Buying anything from Japan with Bitcoin?

[dkbit98]

   

Did you know that you can purchase almost anything from Japan, pay with Bitcoin, and receive ordered items worldwide?

I am not advertising website called Zenmarket but I recently found out they are using CoinGate service that accepts Bitcoin, litecoin, ethereum and other altcoins for payment.
They accept fiat payments with cards, wire transfer, paypal, and they have very reasonable fees that looks much cheaper than other alternative proxy buying websites that ship stuff from Japan.
I see services working with Zenmarket are Rakuten, Amazon, Y! Auctions, Y! Shopping, Rakuma and Mercari.

Bitcoin is deposited to your account and then converted to Japanese Yen - ¥  ^{(¥ 1 =  $0.0075)}

In April 2020, we started accepting Cryptocurrency payments via the CoinGate payment gateway. At this time Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum and 45 more virtual and blockchain currencies are available for depositing funds.

https://zenmarket.jp/en/payment.aspx#Payment%20methods%20and%20fees

Anyone used Zenmarket website with Bitcoin so far and what was your experience? Or there are some better alternative?

Code:

https://zenmarket.jp

Second website from Japan accepting Bitcoin I found is Shoppinginjapan and they are offering 2% discount for purchasing with Bitcoin:

Code:

https://www.shoppinginjapan.net/

^{Note that topic is self moderated to avoid spam.}

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[NotATether]

It looks like a Japanese Aliexpress clone, that is not saying just the website design, but also the kind of products being offered for sale. Many of them are the kind of things other users would sell on AliExpress. For example, I searched for Nintendo Switch and I got results for various switch parts/titles but dubious results for the console itself.

[PX-Z]

It looks like a Japanese Aliexpress clone, that is not saying just the website design, but also the kind of products being offered for sale.

In fact they are accepting alipay payments as well.

I checked some action figures there since its one of my hobbies and known as japan is the main manufacturer of it and looks like they are more expensive than what is selling in my place, maybe of demand in their area vs here. But more cheaper shipping fee than what is sold in amiami website, where i purchase more often.

[Rikafip]

Anyone used Zenmarket website with Bitcoin so far and what was your experience? Or there are some better alternative?

Amazon + any of the crypto debit cards seems like a more elegant solution than this. Sure, you have to deposit money on Binance/Coinbase (I don't know if you have to do that for Coingate too as I never used it) or whatever debit card you use but I would rather chose that and get Amazon customer service which is at the top of my priority list when chosing a place to buy stuff.

[Don Pedro Dinero]

I would be interested to know if when they send you the items, they enclose an invoice with the bitcoin payment, which would not be very convenient in terms of privacy, as customs usually open the envelopes to see what is there.

Anyone used Zenmarket website with Bitcoin so far and what was your experience? Or there are some better alternative?

Amazon + any of the crypto debit cards seems like a more elegant solution than this. Sure, you have to deposit money on Binance/Coinbase (I don't know if you have to do that for Coingate too as I never used it) or whatever debit card you use but I would rather chose that and get Amazon customer service which is at the top of my priority list when chosing a place to buy stuff.

Or use Amazon gift vouchers by buying them in bitrefill with bitcoin .

[Rikafip]

I would be interested to know if when they send you the items, they enclose an invoice with the bitcoin payment, which would not be very convenient in terms of privacy, as customs usually open the envelopes to see what is there.

Since they are using payment processor, they don't even deal with bitcoin and instead CoinGate does that part for them so in the end you pay with bitcoin and Zenmarket gets fiat. Therefore, no worries about customs seeing bitcoin payment invoice since there is none.

[dkbit98]

It looks like a Japanese Aliexpress clone, that is not saying just the website design, but also the kind of products being offered for sale. Many of them are the kind of things other users would sell on AliExpress. For example, I searched for Nintendo Switch and I got results for various switch parts/titles but dubious results for the console itself.

No it's not like Aliexpress, it has much better quality stuff made in Japan and they are using multiple websites for that, with quality shipping and insurance.
Everything is on much higher level than on Aliexpress, and I can say that because I used both services.
Japan makes much better quality stuff and it's not easy to find this for western people, even harder to buy something for Bitcoin... Aliexpress junk is available everywhere.
Alipay exist because people from China also want high quality stuff

Amazon + any of the crypto debit cards seems like a more elegant solution than this. Sure, you have to deposit money on Binance/Coinbase (I don't know if you have to do that for Coingate too as I never used it) or whatever debit card you use but I would rather chose that and get Amazon customer service which is at the top of my priority list when chosing a place to buy stuff.

There is Amazon Japan included in Zenmarket, but that is just tiny percent of stuff available.
You can also bid on Yahoo Japan auctions, and buy anything for much lower prices than on Ebay or Amazon Japan, I can vouch for this.

Since they are using payment processor, they don't even deal with bitcoin and instead CoinGate does that part for them so in the end you pay with bitcoin and Zenmarket gets fiat. Therefore, no worries about customs seeing bitcoin payment invoice since there is none.

Correct, invoice and prices are listed in Japanese Yens, but there is option to remove all of that and send without any price tags.
Anyone who ever worked with people from Japan knows how precise and accurate they are.

[ChuckBuck]

oh, I just came across the site and there are a few products that are reasonably priced compared to what I can buy where I live right now. Maybe I'll try to buy it in the future.
but first of all, if you already have a buying experience, can you give me some information about shipping cost and delivery time? How long does it take to receive the item you want?

[dkbit98]

oh, I just came across the site and there are a few products that are reasonably priced compared to what I can buy where I live right now. Maybe I'll try to buy it in the future.
but first of all, if you already have a buying experience, can you give me some information about shipping cost and delivery time? How long does it take to receive the item you want?

Sure I can.
There are multiple shipping options available for different regions, and exact fees depend on size of the item/s you ordered.
Great thing that you can order several items, they will pack it all in one box, measure size, weight and tell you exact fees you should pay.
You can also calculate estimated shipping fees manually using their Shipping Calculator, but don't forget to include Zenmarket fees also.

Shiping can be very cheap using AVIA Airmail (Small) if your package weight is less than 2 kg ^{(4.4 lb)} with total dimensions are maximum 90 cm ^{(35.4 inch)} Length(a) + height(b) + depth(c), and if you don't need express delivery.
Slowest delivery is Surface but it's not always the cheapest option, and there is also UPS, FedEx, DHL, EMS and Zen Express.
Delivery time depends on your location and can be from few days to few weeks.

PS
Note that now is Golden Week holiday time in Japan, so many services don't work as usual.

[ChuckBuck]

Shiping can be very cheap using AVIA Airmail (Small) if your package weight is less than 2 kg ^{(4.4 lb)} with total dimensions are maximum 90 cm ^{(35.4 inch)} Length(a) + height(b) + depth(c), and if you don't need express delivery.
Slowest delivery is Surface but it's not always the cheapest option, and there is also UPS, FedEx, DHL, EMS and Zen Express.
Delivery time depends on your location and can be from few days to few weeks.

Wow ya, sure, I'll make a note of this information  I can't wait to experience it next time I buy. I quite like a couple of sneakers up there, next time I will try and give my experience. It's good to always have information like this here  it's thanks to people like you that this forum has always been good until now 

[dkbit98]

I found one more website that is accepting Bitcoin payments and they are giving 2% discount for everything purchased with BTC.
Website is called Shoppinginjapan, they are specialized mostly in selling quality genuine wrist watches and they are shipping worldwide to most countries.
There is no middleman like in case with ZenMarket, you pay directly with BTC and they are sending package directly to customers and sending with DXL Express.


https://www.shoppinginjapan.net/shopping-guide/#payment

PS
This is not advertisement and recommendation, just result of my research for ordering stuff from Japan.
Do your own research.

[o48o]

No it's not like Aliexpress, it has much better quality stuff made in Japan and they are using multiple websites for that, with quality shipping and insurance.
Everything is on much higher level than on Aliexpress, and I can say that because I used both services.
Japan makes much better quality stuff and it's not easy to find this for western people, even harder to buy something for Bitcoin... Aliexpress junk is available everywhere.
Alipay exist because people from China also want high quality stuff

That's what my first thought was. Alipay often gives me total garbage, while japan regulations and consumer protection make this an interesting choice if i want to buy something exotic and weird clothes and food (all japanese things are weird to me)..

Also i love the fact that i can pay ALV in advance. I got trouble when i bought something expensive from etsy and got a message from a delivery company that i need to pay amount that was so high i wasn't prepared for just to get my package to eu or they won't deliver.

Thanks for sharing.