Japanese Craigslist?
May 27, 2011 11:05 AM   Subscribe

What is the equivalent to Craigslist in Japan, perhaps the Osaka area specifically?

A friend is moving over there. She may need a refrigerator and other similar items. Is there a go-to place? An online marketplace thing somewhere?
posted by krilli to Shopping (9 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: For foreigners, Gaijinpot is the most popular site, but there's also local alternatives such as Kansai Flea Market. It's also a good idea to google for "Sayonara Sale" (+Osaka/Kansai), as it's common for foreigners to set up blogs and such with items they're selling as they're leaving the country.
posted by harujion at 11:33 AM on May 27, 2011 [3 favorites]


Best answer: Since you didn't say in the question, there is actually a Osaka-area Cragslist. I don't know how good it is. I was looking at the Tokyo one the other day. It seemed useful, if not major-US-city full of stuff.

I hadn't heard of GaijinPot, so thanks, harujion.
posted by ctmf at 12:10 PM on May 27, 2011


Response by poster:

It didn't even occur to me to check if there was an actual Craigslist. I guess the name throws you off. It's like checking if there's a Hiroshi no meikan in the US.
posted by krilli at 12:44 PM on May 27, 2011


Best answer: There is nothing close to craigslist here. There are no thrift shops either. For household items search on google maps for "recycle shops". They have a lot of things and they usually deliver. Some リサイクルショプ
posted by Infernarl at 3:57 PM on May 27, 2011


Best answer: Most people (Japanese or non-) don't use craigslist in Japan. In my experience most Japanese buy and sell their used goods through recycle shops, like the Book/Hard/etc.-Off chain.

In Kansai you can find classifieds in the back of Kansai Scene, a monthly (?) English magazine. Foreigners leaving the country often sell all their items at once in a "sayonara sale."
posted by armage at 9:27 PM on May 27, 2011


Best answer: auction.yahoo.co.jp is quite lively for buying some things. Sayonara sales in metropolis and so on. Japanese themselves don't really do used-goods, which is why you can often pick up excellent things from daigomi days
posted by lundman at 9:28 PM on May 27, 2011


Best answer: Look for an Off-House (オフハウス) or a Second Street (セカンドストリート) in the area she'll be in. Those are the best places for used appliances that I can think of off the top of my head, at least that are national chains. You can also search Google Maps for リサイクルショップ as Infernarl mentioned for just a general overview of secondhand stores, though not so many of them will deal in household appliances.

Craigslist is a joke in Japan. Most of the posts I've seen when I've checked them have been either spam, scams, or confused people. Luckily, there's a thriving and awesome secondhand store market here, which more than makes up for the lack of classified ads.
posted by DoctorFedora at 5:30 PM on May 30, 2011


Best answer: Download Kansai Flea Market.
posted by planetkyoto at 5:47 PM on May 30, 2011 [1 favorite]


There are flea markets and recycle shops, too.
posted by planetkyoto at 5:48 PM on May 30, 2011


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