Modern Japanese product (Scarlet & Violet era and newer) is easy to find in the US, because so much of it gets opened here already. Older Japanese bulk, Sun & Moon era and before, is a different story: fewer people opened it stateside, which makes it genuinely harder to source and worth a real premium compared to buying commons off a US bulk pile.
What a real deal looks like
One seller who bought a Japanese bulk collection direct from a contact in Japan paid roughly 35 cents a card, closer to 38 to 40 cents once shipping was factored in, well above the penny or two paid for typical non-shiny US bulk. That's not a bad deal, it reflects genuine scarcity: cards that simply aren't sitting in American bulk piles because they were never opened here in volume. Shipping speed was the other surprise: the full package arrived from Japan in about a week.
-
Typical price, older Japanese bulk
Direct from a Japan-based contact, before shipping.
¢25–35
-
Landed price after shipping
What it actually cost per card once it arrived.
¢~38–40
-
Shipping time, Japan to US
One real shipment, door to door.
days~7
What to actually ask a Japan-based supplier for
- Sun & Moon era and older, specifically. Modern Scarlet & Violet-era Japanese bulk is common in the US and doesn't carry the same premium
- Fewer trainers, more Pokémon. Trainers are less distinctive and harder to move at a markup than character cards
- Holos and reverse holos when available, they carry the real upside on older Japanese product, more than the non-holo commons do
- A rough condition expectation up front. Older Japanese bulk tends to hold up well condition-wise, but it's worth confirming rather than assuming
Pay through PayPal goods and services regardless of how the relationship started, and get an itemized invoice, the same rule that applies to any overseas supplier (full detail in how to avoid supplier scams). A friendly first conversation isn't a substitute for protected payment.
Why it's worth doing even without a guaranteed sale price
Nobody knows exactly how a new category of inventory will sell until it's listed. The upside of older Japanese bulk isn't a guaranteed markup, it's variety a US-only store doesn't have, which pulls in a different kind of buyer: collectors building an English-and-Japanese pair of the same card, or people specifically hunting Sun & Moon-era prints that don't turn up in domestic bulk. Worst case, most of it still sells for close to what it cost, since it was priced with a premium already baked in for the scarcity.
Protect the payment before you send it → Comparing bulk economics across games →