Yahoo Japan auctions to be available on EBAY!!

OK, for all you Japan pressing-o-philes, this should be good news, giving you a wider selection of stuff from Japan.

"Sometime next year", Yahoo Japan auction items will appear in English on Ebay. Of course, convincing everyone to start shipping to the US and accepting payment from overseas, etc., is another hurdle.

It may not do you all much good -- from my many years of buying CD's here in Japan, I can tell you that I have never seen prices rise as they have recently. There used to be tons of great stuff available, both in used stores and online. Now, there are very few bargains to be had -- I just gave up recently and just paid top dollar for two items that I have wanted for quite some time -- a near mint 32XD Back in Black ($180!!) and a 35DP Bob Dylan ($60) Infidels. Oh well, demand and supply I guess. . . .



Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Yahoo Japan, eBay To Link Online Auction Services

TOKYO (Nikkei)--Yahoo Japan Corp. (4689) and U.S. firm eBay Inc. will connect their online auction services, allowing members of each service to bid on items listed on either site, The Nikkei learned Monday.

A partnership between Japan's and the world's largest online auction services would facilitate cross-border transactions between buyers and sellers. The combined annual value of winning bids on both sites is about 4 trillion yen.

An announcement of the partnership could come this week.

Mutual listing of items is to take place in stages. First, the companies plan to set up a Japanese-language Web site this year that will allow Yahoo Japan auction users to bid on eBay-listed items intended for the North American market. By the end of this coming March, items listed on eBay will be displayed automatically alongside items offered by Japanese users on Yahoo Japan's auction site.

Sometime next year, Yahoo Japan auction items are to be listed automatically on eBay's U.S. site, allowing American consumers to bid on the items with the information displayed in English.

eBay has an estimated 83 million users, roughly half of them believed to be living in North America. Yahoo Japan has some 6.6 million members registered with its online auction service.

Comparing online auctions in Japan and the U.S., one market or the other frequently offers items at lower prices or in wider variety. For example, golf clubs are considered less expensive in the U.S. market. Meanwhile, demand is expected for Japanese licensed-character goods among collectors in the U.S.

Yahoo Japan and eBay plan to outsource payment services, customs clearance, delivery and customer service to major online shopping firm netprice Ltd. (3328). Using a subsidiary with locations in both countries, netprice will charge the buyer the winning price plus international shipping fees and customs duties in the local currency, then transfer the winning bid amount to the seller in the seller's local currency.

Yahoo Japan members will be able to use their credit cards to make the purchases, while eBay members will be able to use their credit cards or the PayPal service provided by eBay subsidiary PayPal Inc.

Currently, Japanese users can participate in eBay's auctions, but need to register in English to do so. International shipping procedures are complex, and some items cannot be bid on from abroad.

Through the partnership, consumers will basically be able to bid on any product, so convenience will be improved. But the two firms will take steps so that items unsuited for international transactions, such as those prohibited from being exported, will not be displayed on the other side's auction site.

The U.S. firm had closed its Web site in Japan back in March 2002 because of Yahoo Japan's overwhelming share of the local market.

(The Nikkei Tuesday morning edition)

 

That's good news and bads news (for my wallet)

I've been cruising Yahoo Hong Kong Auctions as well....recent purchases include West German Christopher Crosss Target and 35DP "Footloose" CDs.

 

Excellent news! Can't wait!

 

Will be interesting to see how many Japanese sellers take this up - the option to ship overseas is almost never taken up at present!

 

IMHO, it isn't because the English communication would be felt troublesome. If I'm correct, things will never change drastically.

 

I wish it was in time for me to bid on this: http://page12.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/p87065239?u=kotoreco

I can't even tell if the auction is still going.

The weird thing about this auction is it appears that the seller will ship internationally, but I couldn't figure out how to register.

 

It is.
17 hours left. No offer by now.

 

Agreed, I used to sell on Yahoo JP but I had a Japanes bank account and could write decent Japanese. I think most sellers on there would be terrified by gaijin bidders.

 

Yep. More hassle than it's worth for most of them, especially in the event there is some kind of dispute. Most of the Japanese sellers who would be interested in selling on eBay to foreigners are already on eBay.

Dale

 

Well, here's hoping it brings more great items to those of us outside of Japan.