Louis Vuitton from Japan

Why is secondhand Louis Vuitton so widely available in Japan?

Because Japan has a licensed secondhand trade built for it. Japanese dealers in used goods must hold a 古物商 (kobutsushō) licence under the Secondhand Articles Dealer Act and are required to verify the identity of the people they buy from, and the brand-resale chains, pawnshops and department-store buy-back counters that operate under that licence take in Louis Vuitton every day from Japanese owners. Those shops then sell through their own stores and through shop accounts on Rakuten and Yahoo Auctions, while private owners list on Mercari and Rakuma. Every one of those channels delivers inside Japan only, which is where a proxy comes in: OneMall gives you the Japanese address, pays the shop or seller in yen, receives the bag at our Japan warehouse and forwards it to you.

How do I read the date code on a Louis Vuitton bag from a Japanese listing?

Look for the 製造番号 (manufacturing number) in the seller's photos or description. From the early 1980s until early 2021 Louis Vuitton stamped a date code inside each bag — two letters for the workshop followed by four digits; on bags from 2007 onwards the digits give the week and year, on 1990–2006 bags the month and year, and pre-1990 codes are digits only or digits followed by the two letters — and Japanese sellers photograph it and often transcribe it in the listing. Bags made from March 2021 onwards carry an RFID chip instead of a stamped code, so a recent bag with no code is normal. The code is a production date, not a proof of origin, and OneMall is a proxy buying service, not the seller, and does not guarantee authenticity; treat the code, the stamping and the seller's statement as things to read together in the photos before ordering.

• 製造番号 / シリアル — the date code; ask for a clear photo if it is not shown
• 刻印 — heat stamp on leather, e.g. the LOUIS VUITTON PARIS mark
• 2021年以降 / ICチップ — made after the switch to RFID, no stamped code
• 国内正規店購入 — bought at a Japanese boutique, as stated by the seller
• 付属品：箱・保存袋 — accessories: box, dust bag

What do Japanese sellers call the Louis Vuitton lines?

By katakana line name, then model name, and the line name is the word that sorts the whole market. Monogram is モノグラム, Damier is ダミエ (with ダミエアズール and ダミエグラフィット for the light and dark versions), Epi is エピ, Vernis is ヴェルニ and Taiga is タイガ. Model names are katakana too — スピーディ, ネヴァーフル, アルマ, キーポル — and discontinued models are marked 廃盤.

What do 角スレ, ベタつき and ヌメ革 mean in a Louis Vuitton condition note?

They are three wear notes that recur on used Louis Vuitton, and Japanese sellers use them precisely. 角スレ (kadosure) is corner scuffing; ベタつき (betatsuki) is stickiness of the lining or interior coating, which develops with age on some older models and is the note that most changes a bag's usability; ヌメ革 (numegawa) is the untreated vachetta leather on handles and trim, which darkens with use and is described by how far it has darkened. Japanese brand-resale shops also attach a letter rank — N, S, A, AB, B, C or similar — but the scale is each shop's own definition, so read the shop's explanation rather than comparing ranks between shops.

• 角スレ — corner scuffing
• ベタつき / 内側ベタ — sticky lining or interior
• ヌメ革の焼け / 日焼け — darkened vachetta
• 型崩れ — loss of shape
• 金具の小傷 / くすみ — small scratches / tarnish on hardware
• ファスナー良好 — zipper works well
• ランクA / ABランク — a shop's own condition rank

What does a Louis Vuitton bag from Japan cost once it arrives?

Three amounts on two dates. When you order you pay the yen price, OneMall's service fee, which is shown before you confirm, and the seller's domestic shipping if charged. When the bag reaches our Japan warehouse you choose an international shipping method and pay for it; a bag is light but bulky, and the box and dust bag add volume, so ask whether you want them included before shipping. On delivery your own country may charge import duty or tax, and for a branded bag the declared value is high enough that duty is more likely to apply than it is for a small accessory. Buying a wallet and a bag from different sellers and consolidating them into one parcel at the warehouse costs less than two shipments.

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What should I type to find Louis Vuitton on Japanese sites?

ルイヴィトン or the short form ヴィトン, followed by the line and model in katakana; many sellers also write LOUIS VUITTON in Latin letters, so both forms reach listings. Adding 廃盤 finds discontinued models and adding 美品 filters to the sellers' better-condition pieces.

• ルイヴィトン / ヴィトン / LOUIS VUITTON — the brand in the three forms sellers use
• モノグラム スピーディ / ダミエ ネヴァーフル — line + model
• 廃盤 / ヴィンテージ — discontinued / vintage
• 美品 / 未使用 / 箱付き — fine condition / unused / with box
• 製造番号 / シリアル有 — date code shown