Serving All of Ireland
The auction service fee is the cost of getting a car from a Japanese auction hall to a ship, and it is the largest of the third-party charges on a Japanese import. It is not one number. It varies by which auction house the car comes from, and it rises with the winning bid.
It is also charged in yen, which matters more than it sounds.
Why the yen figure is the real one
The auction house and the exporter invoice in yen. That is the price. Any euro figure is a conversion made on a particular day at a particular rate, and the rate does not hold still.
Over the past year the euro has traded between roughly 172 and 188 yen — about nine per cent from one end to the other. A euro figure quoted near the top of that range and paid near the bottom is wrong by close to a tenth, and nobody involved has done anything wrong. That is simply what happens when you quote one currency and pay in another.
Which is why our charge is set in yen. The figures below are fixed in yen and step exactly as the auction houses' own bands do. The euro column is that yen figure at a recent rate, so it moves with the market rather than being a number we have to revise. Ask for a figure on a specific car and it is converted at the rate of the day.
What it costs, by auction house
These are base fees, applying to winning bids below ¥1 million.
| Auction houses | Fee (¥) | Typical € |
|---|---|---|
| Tokyo, Kanto & Yokohama — USS Tokyo, USS Yokohama, TAA Kanto, JAA, Arai Bayside and others | 88,000 | 494 |
| Kansai & Okayama — USS Osaka, USS Kobe, NAA Osaka, TAA Kinki, HAA Kobe and others | 88,000 | 494 |
| Chubu, Nagoya & Hokuriku — USS Nagoya, USS Shizuoka, TAA Chubu, CAA Chubu and others | 99,000 | 556 |
| Shikoku — USS Shikoku, LAA Shikoku | 99,000 | 556 |
| Tohoku & Niigata — USS Tohoku, USS Niigata, TAA Tohoku, Arai Sendai and others | 106,000 | 596 |
| Northern Tohoku — CAA Tohoku, JU Yamagata | 113,000 | 635 |
| Hokkaido & northern Honshu — USS Sapporo, TAA Hokkaido, JU Aomori, JU Akita and others | 123,000 | 691 |
| Hiroshima & Kyushu — USS Fukuoka, USS Kyushu, TAA Hiroshima, KCAA Fukuoka and others | 134,000 | 753 |
| Okinawa — JU Okinawa | 148,000 | 831 |
The spread is geographic and it is logical: the cheapest houses are the ones closest to the export ports, and the dearest are the ones furthest from them. A car in Okinawa costs ¥60,000 — about €337 — more to get onto a ship than the identical car in Tokyo, which is worth knowing before you fall in love with a listing.
How the bid moves the fee
Above ¥1 million the fee steps up. It rises by ¥11,000 — around €62 — once the bid reaches a million, then by the same step at every ¥750,000 up to ¥3.25 million, and then at every ¥500,000 up to ¥5.25 million. Beyond that it is quoted case by case.
What the fee covers
It is not simply a commission for placing a bid. It carries the car from the hall to the dockside:
- the auction house's own fee;
- delivery of the car to a stockyard;
- the export certificate;
- basic storage and a vehicle inspection at the yard;
- delivery to the port;
- and the customs charges for exporting from Japan.
It does not cover the winning bid itself, the sea freight, or anything at the Irish end. Customs duty, import VAT at 23%, VRT and the NOx levy are separate and are dealt with in the import guide.
The charges that sit on top
These are the auction house's and exporter's own charges, not ours. They are quoted in US dollars rather than yen, a third currency in the same transaction, and the euro equivalents below are indicative.
| Charge | Amount | When |
|---|---|---|
| Tall vehicle surcharge | US$50–300 ≈ €47–285 | Vehicles over 200cm high, by distance |
| Oversize vehicle | Quoted | Large campers, buses, trucks |
| Fluid leak handling | Quoted | Cars with significant oil or fluid leaks |
| Yard storage on late payment | US$150/month ≈ €142 | Where payment is delayed after invoice |
Non-runners and non-roadworthy vehicles are a separate matter: bidding on them may simply be declined, because shipping them is difficult.
Cancelling after a winning bid is expensive, and the charge is the auction house's. It is US$1,000 or 50% of the total cost, whichever is higher — around €860 at the floor and a great deal more on a good car. We do not set it, we do not receive it, and we cannot waive it. If the vehicle has been held for a while the auction house adds the cost of returning it from the bonded yard. A winning bid is a commitment, which is why the work goes in before the bid rather than after.
What our sourcing fee covers
The auction charge and the shipping are third-party costs. Our own fee is the line that buys the work, and on every payment option it covers the same thing:
- Bidding on your behalf. No private buyer can bid at a Japanese auction — it needs a Japanese dealer licence — so somebody has to do it for you.
- Coordinating with our partner in Japan. Reading the sheet against the house that issued it, checking the lot, agreeing the ceiling, and dealing with the yard.
- Arranging the shipping, including space in one of our own containers where that suits the car better than waiting for RoRo.
- Translating the documents — the auction sheet, the inspector's notes and the Japanese registration papers.
- Customs clearance in Ireland, with the declaration filed correctly and in time. No separate broker to appoint or pay.
- VRT clearance and Irish registration, with the CO2 and NOx figures in hand before the NCTS appointment rather than missing at the counter.
Three options, and the only thing that changes is when you pay: a flat €500 if the landed price is settled in full, 5% on a 70/30 split, or 10% on a 50/50, with the balance due at customs clearance. VRT is paid on delivery on all three. The full comparison is in our sourcing fees explained.
The deposit before we bid
An auction lot has to be bid on with money already in place, so a deposit is taken before we go to the hall. It is not a charge: it comes off the total, and if no bid succeeds it is returned or held against the next car.
| Car value | Deposit |
|---|---|
| Under ¥1 million | €1,000 |
| ¥1 million to ¥1.5 million | €1,500 |
| Above ¥1.5 million | Scaled to the car |
A worked example, end to end
We agree a ceiling with you before the auction — say ¥1,200,000 — and bid up to it, no further. On this car the bid was won at ¥1,080,000, and everything below follows from that figure.
| Stage | ¥ | € |
|---|---|---|
| Winning bid | 1,080,000 | 6,067 |
| Auction service charge | 99,000 | 556 |
| Sea freight and marine insurance | 356,000 | 2,000 |
| Customs value | 1,535,000 | 8,623 |
| Customs duty — Japanese-built with proof of origin | 0 | 0 |
| Import VAT at 23% | 352,974 | 1,983 |
| Offloading at the Irish port | 42,720 | 240 |
| Inland transport, delivery to you | 44,500 | 250 |
| VRT — illustrative, on Revenue's valuation | 261,660 | 1,470 |
| NOx levy | 17,800 | 100 |
| Before our sourcing fee | 2,254,654 | 12,666 |
| Sourcing fee — paid in full | 89,000 | 500 |
| Total, on Irish plates | 2,343,654 | 13,166 |
Duty is nil only because this car was built in Japan and the origin document exists. A car of any other origin — a German or Korean model sold at a Japanese auction — pays 10% of the customs value, and because VAT is charged on the value including duty it drags another 23% of itself behind it. On this car that would be €862 of duty and a further €198 of VAT: €1,060 more, for the same vehicle from the same hall.
The €1,500 deposit taken before bidding is part of that total, not on top of it.
What the payment option does
| Option | Fee | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Pay in full — flat fee | €500 | €13,166 |
| 70 / 30 — 5%, balance at customs clearance | €633 | €13,299 |
| 50 / 50 — 10%, balance at customs clearance | €1,267 | €13,933 |
VRT and the NOx levy are estimates until Revenue values the car, and can move by a few hundred euro either way. Everything else above is firm once the bid is won.
Where this sits in the total
The auction service fee is the Japan-side cost in our pricing, and it is one of four service costs that sit outside our sourcing fee. The others are offloading at the Irish port, delivery to you, and a Certificate of Conformity where one is needed. All four are itemised in our sourcing fees explained.
Publishing a band-by-band card at all is unusual, and deliberate. Most importers give you a single round number for “Japan costs” and leave you to wonder what sits inside it. You can see exactly which band your car falls into and what the winning bid does to it before you commit to anything.
What we do
We read the sheet against the house that issued it, work out the landed figure including this fee before bidding, and tell you which auction the car is coming from and what that adds. A car in Kyushu and the same car in Tokyo are not the same purchase, and the difference should be visible to you before you decide, not afterwards.
The sourcing estimator will put the whole figure together for a specific car, and cars already landed and registered are in current stock.
Common questions
How much is the Japanese auction service fee?
It depends on which auction house the car comes from and what it sells for. Our charge runs from 88,000 yen for houses around Tokyo, Kanto, Kansai and Okayama up to 148,000 yen for Okinawa, with most of Japan falling between. On top of that it rises by 11,000 yen once the winning bid reaches 1 million yen, and by a further 11,000 yen at each step above that. At recent rates that is roughly 494 to 831 euro depending on the region.
Why are the fees quoted in yen rather than euro?
Because that is the currency they are actually charged in. The auction house and the exporter invoice in yen, so the yen figure is the real number and any euro equivalent is a conversion made on the day. Over the last year the euro has moved between about 172 and 188 yen, a swing of roughly nine per cent end to end, so a euro conversion made months ahead is not a reliable guide. That is why our charge is fixed in yen and converted on the day, rather than quoted as a euro figure that would need revising.
Will the euro figure I am quoted change?
The euro figure we confirm for a specific car is the figure you pay. What moves in the background is the exchange rate, which is why the euro amounts on this page are described as typical rather than fixed: they reflect recent rates rather than a rate guaranteed months ahead. Ask us for a figure on a specific car and it is confirmed against the rate of the day.
What does the auction service fee include?
The auction house's own fee, delivery of the car to a stockyard, the export certificate, basic storage and a vehicle inspection at the yard, delivery to the port, and the customs charges for exporting the car from Japan. It does not include the winning bid itself, the sea freight, or anything payable at the Irish end such as customs duty, import VAT, VRT or the NOx levy.
What happens if I cancel after winning a bid?
A cancellation fee of 1,000 US dollars or 50% of the total cost applies, whichever is higher. If the car has been sitting for a long time there can be further costs for returning it from the bonded yard to the domestic yard along with the extra parking. This is the single most expensive mistake available on this route, and it is the reason we read an auction sheet properly before bidding rather than after.
Do I pay a deposit before you bid?
Yes. An auction lot has to be bid on with funds already in place, so a deposit is taken beforehand: around 1,000 euro for a car under 1 million yen, or 1,500 euro in the 1 to 1.5 million range, scaled up above that. It is not an additional charge. It comes off the total, and if no bid succeeds it is returned or held against the next car.
Want the figure for a specific car?
Send us the listing. We will tell you which auction house it is at, what the service fee adds, and the landed total in euro confirmed against the rate of the day.
Ask us about a specific car