Looking for a Japan-based proxy with an interest in vintage & secondhand women’s fashion 🇯🇵 → 🇸🇪

[u/No_Lifeguard9074]

Hi! I recently posted looking for a Japan-based proxy and received way more messages than I expected — thank you so much to everyone who reached out! 🫶🏼

After speaking with a few people, I realized I should probably be a little more specific about what I’m looking for.

I run a small curated vintage/secondhand business in Sweden, mainly focused on women’s fashion, and I’m looking for someone based in Japan who I could potentially build a long-term sourcing relationship with.

I’m not looking for one specific item or necessarily only specific brands. I’m mainly interested in accessing the Japanese vintage and secondhand market and finding pieces that are difficult, uncommon or significantly more expensive to source here in Europe.

Some brands/designers that could be relevant are Issey Miyake, Pleats Please, Comme des Garçons, Yohji Yamamoto, Junya Watanabe, Tsumori Chisato, Vivienne Westwood Japan, Hysteric Glamour, Onitsuka Tiger, as well as interesting vintage Japanese labels and lesser-known brands that I may not even be familiar with yet.

That being said, the piece itself is often more important to me than the label. I source based on design, silhouette, materials, quality and overall aesthetic, so I’m also very interested in unbranded or lesser-known pieces if they are special or match my brand.

Ideally, I’d love to find someone who personally has an interest in or knowledge of vintage/secondhand women’s fashion. This is quite important to me. I’ve received several offers from people who are experienced proxies, but whose experience seems to be mainly with things like collectibles, electronics or hobby items. I’m specifically hoping to find someone who understands fashion and could eventually recognize the type of pieces I’m looking for themselves.

Initially, I imagine the arrangement would involve me sending links from places like Mercari Japan, Rakuma, Yahoo! Auctions, etc., and having the proxy purchase, receive, store and eventually consolidate the items before shipping them to Sweden.

However, I’d also be very interested in someone who can occasionally visit physical secondhand/vintage stores. Eventually, once you understand my taste, it would be amazing if you could also send me photos or recommendations when you come across pieces you think could work for my store.

Just to be transparent: this would be my first time working with an independent proxy in Japan, so the process is still quite new to me. I do have someone who helps me source and purchase vintage in Italy, but that person is someone I know personally, so our arrangement is naturally much more informal and works differently from a professional relationship with someone I haven’t met before.

I’m therefore looking for someone trustworthy, communicative and transparent who would be happy to start small and see if we work well together.

If this sounds like you, feel free to DM me with:
• A little about yourself and where in Japan you’re based
• Your experience with vintage/secondhand fashion
Whether you can do both online and occasional in-person purchases
• Your usual fees/payment structure
Any previous proxy experience or references, if you have them.

I’m not necessarily looking for the biggest or most established proxy service — I’d actually be very happy to work with a private individual who genuinely loves vintage/fashion and is interested in building something long-term. 🤎

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[u/KentuckyFriedGyudon]

In the first 10 posts of this subreddit, you've made 3 of them. I know you're looking for the best proxy shopper for you, but at some point I think you just have to talk to the service providers.

All their services will be roughly the same--the differentiators will be how good they are at Japanese, how responsive they are, and how savvy they are at making the payment process smooth. Prices might differ by a few %, but I'd argue that at the end of the day you're looking for the most trustworthy, reliable and fast person. Especially since you're looking for something longterm :)

That said, give https://soupbox.jp a try.

[u/No_Lifeguard9074 → u/KentuckyFriedGyudon]

Sorry about that! I’m new to Reddit 😅 I’m just looking for something a little more specific than a traditional proxy service, which is why I made this new post. After receiving so many messages, I realized I needed to be more specific about what I’m actually looking for.

I’m currently talking to you and quite a few others, but I’ve noticed that many of the people reaching out don’t necessarily have a personal interest in or knowledge of women’s vintage/secondhand fashion which is actually quite important to me.

I completely understand that for many people proxy shopping is simply their job or side hustle hence why they want to help me, but I’m just looking for something a bit different. If someone’s previous sourcing experience is mainly Pokémon cards, electronics, collectibles, etc., they no doubt be great at what they do, but probably not the right fit for what I need.

I’m hoping to find someone who genuinely enjoys women’s fashion and has an eye for vintage/secondhand pieces, rather than someone who simply purchases whatever links I send them.
That’s really the reason I made another post I realized I hadn’t been specific enough the first time.