How does your payment system work?

You can make all payments on ZenMarket using the money in your account that you have deposited. If you buy from shops, you can deposit after you receive a quote. However, PayPal transactions may take up to several hours or more to post to your account. A bank transfer usually takes several days. To start bidding on auctions, you are required to make a deposit first. You can use your deposit for all payments within ZenMarket: paying for goods, bidding on auctions, or paying for international shipping. You can withdraw your money from your ZenMarket account anytime if you don't need it there.

When do I have to pay for items and shipping fees?

If you want to order goods from Japanese online marketplaces, our staff will first check your order and will send you a quote. If you are fine with the quote, you can proceed with the payment. If you want to bid on Yahoo! auctions, you should first deposit funds equaling no less than your maximum bid amount. Once your items from stores or auctions arrive at our warehouse and get packed, we will bill you for international shipping.

How much money should I add to my deposit?

When you purchase goods from Japanese online marketplaces, you will need a deposit large enough to cover the amount in the quote. However, you don't really need to make a deposit before your order. You can do so after the item price or the domestic shipping cost is charged.
If you want to make a bid on an auction, please deposit enough funds to cover your maximum bid and the ZenMarket service fee (500 JPY). Please use our Fee Calculator to estimate the total cost if you can guess the size and the weight of the items.

How long can I keep the deposited funds in my account?

Under Japanese legislation, the funds you have deposited into your ZenMarket account can be retained in balance for a period of six months from the moment of deposit. You are required to utilize these funds for payment of goods and services or withdraw them by the same method they were deposited before the end of this period.

I want to use a coupon/store discount for the item. How do I do it?

As a rule of thumb, we do not allow usage of coupons for various reasons. We assume that the client agreed to the price paid for the item at the time of payment; we also have no way of refunding you the difference effectively and without the risk of making a mistake. For the same reasons we do not provide refunds even if the price of the item went down at the time of purchase.

We will, however, cover the difference up to 1% or 100 yen per item, in case it becomes more expensive during the time lag between the payment and the actual purchase. We hope for your understanding in this matter.

For Mercari, if you notice a price drop for an item in your cart, try removing it and adding it back before payment. Since the pricing and purchasing processes for this platform are mostly automated, the updated price should usually apply automatically. Please kindly note in some rare cases there will be a time lag before the item is purchased; if a further price drop occurs during this time we will not be able to refund the difference.

Can I withdraw funds left on my balance?

You can withdraw funds left on your balance within 180 days from your last payment if you paid with PayPal, or with your credit or debit card (via Stripe). The withdrawal amount should not exceed the total amount of your payments made through the payment system during the last 180 days. If a withdrawal is made within 180 days from your last payment, the fee incurred for depositing those funds will also be refunded to you.

To withdraw funds please go to the payment tab on "My Account" and push the "Withdraw" button.
Withdrawals are made manually, so it may take a couple of days to process.

Please note: You can only withdraw funds to the same account you used to add funds to your balance. For example, you can not add funds by PayPal and withdraw using Stripe or vice versa. You also can not add funds with one PayPal account and withdraw to a different one.
* During a withdrawal, unless your funds were deposited via bank transfer or CoinGate, no ZenMarket commission fee is taken. However, in some rare cases, the amount of the withdrawal might slightly differ from the amount that you paid when charging funds into your ZenMarket account. This may happen due to currency fluctuation, your bank system fees, or other various factors that aren't related to ZenMarket.

Please kindly note ​that withdrawal of cryptocurrency deposits is not available for the time being.

For withdrawals of payments made through Wise (formerly TransferWise) and local bank transfer, the processing fee is 0.6%~2% of the amount (depending on the total/currency) plus a 500 yen bank transfer fee.

My money was withdrawn from my ZenMarket balance, and I still have not received the money. What should I do?

Generally, after we process the refund of the money, it takes around 7 to 10 business days to be reflected in your payment source. If, after 10 business days, you still have not received the refunded money, please contact your bank or the payment source you used to check if the refund is pending.

What methods of payment are available? Which is preferable?

You can add funds to your deposit by debit card or credit card* (VISA, Mastercard, American Express, Maestro) directly through our website (via Stripe) or via PayPal.

You can also add funds by doing an international bank transfer, using Alipay (Chinese customers), or by paying via Wise.

If you make small payments, the fastest and cheapest method is credit card or PayPal.

If you want to deposit more than 100,000 JPY, it would be cheaper and more cost effective for you to use an international bank transfer, but it can take 3-4 days. The next cheapest would be via Wise

In April 2020, we started accepting Cryptocurrency payments via the CoinGate payment gateway. At this time Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum and 45 more virtual and blockchain currencies are available for depositing funds.

Are there any payment gateway fees?

There are no payment gateway fees. However, we charge a ZenMarket deposit fee. It is a flat rate for all payment methods except bank transfer.
When paying via an international bank transfer (SWIFT wire transfer), 4,500 JPY is charged and there may be additional fees charged by your bank or the intermediary bank. These fees are not disclosed to us, therefore, we cannot give a precise estimate beforehand.

How do you calculate the deposit fee? I added 3.5% but got a different amount.

Deposit fee is 3.5% of the total transaction amount, not of the amount you wish to deposit.
Let’s say you want to deposit 1000 JPY. It is not enough to take 3.5% of 1000 JPY and add it. If you do so you will get 1035 JPY. Because the deposit fee is 3.5% of 1035 JPY (36.3 JPY), only 999 JPY will be deposited into your account. This is why your calculations might be a bit different. The same principle applies to wire bank transfers and other payment methods charging a percentage of the transaction amount.

All prices are shown in JPY, but can I pay in USD or any other currency?

We only accept Japanese Yen, but your card or account can be in any currency. When you pay by PayPal, all your payments will automatically be converted to JPY based on the rate provided by PayPal or your bank account.

What is the conversion rate to JPY from my local currency?

When you pay by PayPal, your payment is converted from your local currency to Japanese Yen by PayPal automatically. You can check the conversion rate on the PayPal website. You can also set the exchange rate to be your bank rate. Our website shows item prices in Japanese Yen, but you can check them in other currencies by clicking the button of the menu bar at the page top. However, please note that it's only for reference and we cannot guarantee its accuracy.
When you pay by debit/credit card, the rate provided by Stripe is applied.
When you pay by international bank transfer your payment will be converted to JPY by the current rate of your local bank on the day it arrives. We will add to your deposit exactly the amount transferred to our account in JPY, not the amount which was displayed on the payment screen.

How long does it take for money to reach my deposit?

For direct payments by cards (Stripe), PayPal, or Alipay (Chinese customers) your payment will be automatically added to your deposit in about 2 minutes. Sometimes the payment system may delay your payment for 24 hours if it looks suspicious. If 24 hours pass and your deposit is still not added, please contact us. If you pay by international bank transfer it may take 3-4 days. When you are going to make an international bank transfer, please inform us in advance, so we can identify your payment faster.

How can I check my payment history?

All your payments and refunds are displayed in the "Payments" tab on your account page.

I am a frequent customer. Do you have a loyalty program?

Yes! ZenMarket Loyalty Program has been developed as a thank you gift to all our loyal customers for their continued patronage of our service.

Starting from September 1st, 2023, membership is granted automatically on the 1st of every month to customers who have shipped items of a total price of ¥15,000 (or more) within the previous 4 calendar months regardless of when those items were purchased. ZenMarket Loyalty Program has 6 levels as shown below.

Perks of ZenMarket Loyalty Program contain:

1. Buying on credit. Members of our loyalty program have the ability to make purchases and place bids on auctions using the amount of credit allocated, without first adding funds (more on how the credit works here).
2. Receiving up to 1% of cashback in ZenPoints for levels 2 and up. A member of ZenMarket Loyalty Program will receive up to 1% in ZenPoints* of the price of the items they shipped. ZenPoint cashback for the items in the given parcel will be applied after the parcel leaves our warehouse according to your membership level on the day.
   *ZenPoints are awards that are added to your account to be used for international shipping. (more on ZenPoints here.)

More FAQs on ZenMarket Loyalty Program can be found here.

Can I buy on credit?

Yes! Under the ZenMarket Loyalty Program, our frequent customers can enjoy the special benefit of making purchases on Japanese online marketplaces or placing bids on Yahoo! Auctions via ZenMarket, ON CREDIT! Buy now, pay later!

The credit system (and, if applicable, change of credit limit) is updated on the 1st of each month based on the total price of items shipped over the previous 4 calendar months. The amount of credit applicable is specified in the ZenMarket Loyalty Program section above.

If a negative balance is displayed on your account, please make sure to repay it within one month from the first day it turned negative. Failure to do so can lead to consequences, including temporary or permanent suspension from the Loyalty Program.

Also please note no parcels can be paid for or shipped if your balance is negative (unless you have enough ZenPoints to cover the negative balance and the cost of the shipping).

Kindly note that the credit system under the ZenMarket Loyalty Program may not apply to all customers. ZenMarket reserves the right to withhold, change the amount or adjust conditions of the credit system at our discretion.

If you have any other questions, you may refer to our ZenMarket Loyalty Program FAQs page.

I see negative numbers in my deposit. How is this possible?

Sometimes additional expenses are charged after purchasing. For example, when you buy items on auctions, in most cases domestic delivery fees and consumption tax (if applied by the seller) are charged. If your expense amount exceeds your deposit, it will be displayed as a negative number.

Still haven't found the answer?

Feel free to contact us. We will gladly answer your questions.