As I really only interact with collectors on Mercari, I don’t really have too in depth of an idea on how people here interact with the hobby, however, I’m hoping to change that a little bit. I’m thinking about trying to start a youtube channel over here where I use only Japanese though. I mainly want to practice my Japanese through it, but maybe see if I can establish some kind of point of leverage, that’d also be beneficial for me as a buyer/seller.
Either way, as far as I can tell, the rarity of the card holds more value to them than anything. In terms of content like American Youtubers, I don’t often see much talking about market forces in general. It tends to be more opening videos than anything. Then again, I also might just be really bad as searching in Japanese. I’ve tried searching pokemon, in japanese characters, but all I got was Poketoons, which is fantastic btw. With Yugioh, there are many little variants, and those variants all have sometimes quite drastic price point differences. Condition can sometimes be considered A LOT more harshly than in the states though. I recently just got some absolutely killer prices on some fairly rare and popular cards because they had “damage,” but when I looked at condition, while they might not be gradeable, they’re still pretty much a solid LP in my terms at least. No creases, the overall sheens were strong, the backs had some edge wear, but none of the damage was so drastic as for me to hate it as a binder card. These were priced at well below damaged prices. This is of course, store dependent, but this one store seemed to either not know what they were selling, or just wanted to dump the stuff.
With the semi-recent addition of PSA Japan, I’ve been finding more graded cards on the market over here which is kinda nice to see. Means that maybe I can get ahead of the crowd a little bit in terms of knowledge in that area. I would imagine this would also increase the need for pristine cards here though as well. In the same way as the Western market has kind of grown to have two fairly distinct market segments I feel. I have noticed more people listing items from Japan onto ebay though. So I imagine that the market is potentially realizing that they can branch out of Japan and make more by selling to the west. Physical shops still seem to be relatively distant form market noise in the west, prices are literally all over the place. Some stuff is way over market, I regularly see ungraded copies of the rocket 20th anniv full arts for like 6000 USD each. Vending stuff can be 600 yen each in one store, and in the bargain bin at another. I find Masaki cards tend to be just about on point with US market noise to be honest. In many cases, JP seems to be more expensive for them right now actually.
Of course, everyone knows about the recent insane waifu craze over here. Prices are significantly higher for those in japan than stateside. I’ve recently seen a few English FA female trainers appear here for higher than American prices. Not sure if they sold, but I saw them on my recommended stuff which is a first.
In regards to buying items online, NEVER trust a seller that say its “close to beauty products”. (美品に近い) too many times have I been burned. Many card sellers are miserable at condition descriptions in Japan. I just buy stuff if it’s a good price even if damaged. I will RARELY pay up for something that’s deemed mint. Even if I ask for more photo clarification and specifically ask the seller to check and report to me about any tiny dents or scratches, they’re still incapable a good majority of the time. I’m not trying to bash, just saying what I notice from the thousand+ purchases I’ve made in the last year.
One thing I’m INCREDIBLY(edit, I guess incredibly is a bit of an overstatement haha) worried about is when the borders open. Right now several cards shops have shut down in Akihabara, and Nakano Broadway has almost completely shut down the 3rd/4th floor, idr which one. As of now, trading card shops seem to be still going strong. However, Japan has bene pricing things differently due to the decreased tourism. So, when JP opens its borders again, I’m expecting the Western “BUY EVERYTHING” mentality is really gonna wreak havoc with the current Japanese pricing system. So my best bet is for everyone to buckle up because it’s gonna be crazy. Not entirely sure, but JP Prices might skyrocket when borders open. I know quite a number of people personally that are ready and willing to buy a ticket the moment Japan opens its borders again.
Sorry this was a heck of a write-up haha! I just started writing and kept thinking of things I have noticed over time. Anyone that has more knowledge, feel free to pick me apart haha! I’ve been relatively non-interactive for the most part, so I just see trends and that’s about it. That’s where these deductions come from. I also didn’t fully go through and re-edit everything, so I apologize for grammar mistakes and whatnot.
