One of the most under-shared tips when you move to Japan is to not buy new stuff! So many people come to Japan, buy all new stuff, and where does it go when they leave? To the resale groups and stores where it just waits for new homes. There are wonderful Facebook groups called <city> Sayonara Sales. People sell awesome, well cared for furniture for super cheap because they are leaving Japan! They end up buying new because people don’t know about these FB groups when they come, so they go to the expensive stores, stretching an already limited budget. There’s no point, there’s tons of stuff like furniture, household and kitchen items available every day on those groups!
I’m recommending everyone join these type of groups because I didn’t know about them when I arrived and I bought lots of new stuff and wasted my money, and I wanna stop others from making my error!
Edit: I see a lot of comments about delivery. The groups I’m in, there’s 5 or 6 people in them who have vans and trucks and offer their service for delivery. If you’re buying a lot from someone, the delivery isn’t so bad of a cost. Also a lot of furniture in Japan is collapsable/meant to be taken apart and so is easily transported by oneself on the trains or buses. I took a table on the bus once!
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Part of what you are saying is only true if you are planning on leaving. With the sayonara sales, the problem is pickup on delivery which is usually on you, so you have an added expense right there. It may certainly still be worth it, cost-wise, but especially if you are furnishing an entire apartment it can be a huge pain.
For people who are staying here long term and have budgeted for new furniture, the fact that Nitori, IKEA, Rakuten, and Muji all delivery is a huge plus.
Two important things to keep in mind:
1. Delivery. Furniture is typically given away because the owners don’t want to pay the oversized garbage costs. But if you don’t have a van, it’ll be hard to transport. Car rentals aren’t cheap. Small appliances and other household goods are a different matter. Many second-hand shops also offer delivery, but sometimes the fee is high. It could still save you money, though.
2. Availability. Most sayonara sales happen right before people leave. This means the biggest times are March and July/August. If you’re coming in April, there might not be as many people giving things away. And even if there are, it’s often very competitive. Mottainai Japan gets tons of traffic and I’m pretty sure there are people that just spam “interested,” so reliably getting something can be a challenge.
I say all of this as someone with experience. I’m currently stocking a nursery and I stalk those groups on the daily. It’s tough to get what you need, even when you have lots of time for planning.
There’s also the other side of if you want to buy new stuff, you can sell on here, Craigslist. or Mercari (Japanese only) when you move. Just be prepared to have people not be able to pick it up, etc.
People have already mentioned that the delivery aspect is important to consider, but I’m kind of surprised no one has mentioned House-Off. About half of our home (mostly the appliances) is stuff from House-Off, and it’s in great condition, especially for the price. They also offer delivery, and though there’s a fee I feel it’s quite reasonable.
If you’re an adult with more than an English teacher income, a married couple, a family (except in the case of baby/kid items that you go through quickly, like clothes) or just want stuff in your house that isn’t 100% crap and cheap garbage, I don’t recommend these groups. Do not waste your time.
If plastic shelving, mismatched (mostly likely plastic) dishware, and very used IKEA Billy bookcases are your thing, then by all means, go for it. If you like things heavily used, sure. If you don’t like your furniture or decor to match, why not. However, most adults stop living like this after 25.
In my experience, the Tokyo groups are mostly garbage with the very, very rare high quality item. I scoured them for a washing machine and couldn’t find anything else besides those really shitty 3-5kg, very plastic-y shitty machines that I absolutely didn’t want in the first place. The one time I wanted to get some houseplants, I was put in a “waiting line” of 10 people, only to have the person message me randomly on a Thursday afternoon saying if I couldn’t come get the plants in the next hour, I lost my chance. WTF? I have heard of first-come, first served — but these groups are fucking ridiculous.
For people who have stopped living like college students, buying new isn’t (or shouldn’t be) a problem — or you can use Mercari or Yahoo! Auctions for more high quality and higher end items. This “advice” only applies to a select few people.
>Also a lot of furniture in Japan is collapsable/meant to be taken apart and so is easily transported by oneself on the trains or buses. **I took a table on the bus once!**
And probably annoyed the bus driver and anyone on the bus but they just didn’t want to confront the gaijin with a table.
GAIJIN SMASH amIright?
Or just buy from Nitori outlet instead of the used Iris Ohyama garbage most foreigners sell
Yeaaaaah, except I live in Yokohama mate and the sayonara sales are nothing but Chinese scammers and Vietnamese shysters. Its a complete and utter shit-show. How many times do I have to see the same broken iPhone or stolen bike for sale before I finally get to something which has already been sold?
Not everybody is moving to bumfuck-ken and has a network of English teachers to leech-off. For most people, your advice is a little off-beam.
The general rule-of-thumb is to exercise more caution once you get into the big cities because of the amount of scummy SE Asians doing scummy SE Asian things. I’ve lived here a lot longer than you, and I’ve seen these groups get progressively worse as time has gone on.
Plus, you’re overlooking a very big factor here – which is that most things here are very cheap. Nitori is extremely cheap for example.
Its far easier to pay an extra few thousand to have a brand-new item, rather than risking Farhad from sending you the address for his western union payment.
>Also a lot of furniture in Japan is collapsable/meant to be taken apart and so is easily transported by oneself on the trains or buses. I took a table on the bus once!
And yet Ikea is a 3,000 yen flat-rate and Nitori is free of charge if you spend more than 5,000 yen. And then you have Amazon next-day delivery free of charge with your prime membership. Why even bother? Do you really wanna be dragging tons of furniture around in the middle of July? Fuck that shit.
Sorry mate, but you’re talking absolute shit here. Unless you want something very specific like a folding bike or a set of decks than those groups are an absolute waste of time.
There also tons of recycle shops here, which again are a lot cheaper because they’re not putting on a gaijin fob tax.
Thank you for sharing. This is a good option to take a look at for those that might not be aware. I will definitely take into consideration everyone’s comments regarding shipping and other potential issues.
We lived in Tokyo for a year and RENTED furniture. Refrigerator, couch, TV, dinner table and chairs, etc. all delivered and picked up easily when we were finished. One fee at the start, that’s it.
Could you share a couple of these groups’ links? Top 2 in your opinion
I one of those groups, but honestly between getting those items (and paying for shipping on top of that, since I’m pretty sure I won’t bring those things on the train or bus) and getting things from Nitori and Amazon, the latter’s been a better deal so far.
Yeah! Buy a sofa with someone else’s jizz on it. Or a coffee maker with someone else’s piss in it. Or blankets with someone’s piss AND jizz on them.
I would never trust anything used from a sayonara sale NOT to be tainted with jizz, piss, or other bodily fluids because people are gross and I’d probably shit in my toaster oven too if I planned on sayonara sale-ing it.
Protip: don’t buy a sofa from a sexpat Nova teacher.