Japan Proxy Fee Calculator: See Your Real Total Before You Buy

Last updated: July 12, 2026 — fee model verified July 2026. I live in Japan and buy through these services; the fee rules below are the ones the calculator actually runs, published in full so you can check my work.

Every proxy service quotes you a small number and charges you a large one. Buyee says “¥500.” ZenMarket says “¥500.” Neokyo says “¥350.” Those are the service fees — one line out of five or six, and rarely the line that decides which service is cheapest for you. The thing that actually decides it is your order shape: how many items, from how many sellers, from which platform, at what weight.

So instead of another comparison table that assumes an order you’re not placing, put your order in.

How to Read the Result

The calculator ranks the four services by estimated landed total — what leaves your bank account, not what the fee page advertises. Three of the cost lines (goods, international shipping, import charges) are identical no matter which proxy you pick, so they’re shown separately below the table. The column that actually separates the services is Fees, which bundles:

• the service fee (the advertised number, plus the platform surcharges most people miss),
• domestic shipping inside Japan — seller to the proxy’s warehouse, once per seller, and
• packing/repacking charges where the service bills them separately.

If two services land within a few hundred yen of each other, treat it as a tie and pick on the things a calculator can’t price: interface, English support quality, photo-inspection quality, how they handle a seller who ships you the wrong thing.

The Fee Model, in Full

This is the entire rule set the calculator uses, as of July 2026. If a service changes its pricing and this page still says July 2026, the page is stale — tell me.

Service	Service fee	Domestic shipping	Packing
Buyee	¥500 per order (raised from ¥300 in April 2026)	Estimated ¥500 per store order; ¥350 per Mercari/auction seller	Included
ZenMarket	¥500 per item — but ¥800/item on Mercari (since October 2025) and ¥800 per auction bid (since May 2026)	Estimated ¥500 per store order; ¥350 per Mercari/auction seller	Included
Neokyo	¥350 per item	¥0 — domestic shipping into the warehouse is included	¥500 + ¥150/kg above 2 kg
FROM JAPAN	~¥300 per item plan fee, capped at ¥800 for items from the same store, plus ~5% commission on auctions and Mercari	Estimated ¥500 per store order; ¥350 per Mercari/auction seller	Included

Two consequences fall straight out of that table, and they’re the reason the “cheapest proxy” question has no single answer:

Buyee’s per-order fee is a trap that’s also sometimes a gift. One ¥500 charge covers everything you buy from a single store — so a ten-item AmiAmi haul costs ¥500 in service fees at Buyee versus ¥5,000 at ZenMarket. But Mercari and Yahoo Auctions listings are each a separate seller, therefore each a separate order, so on a ten-item Mercari haul that same “per order” fee becomes ¥500 × 10. Buyee is built for big single-store hauls and punishes marketplace shopping.

ZenMarket’s and FROM JAPAN’s marketplace surcharges bite exactly where you don’t look. ZenMarket’s headline is ¥500/item; on Mercari it’s ¥800, and on auctions ¥800 per bid — lose an auction, bid again, pay again. FROM JAPAN’s ¥300 looks like the cheapest number on this page until the 5% commission lands on a ¥20,000 auction win and turns into ¥1,000 on its own.

Neokyo’s ¥350 includes domestic shipping, which on a multi-seller Mercari haul is worth more than the fee gap between any two services on this list. That’s why it tends to win the messy carts.

Fuller service-by-service notes, including support quality and the parts I don’t like about each: our 2026 proxy comparison.

What the Calculator Estimates (and Where It Will Be Wrong)

I’d rather you know the model’s weak points than trust it blindly.

• International shipping is a mid-range airmail/courier estimate by weight, not a quote. Real shipping depends on box dimensions (volumetric weight punishes boxed figures hard), the exact carrier, and the day — the carrier-by-carrier rate breakdown shows how far apart small packet, air parcel, EMS and courier actually sit. If your item is a boxed 1/7 scale figure, its shipped weight is usually 1.3–2× what the figure itself weighs. When in doubt, estimate high.
• US import charges are calculated as 10% of goods value — the Section 122 surcharge that has been in force since the $800 de minimis exemption ended. This expires July 24, 2026, and what replaces it is not settled. Anything you’re quoted for a package landing after that date is provisional; the live position is in our US tariff hub, which I update as it moves.
• EU/UK is shown as a flat ~20% VAT reference, which is a genuine simplification — rates and handling fees vary by country and carrier.
• Domestic shipping is a flat estimate (¥0–¥800 in reality, per parcel, decided by each seller). Free-shipping listings are the norm on Mercari, so this line often over-estimates.
• Excluded: payment processing fees (typically ~3–4% depending on method), optional insurance, photo services beyond the free allowance, and premium packaging options.

It’s a comparison tool, not a quote. The ranking is far more reliable than the absolute total.

Three Order Shapes, Three Different Winners

The fastest way to build intuition is to run these yourself:

One ¥8,000 figure from AmiAmi, 1.5 kg, to the US. Single store, single item. The service fees are nearly indistinguishable, and the winner is decided by a couple of hundred yen of domestic shipping and packing. Genuinely a coin flip — pick on interface.

Twelve ¥1,500 items from twelve different Mercari sellers, 4 kg, to the US. Now the model separates violently. Buyee bills its ¥500 per seller. ZenMarket bills ¥800 per item because it’s Mercari. Neokyo bills ¥350 per item with domestic shipping included, and wins by a wide margin. This is the cart shape where choosing wrong costs you real money.

A ¥40,000 auction win, single item, 2 kg. FROM JAPAN’s ¥300 plan fee looks great until the 5% commission adds ¥2,000. ZenMarket charges ¥800 per bid. Buyee’s flat ¥500 per order is suddenly the cheapest thing on the page. High-value single lots invert the usual ranking.

Notice that no service wins all three. Anyone who tells you one proxy is simply “the cheapest” is either not doing the math or getting paid.

Pitfalls the Calculator Can’t Price

• Consolidation is the real lever. Every proxy will hold your items and ship them in one box. Combining four separate 0.5 kg shipments into one 2 kg box roughly halves your shipping. The calculator assumes you consolidate; if you ship items one at a time, your real total will be far worse than any number here.
• Storage clocks are running. Free storage windows differ by service (commonly around 30–45 days), and waiting for a preorder to arrive so you can consolidate can quietly push you past them.
• Photo inspection isn’t free forever. Most services give you a few photos per parcel and charge beyond that. If you’re buying used or from Mercari, budget for it — the alternative is a bootleg you didn’t catch. See our Mercari red-flag guide.
• Not every proxy can buy from every store. Suruga-ya in particular has restricted proxy buyers, and access varies by service and changes without notice. Check the store list before you build a cart — details in the Suruga-ya breakdown.
• Currency. The calculator’s yen→USD conversion is a straight rate. Your card issuer will add a foreign transaction fee (commonly 0–3%), and PayPal’s spread is worse than your bank’s.

FAQ

Which proxy is cheapest? It depends on your cart shape, which is exactly why this page is a calculator rather than a verdict. Broadly: many items from one store → Buyee. Many items from many Mercari sellers → Neokyo. High-value single auction lot → Buyee or ZenMarket, but check both. Run your actual order.

Is the calculator free / does it track me? It’s a single self-contained script on this page. No account, no tracking, no data leaves your browser.

Why is the total higher than the proxy’s own checkout estimate? Because most proxy checkout screens quote you the first charge — items plus service fee plus domestic shipping — and bill international shipping and import duties later, once the parcel is packed. That second invoice is where people get surprised. This calculator shows both halves together.

Do these fees include US customs duty? For US destinations, yes: 10% of goods value, which most proxies now collect from you upfront as DDP so the carrier doesn’t stop your parcel. That figure is only valid while the current surcharge stands — see the tariff hub for the live position.

Can I use this for Suruga-ya’s English site or Mercari’s official overseas route? No — those aren’t proxies and don’t follow this fee model. The Suruga-ya comparison is here, and Mercari’s Global App gets its own head-to-head in Mercari’s Global App vs proxy services.

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Sources & methodology

Fee rules are taken from each service’s official pricing pages and change announcements, and cross-checked against real orders: Buyee fees, ZenMarket fees, Neokyo fees, and FROM JAPAN fees. International shipping estimates are derived from Japan Post’s published rate schedule and courier DDP lanes commonly offered by proxies. US import charges reflect the Section 122 surcharge in force as of July 2026; see our tariff hub for the underlying sources and the July 24 expiry. The full model is disclosed above and in the calculator’s source — if you find an error in it, I’d like to hear about it.