How to buy
Know the numbers before you commit.
A car’s price in Japan is the start of the total, not the end of it. This page sets out every component, says which figures are estimates and which are confirmed, and explains when each payment falls due.
What makes up the total
Seven components in three stages. Each one says what it covers and when its figure is confirmed.
- Estimate first
Vehicle price or auction budget
PurchaseAt auction, the hammer price plus the auction house’s own buyer fees. From stock or sourcing, the price agreed with the seller. Your maximum bid or approved price is the one figure you control; everything else follows from it.
Confirmed by the auction result or the seller’s agreed price.
- Stated before you commit
Rindo’s charges
PurchaseOur charges for assessing the car, handling the purchase, export preparation and documents in Japan. They are stated to you before you authorise a bid or approve a purchase, so the figure on the invoice is the figure you were shown.
Stated before you commit to a bid or purchase.
- Estimate first
Freight and loading
ShippingMoving the car from the auction house or seller to the port, loading, and ocean freight to your port. Roll-on roll-off and container are priced differently, and the sailing you use sets the final figure.
Confirmed on the separate freight and loading invoice after the car is acquired.
- Estimate first
Destination tax and duty
DestinationImport duty and the sales or value-added tax your country applies to an imported vehicle. The rules are your country’s, and the amount depends on the vehicle, its value and the exchange rate used by your customs authority.
Confirmed by the customs declaration at import.
- Estimate first
Port charges
DestinationHandling at the arrival port, and storage if the car waits for clearance or collection.
Confirmed by the port or agent on arrival.
- Estimate first
Compliance and registration
DestinationAny testing, approval or modification your country requires before registration, then the registration itself and plates. Insurance is arranged by you.
Confirmed once the vehicle’s route to registration is known for your country.
- Estimate first
Delivery services
DestinationTransport from the port to your address, if you do not collect the car yourself.
Confirmed when delivery is booked.
Estimates and confirmed figures
Before you bid or approve a purchase, you receive an estimate for the car to your port with the destination costs shown separately. Estimates are marked as estimates. A figure is confirmed only when the event that fixes it has happened: the auction result, the stated Rindo charges, the freight booking, the customs declaration.
A vehicle price is never a landed or road-ready total. When you see a price on a listing, in stock or in a sourcing report, it is the price of the car in Japan. The freight, duty, tax, port, compliance, registration and delivery components come on top, and we show them as such.
If you give us a total budget rather than a vehicle budget, we work back from it so your maximum bid already allows for everything else. Tell us which kind of budget you have when you ask for an estimate.
Prices in yen, estimates in your currency
Cars in Japan are priced in Japanese yen, and auction bids are placed in yen. We show the yen figure first because it is the real one. Alongside it we can show an indicative amount in your local currency, clearly labelled as indicative, so you can judge the scale.
An indicative conversion is not the amount you will pay. The amount you pay is set by the currency your invoice is issued in and the rate that applies when it is settled. Which currency each invoice is issued in, and how the rate is set, is stated on the invoice and explained before you commit.
When you pay
Five points in the process. Each invoice is issued when it falls due, so you pay for what has actually happened.
01
Free registration
Nothing. No deposit is needed to create the account.
Your Rindo Portal account is created and your destination country is set. The public website stays open without an account.
02
Auction deposit
A deposit whose amount varies by vehicle and case. We tell you the amount and the precise terms before you pay anything.
Enables complete auction access and bidding. It is credited to your purchase, or fully refundable if no vehicle is purchased.
03
Successful purchase
The vehicle balance plus the Rindo charges stated to you, less the applicable deposit.
Settles the purchase in Japan so the car can be collected from the auction house or seller and prepared for export.
04
After acquisition
A separate freight and loading invoice.
Books the car onto a sailing to your port. The method and sailing are confirmed at booking.
05
Destination stage
The applicable local charges and services, according to the import arrangement you chose.
Clears, registers and delivers the car in your country, whether Rindo handles that stage for you or you manage it yourself.
About the auction deposit
The deposit is what enables complete auction access and bidding. Its amount is set case by case according to the vehicle and your situation, and you receive the amount and the precise terms in writing before you pay. It is not a charge: it is credited to your purchase when you buy, or fully refundable if no vehicle is purchased.
Refundable means refundable when nothing has been bought. Once a bid you authorised wins, or you approve a stock or sourced purchase, the car has been bought on your instruction and the deposit is applied to it. A successful purchase cannot be cancelled on the basis that the deposit was refundable.
Destination costs and your country
Duty, tax, port charges, compliance, registration and delivery are paid in your country, and the rules are your country’s. Rindo can handle the import and the arrangements that follow for you, or you can manage them yourself; either way, the expected components are explained before you buy, even where exact figures are confirmed later.
The Country Import Guide sets out the stages and requirements for your destination. If your country is not covered yet, tell us where the car is going and we will explain what we know before you commit.
What moves the total
- Your maximum bid or approved price, and the auction house’s buyer fees.
- Shipping method and route; roll-on roll-off and container are priced differently, and the car’s size affects freight.
- Distance from the auction house or seller to the port.
- Exchange rates between yen and your currency at the time of each payment.
- Your country’s duty and tax rules, and whether an approval or test is required before registration.
- Whether you collect from the port or have the car delivered.
Talk through your budget first.
Tell us the car and the country, and whether your budget is for the vehicle or the whole import. We will explain what the total is made of before you commit to anything.