×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Forum - View topic
NEWS: Yahoo! Japan, eBay Link Online Auctions Across Borders


Goto page 1, 2  Next

Note: this is the discussion thread for this article

Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Kiyoko



Joined: 27 Jul 2003
Posts: 131
Location: Pennsylvania
PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 11:01 am Reply with quote
While a part of me is very happy that this process will be eventually made much easier for Americans to bid on Japanese anime merchandise, another part of me is worried.

EBay & their partner company Paypal are super strict on what they allow to be sold. I'm a collector of yaoi doujinshi, and I remember when Paypal banned all sales of "Adult material" through their service which put Aestheticism out of business, and sent JPQueen scrambling for another online payment processor. While I never shop for doujinshi on EBay because the prices are often inflated, I heard several stories of EBay cancelling doujinshi auctions for one reason or another.

I remember scouring hundreds of pages of doujinshi on Yahoo Japan, and I wonder if the restrictions of EBay & Paypal will carry over to items you are bidding on from Yahoo Japan.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website AIM Address My Anime My Manga
littlegreenwolf



Joined: 10 Aug 2002
Posts: 4796
Location: Seattle, WA
PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 11:08 am Reply with quote
This is great. I've had so many problems with Celga and the other companies out there that I've completely quit yahoo! Japan auctions, but if they do this, I may come back to importing stuff.

...

Wait, this is horrible. I'll never have money again.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail My Anime My Manga
Kusanagi_Kei



Joined: 11 Dec 2004
Posts: 230
PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 11:14 am Reply with quote
I hope this applies internationally, and not just the USA. If so then I'll be in the green (good-to-go) too.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website AIM Address Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger My Anime My Manga
Draneor



Joined: 19 May 2005
Posts: 355
PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 11:36 am Reply with quote
As someone who semi-frequently uses proxy bidders for Yahoo Auction Japan, I welcome this news. That said, as most Japanese auctioneers won’t ship internationally and require domestic bank transfers for payment, I’m not if this will change anything. I also wonder if, even if E-Bay intends to run a proxy service, if it would be any cheaper. Well, I'll wait and see how much they charge. For all I know, E-Bay's new service might only ship EMS.

Also, I concur that I am worried about certain "ethical restrictions" that E-Bay might place. Most of what I buy are doujin products or eroge. The policies of Yahoo Auctions Japan and E-Bay are inconsistent in this regards. It might also drive up prices for buyers.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
RedTail



Joined: 25 Aug 2004
Posts: 176
PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 12:26 pm Reply with quote
Draneor wrote:
It might also drive up prices for buyers.


In the short term, this could very well drive up the prices on domestically-sold anime once the flood gates open and millions of Japanese customers gain much easier access to our cheaper domestic releases. In the long term though, the introduction of more competition may very well cause the costs of certain imports to drop as Japanese studios are forced to lower their own prices in order to compete with R1 releases. I don't see all of this happening thanks to some eBay/Y!Japan partnership alone, but as the global market becomes more interconnected like this, we should start to see more measurable changes. Competition is a good thing, folks.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
SeinenAi



Joined: 30 Nov 2007
Posts: 79
PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 1:31 pm Reply with quote
This could either be awesome or suck, only time can tell.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
JELEINEN



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 253
Location: Iowa
PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 1:42 pm Reply with quote
Very cool news. Using proxies sucked. I wonder though how many sellers will open up to foreign bidders.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message ICQ Number
Omega13



Joined: 27 Aug 2004
Posts: 78
PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 2:16 pm Reply with quote
JELEINEN wrote:
Very cool news. Using proxies sucked. I wonder though how many sellers will open up to foreign bidders.


Well, the article doesn't give many details on implementation. The plan could very well be to have Yahoo! Japan auctions won by US bidders be shipped to a central eBay HQ in Japan, which would then ferry the goods to us, much like many current proxies do.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
W-General



Joined: 17 Jun 2004
Posts: 280
Location: Ithaca, NY, USA / Taichung, Taiwan
PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 2:27 pm Reply with quote
Great news, now we don't have to use proxies for these things. There were doujins and other stuff I wanted to order but you had to get them through auctions. If this works, it could be great!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message AIM Address MSN Messenger
Zoe



Joined: 05 Jul 2003
Posts: 898
Location: Austin
PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 2:41 pm Reply with quote
Looks like this is only for Japanese buying from the US for now. From another forum:

Quote:

Item + Shipping to US Sekaimon office + US Tax + 15% fee to Sekaimon + EMS Shipping to Japan + Customs + Japanese tax (if applicable).


Doesn't sound much better than a proxy.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
kokuryu



Joined: 07 Apr 2007
Posts: 915
PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 3:18 pm Reply with quote
Its still expensive to import stuff - but you pay for the better shipping to make sure its insured and you get it in a timely fashion. I still dont remember much on Y!J Auctions that were not on eBay or sold through places like JPQueen and whatnot... But since Y! Auctions US was closed, there is no direct avenue through Y! anymore, so anything is welcome. eBay does good with the international transactions - although you cant visit eBay China anymore and search for original auctions - they filter them now for US listings.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
sunflower



Joined: 04 Sep 2005
Posts: 1080
PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 3:40 pm Reply with quote
Oh thank goodness! I spend way too much via proxies right now. Even with the prices described, that beats the charges that you have to pay to get a good proxy.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Porcupine



Joined: 21 Jul 2004
Posts: 1033
PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 4:17 pm Reply with quote
Wow, I'm pretty shocked by this move. I think it's is TERRIFIC for us in America...Ebay will actually become somewhat useful again (right now Ebay is worthless...as far as I'm concerned it's a dead site, and not just for Japanese products). At least, it will be terrific in mid-2008, if things turn out as planned.

I never thought I'd see something like this take place. I wonder why this happened, and I would like to know more specifics about the business arrangement. Inside details, not just the end result to users. This arrangement seems extremely beneficial for Ebay but hardly beneficial for Yahoo! Japan. As far as I know, it's not hard for people in Japan to bid on Ebay auctions. But it's extremely difficult for people in America to bid on Yahoo! Japan Auctions (it must be done through proxies usually because they require a Japanese mailing address).

So the way I see it, this deal is a one-way deal that only benefits Ebay and not Yahoo! Japan Auctions. So why did Yahoo! Japan accept this deal? I think there is a lot more to this story...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime
galexia



Joined: 30 Nov 2007
Posts: 3
PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 4:51 pm Reply with quote
Actually, there are some sellers that allow for international bidders on yahoo japan. I've done my share of purchases via deputy service(s) and on my own. I'm looking forward towards the possibility of easier transactions, and hopefully a balancing out of fees. *the fee model someone posted is a bit scary)*
Very Happy
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Porcupine



Joined: 21 Jul 2004
Posts: 1033
PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 5:08 pm Reply with quote
I thought you needed to have a local Japanese mailing address simply to create an account on Yahoo! Japan auctions? I tried to create an account before numerous times and was unsuccessful.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page 1, 2  Next
Page 1 of 2

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group