Shopping services (also known as proxy services) can assist you with purchases that might not be available in your country, do not ship to your country, or are otherwise difficult to purchase on your own due to language or payment issues.

Tenshi Shop is a shopping service for Japan. If you are looking for items from shops or sellers in Japan, but don’t speak Japanese, don’t have a Japanese shipping address, don’t understand the buying process for a particular store, can’t get your credit card to work/can’t make payment, or would rather just not deal with the general hassle of trying to shop in Japan from abroad, Tenshi Shop can help you.

Tenshi Shop can help you purchase from Japanese online shops, Japanese auctions, Japanese app sites (flea market apps for smart phones), and some in store shopping.

You will need to submit a Shopping Service Request Form.   Please visit the Shopping Services page and select the type of shopping you want to do.  On each shopping type page you will find links to the Request Form and Tenshi Shop’s Terms and Conditions.

Please note the special section about Reservations/Spot Claiming which apply to some in store releases only.

In store shopping means shopping at a physical location or store in Tenshi Shop’s area.

Tenshi is not located in a major metropolitan area like Tokyo or Osaka, so it is not always possible to visit a store if they only have locations in those major cities. 

Tenshi does sometimes make trips to Tokyo if the shopper covers transportation, but please note the fee is very high so it is only possible for items that can be put on hold in advance or are otherwise guaranteed purchases.

A list of shops that Tenshi can visit locally can be found on the In-Store Shopping Service Page.  See more details about in store shopping under the In Store Shopping Caution Points and Limitations section of Tenshi Shop’s Terms and Conditions.

App shopping is for purchases made from smart phone based flea market apps.  Sellers on these apps are regular people (not professional shops) selling their personal, usually used/second hand items.

The three most popular flea market apps in Japan are:

Mercari

Rakuma (formerly Fril, referred to as Rakuma-Fril on Tenshi Shop)

PayPay Flea Market

All three markets have an online version you can view in a regular web browser, so even if you do not have access to the smart phone version of the app, you can still browse items. 

If you are not located in Japan it is nearly impossible to buy from any of these apps yourself as a Japanese phone number is required to register an account. You must also be able to communicate with sellers in Japanese, as most sellers will ignore or block you if you try to communicate in another language.  There are a lot of unspoken rules on top of the official terms of each app, so app shopping is especially tricky if you are not familiar with how it works.  There are lots of amazing finds on app flea markets, and Tenshi Shop can help you get them!

See more details about app shopping under the Auction and App Shopping Caution Points and Limitations section of Tenshi Shop’s Terms and Conditions.

Auction shopping involves bidding on items on online auctions with the goal of being the high bidder so you can purchase the item.  Sellers on auctions are usually regular people (not professional shops) selling their personal used and second hand items.

Yahoo Auctions Japan

MBOK Auctions

Both auction platforms work similarly to the auction site “eBay,” which is a popular auction platform outside of Japan that you may be familiar with.  You enter your high bid and the platform bids up incrementally on your behalf until you win or are outbid.

Some listings have a Buy It Now (in Japanese: 今すぐ落札) feature where you can buy the listing at a set price and end the bidding immediately.

When you contact Tenshi Shop about bidding on an auction, you should give the maximum price you are willing to pay for the item itself (not including any fees) in yen. This will be your high bid.

Please note that due to certain laws passed in the EU, Yahoo Auctions Japan does not allow their site to be viewed from EU countries.  In order to view listings, residents of those countries must access the website through a third party website or by using a non EU IP address.

See more details about app shopping under the Auction and App Shopping Caution Points and Limitations section of Tenshi Shop’s Terms and Conditions.

In almost all cases, yes!

Please check out the Reservations and Spot Claiming page.

If you are unfamiliar with the release systems for these three brands, getting one of their new release can seem particularly daunting, but Tenshi Shop can help!

As long as you meet a few requirements, you can claim a spot for a new item ahead of its release in order to increase your chances of getting it.

Please check out the Reservations and Spot Claiming page.

Tenshi Shop charges a commission fee of 5%, with a minimum fee of $5.00 USD (depending on your total, 5% or $5.00, whichever is greater).

For In Store and Online Shopping, the fee is 5% of the total of all goods, $5.00 minimum.

For Auction and App Shopping, the fee is 5% per listing, or $5.00 minimum.

Some reservations (spot claiming/release day purchases) have a 10% fee.  Please see the Reservations and Spot Claiming page for more information.

Shoppers also cover other fees associated with fulfilling their orders, such as domestic and international shipping. Please see the Commission and Fees section of Tenshi Shop’s Terms and Conditions.

It is not possible to give you an exact final total for your order up front.  The final total can only be determined after all items are purchased, packed up, and weighed for shipping cost.

Tenshi Shop uses a constantly fluctuating exchange rate and international shipping costs are based on the weight/size of your package after all the items you ordered are packed together.  Before any shopping starts, there are simply to many unknown factors, to give you an exact final total, so you have to have flexibility in your budget.  There are convenient Estimator Calculators for each type of shopping though, and  they can give you a rough idea of your total before international shipping.

You can access the calculators here:

In Store Shopping Calculator

Online Shopping Calculator

App/Auction Shopping Calculator

Tenshi Shop Offers Four Kinds of Shipping:

EMS (express airmail via Japan Post)

e-Packet Airmail (airmail for small packages via Japan Post)

Surface Mail (shipping by boat via Japan Post)

Yamato Transport/UPS (airmail shipping via a partnership between the Japanese courier Yamato Transport and international courier United Postal Service)

All four types are not available for all countries (for example, the US, Canada, France, Germany and the UK cannot use e-Packet Airmail).  Please see here for more details.

See more details about shipping under the Package Consolidation and Shipping Information section of Tenshi Shop’s Terms and Conditions.

Items are generally shipped within one week of receiving your payment (not including weekends or Japanese national holidays).

EMS is usually shipped several times a week, whereas Airmail, Surface Mail, and Yamato/UPS packages are only shipped once per week. If you are needing prompt shipping, it is best to choose EMS.

After your order is shipped you will be provided with a tracking number and information on how to track your package.

Shipping times vary for each shipping method.

EMS: 4-7 days

Airmail: 1-2 weeks

Surface Mail: 2-3 months

Yamato Transport/UPS: 6-10 business days

Keep in mind that these are only estimates.  There are cases where packages are held up in customs or are temporarily delayed during the international shipping process and simply arrive later than expected.  Don’t panic if your package is slightly behind schedule.

See more details about shipping under the Package Consolidation and Shipping Information section of Tenshi Shop’s Terms and Conditions.

If you paid with PayPal, Tenshi Shop can ship only  to the address registered as your shipping address when you paid the invoice.

It is important to be sure your address is up to date.  This is PayPal’s policy.

If you have accidentally chosen an incorrect address and the package has already been shipped, if the package is returned, Tenshi Shop can reship it to you, but you will need to pay shipping again. If your package is accepted at the incorrect address, you will need to retrieve it yourself.

If your package has not been shipped, you will need to pay your invoice again with the correct address, after that, the payment with the incorrect address will be refunded in full.

Yes.  Tenshi Shop only ships via traced and insured shipping methods. 

Depending on the type of shipping you use, the level of insurance will vary.

EMS: fully insurable

e-Packet Airmail: max insurable value 6,000 yen

Surface Mail: fully insurable, some countries excluded

Yamato Transport: fully insurable to 200,000 yen

See more details about shipping under the Package Consolidation and Shipping Information section of Tenshi Shop’s Terms and Conditions.

After your package is shipped, you will receive an email containing the tracking information for your package.

You can use the included link in the e-mail to track your package.

Visit the Japan Post Tracking Page to track EMS, e-packet Airmail, and Surface Mail. In most cases, you can also track these packages on your home country’s national postal carrier’s website (for example, USPS for the US, Australia Post for Australia). Sometimes this will give you more detailed information, especially after the package has reached your country’s borders.

Visit the Yamato Transport Tracking Page to track your Yamato Transport package within Japan.  When the package leaves Japan, the Yamato page will provide you with a UPS tracking number that you can use to track it on their website. The UPS tracking site may vary by country.

If you did not receive your tracking number, please send me an e-mail so that I can resend the information.

Shopping Services can be paid for with PayPal or Domestic Japanese Bank Transfer only.

You can pay by credit card even if you do not have a Paypal account, all you need is an active email address to receive the invoice and pay securely though Paypal’s website!

Tenshi Shop does not accept returns, cancellations, or offer refunds under any circumstances outside of errors made by Tenshi Shop.

If your items have already been requested and purchased or bid on, they cannot be cancelled.  Please feel free to contact Tenshi Shop explaining your situation, and we will decide on a case-by-case basis how best to resolve any issues.

Tenshi Shop is located in Japan.

Please note, for in-store shopping, Tenshi Shop is not located in the major metropolitan areas of Tokyo or Osaka, so it is difficult to visit stores that only have locations in these two cities.  Trips to Tokyo are possible, but the transportation fee is high.

Please see the In Store Shopping Caution Points and Limitations section of Tenshi Shop’s Terms and Conditions for more information.

You can contact Tenshi via email.

If you want to request a service, please use the Shopping Request Form.

If you have a general inquiry, please send an email to service@tenshishop.com.

Tenshi will also respond to DMs on Instagram, but email is more reliable and likely to get a quicker response.

Tenshi replies to all messages personally and will get back to you as soon as possible!  If you don’t hear back in 24-48 hours, please check the News Section for any planned delays or try again.