Buying from Yahoo! Auction Japan

[CJ]

If you've ever looked on Yahoo! Auctions Japan, you'll know that theres bucket loads of hard to find new and used car parts available from Japanese sellers, biggest issue is the most won't ship outside of Japan. I recently used an auction broker ( http://auction-tokyo.com/ ) to buy on my behalf, they receive the goods and then ship to you. The only catch is that they add on a load of fees but more often than not, you pay a whole lot less than if you where buying from ebay or similar. Heres a breakdown (in yen) of the costs assosiated with buying a rear light cluster for the VR4, worked out just under 58 euro all in, at the time, I couldn't get one for less than 100 euro delivered:

Bid amount \1,700
Commision 18% \306
Japan bank fee \600
National postage to our depot in Japan \1,000
Postage and Packaging fee \1,200
Shipping to the Ireland (est 2kg) \4,600
Total \9,406

When browsing Yahoo! Auctions, use Google Translate, when searching for FTO goodies, use 'DE3A' instead of 'FTO', heres an example.

CJ

[johnny]

Excellent info CJ,

Have heard about the vast number of aftermarket parts available on these auctions but found the whole process a bit daunting....thanks for that.

[gabico]

will you have to pay import tax?

[Muad_dib77]

Very nice CJ - were you still able to pay with PayPal, CC or similar?

[CJ]

were you still able to pay with PayPal, CC or similar?

Paypal i.e. fairly handy.

CJ

[Masa]

You can find some way cheaper than that.

Look on the french board specially, a lot of french guys are ordering things to Japan (it's cultural, france is the first country outside japan consuming products from japanese culture, excluding of course hifi etc )

I have some friends in Tokyo who'll do it for free as well but it'd only be to help someone whom I owe one or really special occasion as I don't want to bother them with one every week

For google translate, well it's better than nothing if you don't read but it quickly shows its limits (you'll see what I mean, used it for chinese and it's awful if you wanna translate whole pages ).



Also consider that some will require a deposit for the auctions, and find one who can stock and send you several items a time to save on shipping;

Finally for the shipping from Japan you have several choices:

EMS : expensive ( well not too much but still), will be there in 2/4 days

Small SAL : cheap, will take 7/14 ( but received some in 3 days )
for light things

Big SAL: less cheap, 7/14 days

finally sending by boat, really cheap, takes 1/3 months.

Also be aware of the customs


I'm receiving between 1 and 5 packages from Japan each month, in 1 year I just had the custom once from Japan ( and 1 from USA), asked me 38 € for a package of 14500 Y .....


if you need more info or specific ones just ask, that's a subject where I can help ^^


for info CJ, the shipping cost in SAL for 2 kg is around 1800 Y ...
So either yours was sent in EMS either the guy is taking some money there ...

[CJ]

Point taken Masa, but:

1. Your mates in Japan aren't going to entertain a load of FTO owners looking for parts!

2. Despite inflated agent shipping charges, its still cheaper to source a lot of parts through this route.

3. Google Translate does a bad job of Japanese - English (as do most translation tools) but it gives you enough info to make a reasonably informed choice.

I'm urge anyone buying from Yahoo Auctions Japan to compare prices before purchasing.

CJ

[ftoandy]

i am going to try this. Are there any cheaper places that will ship etc?

[CJ]

Respected Jap parts suppliers RHDJapan have just set up a new system to interface with Yahoo! Auctions, their fees are cheaper than most. Worth a look if you're after a hard to find part:

http://www.bidjdm.com

CJ

[tiernan63]

I would also recommend doing some further research around this. I considered buying an exhaust this way a while back, but after hearing some stories from lads up our way (N.Ire ), saying exhausts and that took 2-3 months to arrive... it put me off somewhat. I'm currently sourcing parts in America (Via ebay US), which they are guaranteeing me delivery within 4 weeks or cash back.

I'm not saying don't do it, because lets face it we'd all love some aftermarket parts that few other FTO owners have but be careful about translation and delivery.

Tiernan.

[Kace]

I would also recommend doing some further research around this. I considered buying an exhaust this way a while back, but after hearing some stories from lads up our way (N.Ire ), saying exhausts and that took 2-3 months to arrive... it put me off somewhat. I'm currently sourcing parts in America (Via ebay US), which they are guaranteeing me delivery within 4 weeks or cash back.

I'm not saying don't do it, because lets face it we'd all love some aftermarket parts that few other FTO owners have but be careful about translation and delivery.

Tiernan.

What sort of FTO parts can you source from the US ?

and is there good value to be had ?

[CJ]

What sort of FTO parts can you source from the US ?

Herein lies the problem.

Tiernan, I've bought parts off Yahoo Auctions on a number of occasions and got them all within 3 weeks - my experience so far has been positive.

CJ

[tiernan63]

I would also recommend doing some further research around this. I considered buying an exhaust this way a while back, but after hearing some stories from lads up our way (N.Ire ), saying exhausts and that took 2-3 months to arrive... it put me off somewhat. I'm currently sourcing parts in America (Via ebay US), which they are guaranteeing me delivery within 4 weeks or cash back.

I'm not saying don't do it, because lets face it we'd all love some aftermarket parts that few other FTO owners have but be careful about translation and delivery.

Tiernan.

What sort of FTO parts can you source from the US ?

and is there good value to be had ?

Well the only parts I've been after are exhaust bits at the minute and i was able to get official Apexi and Tanabe mufflers for about 40 quid less than anywhere in the UK (including shipping). It's maybe not the best deals but I find it hard to get official Japanese parts from big tuning firms in the UK at any decent prices, but it's worthwhile looking all around to get what you really want.

@ CJ, did you go straight through Yahoo Japan auctions or did you go through a third party offering importing of the item? What sort of parts where you able to get?

I'd be really interested in going down this route but it's hard when it's another language. At least if I'm ordering from the US I'm able to get a few questions in about the item in English.