Although Japanese people use eBay, the more popular national auction site in Japan is Yahoo Auction. In recent years Yahoo Auction has become so popular that you can nearly find anything on this auction site. For years my video equipment business made decent money and contacts using this online auction site.
We simply bought gear on Yahoo Auction then exported and sold it in the USA, Canada or Europe for a profit. Before we listed the items for sale, however, we would ship the equipment to our location in Miami using either UPS or FedEx. In some cases the items that we purchased were ‘Junk’ and we would refurbish them then sell the gear for a profit.
There have been rumors that Yahoo Auction will soon combine with eBay…but I find that very hard to believe.
Yahoo Auction has made a ‘English’ option available to buyers. I don’t see how this will work, however, since the auction must be completed between the two parties directly and it is very rare to find a Japanese person capable of closing a deal in English.
