Personal shopping in Japan
A shop in Japan that won't ship abroad, a store-only item, a used piece in a Tokyo reuse shop: I buy it in person or online, check it, and send it to you with tracking.
What I do for you
- Order from shops that deliver only in Japan. I order with my Japanese address and payment, receive the parcel in Tokyo, check it and send it on.
- Buy in person. Store-only items, pop-up and event releases, and shops with no online store. I go in person.
- Second-hand from shops. Reuse shops, vintage stores and second-hand bookshops, new or used, as long as it is a shop.
- Talk to the shop. Stock questions, holds, pre-orders and anything that goes wrong afterwards, handled in Japanese.
- Combine orders. I hold everything free for 30 days and ship it together, so you pay for shipping once.
What it costs
You pay the shop’s price in Japan, including consumption tax, with a photo of the receipt. I add nothing to it. My purchase fee is on top:
| Goods total | Purchase fee |
|---|---|
| The first ¥30,000 | 25% |
| The part from ¥30,000 to ¥100,000 | 20% |
| The part above ¥100,000 | 15% |
It works like a tax bracket, so a bigger order never costs more in fees than a smaller one. There is no minimum fee.
Examples: ¥12,000 of goods → ¥3,000 fee. ¥50,000 of goods → ¥11,500 fee. ¥150,000 of goods → ¥29,000 fee.
Shipping and handling is a fixed amount, quoted before you pay. Payment processing is 4% of the total. All other charges are on the rates page.
How an order goes
- Send me the link, a photo or a description, and the country it is going to.
- Within one business day I reply with a total: goods, fee, shipping and processing. I check that it can be sent to you before I quote.
- You pay, then I buy. PayPal, Wise or Payoneer. The quote holds for 7 days unless the shop changes the price or sells out.
- Photos and tracking. I photograph, pack and ship, usually within 3 business days of the last item arriving.
More detail: how it works.
What I don’t buy
- Tickets of any kind.
- Fakes, and anything that cannot legally leave Japan or enter your country.
- Goods for resale, and purchases on auction sites or marketplace apps. Those are part of the private buyer retainer.
- Food, cosmetics, perfume, batteries and aerosols: ask first. Many cannot go by post.
When you should not use me
If the shop already ships to your country, buy direct. It will cost you less. I am worth it when the item is hard to get, needs someone to go there, or the shop has to be dealt with in Japanese.
Add-ons
- Queue, lottery or ticketed event in Tokyo: ¥16,000 per half day.
- Searching for a hard-to-find item: ¥3,500 per item, deducted from the purchase fee if you order.
- Third-party authentication of a branded item: ¥4,300.