How Japanese Car Auctions Work

If you’re wondering how JDM car auctions work, the process can look complicated from the outside. At Brave Auto International, we’ve spent over 20 years making it simple, transparent and straightforward for customers. Here’s how our auction process works, step by step.

Step 1: Access the Auction Network
We provide access to Japan’s largest and most advanced dealer-only auction system, with listings updated daily and detailed vehicle data at your fingertips. New clients receive a 7-day trial login to explore the platform before committing.

Step 2: Tell Us What You’re After
Once you’re set up, you can start identifying vehicles of interest via our USS Ninja auction platform. You can browse the auctions yourself or ask us to help find options based on your preferred make, model, budget, and destination. You can also submit a Purchase to Order request anytime.

Step 3: Review & Bid with Confidence
When you find something you like:

• We translate the auction inspection sheet.
• We include any extra images available (undercarriage, 360° interior, seller-submitted photos).
• We advise on condition, grading, and auction house reputation.

You then let us know whether to pass or place a bid.

Step 4: Win, Pay, Ship
If your bid is successful:

• Shin Trade & Services Co., Ltd. (Japan) issues the purchase invoice and receives payment to their Japanese business bank account (as shown on your invoice).
• Your vehicle is transported to Shin Trade & Services’ yard in Tochigi (Japan) for inspection, test-drive, and photography prior to export.
• It’s then booked on the next available vessel, and original export documents are couriered directly to you.
• Mark of Brave Auto International remains your main point of contact for coordination and updates from purchase through to shipment.

For a full breakdown of costs, see Our Auction Fee.

Quick answers (most asked):

• Can I bid directly? Most overseas buyers can’t access Japan’s dealer-only auctions, so we bid on your behalf. Only resgistered Japanese dealers can gain access to the dealer-only auctions.
• Do I need a deposit to bid? Yes—an auction deposit is required before bidding and is credited toward your purchase.
• What happens after a win? You pay the balance, we move the vehicle to the export yard for inspection/photos, then book export shipping on the next available vessel.

Want the full step-by-step guide with details?
We offer a detailed breakdown — including USS Ninja auction search trial access, deposit information, payment timelines, and more — via email.

What Our Customers Say

Real feedback from buyers who used our auction process to import their vehicles from Japan.

Mark is super responsive and helpful. I have purchased two vehicles from Japanese auctions through Mark and he shipped them to Kenya for me. Both vehicles were in very good condition and Mark’s advice was extremely helpful. If you are planning to purchase a vehicle from Japan, you can’t do better than Brave Auto.

Bought a 1997 hilux surf SSR-G. Imported to Canada. Seamless. I'm going to buy something else quite soon through Brave Auto.

I recently imported a Hiace van through Brave Auto I highly recommend Mark. I looked at different importers and agents and was wary of all the fees other agents would add onto a final invoice. When sending large amounts of money to someone overseas you need someone you deal with you can trust and Mark did exactly as he advertised on his website.

Great Experience with Mark and his team. My Land Cruiser arrived in fantastic condition, and at a very reasonable rate. A few hiccups from my work and home location were no issue with Brave Auto and everything worked out great. I recommend them to anyone looking for JDM vehicles, and I will be using again!

First rate experience. Very knowledgeable walks you through the entire process.

Got my Subaru Legacy gt-b from mark at brave auto. Really nice and knowledgeable dude. Car was 10/10 and 4 Years later still doing great!

I had experience to have business with Mark and his company, I absolutely love it, his fantastic guy. He make everything easy and affordable and he knows his job very well, basically business with him it's like one stop shopping. Most important thing is he won't charge you any hidden charges which most of the other agent does. Again thank you Mark and that was pleasure to business with you.

I've used Mark a couple of times now and will continue to use him in the future. Service, communication, and a tedious eye for the often overlooked details are worth every penny. My advice for anyone looking at hiring Mark - Give yourself a healthy budget, tell Mark exactly what you want, set your sights on a clean unit, don't waste time lowballing units you can't afford, and let him do his thing sourcing the best units - he won't let you down.

You couldn't go with a better company. Mark is friendly, polite and always fast responding to my emails. His system is A1, I had no worries thru the whole process. The photos were excellent and I will be using him again in the very near future.

The service that mark gives is always quick and personal, he makes the process of importing much simpler and much safer than I could have hoped for. The extensive list of auction house videos that he releases are a must see if you're curious about importing, and if you want to get the right car on the first try, brave auto is my top recommendation

I imported a Nissan Safari to the UK, no problem and it was exactly as shown in photos.

Mark is an awesome guy to deal with..i have now known him for more than 5 years and imported 2 cars... And I have nothing but good things to say

I just recently imported my first car from Japan and I couldn't have done it with out the help and guidance of Mark at Brave Auto. I spent a lot of time searching for an exporter that I could feel comfortable with and I kept coming back to Brave. Anyone can write how they do things better than the competition but Mark lived up to the hype. He took the time to describe the entire process and answered all the questions I had. It always takes a bit of faith when you buy a car sight unseen but the Audi S4 Avant I imported turned out to be everything Mark described it to be. I wouldn't hesitate to use Mark to find me my next car when I'm ready to try something new.

Dealt with Mark for almost 10 years. All three vehicles in my driveway are from Mark (Delica, VW, and Merc). I used to spend painful hours at local auctions when I needed a new vehicle. Now my co-workers cannot seem to wrap their head around the simplicity of me buying a car within 5 minutes of seeing it on Mark's site by sending Mark a short email to confirm my desire. When Marks knows you're not wasting his time, he won't waste yours, and it will be time well worth it.

Dear Mark,Just wanted to let you know that I finally brought the car home last night.I will do a full inspection and I think the car is due for service (at least oil change) .. but everything else seems very smooth and the car is in amazing condition (after a good wash !)Thank you so much for your guidance and support in this process.I was lucky with my first bid and also benefited for a very favorable FX rateNow I will enjoy the car before I buy a new one :))Thank a lot once again !

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How Japanese Car Auctions Work

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