One of my favorite activities is secondhand shopping in Japan.
Everybody likes nice, high-quality, branded or imported goods, but they usually cost a fortune. You may find yourself paying half-a-month salary for a new mobile phone or a new bag… Buying secondhand goods make it possible! You can have practically new, nice, high-quality, branded or imported goods, and they do not cost you an arm or a leg!
Japan is a heaven for secondhand shopping. The secondhand business in Japan are well-developed, well-organized and very convenience. Plenty of sellers and buyers make the prices low, and large collections available. Japan had good economy in near past (Showa and Heisei eras), so many people are still used to buying new things, or get rid of things which are not much used. Secondhand shopping in Japan always feels like treasure-hunting. I often find almost-new items with less than half prices or cost almost nothing!
Also, the secondhand shops in Japan are usually very clean and well-organized. The secondhand goods are cleaned, re-packed and beautifully-displayed. You often find the shops look no different from normal shops. It is a big difference from many thrift stores or flea markets in other countries.
These are some mainstream chain secondhand shops that I recommend. They have branches all over Japan, and the items sold in each shop tend to vary depending on the areas. You can find their branches either from their Homepage or search on Google map.
All of them do both Selling and Buying, but obviously the Buying prices are dirt-cheap, but I still recommend selling things instead of disposal.
They also have online shops, but only higher-priced items available. So, if you want to find the best deals, you must visit the actual shops!
- Book-off (practically founder of Japanese Secondhand business, started with books, but now including toys/fashion/sports/household items… You can sometimes find their mega branches called “Bookoff Super Bazaar”. From my self experience, they offer the lowest prices to Buy, and highest prices to Sell. They also are the only one which offer free-disposal for things that they decline to buy.)
- Hard-off (mostly hardwares, such as musical instruments/cameras/computers etc. It is not related to Book-off!)
- 2nd Street (mostly fashion items, tend to be higher prices, but you can find more stylish items. Their shop display is also the nicest!)
- Treasure Factory (mostly fashion/sports/household items)
- Kitamura-Cameria (the best shop to buy secondhand mobile phones or other electronics, have high discount if you join the service plans at the same time!)
There are also several well-known internet sites, acting as a middle man, allow people to Search, Buy and Sell items without knowing/meeting each other. The sites would like a few percentage of commission, Items would be sent by courier or postal delivery, and the sites would release the payment to be seller after buyer confirms received.
If you have the patience to take photos/write description/wait for buyers/pack and send items, here you can sell your things at much better prices!
- Mericari (the most popular site, has the most amount of users and biggest collection of goods)
- Rakuma (the 2nd most popular site)
- Yahoo Auction (you need to bid and wait, may not win bid)
- Creema (here many people sell their handmade or original items)
Okay, that’s enough talking. Let’s go shopping! I hope that you’ll visit above shops or sites, and find what you want at good prices!
