Rinkya helps you buy items from Japan. We have multiple ways you can do this, but essentially, you can buy from any online shop in Japan without any Japanese knowledge!
Practically, we support 3 methods of buying:
You'll be asked for all the information you would expect, so we can send you items, send you emails and call you by name. As the final part of signup, we'll want to verify your account, and your method of Payment, as well as give you a Bid Limit.
The Bid Limit represents how much buying power you have on Rinkya. Your card or Paypal will be authorized up to 20% of your bid limit. The bid limit is measured in dollars, and may therefore fluctuate a bit depending on exchange rate.
In essence, you can buy items up to an amount equal to your bid limit. You can never bid on items that are more expensive than your bid limit allows, and you can't have an outstanding balance higher than your bid limit. You can bring it down buy paying for outstanding auctions, and bid again when your payments bring your current balance down enough to bid on a new item.
You can verify your account either by credit card, or by Paypal.
Credit Card: We'll ask you to enter your credit card details, which will be sent over a secure service to our processor (they won't touch our server, we won't even know what they are). Then we'll make a so called 'authorization' to your card. The authorization is the first step in a two part charge process, except we won't do the final 'capture' step, and instead void the transactions. The first one allows us to verify whether the charge would be good to go though, so that's all we need, no money is actually charged :)
With the Credit Card method, you can authorize a bid limit up to $1000 which you pick during signup.
Paypal: The only thing required for Paypal verification is that your Paypal details EXACTLY match the details you entered on Rinkya, and that you have a VERIFIED Paypal account. You enter your details, we do a similar authorization as described in the credit card process, and if everything is correct, you're verified with no hassle.
With the Paypal method, you'll always authorize the mimimum bid limit of $100.
After your account is verified, one of our staff will go over your account to see if everything is correct, so it's possible (though unlikely) that you may be asked to fill out some additional information later. Your account will be placed on a temporary hold when this happens, and you'll see a message at the top of the page notifying you of the problem. Feel free to contact us about this if you have any questions.
If you find that your Bid Limit is lower than you needed later, you can always increase it manually up to a $1000 by using your credit card. If you need a limit higher than $1000, or want a higher limit using Paypal, please contact our staff.
After your account is activated, you can start bidding. At the top of the page, right underneath the Rinkya logo, you'll see three buttons that allow you to use the three most common methods of ordering from Rinkya.
Yahoo Japan Auctions
Will show you all the auction categories on Yahoo Japan. You can browse by category, or try searching to find what you want.
When ready, you can place a bid on the item, or in some cases, use a buyout. A bid is exactly what it seems like, and is the maximum amount you'd be interested in paying for the item. If a buyout is available, you can do that instead, and instantly win the item.
If your bid is outbid, you'll receive a notice from Rinkya so you can bid again.
Rinkya Stores
Will show you all the stores we connected to Rinkya, and will regularly have new items and stores. The best way to find out about new items on Rinkya Stores is to subscribe to our newsletter.
You can buy a single item, or multiple items at the same time by putting them in your cart. After your order is placed we'll confirm with all the connected stores, and send you a notice when we've gathered/ordered all the requested items. You'll also get a notice then asking you to pay.
Custom Order
Shows you our store order form, which will allow you to order from any store in Japan.
You can only from one store at a time using the form, but you can place as many orders as you like. After the order is created we'll confirm the order with the store in Japan, and send you a notice asking you to pay.
After you win an auction, you will receive an e-mail notice that gives you your total and directs you to the payment page. Rinkya charges a number of fees for it's services, which are all explained on our fees page.
Please make sure you read and understand those, so you do not encounter any surprises. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us.
There can be no cancellations, refunds or returns. All items are sold as-is. Please ask questions you might have before bidding or you might be stuck with an item you do not want.
Yahoo Japan Auctions does not allow cancellations and does not have the same recourse as services in other countries. Please bid carefully.
After you've won and paid for the item, it will be shipped to the Rinkya warehouse.
When you item arrives, we'll notify you of it's arrival. All items are checked for flaws, breakage or 'not as described'.
We'll store the item in our warehouse for up to 2 months. You can request shipment immediately, or wait while you win other items so you can combine multiple items into one shipment. There is no charge to combine as many items as you want!
When you are ready, you can request shipment through our interface, and will be able to select the items you want shipped, as well as your preferred shipping method. We'll normally pick the shipping method that gives you the best balance between cost and speed, but you can give us any instructions you'd like, or ask for a quote for the specific services. All your items will be repackaged as securely as possible!
After your item is shipped you'll receive a notification with the tracking number, and can follow it to your doorstep (depending on shipping method).