Hi everyone,
Title says it all. Want to expand my Japanese collection. There’s trash on ebay and facebook. Where’s the best place to get them from? Wanting to buy straight from Japan and ship directly to Australia.
If anyone has any contacts, let me know 
Thanks!
Depends on your risk tolerance, yahoo auctions and mercari would be the best bet.
I typically used Noppin, but they discontinued their US services until at least January because Japan Post does not ship here - they might still ship to Australia.
To be honest, Ebay and large community forums are probably going to be the safest place for you to buy Japanese cards. Yahoo japan pictures are often not great quality, and it’s difficult for you to give instructions for a company to check a card for things like scratches or damage. Unless a card had super detailed pictures, bid as if it’s 2 grades lower than what you see.
Also, be aware of the extra costs of using any middle-man services. Noppin has something like a 10% surcharge on anything you buy as well as service fees and the bulk “ship it from your warehouse to me” fee. Fees for items under $10 are probably going to outpace the card’s value, so keep that in mind.
Bulk tends to be the most economical way to do things, which is when things start getting expensive.
Yahoo japan Auctions- I use buyee as a middle man and they have been pretty good. It does get pricey and will probably not be worth it to ship low value individual cards. It has been especially pricey to ship during this pandemic as they will only send via dhl. Hopefully Japan post opens to the us soon.
Thanks so much for the info! 
Thank you! I’ll check yahoo Japan out
Thanks for the recommendations. Typically want as low risk as possible
Lol do not buy in Japan then. There is always a degree of risk. I have not been burned badly… yet.
But I have spoke with several people on IG that are seasoned buyers. Way more than me, and they have been burned hard since the prices have spiked.
I’m talking bait and switch on cards that are 10k+
The advise above^ on bidding 2 grades lower is about the only way to minimize risk. In most cases, the reason you don’t have great pics, it’s because they don’t want you to see everything 
Ugh that’s so frustrating… Yeah it’s ridiculous how many scammers have come in this year. I’ll just have to stick with ebay then -.-
I have gotten to a point where I really have to psyche myself up for anything over 1k.
There was a zam that I wanted. Looked like a psa 9. It sold for 3k and it gave me a headache. It was an amazing card. But just wasn’t worth the risk for it to come in with a scratch here or there. Same with a few zards. But I’m shopping no rarity, so cards that look good sell high lol
I totally feel you, but I think your instinct was right here - a lot of the easy money was made a while back. YJ! is more popular in Japan because first mover advantage, but someone is typically going to list their $5k card on the market where they can maximize value for it (I’m sure dealing with US customers can be a headache in its own regard). At this point, even I know a lot of the no rarity resellers usernames because of how many listings they make with vintage bulk that conveniently hides the corners of cards.
For my last Pokemon shipment, I won separate two separate auctions - unpeeled Gotta Mew and Pikachu that were both individually tied to lots with sealed shining mews. Both ended up selling for the going rate of the unopened shining mews. And guess which of the unopened promo cards had hidden bends that could damage the card? Both gosh darned shining mews. I bid with the assumption that (at best), only one of the two per lot could be resold, and my bids were also really bullish on the Gotta promos (the unpeeled Pikachu has appeared on Ebay recently but always seems to have a few defects).
All in all, I change my answer to… maybe avoid YJ! if you’re just looking for vintage Pokemon. It’s great for plushies or obscure collectables though (esp. collectables where prices are closer to their original MSRP)! Others can give you good information on Mercari - I haven’t used it.
Lol completely agree.
I have had some wins though, I think that’s what brings me back. But I’m also extremely stringent on what I go after. There have been several cards in the last two weeks, that I’m literally shaking my head and saying “ that person is going to be so pissed when that card comes in”
There is a trick when identifying scratches and nicks on these cards, I learned my lesson on it lol.
Last two I bought were great. One before that…Nerp