’ll try my best to answer your questions, if I can. Let me know what other topics you would like me to cover as well.

As always, if you are interested in getting updates, tips and help posts like this, do subscribe to my newsletter and mailing list! (≧◡≦) I would love to hear your feedback, fan experience and thoughts as well.

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Check out my other Guides & Posts!

If you enjoy and/or found this guide useful, perhaps you might be interested in my other anime and manga guides as well:

1. Nendoroids: A guide on buying Nendoroids
2. A Kuji Guide: All You need to know and more!
3. Figuarts Mini VS Nendoroid: A Comparison Guide
4. Demon Slayer Gift Guide: Best things to buy for a Kimetsu no Yaiba Fan!
5. Capcom Store Tokyo
6. Animate Cafes (How-to & Tips)

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