FAQ

Who is JapanAuctionCenter.com?

JapanAuctionCenter.com is a portal run by Nichido Ltd., a Japan-based company situated in Tottori prefecture, on the west side of Japan. You can find our physical address and other contact information on our "contact us" page.
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What services do you offer?

This is a one stop service for people who want to purchase goods on Japanese online auction sites. We ship your purchased items from Japan to your home. We also offer complimentary help such as: help with searching, placing bids, auction correspondence, online payment, etc.
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Can you translate the Japanese pages for me?

Since millions of auction items are listed, this would be next to impossible. That's why we can NOT translate pages for you. We can help you with your search and show you how to translate Japanese yourself. It's easy to use a free Web translator and you can translate an entire page in just seconds.
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How do I display the Japanese characters on my computer?

You probably won't have to do this. Web translators translate through a URL. That means that if you copy and paste the URL of a Japanese page, you'll have it translated into Western characters. But if you do need to translate a piece of text and not a whole page, you will have to download and run a Japanese IME on your computer. If you are using MS Windows, you can find a Japanese IME on the Microsoft Web site. Click here to go to the Japanese IME download page.
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I can't read Japanese! How will I find what I'm looking for?

Searching a Japanese Web site is not easy for a non-Japanese speaker; there are 3 different alphabets in Japanese, and often you need to use a combination of them and latin characters, too! To help you, we have compiled a list of past searches (in English) in the search directory on our front page. If you can't find exactly what you are looking for in the search directory, please don't hesitate to contact us, and a JapanAuctionCenter.com representative will gladly assist you.
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How can I avoid being swindled?

Just like on Ebay and other auction sites, you need to be aware of who you are buying from. Examine seller feedback carefully and avoid sellers with too much negative feedback. Click here to go to our "Seller feedback Visual Guide" page.
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Is a deposit required to bid?

In order to offer our service at the lowest possible prices, we have to minimize our risk. That's why we don't place a bid until you have deposited the full bid amount into your account.
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How is your exchange rate determined?

We don't have our own exchange rates. To avoid exchange rate hassles, we accept your bid amount only in Japanese Yen. When you send us money, it will be exchanged by PayPal at their own exchange rate.
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How do I make a larger deposit?

We strongly recommend that you deposit your maximum bid amount immediately, in order to avoid having to make a deposit at the last moment. However, you can increase your deposit amount any time you want to, simply by sending money to your account through PayPal.
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What if I do not win the auction?

You can request a refund and withdraw your deposit, or you can leave it in your account to fund future auctions.
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What if I win the auction at a lower price than my bid?

Our system will automatically add the rest of your money back to your account. You can request a refund for the rest of your deposit, or leave it in your account for future auctions.
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Can I withdraw my deposit before the auction ends?

No, you cannot withdrawal your deposit until the auction ends, even if there has been a higher bid than yours.
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How old must I be to use your service?

You must be at least 20 years of age to place bids using our service.
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Can I bid if I am not from the US?

If you are able to send us money through PayPal, you can bid from anywhere in the world.
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How can I deposit money into my account?

At present, we only accept PayPal.
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When do I pay for my auction items?

Before we place a bid for you, you will have to deposit the full amount of your bid into your account. If you win an auction, we'll send you a payment request (for all costs, charges, fees and taxes) before we ship your item. You are expected to pay ASAP. When your payment is received, we will ship your item to you.
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Will my money be refunded if my item arrives damaged, or never arrives?

We are in no way responsible for damaged or missing items. All auction items will carry postal insurance, and any problems should be addressed to the Post Office. We will gladly provide you with the necessary information to begin your insurance claim.
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What if JapanAuctionCenter.com never receives my item?

We will treat this situation as a "fraudulent auction" and file a complaint with the auction Web site. We will keep you informed of the results of the complaint. This, however, is the extent of our responsibility. We do not issue refunds, nor will we initiate a judicial proceeding on your behalf. If you wish to pursue you claim further,  we can put you in contact with a local attorney (Note that all legal disputes due to an auction transaction will be in a court located in Japan and all costs of such a process will be borne by you).
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Do I have to pay you a fee for each item I bid on, even if the items are from the same seller?

When you bid on multiple items from the same seller, we must still bid and correspond separately for each auction listing. So, even if you bid on multiple items from the same seller, you will still be charged a fee of 1000yen + 8% for each auction.
But, domestic delivery (within Japan) and banking fees, you don't have to pay them for additional items bought from the same seller.

What do I do if I need help?

Please send an email to info@japanauctioncenter.com.
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When will I receive my items?

Please send an email to info@japanauctioncenter.com.
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Can I receive any size item?

At present, we only use EMS to ship items.
Items must:
Weigh 30kg or less
Measure 2.75m or less (~107 in.) in combined length and girth.
And maximum length allowed is 1.5m (~58 in.)
These limitations varies greatly according to the destination country. Please, contact us to check the limits for your home country before placing an order.
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Can I have my own auction ID?

We really don't recommend this unless you are fluent in Japanese. If you did bid and win the auction, what then? You would have to correspond with the seller, send him feedback, etc. All of this is not so easy if you don't read Japanese.
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Can I bid on an auction if another JapanAuctionCenter.com user has bid on it?

If you are not the first user to bid on an item, don't worry, you can still place a bid. We try to place all bid requests and hold the bid amounts in confidence which means we won't tell you what another user's maximum is nor tell another user what your maximum is.

Example

(19 December) User A requests a bid: ¥ 5,000
(20 December) User B requests a bid: ¥ 7,000

We will set a proxy bid for User A with a maximum of ¥ 5,000.
We will set a proxy bid for User B with a maximum of ¥ 7,000.

User C can also place a bid:
(21 December) User C requests a bid: ¥ 9,000

We will set a proxy bid for User C with a maximum of ¥ 9,000.

And so on...

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How will you notify me when I have won an auction?

We will notify you with an email when you have won an auction.
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How will I know if someone is outbidding me?

You have to watch your auction closely, or enter the maximum amount you are willing to pay at the beginning.
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How do I place a last minute bid (snipe)?

We automatically submit bids at the last reasonable moment.
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How do Yahoo! Japan "Buy It Now" auctions work?

On Yahoo! Japan, a seller can choose to set a "Buy It Now" price on an auction. This means that if someone bids that price or more,  the auction is closed immediately and that bidder wins the auction. Because this happens automatically if we place a bid at or above the "Buy It Now" price, when we receive a bid from one of our customers that meets the "Buy It Now" requirements, we presume that the customer wants us to go ahead and "Buy It Now". If, for any reason, you do not want to buy the item now, you must bid below the "Buy It Now" price. Please note that, unlike on Ebay, the "Buy It Now" price does not go away if someone places a lower bid. It stays in place until the auction ends or someone meets the price, which means that even if you place your bid early, someone else can still come along, use the "Buy It Now" price, and win the auction.
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Why haven't you placed my bid yet?

Usually, we place our bids as close to the end of the auction as possible, because this helps our customers win more often. However, if you need your bid placed earlier, we will be happy to do so - just let us know in your email!
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Can I bid on items from any auction site?

At the moment, we can only offer our service for Yahoo! Japan Auctions. We'll be able to expand our services very soon, please stay tuned.
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How can I get a refund?

You may receive a refund within 60 days of the PayPal transfer date. After 60 days, you may still receive a refund, but you will have to pay PayPal a commission.
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What if the item I bought surpasses Japan Post EMS limits (30 kg weight, 160cm length)?

Unfortunately we won't be able to send it through EMS. Please see our disclaimer.
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What if I already have my own auction ID?

Some of our users are fluent in Japanese and prefer bidding on their own. We offer them our services as well, since they don't live in Japan and most Japanese auction sellers don't ship internationally. They have their goods sent to us and we ship them from our offices. The pricing of our service won't be changed whether or not you own your own auction ID.
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