Quick Tips: Buying from Japan

Intro:

Ever felt the need to “decimate all, after putting fifteen grand or more into [your car] before Race Wars? If [you] have to, [you’ll] overnight parts from Japan?!” Well, thankfully, nowadays there are really good resources out there that can help you buy that ultra-rare JAY-DEE-EMM part that you’ve always dreamed of. Here are a few tips regarding how I have successfully purchased parts from Japan.

JDM Goodness

In Japan, one of the most popular ways to sell used car parts is through the Yahoo! Japan auctions site. However, international shipping is a large pain in the rear end. Even if you could successfully win an auction as a Yahoo! user, the likelihood is that the seller would refuse to ship internationally because it’s so cost prohibitive. Further, I’m not sure about you, but my Japanese is pretty limited. If you won a bid, how much would get lost in [Google] translation?

The good news is that where there is a large enough demand for these goods, a service will eventually fill in this gap. In this instance they are called Proxy Bidding services. I’m sure there are more available, but in this post, I’ll discuss the one that I’ve used and trust: https://www.fromjapan.co.jp/en/

How it Works:

In the simplest terms, the way it works is that you sign up with the website and they bid on your behalf. They then have the items physically shipped to their packing warehouse in Japan. Then they repack and consolidate multiple orders into one shipment to bring down the shipping costs (instead of paying to individually ship each item).

The way it works from a user perspective is that you search one of their qualifying marketplaces (I typically look at Yahoo! Japan auctions) and you make a bid on an item that you would like to purchase. Then once you win the bid, you wait for the item to be received at their warehouse. A 45-day window then starts for the user to: pay for the domestic shipping, the fees charged by the website, and choose a qualified shipping method.

Things to Consider:

When bidding on items, there is a list of restricted items that the proxy bidders will not ship internationally due to customs, size, or legal limitations. However, some items that still can be shipped can still end up costing quite a bit due to their size/weight. When you bid on items, you don’t get the quote for the international shipping until you’re ready to complete the order. Therefore, unless you HAVE to have something, its best to find smaller and lighter components.

However, the repacking and consolidation that is done by From Japan is excellent. Items that I have received have been double boxed, bubble wrapped and filled with packing peanuts. The shipping is extremely fast (within a week) and the boxes arrived in very good condition. Your mileage may vary, but the experience was very good overall.

How and What to Search:

First thing you should do when getting an account is to search by chassis code, for the 7th Gen (2000-2005) Celica, the chassis code is: ZZT231. If you’re looking for something specific, you can go to Google translate and translate what you’re looking for from English to Japanese. Further, here’s a short list of JDM items that might be interesting to the average 7th Gen Celica owner:

• TRD Fog Lights (if you see sticker shock at the ~$300 price tag, come buy my 3D Printed Fog Light Covers!)
• OEM Electronic Climate Control
• OEM Center Trim with Navigation
• Side markers
• Various Literature
• SuperStrut Suspension Package (large and bulky, not for the faint of heart)

Example Shipping:

Below, I show what it would look like to purchase a 11,000 yen item that weighs 10kg. In freedom units, it costs about $88 and weighs 22 lbs. You can see that the price of your $88 dollar item ends up costing ~$200 by the time it gets shipped. Therefore, it becomes VERY economical to combine multiple items into one box and only have to ship it once (since in this example the shipping costs more than the part).

Conclusion:

If you’re hankering for a JDM part, this is a great way to do it. As long as you keep the shipping in mind, you can end up with very unique items for your Celica or any other car!