How to spot fake Japanese cards on Mercari

Most cards on Mercari, Yahoo! Auctions and Rakuma are genuine — but expensive chase cards attract replicas, and many of them are labelled honestly in Japanese that buyers abroad can't read. Here is what to look for before you buy.

Japanese words that mean "not a real card"

Many replica sellers say what they sell — in Japanese. Search the title and the description for these words:

Some words don't mean fake but do mean "not the Japanese version you expect": 海外版 (overseas version), 英語版 (English), 中国版 / 簡体字 / 繁体字 (Chinese), 韓国版 (Korean), アジア版 (Asian release). These are real cards with their own, usually different, prices.

Too cheap is the biggest warning sign

• Compare with the Japanese price, not only with Cardmarket. Every card page here shows the median price of real Japanese listings. A card listed at a fraction of it is almost never a lucky find.
• Chase cards at pocket-money prices. Manga rares (コミパラ) of One Piece and Special Art Rares of Pokémon are copied the most. A "manga Shanks" for a few thousand yen is a replica.
• One seller, many copies. A seller offering the same expensive card again and again, often with "即日発送" (ships the same day) and identical photos, is usually selling prints.
• Sealed boxes at half price are fake, resealed or already searched. Look for the shrink wrap with the manufacturer's logo and be careful with "未開封" (unopened) claims at odd prices.

Read the photos

• Photos of the actual card. An official image with "SAMPLE" across it, a scan from a website or "画像はイメージ" (image for illustration) means you don't see what you buy. Ask for real photos through your proxy — or skip.
• Compare with the official image. Open the card page here and compare frame, colours, the set code and number in the corner, the rarity mark and the text layout. Replicas often have washed-out or over-saturated colours and blurry small text.
• Surface and foil. Modern Japanese full-art cards have a textured, etched surface and a specific holo pattern. A flat, glossy picture under the light is a warning sign.
• The back and the edges. A photo of the back shows centering, colour and whitening. Ask for it if it's missing.
• Copyright line. Real cards carry the publisher's copyright line at the bottom (for Pokémon ©Pokémon/Nintendo/Creatures/GAME FREAK, for One Piece the Bandai line with ©尾田栄一郎/集英社). Missing or garbled text is a red flag.

Check the seller

• Ratings and history. Hundreds of good ratings from card sales are reassuring; a new account selling one very expensive card is not.
• Other listings. Look at what else the seller offers. A shop full of chase cards at low prices is a pattern.
• "ノークレーム・ノーリターン" (no claims, no returns) is common on Mercari and not a fake sign in itself, but it means you have little to fall back on.

Graded cards (PSA, BGS, CGC)

Fake slabs exist too. Look up the certificate number on the grading company's website: the card, grade and photos must match the listing. Japanese sellers also use their own grading services (for example ARS) — check those the same way.

After you buy

• Ask your proxy for arrival photos. Most proxy services can photograph the item when it reaches their warehouse in Japan, often for a small fee.
• Report problems before international shipping. Once the parcel has left Japan, returning an item to a Japanese seller is rarely possible. Your proxy can contact the seller and the marketplace for you while the item is still in Japan.

What JPCardHunt filters for you

• Listings with the words above (proxy, custom, display only…) are never shown as deals.
• Listings below 20% of the Cardmarket price are hidden — at that price it's almost always a copy or a different version.
• When several versions of a card are possible, we compare the listing photo with the official card images and drop listings that show a different card.
• Cards whose Cardmarket price looks wrong are checked by hand before they count as deals again.

Filters reduce the risk; they don't remove it. Always look at the listing yourself before you buy.