How to buy Japanese cards from Europe

Mercari, Yahoo! Auctions and Rakuma are where Japan sells its cards — and where prices are often far below Cardmarket. Here is how buying from them works when you live in the EU, and how to work out what a card will really cost you.

In short: you use a proxy service that buys the item in Japan for you, collects it in its warehouse and ships it to you. You pay the item price, the proxy's fee, international shipping and, at the border, import VAT.

Why you need a proxy service

Most sellers only ship inside Japan. Mercari and Rakuma are made for domestic sales: Japanese address, Japanese phone, Japanese payment.
Yahoo! JAPAN isn't available in the EU. Since 2022 Yahoo! JAPAN services, including Yahoo! Auctions, block visitors from the European Economic Area. A proxy bids and buys for you.
Language and questions. Proxies translate listings and can ask the seller questions in Japanese.

Popular proxy services include Buyee (Mercari's official partner), ZenMarket, FromJapan, Neokyo and others. They differ in fees, payment options and shipping methods — compare them for your order size. We are not affiliated with any of them.

Step by step

Find the card. Set up your watchlist or watch the live deals. Every deal links to the original listing.
Open it in your proxy. Copy the listing URL (for example jp.mercari.com/item/m…) and paste it into your proxy's search box. You'll see the item with the proxy's price breakdown.
Buy or bid. For Mercari and Rakuma the proxy buys immediately — speed matters, good cards sell in minutes. For Yahoo! Auctions you place a maximum bid; some proxies offer last-second "snipe" bidding.
Wait for the warehouse. The seller ships to the proxy's warehouse in Japan, usually within 1–5 days. Many proxies let you request photos of the item on arrival.
Combine and ship. If you buy several items, ask the proxy to consolidate them into one parcel — you pay international shipping once. Then choose a shipping method and pay.
Pay VAT and receive. Import VAT is either paid at checkout (IOSS) or collected by the carrier on delivery. See below.

What it really costs

The price in our deals is the item price in Japan (plus Japanese domestic shipping when the seller charges it). On top of that come:

Cost	Typical range	Notes
Proxy service fee	a few hundred yen per item, or a percentage	Some proxies charge per item, some per order or a monthly plan.
Domestic shipping in Japan	often included	"送料込み" in the listing means shipping included.
Payment / handling fees	0–5%	Depends on the proxy and your payment method.
International shipping	roughly ¥1,500–5,000 for a small packet	Cards are light; boxes are bulky. Consolidate to save.
Import VAT	your country's VAT rate	For example 19% in Germany, 20% in France, Austria and Bulgaria, 21% in the Netherlands, 22% in Italy.
Carrier handling fee	€0–15	Charged by some postal services and couriers when they collect VAT for you.

Ranges are indicative and change over time — always check your proxy's current fee page and your country's VAT rate.

Example. A card listed at ¥5,000 (≈ €28) that sells from €60 on Cardmarket. Add a ¥500 proxy fee and your share of a ¥3,000 consolidated parcel (say ¥750 for one of four items) — about ¥6,250 ≈ €35 — then 20% VAT on goods and shipping: about €42 delivered. Still well below €60. The same card at €55 on Cardmarket would not be worth it on its own.

Tip: in settings, set a minimum saving in euro (for example €15) so that small deals that disappear after fees don't reach you.

Shipping options

Small packet / airmail — cheapest for a few cards, tracked on most proxies, usually 1–3 weeks.
EMS (Japan Post express) — fast and tracked, good value for medium parcels.
Courier (DHL, FedEx…) — fastest and most predictable, more expensive; couriers often collect VAT with a handling fee.
Booster boxes are bulky: volumetric weight can make them expensive to ship one by one. Combine them.

Ask for cards to be shipped in sleeves and toploaders or between cardboard — most proxies offer extra protection for a small fee.

Import VAT and customs in the EU

VAT on every parcel. Since 1 July 2021 the EU no longer has a low-value exemption: every parcel from outside the EU is subject to import VAT, whatever its value.
Up to €150: no customs duty, VAT only. If your proxy supports IOSS, VAT is charged at checkout and the parcel clears customs without extra payment. Otherwise the postal service or courier collects VAT on delivery, often with a handling fee.
Above €150: a customs declaration is needed and customs duty may apply on top of VAT, depending on how the goods are classified. Check with your national customs.
VAT is calculated on the goods plus shipping and insurance.
Declare the real value. Under-declaring is illegal, and an under-declared parcel that gets lost can't be insured for its real value.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules and rates differ between EU countries — check your national customs authority.

Tips that save money and trouble

Read the condition grade. Mercari has six grades from "new, unused" to "poor". Our dictionary of listing words explains them.
Zoom into every photo. Look for whitening on the edges, scratches on holo cards and bent corners.
Check the seller. Ratings and the number of past sales tell a lot.
Too cheap is suspicious. A sealed box at half price is usually fake, resealed or empty. We already hide the most extreme ones.
Watch for "専用" (reserved). Those listings are reserved for a specific buyer — don't buy them.
Batch your purchases. International shipping is the biggest fixed cost; most proxies store items for free for a few weeks.

Let the deals come to you

Add the cards you want to your watchlist and get an alert within seconds of them being listed in Japan.

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