Question about YJ

I don't doubt that this has been answered somewhere, but as I cannot find a "search forums", I figured rather than bash my head against the wall, I'd accept the fact that I'm gonna be mocked for my ignorance, accept that with the humility of a novice and not let it get me down.

With that self-depreciating bit out of the way:
it's taken me DAYS to figure out what "YJ" meant (and in case there's someone else out there like me...it's Yahoo!Japan).

Great, finally got THAT bit figured out.

WOW!! I can tell that there are SCADS of cels to be had there as compared to what I'm stumbling across on eBay.

My problem? I don't read the language.

This is a huge problem for me as I have found a few cels I would happily bid on, but, without knowing the terms, or anything else, I don't dare bid!!

Is there some way of converting YJ into something this clueless westerner could read?

Babelfish? Something! ANYTHING! *heh*

I really would appreciate some help/hints/advice as, for me, this is an unexplored source.

Hmmm, on second thought, perhaps I should KEEP it that way. This month alone, I've committed to purchasing another 6 cels..."But it'll only cost me $300 all together! That's a STEAL!!!"

*g*

Help? Please?

I'd appreciate it ALOT!! :)

Hello!

I hope I can help because I also struggled with YJ for a while. I came across Rinkya, a bidding service for us poor cel collectors that can't get good cels here. They import from Japan.
http://www.rinkya.com
Their search engine is English, so you just type in whatever it is you're looking for. Click on the result and when you bring up an auction page, there's a button that says 'Translate into English.' A new window will pop up with the English translation in green, alongside its Japanese text.
It's helped me numerous times in finding out if a cel was authentic or a fan cel.
Does this help some?
-JMK

On this forum post you will find a few translation tools to use.

http://www.rubberslug.com/board/showthread.asp?T=1369

I hope this helps you out some.
Roy

If you are going to be bidding on YJ, you will almost definately need a deputy service. The vast majority of sellers will not ship internationally (mostly due to how incredibly difficult it is to get paid by anyone outside of Japan), so you need someone to act as the middleman. Deputies will bid, pay, and receive the product for you for a charge based on the final price of the auction.

Some popular deputies:

http://www.shoppingmalljapan.com/
http://www.rinkya.com/
http://www.celga.com/
http://www.hobbyshopk.com/

I would suggest that you take a look at their fees and practices before you decide on one to sign up for. Some of them have different ways of holding items and bidding. Also, always remember to figure the fees into the final price.

If you mean you want to create your own YJ account then this link will prove useful:

http://yjaa.hp.infoseek.co.jp/

However as stated previously, many sellers do not do international shipping. Also, when placing bids on auctions, you will be charged a small fee. Otherwise, you'll have to resort to deputy services.