Ebay and Yahoo Japan Partnership?

[Grico]

Hi, I saw this article on Anime News Network of ebay and Yahoo Japan opening up to each other's customers:

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/20 ... ss-borders

For those of you less reading inclined here is the most important sentence of the article:

"In the third phase that is scheduled for the middle of 2008, the two companies will launch a site by which American eBay users can directly bid on Japanese Yahoo auctions."

HUGE news.

[Mat4226]

For those of us not so Japanese inclined, this is marvelous news.

[darksuzaku]

Well, it looks interesting, but still doesn't solve the problem of japanese sellers not willing to ship overseas.

I mean, if a seller is willing to ship overseas there are already ways to bid on YJ without using a deputy. Ebay acting as intermediary will just make things easier.

Or am i missing anything?

[klet]

Well, I've found that if the language barrier is gone, sellers are more willing to ship internationally.

It will actually be really neat for people like me who have their own YJ accounts and can speak Japanese, but cannot bid over 4999 yen because of the restrictions YJ has recently placed on international credit cards.

I think that if Paypal becomes more accessible and feasible for the Japanese, this could pan out to something worthwhile. It all depends on how the people in charge handle the change.

If it does work out, though, those people who run deputy services might be out of a job . . .

[iwakuralain16]

im a little excited about this but at the same time not so much. This means more competition for some non cel auctions. This would be good for people who hate the "bid against eachother within deputy" wars that go on.

[throughhim413]

As was mentioned, I think this is great. I conduct my auctions in Japanese now, which is fine while I'm in Japan, but won't do me a bit off good when I return to the States and people won't ship there. If international shipping and Paypal became more prevalent, this would be great, but that has yet to be seen. Of course, even removing that 5,000 yen bidding limit for non-premium users would be great. Or even making it easier for foreigners to get a premium account...

Well, there's a lot of good that can come out of this. Hopefully it pans out.

[RoboFlonne]

Prices on Cels and Sketches will drop....

And YJ will slowly become more and more like Ebay.

I really don't think I care much...

But YJ will be more and more like fee-bay...

[darksuzaku]

mmm, how does that 5000 yen limit work?, or how deputies bypass it?

I mean, i have a gold account with celga, and my registered CC in YJ is international, but i can bid whatever amount i want. Maybe it's because i registered it several years ago. If that's the case then new gold accounts probably suck if you can only bid so much.

[Krafty]

I can see pros and cons to that merger happening and have mixed views.

GOOD - In terms of being a seller, it'll be good to offer the items to the ardent YJ Japanese collectors too as well as being able to place the ad in English with an easy navigation system.

GOOD - Payment methods would be easier- Paypal will become more widespread since Ebay now own this company.

GOOD - Bidding limits don't affect me on YJ with my current premium account but it'd be nice if the monthly charges will be dropped.

GOOD - Saves money on deputy fees for the sellers willing to ship internationally. I for one spent thousands last year on these fees.

BAD - Bad news is that a lot more collectors will be online. Every Tom Dick and Harry will be up there bidding meaning that we won't get a good deal on much. I say that because I'm sure the bidders won't have fees to pay and the whole setup will be in English so it's easy for people round the world to dip into.

BAD - There'll be no more exclusivity for the items we track down and purchase. I like the fact that I've invested a lot of time and effort into working out the navigation of YJ and researching all the series I'm interested in. For me, that makes each auction win more satisfying than an Ebay win.

BAD - As was touched on already, many Japanese sellers still won't sell abroard.

CONSIDERATION - If both sites were to merge into one auction site, would the close of the auctions follow the Ebay pattern of closing at a designated time [open to snipers] or the YJ version of extending the close time by 5 mins each time a late bid is placed? I favour the YJ workings in that respect but I'm sure Ebay would precide with its financial clout.

[Keropi]

Hmm...well I guess those cable airing anime artwork on YJ are going to get even more expensive than they are already.

Good thing I don't pursue those shows very often. I'm glad this is coming out NOW and not two years ago. I would have been wiped out if they had done this two or three years ago.

So what will this do to YJ/eBay resellers then?

Is this like "American Ganster"....you know...eliminating the middleman?

[RoboFlonne]

I'm pretty sure prices will drop and not go up...

[Keropi]

That's the part I didn't understand. How will YJ prices go down?

You mean eBay prices will go down right?

[RoboFlonne]

That's the part I didn't understand. How will YJ prices go down?

You mean eBay prices will go down right?

When you eliminate the middle man... All prices go down on any collectible in any market.

The secondary market is significant in every collectible hobby.

p.s. and Deputies will start to go out of business...

[wELCOME cONSUMER]

This will be cool, especially if sellers are more open to shipping overseas.

[kira]

international shipping is another thing to worry about ifyour a seller for here in the us. i assume it doesnt cost to much if your shipping from japan via ems. here in the states that international fee to ship a package is a killer. another thing to think of.