As a Buyer you'll want to know the shipping cost from the Seller to me so you can estimate your total cost. Yahoo doesn't require that Sellers put shipping costs into their listings or sometimes it's described in a way that's difficult to understand. I can help you with that. Over time you'll be able to learn more about shipping and estimate things better. The good news is that most Sellers don't pad shipping prices. In fact, most of the time you'll just pay actual shipping prices and nothing for handling or materials.
No Shipping Listed
There are times when Sellers don't add any information about shipping at all.
COD Shipping
A lot of Sellers use a form of COD shipping in Japan. That means the shipping costs are paid directly to the shipping company when I receive the item. In that case I won't know what the actual shipping charges are until your item arrives at my door. Some Sellers will add information in the listing with links to the shipping company so you can see what the cost will be, but that's Japanese that you won't be able to understand. It might be possible for you to figure it out but it will take a lot of time and research on your part.
All Japan Shipping
For smaller items it's not uncommon to see one price for all of Japan. Usually the kanji you see will be "全国一律価格" and it will translate as "entire country" or "nationwide even price" in the translation. So the listing might say "全国一律価格 1000 yen" which means it's 1,000 yen to anywhere in Japan. If you're buying a smaller item and you see some shipping translation and one price then it's probably one price to ship anywhere in Japan. Japan also has a service called EXPACK which is an envelope that costs 500 yen. You can ship anything that fits in the envelope for a flat 500 yen price so if you see "EXPACK500" in the listing you'll know shipping is 500 yen. 'EXPACK" is the word they use in English so it's easy to see in a listing.
Shipping Tables
The more sophisticated Sellers will have tables in their listings showing the cost to the different areas of Japan. It will take some getting used to, but after a little while you'll be able to see how much the item will cost to ship to me. If you're using a translation service you'll see my area listed as "Fukuoka" or "Kyushu." There are two kanji you should look for: 九州 and 福岡. That's where I live. 福岡 (Fukuoka) is in 九州 (Kyushu) like Los Angeles is in California. Some tables will have one or the other or both listed. Check out the tables below and see if you can find the correct shipping costs:
Above: If you look at the last line from the bottom you'll see that shipping to me is 1,000 yen.
Above: If you look at the second to last line you'll see that shipping to my area is 1500 yen.
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Above: If you look at the second to last line you'll see that shipping to my area is 1,260 yen.
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Above: If you look at the second to last column you'll see that shipping to my area is 1,400 yen.
Above: You will see "Kyushu" on the last row. The auction says the item is size "C" so shipping to me will be 1,600 yen.
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Above: If you look at the second row you'll see that shipping to my area is 1,260 yen.
You can keep this page handy and just copy the kanji and do a search in the listing if that's easier for you. The tables I used above are pictures so you can't search in them, but regular Yahoo Auctions will just use text so you can copy the kanji for my area and search for it.
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Multiple Shipping Options
Some listings will give you multiple methods for shipping. If that's the case then I'll just use my best judgment. If you're buying a $5 CD and they offer a $2 shipping option and a $10 shipping option then I'm probably just going to choose the $2 shipping option. If you're buying a $300 rare CD game then I'll choose the insured and tracked $10 option. I make those choices when I buy my own items so I'll just apply the same logic to anything you buy.
Combining Shipping
Yes, most Sellers will combine your items into one box to save on shipping charges. In that case I'll pass on the savings to you.
In Conclusion...
As I said before it's not always easy to know how much shipping will be, but with everything else Yahoo after a short time you'll be able to figure things out. After you buy a few items you'll see the shipping cost on your spreadsheet so you'll be able to take a guess as to what the next item will cost even if the shipping price isn't listed in the auction. If your last 5 consoles cost between 1,200 yen and 1,800 yen to ship then you can probably assume the next one is going to be between 1,200 yen and 1,800 yen.
Some final notes.... Shipping in Japan is very safe and reliable. Things don't arrived damaged or get lost. It's just something that never seems to happen. In addition, people usually package items well. Japan prices items by volume, not weight, so keep that in mind. Someone small but heavy might be cheap to ship but something big and light might be expensive...
