Is FROM JAPAN worth it? Proxy buying to Hong Kong, handling fees and 500 points: 10 things to know before you order

FROM JAPAN, now called One Map by FROM JAPAN, is a Japanese proxy buying and bidding service: you pick something from a Japanese online shop, second-hand platform or auction site, they buy it, the seller sends it to their warehouse in Japan, and they forward it to you. Sister service FROM USA does the same for American shops. It's been going since 2004 and says it has shipped more than 17 million items from 5,000-plus websites to 190-plus countries and regions.

You can paste a product link or search by keyword across Mercari, JDirectItems Auction and Fleamarket, Rakuten, Rakuten Rakuma, Amazon, SNKRDUNK, plus anime and hobby specialists like Surugaya, Mandarake and Lashinban, and the site has a Traditional Chinese version. It's run by FROM JAPAN Co., Ltd. and its group company ONE MAP INC. Under the terms, FROM JAPAN buys the item itself and sells it on to you rather than acting as your agent, so refunds and compensation go through FROM JAPAN, not the original shop.

Charge 1 is the item price, paid when you order; if the listing doesn't include Japan's 10% consumption tax, it's added at cost. Charge 2 only comes once the item reaches the warehouse and you've picked how to ship it: Japanese domestic shipping at cost, ¥500 handling per item, international shipping, plus any extras you ask for, like three photos for ¥500 or repacking from ¥1,500.

Once Charge 2 is issued you have 30 days to pay it, or FROM JAPAN can sell or dispose of your stuff. Before that you get 60 days' free storage, and that's what makes bundling work: wait for a few orders to arrive, ship them in one go and pay international shipping once. Parcels worth over ¥200,000 sent by Japan Post also pay a ¥2,800 export clearance fee.

Each item costs ¥500 to handle, charged once if you buy several of the same thing together. That fee is the Product Protection Plan: 60 days' free storage, bundling, cover for loss or damage on both legs, to the warehouse and to you, and a check that what arrived is the right item with no obvious damage.

Claims come with conditions though: report damage or missing items within 7 days of the parcel arriving; compensation tops out at the value on the shipping slip and always comes back as FJ Points, whatever you paid with. Shipping methods without tracking get no compensation, and small-packet shipping is only for items under ¥30,000.

Say you buy three Mercari items adding up to ¥10,000, with the sellers covering domestic shipping. Charge 1 is ¥10,000; Charge 2 adds ¥1,500 in handling plus international shipping. At Japan Post's published EMS rate to Hong Kong, one box up to 2 kg is ¥4,550, so the whole order is ¥16,050, about HK$803 at the ECB rate of 23 October 2026 (HK$1 = ¥19.99).

Send it as three separate 700 g boxes and EMS is ¥7,200, the order ¥18,700, about HK$935, so bundling saves ¥2,650, about HK$133. FROM JAPAN's Fee Calculator lists the price of every shipping method and weight before you order, and the cheapest one changes with parcel size, so check it first rather than assuming EMS is the deal. Next to all that, the 500 points are worth about HK$25.

Hong Kong Customs is clear: Hong Kong is a free port with no customs tariff and no VAT or general services tax; the only dutiable goods are liquor over 30% alcohol, tobacco, hydrocarbon oil and methyl alcohol. So figures, clothes and collectibles land with nothing more to pay, and your cost comes down to international shipping.

Some things just can't be sent, like lithium batteries to certain countries, so check the prohibited list before you bid; alternative smoking products like e-cigarettes are also banned from import into Hong Kong. If you pay by PayPal, the item can only ship to the country or region registered on your PayPal account when you pay.

Sign up for One Map through our link, buy something on FROM JAPAN, and you get 500 FJ Points. One point is ¥1 on FROM JAPAN, so you get ¥500 off next time, about HK$25, which is exactly one item's handling fee or a bit of shipping. Open the link and sign up in the same browser, because FROM JAPAN says the referral might not count otherwise.

The points only arrive 2 months after your items leave the warehouse, so they can't cut your first order. FROM USA purchases and auctions don't count, and you can't spend the points there either. FROM JAPAN doesn't publish a minimum spend or an end date for the programme, and it has the final say on awarding points. FJ Points can't be cashed out, transferred or combined, vanish if you close your account, and all expire after a year with no new trade.

Full disclosure: the link on this page is our refer-a-friend link, so once your first order ships, FROM JAPAN gives us FJ Points too.

FROM JAPAN takes Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Alipay, prepaid deposits and FJ Points, with no payment fees; JCB only works for cards registered on or before 1 May 2021. FJ Points can cover all or part of Charge 1 and Charge 2. Everything's priced in yen, so paying with a Hong Kong dollar credit card may get you hit with a foreign currency fee by your card issuer; use a card with a low one.

Auctions have their own rules. JDirectItems Auction has a monthly bidding limit, and past it you can only pay with deposits or FJ Points; if your payment method fails after you win, you've got 48 hours to pay. Budget for Charge 2 before you bid, and don't get carried away.

The check only confirms you got the right item with no obvious damage; it doesn't test whether things work, look for small flaws or tell real from fake, and existing stains, scratches or wear on second-hand items aren't covered.

Cards bought from private sellers on JDirectItems Auction, Rakuma or Mercari that turn out swapped, re-shrink-wrapped or opened aren't covered, even if they don't match the listing. For pricey cards or designer goods, buy from shops with a returns policy or sellers with a long feedback history, and screenshot the listing before you pay.

On 24 October 2026, FROM JAPAN had 4.3 on Trustpilot from 2,135 reviews, 411 of them in the past year; 71% gave five stars and 12% one star. FROM JAPAN replied to 86% of negative reviews, though Trustpilot notes it hasn't invited customers to review lately. There's no dedicated app to rate.

The praise is mostly about fast support, quick dispatch, careful packing and clearly listed charges. The common gripes: orders going in too slowly to grab limited items, packing that's either an oversized box pushing up shipping or too flimsy so the parcel gets crushed, damage and loss claims refused or paid out small, pricey international shipping, and support that's slow or copy-paste.

Bundling is the biggest saving: wait until several orders arrive within the 60 days of free storage, then ship once and pay international postage once. Before each shipment, compare methods in the Fee Calculator, because the cheapest option changes with size and weight.

Small-packet shipping is only available for items under ¥30,000, but methods without tracking get no compensation, so pick a tracked one for anything pricey. Some users complain oversized boxes push up shipping; if you want things repacked there's a repacking service from ¥1,500, so work out whether it actually saves you money first.

Go for it if you already want something sold in Japan that won't ship to Hong Kong, like Mercari finds, Surugaya or Mandarake collectibles or auction lots, and you'll order again within a year so the points get used. Bundle it into one box and run it through the Fee Calculator first.

Skip it if you're only in it for the reward: ¥500 doesn't cover an order with international shipping attached. Stay sharp with pricey cards and designer goods, because the check doesn't verify authenticity; dutiable stuff like liquor also pays Hong Kong duty on top.