Haiku 5.5 Anthropic · Extra · Chat

Short answer: For a limited budget, the cost gap between channels comes mostly from ad spend, not commission. Marketplaces give you built-in traffic, while own stores make you buy all of yours. In my model, Rakuten and Amazon are the core, TikTok Shop is the cheapest way to add content-led demand, and Makuake only fits a genuinely new product. Own stores look cheap on fees but come out most expensive once ads are included.

Assumptions

• Scenario: 12 months, ¥3,000,000 GMV through each channel (¥250,000 a month), average order about ¥2,500. Real channels won't deliver equal sales, so this only puts costs on one scale.
• Sourced figures come from the links below. Items marked * are my planning assumptions, not sourced.
• Excluded from the totals: product cost, freight, duties, fulfilment, and Japanese labeling. Import notification applies to every channel: MHLW, accessed 2026-10-08 says food imported for sale needs an import notification. Labels must be in Japanese with allergen and origin disclosure: GourmetPro, accessed 2026-10-08.

Top 10 channels

Ranked by reach and fit for an overseas food brand, not by cost.

1. Rakuten Ichiba. Overseas companies can contract directly with Rakuten or go through a service partner, and the partner route adds cost. The system fee is 2.0% to 4.0% on PC, plus a 1% Super Points fee, and it falls as sales rise: Rakuten, accessed 2026-10-08. Overseas-run merchants passed 1,000 by late 2025: Rakuten, 2025-09-30. A domestic-plan comparison shows a higher 3.5% to 6.5% fee and a ¥25,000 annual plan, so confirm which applies to you: atsoho, checked 2026-07-28.

2. Amazon.co.jp. The Professional plan is ¥4,900 a month plus per-item referral fees that vary by category: Amazon Global Selling Japan, accessed 2026-10-08. Food and beverage items have had a ¥30 minimum fee per item since June 2024, and Amazon says it can change fees at its discretion: Impress Netshop, 2024-05-28. A third-party 2026 guide gives a 6% to 15% range, but I couldn't confirm the food rate: ecomcalctools, 2026 guide. Check the food rate and category requirements on Amazon's help page: Amazon Seller Central, accessed 2026-10-08.

3. Yahoo! Shopping. The model changed in September 2026. The store now costs ¥10,000 a month (ex tax) plus a 2.5% royalty, with payment, store-point, and affiliate fees on top. Previously, both were free: StockCrew, 2026-08-05. By my calculation, this beats a 4% commission only above about ¥670,000 in monthly sales, assuming Rakuten has no monthly fee. I didn't check overseas eligibility.

4. TikTok Shop Japan. A 2026 logistics guide says there are no entry fees in Japan: easyparcel, 2026 guide. Across markets, referral fees run 1% to 8%, and sellers set affiliate commissions of 5% to 25%, which are charged only when a creator drives a sale: getonecart, 2026-04-17. I couldn't confirm Japan's referral rate, so I modeled 6%*.

5. Consignment marketplace operator (B2B-oriented). The US Commercial Service describes a consignment marketplace launched in May 2025 by a Japanese logistics company. It handles customs, compliance checks, storage, delivery, Japanese localization, and customer service, you keep product ownership, and it holds seller accounts on four major Japanese marketplaces. Fees vary by service level and aren't published. The page is written for US companies, so check your eligibility: trade.gov, 2026-06-11.

6. Qoo10 Japan. A May 2026 guide lists 10% for cosmetics and starts fashion at 8%. I couldn't read a food rate, so I modeled 10%*: StockCrew, 2026-05-27. A third-party audit describes its appeal as discounted K-beauty and fashion, so food demand is harder to predict: Landing Doctor, 2026-07-20.

7. Makuake. It takes 20% of pledged money, option ads start at ¥300,000, and pre-launch ads cost roughly ¥100,000 to ¥200,000, per a consultant's guide: commercepick, undated. In All or Nothing projects, no fee applies if the target isn't reached: Makuake help, accessed 2026-10-08. Operators are paid on the 25th of the month after a project closes: commercepick, 2024.

8. BASE (own store). The standard plan is ¥0 a month, with a 3.6% plus ¥40 payment fee and a 3% service fee: atsoho, checked 2026-07-28. You must bring all of your own traffic.

9. Shopify Japan (own store). The entry plan is about ¥3,650 a month, per an August 2026 pricing summary: issoh, 2026-08. Shopify Payments charges 3.4% on domestic cards for Basic: itreview, summer 2026 report. An outside gateway adds 2% on Basic: LaunchMyStore, accessed 2026-10-08. Store build and apps cost extra.

10. Mercari Shops. Overseas sellers generally need a Japanese entity to open a shop: easyparcel, 2026 guide. The consumer marketplace takes 10% from individual sellers: Tokyo International Friends, verified July 2026. I've listed it to rule it out.

12-month cost model (¥3M GMV)

Notes:

• At this volume, each 1 percentage point of fees or ads is ¥30,000.
• Yahoo looks cheapest mainly because I assumed lower ad costs there. Treat that as a hypothesis to test.
• Makuake's figure is one project's launch cost, not a monthly run rate.
• Ad percentages and creative costs are planning assumptions. Japanese CPC benchmarks weren't in any source I found.

What this means for a limited budget

• Core: Start with Rakuten, which has a direct overseas contract route and a 1,000-plus overseas merchant base. Add Amazon once the food rate and category requirements are confirmed.
• Content: Use TikTok Shop as a demand test with a capped affiliate rate and a fixed monthly ad budget.
• Avoid for now: Own stores (BASE, Shopify). In this model they carry the highest ad cost, and they need repeat customers to pay off.
• Launch only: Makuake, and only for a new Japan-specific SKU.
• Calibrate first: Run a four-week test with the same SKU on two marketplaces and measure ad cost per order. That replaces my ad assumptions with real numbers before you commit.

Gaps I couldn't close: Amazon's food referral rate, Rakuten's overseas plan fee, TikTok Shop's Japan rate, Qoo10's food rate, and the consignment operator's fees. If you tell me the product's price point and a monthly sales target, I can recalculate the table with your numbers.