Prize figures, Japanese-language card boxes and stationery bought through a proxy, then sold on Whatnot shows and eBay listings from a spare room.
Built forYou buy from Japanese marketplaces through a proxy service, receive one or two consolidated parcels a month, and sell 30 to 80 orders a week through Whatnot shows and eBay listings.
Kit total
£396 to £650
Running cost
£128 to £201 a month
Consumables at 55 orders a week
- Orders a week
- 30–80
- Space
- Spare bedroom
- Budget
- £750
Why this setup
You buy from Japanese marketplaces through a proxy service, receive one or two consolidated parcels a month, and sell 30 to 80 orders a week through Whatnot shows and eBay listings.
Work out your profit before anything reaches the UK. Every item costs you Japanese postage, proxy fees, international shipping, import VAT, any customs duty and the courier's handling fee. Start with a landed-cost sheet and buy the scale and shelves after it.
You use the room for two jobs. You sort arrivals by line onto shelves and into tubs with SKU stickers, then film the Whatnot show under the overhead arm and softboxes on the same desk where you pack the eBay orders.
The kit
Every item, why it’s here and what it typically costs in the UK.
MUNBYN thermal label printer
It takes the standard 100 x 150 mm labels that eBay, Vinted and Whatnot all generate, and generic labels work, so the running cost stays low.
Typical price£55 to £85
See on Amazon
30 kg digital postal scale
Covers the parcels most home sellers ship, up to 30 kg. Choose it when the 40 kg scale is out of stock.
Typical price£12 to £20
See on Amazon5-tier steel shelving, 180 cm×2
Floor space runs out before height does. Number the shelves and each item gets an address you can pick from.
Typical price£80 to £140
See on AmazonClear stackable 32 L tubs, 4 pack×2
Label each tub with a shelf code and record the code against the listing. A sale then tells you which tub to open.
Typical price£60 to £90
See on AmazonTape dispenser gun
Once you ship more than a handful of boxes a week, a tape gun saves minutes on every session and stops tape ends sticking to themselves.
Typical price£8 to £14
See on Amazon150 cm phone tripod with remote
Clothing and trainer shows need a full-body or full-shoe shot from in front. A tripod gets the phone to eye height and the remote starts recording from across the room.
Typical price£18 to £30
See on Amazon
Buy this kit
Copy the full list to take shopping, or print it.
Postage per order
What most orders like these go by, at today’s published prices. Prices checked 6 October 2026.
Royal Mail Tracked 48 Large LetterUsual£2.90
TrackedUp to 1 kgHigher-value cards and flat items up to 1 kg that need tracking and a delivery photo.
- Royal Mail Tracked 48 Small Parcel
£3.75
TrackedUp to 2 kgClothing and small boxed items up to 2 kg, with tracking for less than untracked 2nd Class.
InPost locker to locker, small£1.99
TrackedUp to 15 kgFlat parcels up to 8 cm deep, such as folded clothes, dropped at a locker and collected from one.
About £691 a month in postage at 55 orders a week On most marketplaces the buyer pays postage; this is the cost when you pay it.
How to lay it out
Where everything goes, so each order moves one way through the room.
- 1
Arrivals shelf by the door
Hold one shelf empty for the next proxy parcel. Unbox, check and sticker every item there before it moves to stock.
- 2
Stock shelves by line
Keep boxed prize figures on the lower shelves, sealed card boxes in tubs at eye height and stationery in shallow tubs on top.
- 3
Show desk under the window
Clamp the overhead arm to the back edge, with softboxes either side and a tripod for a second angle on boxes.
- 4
Packing end of the same desk
Keep small boxes, padded envelopes and the label printer at the far end, so you pack a show winner without moving rooms.
The guide
Each step in the order you'll need it.
The landed-cost sheet
One row per item: Japanese price in yen, your exchange rate, the proxy fee, a share of domestic and international postage, and a share of any VAT, duty and handling. Divide shared costs by item value, not by item count.
Set the lowest price you will take on eBay from that row, and the starting bid you can live with on Whatnot.
Unboxing a proxy parcel
Film the unboxing with the parcel label in shot. If something arrives broken or fake, that video supports your claim with the proxy.
Check each item against the proxy's photo, sticker it with a SKU and log the cost before it goes on a shelf.
Running a Japan-themed Whatnot show
Lead with sealed Japanese booster packs, opened live on the overhead camera so viewers read each pull. Then hold figures up to the tripod camera to show the box art.
Say JP for every card product. Whatnot viewers who collect English sets need to know what they're bidding on.
Packing figures and card boxes
Figure boxes are part of the value, so wrap them in bubble wrap and send them in a box with space on every side. A crushed corner can halve the price.
Pack sealed card boxes in a small postal box with padding. Single cards follow your usual card packing in a padded envelope.
Spotting fakes before they sell
Keep a reference folder of genuine box photos for every line you stock. Compare logos, licence stickers, barcode placement and print sharpness.
If a piece fails the check, don't list it. Selling counterfeits breaks trade mark law and both platforms' rules, and a single report can end your account.
Common mistakes
Each one costs you money or reviews, and each has a fix.
- Ordering on the yen price alone and finding the margin gone once VAT, duty and the handling fee land.
- Consolidating months of buying into one high-value parcel without working out the import charges first.
- Leaving JP out of the title and taking returns from buyers who expected English cards.
- Posting a boxed figure in a padded envelope and losing half its value to a crushed corner.
- Throwing away the proxy's invoice, which you need for your costs and any import VAT query.
When to upgrade
Past 50 orders a week, an inventory app saves you counting tubs before each show. At 80 a week, a thermal label printer clears the post-show batch faster.
- 50+ Sortly
- 80+ Zebra ZD421d
Questions
Who pays the import VAT on proxy parcels?
For a consignment worth £135 or less, the overseas seller or marketplace should charge UK VAT at checkout. Above £135, you pay import VAT and any duty when the parcel arrives, usually through the courier with a handling fee. Check GOV.UK for current rules.
Should I consolidate everything into one big parcel?
It cuts international shipping per item, but one parcel over £135 pays import VAT and possibly duty plus a handling fee. Work out both options on your landed-cost sheet before you ask the proxy to ship.
How do I label Japanese cards on eBay?
Put Japanese or JP in the title and say the text is Japanese in the description and item specifics. Buyers who expect English cards open returns as not as described otherwise.
Are prize figures from Japan genuine?
Prize figures from arcade crane games are licensed and sold widely, but fakes copy the popular ones. Check the box print, the licence sticker and the sculpt against a trusted shop's photos, and buy from proxy sellers with long feedback.
Can I sell Japanese snacks I bring back too?
Food brings council registration and English labelling rules, so most import resellers leave it to specialists. Stick to cards, figures and stationery unless you're ready to register as a food business.
Do I need to tell HMRC about import selling?
If your trading income passes the £1,000 trading allowance, register for Self Assessment. Keep proxy invoices and import VAT receipts, as they are costs against your profit.
More setups
Updated 6 October 2026
