Exporting from Japan to US eBay: the basics

Reselling Japanese used goods on US eBay is simple in concept, but whether it actually clears a profit is decided almost entirely by whether you build fees and shipping into the math from the start. Here's a primer for individual sellers, from sourcing to profit.

1. Sourcing

You source from domestic marketplace apps, online auctions, and secondhand shops in Japan. Exports tend to work where there's a stubborn overseas collector demand and the item is relatively cheap at home — Japanese hobby goods, vintage, out-of-print items, and the like. The key is less "does it sell" than "can you actually source the same item." Demand is worthless if there isn't a single unit to buy.

2. Listing (eBay)

Set up an eBay seller account and list the item. Title, condition accuracy, and photo quality move the sell-through rate a lot. New sellers face selling limits on the number and value of listings, which ease as you build a track record.

3. The fee structure

Three things mainly apply. Actual rates vary by category and store contract, so always confirm against the latest official tables.

Final value fee: a percentage on the sale price plus shipping. Varies by category.
Payment & FX: fees and exchange spread incurred receiving the proceeds and converting to yen.
Store subscription: if you list in volume, an eBay Store plan can be cheaper per listing.

4. International shipping

Shipping is what eats export profit the most. You choose among Japan Post (ePacket, EMS, etc.) and couriers (FedEx, DHL, etc.) by weight, size, transit time, and tracking. Cheap is slow with weak tracking; fast is expensive — a real trade-off. Don't estimate shipping "roughly" — get a firm figure from actual weight and dimensions before you compute profit.

5. Buyer-side duties & VAT

Import duties and VAT in the buyer's country are, in principle, the buyer's responsibility, but declaration rules and low-value thresholds differ by country. The higher the item value, the more it affects the buyer's total — which feeds back into how you price.

6. How to think about profit

The rough skeleton looks like this.

net profit = eBay sale price − cost of goods − final value fee − payment/FX − international shipping − packing materials

The thing to internalize is that fees plus shipping often take roughly 20–30% of the sale price (the same tendency showed up when we matched items by hand → what we found doing it ourselves). "Bought for 30k, sells for 60k, so 30k profit" is mental math that can shrink to a few thousand yen in practice. The rule is to pick only items that stay in the black after fees. The step-by-step way to run it through to take-home is in the profit-math how-to.

7. Legal notes (if you keep at it)

Selling off your own belongings occasionally is rarely an issue, but if you source and resell repeatedly for profit, in Japan you should hold a secondhand-dealer license (古物商許可), obtained at your local police station — because buying used goods to resell falls under that law, and operating without the license carries penalties. Also steer clear of categories that are regulated or require a permit to resell — event tickets (anti-scalping law), alcohol, medicines, rice, and so on. For exports, watch the destination country's import restrictions too (CITES-listed items, food, cosmetics). Confirm specifics with your local police station or a professional.

8. Research time is the real cost

Running the math above one item at a time — matching the proof that it sells (eBay Sold comps) against domestic stock — takes time. The hit rate is around one in ten of the items you check. That's exactly why "a checked, single item" has value in itself. niixo's sourcing research (preparing) is building a way to hand you that checked result, backed by a full refund if it can't be bought.