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What is the Yahoo! Japan Auction?

The Yahoo! Japan Auction is Japan's largest online auction started by internet giant Yahoo! in 1999. There are now usually over 1 million automotive related listings at any time. Most listings last for a week and there is a 5 minute extension option for last minute bidding. Buyers post a bid limit which is hidden from the seller and other buyers. As a buyer you can often buy at less than your bid limit. Sellers range from private individuals to large corporations. Sellers and buyers are evaluated with an online feedback system, so buyers can avoid buying from sellers with a poor record. The auction is conducted in the Japanese language and most sellers will not ship internationally. However, we are licenced exporters based in Japan and can purchase it and ship items on your behalf.

Where do I register to bid?

You can Register Here and we can set up a Trading Account for you. The Account will need to be funded before you can place a bid.

How do I place a bid?

If you are using the Auction System you do this by following the prompts in the automated bidding system. If you are placing bids manually from the listings displaying through the search links just email the untranslated URL or item Auction ID through, one email per item, with your bid limit for that item.

In the Yahoo! Japan Auction the bid limits are hidden from the seller and other bidders - with automatic bidding - so you only need to place your bid limit once. In fact you gain an advantage with placing your bid limit up front, as opposed to small incremental bids. With your ultimate bid limit in place competing bidders putting in small incremental bids against you may become discouraged and stop bidding, whereas a prolonged single increment bidding battle only encourages them to keep bidding.

If you are successful you only pay one increment over the highest bid against you, not your bid limit. There are usually 5 minute automatic extensions at the end of the auction for bids placed in the closing minutes of the auction, so there is no sniping like in eBay.

With Buy Now listings anyone can buy it at any time, so once there are bids close to the Buy Now price other bidders will often use Buy Now. You are only charged at the actual sale price, not the bid limit you set. Because the bid limit is hidden from the seller you can place your bid requests at your maximum figure with confidence that you may be successful at a lower figure.

How soon before the close of auction should I place my bid?

We recommend that you send through your bid no later than 24 hours prior to the close of the auction. We will do everything we can to process bids inside this window though can't guarantee we can place all bids given at short notice.

Does it cost anything to place a bid?

No.

How do I increase my bid?

If you've already placed a bid then simply email back the bid confirmation you received after your first bid with your new increased bid limit. If we've already given the item a title and placed a bid then use this email to send through your increased bid. This saves confusion and ensures your bid history is easy to follow. However, since your bid limit is hidden from both the seller and other bidders we suggest you send through your real bid limit in the first instance. If other buyers competing with you repeatedly see their bid as the highest bid this sends a message that your bid limit has nearly been reached which may encourage them to keep bidding against you. Conversely, if they repeatedly place bids only to have them be unsuccessful they may give up, even if they are close to your bid limit.

How do I Buy Now?

For listings with a Buy Now price you can purchase at the Buy Now price by putting the Buy Now price in the price box and the words Buy Now in the Comments box. If you put Buy Now in the Comments box we'll give your request priority as we process the pending bid requests. Otherwise your bid requests will be processed in the order that you submit them. The good listings with a Buy Now price can disappear really quickly sometimes!

Is the Auction Service available out of normal office hours?

Yes. We work extended hours in order to process your orders and enquiries. Our email system is monitored through the evening (Japan time) and on weekends.

How do I know if my bid has been successful?

You can check the results after the auction closes by clicking on the "Original Japanese Auction Page" or the "Original Google Translation Page" links on the confirmation email you received for your bid request. This will show the sale price and the buyer ID of the successful bidder. If you're unsure of the buyer ID we're using for you please email us. Once the item has arrived at our Export Centre and all accounts have been received you'll receive an update to your Trading Account.

Why do you process bids manually?

For your protection. We have been active in the Yahoo! Japan Auction for over a decade. Though frauds are rare - with the seller offering stock for sale, accepting payment but not providing the item - they do occasionally take place. By placing your bid manually we can thoroughly research the sellers record in the original Japanese and see if there are any unusual conditions on the listing which may not be obvious in the English translation. This is done by a native Japanese speaker. Our advice is to avoid the do it yourself services and never place bids directly on the Yahoo! Auction by yourself unless you have native-level proficiency in the Japanese language. By using our system you can check the sellers appraisal history by yourself in English and have it checked again by us in Japanese once you have posted your bid request.

The item I want says Seller will not ship internationally. Does this mean I can't buy it?

No. All this means is that the seller will not ship the item themselves. However, we are licenced exporters based in Japan and can purchase it and ship it on your behalf.

I have a question for the seller. Can you send it through?

Yes. The Yahoo! system allows us to contact the seller while-ever they have a listing running on the auction. We suggest that you send your question through well ahead of the closure of the auction to allow the seller sufficient time to respond.

Do you know the cost of domestic freight for parts to your Export Centre?

Sometimes the seller will include it in the listing and other times we won't know until the item has arrived at the Export Centre. We can ask the seller though the seller will not necessarily reply. We have a Domestic Freight Estimator guide to assist registered clients.

Do you know the cost of trucking cars to your Export Centre?

We have a Trucking Estimator guide to assist registered clients.

If I only want one car can I bid on more than one?

Yes. Normally in this instance we will only bid on the listing that closes first and then if you are unsuccessful bid on the next listing to close and so on. Bids cannot be withdrawn once we place them, so if you place multiple bid requests but have a preference for a particular listing you need to let us know at the time you place the bids how you would like us to process them.

Where do I find Left Hand Drive cars?

Sure. Go to the Main Cars Menu and select any of the non-Japanese manufacturers for a large range of Left Hand Drive vehicles available now. Also check the listings on USS Auto Auction with Login ID: R70044 and GAO! with User ID V24858

Where do I find Race Cars?

Go to the Main Cars Menu and try the Other category. Open wheel racecars are often listed here. Theres usually some very interesting cars in this category. Some motorsport cars based on road going cars are listed in the normal listings for that model.

Where do I find Parts?

For Car Parts check both the Parts category and the Parts Vehicle category accessed through the Main Cars Menu. Some of the vehicle listings in the Parts Vehicle category allow individual parts to be bought from the vehicles offered. Some parts are scattered through the auction without a specific listing category. In this case we can do a search in the original Japanese auction and send you through the search result. Sorry, but this service is available to our registered clients only. And don't forget that we can also source whole cars suitable for parting out - both undamaged end-of-life vehicles and crash-damaged salvage vehicles.

All the listings are in Japanese Yen. What is the cost in other currencies?

The Yahoo! Japan Auction is for the Japanese domestic market - which we make available to you throughout the world - and the prices displayed are the actual prices in Japanese Yen. To convert prices to other currencies you can use online tools like Yahoo! Finance Currency Converter and the XE Universal Currency Converter which uses current market rates to convert to other currencies. You can also convert online here: Currency rates are the prevailing market rates. Telegraphic Transfer rates could vary slightly from these rates. For telegraphic transfer rates go to the website of the major banks in your country.

I can't find what I'm looking for.

The number of items listed on the Yahoo! Japan Auction has exploded which means that it can sometimes be hard to find what you're looking for.
If you are in the right category and want to scan the listings quickly we recommend using Picture/Photo View which displays listings in a checkerboard pattern rather than List View.

If you would like to access the auction through direct links then go to the Vehicles, Parts or Other Stock pages, scroll down and click on the links of interest. If you can't see what you want we are able to customise listings to match your requirements which means you can directly access what you want without having to sort through irrelevant listings.
If you require particular search links please CONTACT US with your requirements.

How do I know if the listing has a reserve price?

If the listing has a reserve that has not been reached you will see current price is not reaching the minimum bid price or similar on the 5th line of the listing. In the original listing this is shown in brown text. If you don't see this then either the listing doesn't have a reserve price, or the reserve price has already been exceeded.

Why does the white Google Language Tools frame sometimes appear at the top of the page?

To improve stability the Auction System will sometimes automatically transition from Normal Mode to Backup Mode during a session. You will know when this occurs because the Google Language Tools frame will appear at the top of the page and the system will return you to the Cars menu. However once in the Backup Mode you can continue to browse the auction listings and make bids as usual.

I have a problem with getting the auction to work properly. What should I do?

Contact us straight away and we will do our best to guide you through the solution. If you wish we will call you back at our expense to talk you through the issue by phone. Your can also reach us on Skype from the bottom of the About page.

I'm not getting my confirmation emails. What should I do?

Look in your Junk Folder. If you find the emails there mark them as safe. You can then test the system by pretending to place a bid but with a Bid Price of "0" and the words "SYSTEM TEST ONLY" in the Comments box.

Can you get me a car from somewhere other than the Yahoo! Auction?

Sure. The Yahoo! Auction is a great place to start your search and get an overview of the type of cars that are available and the top and bottom ends of the market. You can also source through USS Auto Auction with Login ID: R70044 and GAO! with User ID V24858 . You can also source through Goo-net, the largest database of used cars distributed in Japan. Remember that these are listings from Japanese dealers who can only respond in Japanese and are usually not licenced exporters. However, since we are licenced exporters we can arrange for the purchase and export of your vehicle. Simply Contact us or Email us with the URL of the listing you're interested in in the body of your message and we can follow it up! We can also source vehicles for you through our other nationwide suppliers and our local supply network!

How do I know if the seller is OK?

You can check the seller appraisals by clicking on the Sellers Appraisal Rating link on the top right hand side of each listing. The best sellers have many transactions with no negative appraisals. If you see a lot of black clouds its usually best to leave the seller alone. Generally we only deal with sellers with no negative comments or where the negative comments suggest that the buyer was to blame.

I've had a We're Sorry ... error message from Google and can't use the Auction System

Sometimes Google will temporarily suspend use of its services for repeated users to protect itself from automated attacks. To work around this problem click "View original web page" on the white Google Language Tools frame at the top of your page, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on "Taken Source". You can now navigate the system and place bids as normal. The system continues as normal, though without the higher level of translation provided by the Google Language Tools service. Google will usually restore access to Google Language Tools after a few hours and the Auction System will again operate as designed. You can also view the Yahoo! Japan Auction in English with Yahoo! Babelfish, Excite and Nifty.

How can I check new listings?

OPTION 1 - BOOKMARKS
Open the listing category that you wish to follow.
Bookmark it - add it to Favorites - in your browser.
Drag the Favorite to your Desktop.
Open it every day or so... listings usually run for one week.

OPTION 2 - RSS READER
This option displays all listings in your selected category in a RSS reader. Get a free Google account if you don't already have one. The easiest way is to set up a free Gmail account.
Then go to Google Reader and Login with your Google account.
Then open up the Yahoo! Japan Auction listing category. Make sure the category is untranslated i.e. the original Japanese language page by clicking View original web page from the white Google Language Tools frame at the top of the page.
Go to Yahoo Source at the bottom of the page if you are in our Auction System or use the search links in the stock Pages - Vehicles, Parts, Other Stock.
Now click the orange RSS feed logo on the top right of the Yahoo! Auction page that you wish to follow. This will open a new page.
Click on Subscribe to this feed in Google Reader. This will again open a new page. Click Subscribe to the feed. The listings will now appear in the reader in Japanese.
To view them in English go to Feed settings and select Translate into my language. This will translate the feeds into English or another language you select. To refresh the reader for new listings just click on Refresh.

There are other ways to do this but this method automatically translates the feed to English and is free and simple.

OPTION 3 - RSS NOTIFIER
This option displays the next listing to finish in your selected category in a RSS notifier in your system tray.
Download the Feed Notifier Installer.
Install Feed Notifier (double click the downloaded installer)
Run Feed Notifier from your Start Menu. A new RSS icon (orange color) is added in your system tray.
Then open up the Yahoo! Japan Auction listing category. Make sure the category is untranslated i.e. the original Japanese language page by clicking View original web page from the white Google Language Tools frame at the top of the page.
Go to Yahoo Source at the bottom of the page if you are in our Auction System or use the search links in the stock Pages - Vehicles, Parts, Other Stock.
Now click the orange RSS feed logo on the top right of the Yahoo! Auction page that you wish to follow. This will open a new page.
Then right click on the URL then left click to copy.
Then right click the new Feed Notifier RSS icon in the system tray and click Add Feed menu item
Paste the copied link earlier in the Feed URL field
Adjust the Polling Interval depending on how often you wanted to be notified of new messages
Click OK button
To ensure that you will be notified everytime you use your computer, place Feed Notifier shortcut under your Startup folder in your Start Menu
The listings generally display in closing order. That is, the next listing to close will be the listing you are notified of, though "Featured Listings" will sometimes take precedence.
The listings appear in the notifier in Japanese. To view them in English go to Translate on your Google Toolbar, if you have it installed. This will translate the listings into English or another language you select.

I can't find the answer to my question here.

First go to the General FAQ's. If the answer to your question is not there then please Contact us.