One Map by FROM JAPAN Review: Is the 500 FJ Points Referral Worth It?

FROM JAPAN, now branded One Map by FROM JAPAN, is a proxy shopping and bidding service. You find an item on a Japanese store, flea market or auction site, FROM JAPAN buys it, the seller ships it to FROM JAPAN's warehouse in Japan, and FROM JAPAN sends it on to you. Its sister service FROM USA does the same for American stores. The company says it has delivered more than 17 million items from over 5,000 sites to customers in more than 190 countries and regions since 2004.

The marketplaces it covers include Mercari JP, JDirectItems Auction and Fleamarket, Rakuten, Rakuten Rakuma, Amazon, SNKRDUNK and anime and hobby specialists such as Surugaya, Mandarake and Lashinban. You can paste an item URL or search by keyword. Under its terms, FROM JAPAN is the seller to you rather than your agent: it buys the item and sells it on, which is why refunds and compensation run through FROM JAPAN, not the original shop.

Sign up for One Map through the referral link and make a purchase on FROM JAPAN, and you receive 500 FJ Points. One FJ Point is worth ¥1 on FROM JAPAN, so the reward pays for ¥500 of a future order: exactly one item's standard handling fee, or a small slice of shipping.

Timing matters. FROM JAPAN awards the points 2 months after your items are dispatched from its warehouse, so they cannot reduce your first order. Purchases and auctions on FROM USA do not count, and the points cannot be spent there. FJ Points cannot be exchanged for cash, transferred or combined with another account, are lost if you close your account, and all expire if you make no new trade for a year after your last one. Treat the reward as a discount on your second order, and only if a second order is likely.

Reach the site through the referral link and register in the same browser, because FROM JAPAN warns that an introduction may not be recognised otherwise. It has not published a minimum purchase value or an end date for the programme, and it makes the final decision on points awarded.

FROM JAPAN splits payment in two. Charge 1 is the item price, paid when you order. Charge 2 comes once the item reaches the warehouse and you choose a shipping method: Japanese domestic shipping at actual cost, the ¥500 handling fee per item, international shipping and any extras. Payment fees are free. If the item price excludes Japan's 10% consumption tax, that is added at cost. Charge 2 must be paid within 30 days or FROM JAPAN may dispose of the items.

The handling fee covers the Product Protection Plan, which includes 60 days' free storage and consolidation. Consolidation is where you save: several items sent in one parcel pay international shipping once. On top of FROM JAPAN's charges you are responsible for import duty, VAT and courier fees in your own country, and for some destinations and shipping methods FROM JAPAN collects estimated duties before it ships. Use FROM JAPAN's Fee Calculator before you order, because international shipping is usually the largest part of the bill and dwarfs the 500-point reward.

Payment is by Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Alipay, a deposit or FJ Points. Items paid with PayPal can only ship to the country registered with PayPal at payment. JDirectItems Auction bids have a monthly spending limit, above which only a deposit or FJ Points can be used, and a won auction must be paid within 48 hours if your chosen payment fails.

The ¥500 plan insures domestic delivery to the warehouse and international delivery to you against damage or non-delivery, and includes a check that the right item arrived without significant damage. If a parcel arrives damaged or incomplete, you must contact customer service within 7 days of arrival, and compensation is limited to the value on the delivery slip. Eligible compensation is refunded in FJ Points, whatever you originally paid with.

The check is not an authentication. FROM JAPAN does not check for subtle flaws, function or authenticity, and it excludes trading cards bought from private sellers on JDirectItems Auction, Rakuma or Mercari JP that have been switched, re-shrunk or removed, even if they differ from the listing. Second-hand items with existing stains, scratches or wear are not covered either. Shipments without tracking are not eligible for compensation, and small-packet shipping is only offered when the item price is under ¥30,000. Some goods, such as lithium batteries for certain countries, cannot be shipped at all, so check the prohibited-items list before you bid.

Claim it if you already want something that is sold in Japan and will not ship to you, such as a Mercari JP listing, a Surugaya or Mandarake find, or an auction lot, and you expect to order again within a year so the points get used. In that case One Map gives you one account for most Japanese marketplaces, and the 500 points take the edge off a later handling fee.

Skip it if you are only tempted by the reward: ¥500 does not justify an order with international shipping and import charges attached. Be cautious with high-value trading cards and branded goods from private sellers, because the protection plan does not verify authenticity and excludes tampered card packs. If you would not place a second order within a year, the points will probably expire unused.