# How to buy used cameras from Japan

An installed battery can move only when every lithium condition is met. A spare cannot.

Estimates only. Not a quote, not a customs ruling, and not an offer to sell or ship. Confirm fees, prohibitions, and duty with the proxy and with destination customs. Figures can change after the last-verified date.

JapanLanded may later earn a commission when someone uses a referral link. Affiliate enrollments are not in place, so outbound links are public pages, not tracked referrals. We do not sell the goods. Names of proxies and products are used to describe them and are their owners' trademarks.

Data as of 2026-10-15. Dataset 2026-10-15.3.

## Shops that stay domestic

Map Camera's international guide points overseas buyers to its eBay store or to Buyee. Its own shipping guide is domestic. Kitamura's shop is domestic too; the English tax-free page says the eBay store currently serves the United States only. Sofmap's overseas support was not researched.

Buyers on r/AnalogCommunity argue about Japanese auction condition grades, and some prefer eBay's buyer protection. That is a debate, not a rule. Ask the proxy about insurance. No premium is stored here.

- [Map Camera international guide](https://www.mapcamera.com/html/internationalguide/en_page.html?SmartPhone=ON)
- [Map Camera shipping guide](https://www.mapcamera.com/html/guide/shipping.html)
- [Kitamura tax-free and overseas note](https://www.kitamura.jp/service/tax-free/en)
- [r/AnalogCommunity: debate on Japanese auction cameras](https://www.reddit.com/r/AnalogCommunity/comments/1qjw06s/do_not_buy_cameras_from_japanese_sellers_at/)
- [r/AnalogCommunity: cameras from Buyee](https://www.reddit.com/r/AnalogCommunity/comments/1fe6w60/anyone_buys_cameras_from_buyeejp/)
- [r/analog: ordering from Japan via eBay](https://www.reddit.com/r/analog/comments/1uwlqfi/ordering_from_japan_via_ebay/)

## Batteries and high prices

Japan Post wants the cell installed, inside the capacity limit, at most four cells or two packs, and a destination that still accepts them. From 30 August 2024, seventeen destinations stopped. We copied six names. Spain, Sweden, Norway, Greece, Czechia, and Hungary are those six.

If the body is over ¥200,000, Buyee's postal brokerage fee applies. eBay Partner Network's Cameras & Photo rate is 2.0% with a USD 550 cap per transaction. We are not enrolled, so this is a fact about the program, not a link that pays us.

- [Japan Post lithium battery restriction notice](https://www.post.japanpost.jp/service/send/oversea/attention/restriction/restriction02_en.pdf)
- [Japan Post: destinations that stopped accepting lithium batteries](https://www.post.japanpost.jp/service/send/oversea/information/2024/0830_01.html)
- [Buyee fees guide](https://buyee.jp/helpcenter/guide/fees/?lang=en)
- [eBay Partner Network rate card](https://partnernetwork.ebay.de/our-program/rate-card)

## Worked example

48000 yen, 700 g, United States. Export check: conditional for United States. Read the reasons before you pay. This is not a customs clearance.

| Proxy | Pay now, known | EMS reference |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Buyee | ¥48,650 – ¥50,000 | ¥4,460 |
| ZenMarket | ¥48,500 | ¥4,460 |
| Neokyo | ¥48,850 | ¥4,460 |
| Tenso | ¥48,280 | ¥4,460 |
| FROM JAPAN | ¥48,000 | ¥4,460 |
| White Rabbit Express | ¥48,000 | ¥4,460 |

These partial sums are not a landed total. No cheapest and no fastest proxy. Domestic postage, payment fees, and the proxies' own international rates are missing or ranged, and no transit times are stored. Naming a winner would invent a number.

## Steps

1. **Copy the yen price.** Read the price on the listing yourself. JapanLanded does not fetch the page.
2. **Weigh it, or say you didn't.** Enter grams. If you leave weight blank, the tool uses an unsourced placeholder and labels it.
3. **Read pay-now separately from arrival.** The partial sum is not a landed total. Duty amounts are not calculated.
4. **Check whether it can leave Japan.** Lithium batteries, alcohol, and 100 V gear each have their own note. The result is not a customs clearance.
5. **Order on the proxy's own site.** Outbound links are public pages until affiliate programs are enrolled. We never take payment.

## Questions

### Can I ship a spare battery with the camera?

No. Japan Post refuses a lithium battery on its own. Ship the body, with the cell installed, or do not ship the cell.

- [Japan Post lithium battery restriction notice](https://www.post.japanpost.jp/service/send/oversea/attention/restriction/restriction02_en.pdf)

HTML: https://japanlanded.com/buy/used-cameras