Questions, answered honestly

You tell us which Japanese card you want; we buy or bid on it locally in Japan on your behalf, receive it at our warehouse, then forward it to you in the U.S. It's how you reach sellers and marketplaces that don't ship internationally.

Mercari Japan, Yahoo Auctions and Amazon Japan are live today. You can also paste a listing link from a supported marketplace, and we're adding more sources over time.

Some listings (certain Mercari Shops, Amazon or special links) can't be fetched automatically. Send the full product URL, quantity and variant — not just a screenshot or item ID — and once we confirm availability we'll create the order for you to pay.

If it shows Pending or Awaiting warehouse, the purchase, seller shipment or warehouse intake may still be in progress. Share your order number and a human agent can check it for you.

You tell us the auction and your maximum bid, and we bid on your behalf from Japan. You only pay if you win — the winning price plus the standard fees. Auction wins can't be cancelled once the auction closes, and auction sellers often take a few days to ship to our warehouse.

Japanese marketplaces list cards under Japanese names, so searching Japanese terms works best — e.g. ポケモンカード 151 for the set, or the set code like sv2a plus the card number. If you still can't find it, paste the Mercari or Yahoo! Auctions listing URL and we'll fetch it or enter it manually.

Typically: the item price, Japan domestic shipping, our proxy service fee, optional photo inspection, consolidation, international shipping, payment processing, and any U.S. customs duty or tax. Every figure is an estimate shown before you order; see the Fees page for the full breakdown.

By the actual weight, package dimensions, destination and the carrier you choose after the item arrives at our warehouse. Packing adds box and filler, so final weight can exceed the card's own weight. It's an estimate until checkout.

No. All fee figures on the site are estimates to help you plan. Your exact, itemized total is always shown before you pay at checkout.

Roughly: the item price + Japan domestic shipping (from ~300 JPY) + our proxy fee (from ~300–350 JPY per item) + international shipping by weight + ~10% U.S. import duty on the item value + your carrier's customs clearance fee. All figures are estimates — your exact itemized total is shown at checkout, and the Fees page breaks each line down.

Yes, significantly. International shipping is the biggest cost on a single card, and it's largely a per-parcel cost. Buying several cards and consolidating them into one shipment spreads that cost across every card; the proxy fee still applies per item.

Yes. Items already in our Japan warehouse can usually be combined into one shipment when you submit shipping. Whether not-yet-arrived items make the same batch depends on seller shipping and intake timing.

Cards ship in TCG-safe packaging — sleeve, toploader and rigid mailer, or a reinforced box for slabs. You can add reinforcement at shipping. We pack to TCG standards but can't guarantee zero transit damage.

Shipping time depends on the method you choose and customs processing, so we can't commit to an exact delivery date. Consolidating orders into one parcel is the most cost-effective option.

Coverage depends on the shipping method you pick — carrier compensation is tied to the declared value and that method's insurance terms. We always declare honestly, which keeps any claim valid. For high-value cards, choose a tracked method with insurance when you submit shipping.

Every international shipment is tracked. If tracking stalls for an unusual length of time, contact support with your order number — we open the investigation with the carrier from the Japan side. Compensation follows the carrier's insurance terms and the declared value.

Possibly. As of 2025 the U.S. removed the $800 de minimis exemption for all countries, so any import — regardless of value — can be assessed duty or tax by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). From 2026, postal parcels are taxed by HTS classification. We can't predict or guarantee the amount; HS code guidance helps, but CBP and the carrier make the final call, and any duties are the buyer's responsibility.

No. We declare the actual item type and value honestly. Under-declaring is illegal, and it would also cap any insurance compensation to the declared amount.

As of February 24, 2026 the U.S. applies a flat 10% import surcharge to goods from all countries, including Japan (the Section 122 measure, currently set to expire July 24, 2026 unless extended or replaced). It's assessed on the item value — international shipping is not part of the duty base. On top of the duty, carriers charge a customs clearance fee, roughly $9–17 per parcel depending on the carrier. Policy is changing fast; the final amount is always what CBP and your carrier assess.

Typically the carrier clears customs for you and then bills you the duty plus its clearance fee — at delivery or via a payment link. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, U.S. import charges are not included in our checkout total.

U.S. import duty is a federal charge. State sales tax generally isn't collected on a purchase shipped from Japan like this; some states expect residents to self-report use tax on out-of-state purchases — that part depends on your state's rules.

Common terms: 美品 (bihin) = excellent / near-mint; 傷あり (kizu ari) = has scratches or damage; 未開封 (mikaifu) = sealed / unopened. We translate the seller's condition notes, but secondhand grading is the seller's subjective claim — final condition follows the photos, and disputes go to a human agent.

We buy the exact graded card as listed; the grade is the grading company's call, not ours. For slabs we recommend reinforced, consolidated packaging to reduce transit damage. We can't guarantee a slab won't crack in transit, but we pack to minimize risk. We are not a grading-submission service.

Yes — sealed products carry a known secondhand risk of resealing or being weighed and searched. We can request extra photos of the shrink-wrap, seams and weight and prioritize sellers with strong reputations, but we can't certify a sealed box is factory-original. For high-value sealed purchases we'll flag the risk before buying. Tip: search Japanese terms like シュリンク付き (shrink-wrapped) and 未開封 (unopened).

Yes. For high-value cards we recommend paid photo inspection on arrival (front, back, corners). If you want condition confirmed before international shipping, request inspection on the order. Photos can't capture every possible flaw, so we don't promise they reveal everything.

Three structural reasons: Japan's secondhand market is enormous (Mercari alone lists a huge volume of singles daily), Japanese-language printings usually trade below their English equivalents, and the yen has been favorable for USD buyers in recent years. After fees, shipping and duty, mid-to-high-value cards usually still come out ahead; very cheap singles may not once per-parcel costs are added — consolidation fixes that.

We buy the exact listing you chose, so authenticity starts with the seller — we favor sellers with strong ratings and flag obvious red flags before buying. On arrival, paid photo inspection (front, back, corners) catches obvious fakes and condition problems before international shipping. For high-value singles we recommend always adding inspection.

TCG listings sell fast, so an item may already be sold when we try to buy it. If a purchase fails we refund per policy; refund progress and amount are handled by a human agent.

For your order and fund safety, our AI doesn't process refunds, cancellations, address changes or payment issues directly. We connect you to a human agent to verify and handle these.

Secondhand condition follows the seller's photos and description. If there's an obvious problem on arrival, a human agent will review it against the order, the listing and our warehouse photos.