Online Shopping in Japan: The Complete Guide
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When it comes to online shopping in Japan, experiencing them can be very different from what you are used to.
As one of the first industrialized countries to allow online shopping, Japan is a hotbed of competition for online shopping market share, with the world’s major e-commerce firms taking the top spot. Now let’s examine everything about online shopping sites.
Advantages of Online Shopping in Japan
Online shopping in Japan has many advantages and focuses on high-quality products, services and prices. The advantages are listed as follows:
- Product Variety: When it comes to purchasing goods from Japan, you can find almost anything you want. Be it clothing or electronics, books or beauty products. There’s no shortage of variety!
- Services : Many retailers offer free shipping on purchases over a certain amount (usually around $20), while others waive shipping fees entirely for customers who choose membership plans like Amazon Prime.
- Price Affordability : Online shopping makes it much easier to compare prices between different websites and even physical stores, as everything is displayed side by side in one place.
Disadvantages of Online Shopping in Japan
Although there are many benefits to shopping online, there are a few disadvantages you should be aware of.
- Customs : Many items purchased from Japan will be subject to customs fees at destination, depending on the total value and what type of item it is.
- Shipping Times : While most major retailers boast about how quickly they can ship orders, shipping times for international packages can take anywhere from one week to three weeks depending on where you live! If speed is important, be sure to factor this into your planning before placing large orders with retailers with a record of providing slow or unreliable service.
- Payment options : Not all Japanese retailers accept non-Japanese credit cards. If you’re unsure of the site you’re purchasing from, it’s always a good idea to contact the merchant directly and ask if they accept foreign cards and if they ship overseas or only in Japan.
Top 10 Online Shopping Sites in Japan
Amazon Japan
Amazon.co.jp is Japan’s leading online shopping site, and for good reason!
Amazon Japan offers its customers a variety of products at affordable prices, in addition to free shipping on orders with Amazon Prime membership.
Rakuten
Rakuten is one of Japan’s largest online shopping sites. They offer a wide variety of products on their site, with over 40,000 different products in the beauty category alone, making it a great place to buy cosmetics, skin care products and more. This should be your choice among Japanese online shopping sites for care products!
Yodobashi Camera
This electronics store prides itself on having one of the largest selections available, including TVs, computers, cameras and more!
eBay Japan
eBay Japan is a great place to find second-hand items, rare collectibles, and other hard-to-find items at affordable prices.
Yahoo Shopping
Yahoo Shopping is a popular online shopping site in Japan that offers products from over 100,000 different sellers.
These sellers are mostly small businesses looking for an established platform to sell their products.
Tokyo Otaku Mode
If you’re looking for cute figures and manga, look no further than Tokyo Otaku Mod! They also offer a wide variety of anime products from all over Japan at very affordable prices.
Yahoo! Auctions Japan
If you’re looking for second-hand items or rare collectibles, then Yahoo! Auctions Japan is your best option.
Zozotown
If you are looking for a wide range of popular Japanese fashion brands among Japan online shopping sites, we highly recommend checking out this wonderful store.
Yamada Denki
This is one of the largest electronics stores in Japan, making them another great option if you’re looking to buy tech products from Japan!
LOHACO
If you want to buy Japanese snacks and candies, check out LOHACO. Among Japan online shopping sites for candies, this should be your destination!
Online Shopping with International Shipping from Japan
Want to buy a product from Japan but don’t know Japanese? Having difficulty purchasing due to language barrier?
Zenmarket is a proxy service that can assist you when purchasing a product online from Japan.
Shopping online from Japan with Zenmarket is very easy as they handle all shipping and payment.
