Just be careful when it comes to the corporate proxies like the companies Quuador mentioned. I’ve used a decent amount of them, and the reality is that they don’t offer any real safety net when it comes to getting scammed.
Let’s say you buy a sealed Pokémon item or a high end slab for $1,000. To verify what actually arrived at the warehouse, you always have to pay extra for their photo services. If the seller sends the wrong item, or sends the correct item but in significantly worse condition, some proxies will let you request a return/refund, while others explicitly state in their Terms of Service that they won’t do anything for you. You have to be incredibly careful depending on what you are buying.
Many Japanese scammers actively target corporate proxy accounts. Because the buyer accounts are clearly flagged as proxy services, scammers know they can send a fake or an item not as described and easily get away with it.
Some proxies might advertise low service fees, but they take a massive chunk of their revenue by marking up the exchange rate by 4% to 5% instead of giving you the 1:1 rate. They don’t explicitly mention this anywhere, but it’s baked into the price tag. (For example, a $6,000 item might show up as $6,500 on their site because of the horrible rate conversion). This doesn’t even account for your own bank’s international purchase fees, or PayPal’s conversion rates, which are often an additional 3% to 4% worse.
It’s always a good idea to check eBay or similar western sites first. If you get lucky and find what you’re looking for there, compare the final price against what the Japanese listing would actually cost after you factor in all these hidden proxy fees. Also because eBay offer better protection than those proxies will ever give you.
The corporate proxies do have multiple tier services. Some offer photo checking, item verification, and even X-ray services (like Doorzo) to make sure a high end item is actually inside a sealed box without them having to break the seal but this is just to make sure something is inside the box if its sealed and nothing else. Once an item arrives at a warehouse, storage times usually range from 30 to 60 days depending on the company. Some also partner with Fakebusters (an authentication service in Japan), where they will mail the single card or item to them to verify it at an additional fee.
I mainly stick to Doorzo, FromJapan, and Neokyo, and they all have different pros/cons:
Doorzo: They have that 4–5% exchange rate markup and don’t negotiate with sellers in the comment section at all, but in my experience, their streamlined process offers some baseline protection. They have helped me get my money back twice from scammers(got lucky).
FromJapan: Great if you want to ask the Japanese seller questions before buying. However, their offer system is frustrating. You have to fund the offer upfront, and if the seller declines your offer, your funds are already tied up and have to wait for a refund. When it comes to TCG items, they guarantee absolutely no resolution if the card arrives in a different condition than pictured.
Neokyo: They don’t offer any real dispute help, so I only use them for cheaper, “Buy It Now” items. That said, their exchange rate conversion is much fairer than Doorzo or FromJapan, making them great for lower stakes purchases. I bought some PSPs and Game boys using this proxy.
Personal shoppers are way more expensive, and you need to have immense trust in them. Their fees are typically 10% to 20%, compared to the flat fees or 4–5% markups of big corporate proxies. Some make their money from after purchase fees while other use that markup strategy which i find scummy since i didn’t find it anywhere written.
In my opinion, the only reason to use a personal proxy is if you need something secured instantly. However, because many personal shoppers still won’t leverage that 72 hour protection window to defend you against condition scams, I ultimately went back to using corporate proxies like Doorzo and FromJapan. I have yet to find a personal shopper who explicitly offers full protection using that platform window. Also keep in mind the proxies that have a wallet/deposit system if you don’t end up buying anything you lose money anyway. Because you are using their exchange/conversion rate(4%-5%) and if your bank international fees are not 0% then that is more money lost every deposit.
If there is a good trusted personal buyer that give that protection please let me know.
