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Rakuten, eBay team up to evaluate United States market for utilized Japanese style goods

Japan's Rakuten Group is partnering with eBay to check U.S. need for used Japanese style products, made all the less expensive with the yen trading near a 34year low.

The tie-up, which began on May 8 with just seven vendors on Rakuten's second-hand goods unit Rakuma, aims to capitalise on the currency impact and likewise an approach bargain searching as cost-of-living pressures worldwide crimp costs.

In exchange for commissions on sales, eBay lists Rakuma's. selected items for sale on its website, while a Rakuten-contracted. vendor deals with shipping and customer support in the U.S.

. The trial is starting with used fashion and devices,. which have prestige overseas due to Japanese users' reputation for. treating their high-end products carefully, stated Rakuma basic supervisor. Kenichiro Hasegawa.

Due to the fact that of the use of cases and covers and such, these. pre-owned products remain in rather good shape, Hasegawa said. To. state something is 'utilized in Japan' offers some instant worth.

The tie-up comes amid a financial investment and tourism boom in. Japan, partially sustained by the yen's slide that has made the. country's items fairly inexpensive. Second-hand shops, notably in. Tokyo's electronics district of Akihabara, have been swarmed by. overseas consumers seeking to purchase classic games and toys.

Rakuten did not supply a sales target for the venture with. eBay. Hasegawa said there has not been any feedback from the. seven vendors yet, however if the trial goes well the objective would be. to link all Rakuma shops and users with eBay.

Used and reconditioned items make up about 40% of eBay's gross. merchandise volume. Worldwide sales of thrifted clothes, shoes,. and devices increased more than five-fold in March 2024 from. the year before, the company said.

After the U.S., eBay's next biggest markets are Canada,. Australia, the United Kingdom, and Germany, and its supreme. objective would be to broaden Rakuma offerings to those nations,. said Naoki Kitamura, eBay Japan's head of category management.

(source: Reuters)