On Thu, May 20, 2010 at 4:19 PM, <gear@xmission.com> wrote:
> But they always buy nice stuff and seem to be buying at the behest of folks
> who know what they want. Seems like an interesting set up.
Bingo.
The reverse exists for people elsewhere buying stuff from Japan, especially for Yahoo Auctions. It's called a "proxy". eBay doesn't exist there, Yahoo is the only game in town, and foreign direct bidding is impossible (even if the seller were cooperative, and they ain't). There's only one payment option available, and it's a pain for even legal residents to get if they're foreign.
Using proxies is really common for men's fashion, because there's a lot of western companies with product lines that they sell exclusively in Japan at retail -- so your only options are to go there yourself and walk into a store, pay someone there to do that for you, or pay someone there to buy it for you secondhand online.
-- Fred Blasdel in Seattle, WA