Create meetup in Tokyochevron_right
Select a place on the map to change the location.
I want to meet
Verified required?
want to meet at fmd_good Wildlife Reserve
want to meet at fmd_good Market Deli
explore Tokyo Guides
bar_chart Trends in Tokyo
Where do Japanese order cheap china stuff? Taobao? Temu? Aliexpress? or another platform?
if buy on amazon japan but most stuff is cheap from china, so i wanna order myself
edit: i am banned from japanlife and please stop recommending this nazi facist subreddit to anyone😭… just wondered
if buy on amazon japan but most stuff is cheap from china, so i wanna order myself
edit: i am banned from japanlife and please stop recommending this nazi facist subreddit to anyone😭 mods are literally white power members or some shit like that, banning everyone without a reason
if u want the actual raw prices, 1688 is where taobao sellers themselves buy from. but the interface is pure chinese and u need a proxy that handles the ordering, not just shipping. zenmarket and buyee do support it now but they charge a service fee per item, so it only makes sense if u're grabbing like 10+ things at once.
for single items, honestly just check paypay mall or yahoo shopping first. they have the same junk as temu but with japanese consumer law backing, so returns actually work. i've had a broken led strip from temu and they just gave me a 300 yen coupon, while paypay mall forced the seller to refund me in full within a week.
one thing nobody mentioned: if u're buying clothes, check uriage (売上) rankings on zozotown. they have a "made in china" filter but the stuff that ranks high is usually the same temu tier, just with better sizing charts and actual photos of the fabric. way less hit or miss than blind ordering from aliexpress.
also, for cables and adapters specifically, just go to the 100 yen shop. seria and daiso stock decent quality usb cables now, and the markup over taobao is like 200 yen. not worth the 2 week wait for a 500 yen cable that might be dead on arrival.
tbh most people here just use temu or shein for the really cheap random stuff, but if u want actual quality control, mercari is the move. japanese sellers resell aliexpress junk all the time, but u can find legit chinese brands like xiaomi or anker on there for way less than amazon jp. also rakuten has a bunch of chinese sellers now, just search for 中国直送 and u'll see. honestly for anything that needs to be durable, pay the extra few hundred yen on amazon jp, the shipping from china direct is slow as hell and returns are a nightmare.
Most people I know skip the cheap platforms entirely and just use Yahoo! Shopping or Rakuten with the "海外発送" filter. You'll still get the same Alibaba-tier stuff, but the sellers usually have Japanese descriptions and you can pay via konbini, which is a lot less hassle than dealing with Temu's payment system.
If you really want to cut out the middleman, AliExpress with the "ship to Japan" warehouse option is fine, but check the estimated delivery date before you order. I've had stuff take three weeks when it said five days, and the tracking is useless half the time.
For anything with a plug, battery, or moving parts, just bite the bullet on Amazon Japan. The price difference is often only a few hundred yen once you factor in shipping, and you get actual buyer protection. Cheap electronics from China are a gamble I've lost more times than I've won.
load 2 more replies
Where can I find crispy, pan-fried bacon similar to a certain international style?
if u have a costco membership the kirkland thick cut is the move, 4 packs of 500g for around 2500 yen and it crisps up proper in a cold pan. for smaller runs, precce in azabudai hills & the basement at isetan shinjuku both carry imported US & danish brands in the chilled case, just read the label for "thick cut" or "smoked" and not "loin". also worth knowing japanese bacon is often wet-cured so pat it dry before frying or it steams instead of crisping
kaldi coffee farm is hit or miss but their smoked bacon from denmark shows up pretty regular, the 200g pack runs about 600 yen. what actually works better for me is asking the butcher counter at peacock or life to slice the block bacon thick, like 5mm, they do it for free and it crisps way better than the pre-packed stuff. also fwiw cheap bacon crisps faster, the fatty supermarket kind at 300 yen a pack works fine if u cook it from cold in a dry pan and pour off the fat as it renders.
tbh the gyomu super store brand bacon is surprisingly decent for crisping up, its not thick cut but if you cook it low and slow it gets pretty crunchy. the key is the dry cure vs wet cure thing, wet cure steams. also check hanamasa if you have one nearby, they sell big packs of american style bacon thats actually smoked and firm.