Insane Japanese Sellers

I need to rant for a minute.

eBay isn't so big here in Japan. Instead, sellers use Yahoo Japan Auctions or Mercari. Both of these sites have a lot of benefits over eBay's system, as a buyer and I'm sure as a seller. The fee structure for them seems to be less focused on per-auction or final value fees, and more on monthly fees for having a store. This means that prices often stay lower. YJA card sellers often have shipping under a buck - the cost of the stamp and perhaps the envelope. Part of this is because the Japanese postal service can handle delivering envelopes without ripping them open or bending them, so bubble mailers aren't really necessary.

Mercari doesn't allow bundling, and until you buy something there's no way to contact a seller. So any price negotiations or combining of purchases happens in the comment section. Mercari sellers usually include shipping in their prices for smaller things, so it really pays to discuss a total for several purchases. This can slow things down.

Yahoo's system feels outdated, but it's generally pretty fast. Only recently have they improved their checkout system for combined wins/purchases, and some sellers use some old storefront form of checkout which makes things much more complicated.

Both systems (other than the storefront checkout system in YJA) have an automatic system for notifying buyers and sellers about the progress of completed purchases - whether shipping information has been sent, whether payment is completed, whether the item has been shipped, and for tracked items on Mercari, whether it's been delivered. Both systems require buyers to mark the goods as received before sellers can get their money as a form of protection, but the system will automatically complete this after an extended period of time with no claim.

Sellers can block bidders for whatever reason, mainly to keep harassment to a minimum (non-paying bidders on YJA, and those who leave harassing comments in Mercari).

Now here's where I have to rant.

Twice in the past week, including just now, I've tried buying or bidding on something, only to find out I've been blocked.

On Mercari, I was blocked by a seller I never bought from. The seller listed a bunch of cards from a set I was interested in, but didn't give any details. My comment was a question asking if there were any cards from a particular set of numbers... and the seller deleted my comment and blocked me from buying his auctions.

And on YJA, I've just come across a seller that I've purchased from before who has cards I want to bid on. I have perfect feedback there, and he left me positive feedback on an auction four years ago. Yet he blocked me.

What is wrong with these people? Seriously, Japanese people. Get some social skills. I don't even know if eBay has a blocking function, but no sane seller would block someone simply for asking if certain cards were in a lot with no details. And no sane seller would block someone who paid for their auctions that they've won before.

Of course, since they've blocked me, there's no way to see what is wrong with those people. And in my mind, there must be something wrong with them. Since I asked a simple factual question to one, and I paid for my auction for the other, and they left me positive feedback.

The problem isn't being blocked. The problem is that I can still see their listings. No, I take that back. The problem is that I'm blocked without doing something wrong. So the problem is that these sellers are insane. Prove me wrong.

New Aquisitions: Low Number Mojo and Other Sweetness!

Finding US singles is hit or miss in Japan. You could find just the card you're looking for - I've found a few cards from the 1990s on that I needed for sets and player collections. Or, completely shut out - I can find packs of 2018 Topps but I doubt I'll find singles, and only a handful have found their way onto Yahoo! Japan Auctions.

And then, many of them are overpriced. Are you willing to pay $3 for a Jose Altuve base card from 2018 Topps? Neither am I. But there are plenty of hidden gems, like the cards in this post; all of them came to me for 100 yen ($1) each, plus about 100 yen shipping total.

 It may be logoless, and of "just" Austin Jackson, but it's a gold parallel numbered to 10.

 I might have overpaid a smidgen for this Frank Thomas sample, but then again this card is sold out on COMC.

 Another low parallel, this Early Wynn was an early win at 100 yen, and is numbered out of 99. More importantly, I believe this finishes my Origins parallel rainbow!

 I love Diamond Kings! Usually, the most popular players are missing from my collection, so I went ahead and grabbed this card without checking my want list. Okay, I already have this card for my set, but I never picked up a Heritage Collection insert for my type collection! Win!

 History repeated itself with this 2002 Heritage Collection - I had Bonds for the set, but I didn't have a type collection card. Double win!

 Frenchy (does anybody call him that anymore?) sure had a big grin for this minor league parallel - the Black Edition #/50 could probably be had for less if I scrounged around enough card shows... but that doesn't happen in Japan.

This Just card just is just numbered just to just 100. It just could just be just better just if just the player's just first name was just Justin. Just.

In the end, all of these cards will find a nice home in my type collection. Thanks for reading!

I've Got Wood.

There are a couple sellers on Yahoo Japan Auctions who tend to list player lots. I don't know what inspires them to do this so often; I'm sure making actual sets is impossible with whatever inventory they have, but perhaps the cards come from card shops clearing out their old stock. I've bought a few of these lots in the last few years, most notably grabbing a Ken Griffey Jr. lot with some seemingly overlooked rarer inserts I needed.

The Kerry Wood lot below had a couple welcome surprises, too. All the cards - almost five dozen - are pictured below without much commentary, until the end. So, until you reach the bottom, enjoy the gallery.

As you may have noticed there are a couple parallels and variations above. And there are a couple duplicates, too. The oddest cards in this lot are the puzzle crotch card (I don't think that's Kerry Wood) at the top of this post, and the duplicate Devil Rays checklist cards which don't mention Wood anywhere. The cards above don't really have a place in my collection, so I'm not sure what I'm going to actually do with them.

These two cards, however, might be somewhat unfamiliar to most readers. If you paid enough attention to one of my recent posts, you might recognize the Yankees card as being from the Kanebo MLB Gum/pin set. The All-Star Game card also came from that release, so this lot put me two cards closer to building that set.

And speaking of Kanebo, this 2003 (2nd Series) Topps Kanebo MLB Gum card was also in the lot. I wouldn't have realized if I hadn't flipped it over.

But three little cards weren't worth the price of the lot. This card made me pull the trigger:

This patch is pretty, even if it is relatively high-numbered for a patch. And it is a great addition to my type collection.

Maybe I'll cover a table with all those other Kerry Wood cards. Then it would be a Wood-top table.

Maybe it's time for bed for me, huh?