Is ShoppingMallJapan going away/gone?

There's no indication on the site, but when I try to place a bid on a YJP, auctin I get the following: "We're sorry, SMJ is no longer accepting new bids or orders. We ask that you finalize all payments and submit a shipping request as soon as your items are in stock. Please keep in mind, due to the holiday season, we will not ship from 12/28 to 1/6."

What's a good alternate deputy service?

While we're on the subject, Rinkya is also acting up. It forces me to my "orders" page and won't let me search or anything else.

Yes, Shopping Mall Japan is closing it’s doors. No official date has been released yet, to my knowledge. I hope we get our deposits back.

Rinkya, has closed down for several weeks. Evidently, the owner had an accident and needs to change warehouses. (Per Rinkya support)

@ 2019.12.31

SMJ is closing shop effective immediately. No more bidding is allowed. If you have not already requested your deposit to be refunded, do so immediately. At the moment Nick is unable to discuss the reasons why SMJ is ending, but perhaps he can in the near future.

SMJ was a great deputy service even when it first started as AnimeChaos service, it will be sorely missed. Since SMJ is shuttering the business, hopefully another will emerge and offer new services, the alternative trend of fewer DS is too disheartening. Thanks again Nick for all your years of hard work. Cheers!

I find it odd that the main website remains unupdated and still gives the appearance of bein g open. Was access to the main webpage (but not the bidding engine) somehow lost?