Q: What is the Celga Gold program?
A: Celga Gold is our program through which we provide current customers with their own individual Yahoo Japan accounts that they can use to place their own bids on auctions.
Q: What are the differences between a Celga Gold account and a regular Celga account?
A: The main difference between a Celga Gold account and a regular Celga account is that Celga Gold accounts allow customers to place their own bids on Yahoo Japan auctions by themselves instead of through our staff. This is an advantage if you're an experienced Yahoo Japan bidder and want to place your bids on your own schedule. It's not an advantage if you mostly purchase items from other sites!
Here's an outline of the differences between the two types of accounts Celga offers.
| Regular Account | Celga Gold Account | |
| set up fee | none | Currently waived! |
| monthly fees | none | $48/year |
| payment options | PayPal, MO, IPMO, credit card on file | credit card on file only |
| deposit | 50% of maximum bid | none (auction wins automatically charged to credit card on file at time of invoice) |
| YJ bid timing | placed as close as possible to end of auction | placed whenever Celga Gold customer chooses to place it |
| YJ bid placement | by Celga staff | by Celga Gold customer |
| YJ problem highlighting | staff will contact customer if we detect issues with seller or auction | Celga Gold customer is responsible for any potential auction issues |
| YJ bidding ID | Celga company ID | unique personal ID |
| buying directly from Japanese websites | through website form | through website form |
| bidding on auction sites other than YJ | through website form | through website form |
| selling an item on YJ through Celga | Celga fee is flat 20% of final value | Celga fee is flat 20% of final value |
As you can see, a Celga Gold Account has some definite advantages if you're a regular and experienced user of Yahoo Japan auctions, but doesn't offer many advantages if you're simply trying to purchase items from Japanese websites! We encourage you to select the type of account that will best fit your personal needs – if you have any questions, please (contactus)contact us!
Q: Can anyone request a Celga Gold account?
A: Celga Gold accounts are available to our current customers in good standing who have had an account with us for two months or longer. This helps ensure that Celga Gold customers are familiar with our policies and procedures and have had time to become accustomed to how Yahoo Japan auctions work.
Q: How do I sign up for a Celga Gold account?
A: You can request a Celga Gold account through our (goldsignup)Celga Gold account Request form. You'll need to be logged in to your regular Celga account to use this form. Just fill it out and hit submit! (Please be sure to read and understand the (goldaccountagreement)Celga Gold Account User Agreement in addition to our regular (useragreement)User Agreement before you send your form!)
Q: Can I get a Celga Gold account for any other Japanese auction site, like Rakuten or Mbok?
A: No, at this time we offer Celga Gold accounts for Yahoo Japan auctions only. Celga Gold customers can place bids on items offered through other Japanese auction sites or shop from webshops through our (bidrequest)regular service.
Q: Can I retract a bid I've placed on Yahoo Japan with my Celga Gold account?
A: NO. Yahoo Japan has no method for retracting bids once they have been placed. Once you place your bid, you are committed to it. If you are a Celga Gold customer, you are solely responsible for making sure you bid the correct amount you intended. If you do not, we cannot help you, and if you win the auction, you will be financially responsible for the final auction value and all associated fees.
This is biggest issue we've run across since we began the Celga Gold program, and we cannot emphasize it enough: THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO BID RETRACTION ONCE A BID IS PLACED. If you've entered the wrong amount, such as 32,000 yen instead of 3200 yen, you cannot change it, and you will be responsible for the entire amount should the auction end at that value.
Please also see our (yjfaq)Yahoo Japan FAQ for more information about the specifics of Yahoo Japan auctions.
Q: Can you contact a seller after the auction and ask them to release me from my bid contract?
A: As stated in our (goldaccountagreement)Celga Gold Account Agreement, we will not negotiate with sellers on behalf of our customers to release them from their bids. Sellers generally will not release bidders from their bids, and tend to block bidders who ask for this from bidding on their auctions in the future. We cannot take this risk to our business and to our other customers.
Q: What are the fees associated with a Celga Gold account?
A: Celga Gold accounts have a one time set up fee of $15. Yahoo Japan no longer allows foreign credit cards, so the usual $4 monthly fee must be charged all at once for the yearly rate of $48/year. Celga has no control over the Yahoo Japan monthly fee. If the fee goes up, we have to adjust our charge accordingly.
Other than that, only our (genfees)usual auction fees apply!
Q: Why do you require having my credit card on file for a Celga Gold account?
A: Bids made with a Celga Gold account also must be paid by a credit card on file. We automatically charge your credit card for the full amount whenever we send you an invoice. You will still receive invoices, of course, detailing all the costs and the total amount. This way you don't have to worry about deposits and can simply bid as you like!
Please remember that per our (goldaccountagreement)Celga Gold Account Agreement, you are responsible for making sure your credit card information on file stays up to date.
Q: Which types of credit cards may be used for a Celga Gold account?
A: At this time, we accept most major credit cards including Mastercard, Visa, American Express and Discover. We also accept debit cards with the Mastercard or Visa logo.
Q: Can I pay for my Celga Gold account another way without using a credit card?
A: As (goldcc)explained above, one of our Celga Gold account requirements is that we have a valid credit card on file to pay for any Yahoo Japan account fees and all auction costs. Your initial set up fee will also be charged to this card for verification.
If there is an issue with paying with your credit card on file, we will discuss alternative payment methods on a case by case basis. Any alternative payment method must be discussed and approved prior to the end of the auction. Alternative payments must be received before the auction invoice is processed or the invoice amount will be automatically charged to your credit card on file as usual.
Q: Since I already have a Yahoo Japan bidding account, can I bid with it and have you handle the payment and shipping of the auction goods?
A: No. We only offer this service for Celga Gold accounts established through us.
Q: Do I have to email Celga every time I win a Yahoo Japan auction?
A: You don't have to email us at all – we'll automatically receive notification of your auction win and process it for you, all without you having to do anything!
Q: I have a new Celga Gold account, and my bids aren't going through! What's happening?
A: Some sellers on Yahoo Japan have set a minimum feedback level for bidders on their auctions, and those accounts with less feedback than required (usually 5) are blocked from bidding on the auction.
When you first start bidding with your new Celga Gold Yahoo Japan account, it's best to place your bid early to make sure the seller will accept bids from new accounts. If they won't, please send your bid to us through our (bidrequest)bid request form and we'll handle it for you.
Fortunately there are many sellers on Yahoo Japan who welcome bids from new buyers, and in no time at all you'll have built up a solid reputation which will allow you to bid on all auctions!
Q: If my Celga Gold Yahoo Japan account suddenly stops working, what should I do?
A: If you are having any problems with your Celga Gold Yahoo Japan Account please (contactus)contact us immediately with a thorough description of the problem.
Yahoo Japan maintains an automatic watchlist which includes every bid you make, and this list has a size limit. If it is full, it will prevent you from bidding until it has been emptied manually. If you are a heavy bidder (more than 100 bids per month), please (contactus)contact us regularly so that we can keep that list emptied for you and keep you bidding!
Q: Yahoo Japan is asking me to change my password, what should I do?
A: You should have been given 2 passwords to alternate between. Please ONLY use one of these two passwords, or we will not be able to access your account to take care of auctions.
If YJA takes you to the password change page, here is what to fill in the blanks:
(leave the kanji drop-down menu alone) Birth year, Birth month, Birth day (if your own doesn't work, use 1969 7 30)
Old Password
New Password
Repeat New Password
If you have any questions or problems, please don't hesitate to (contactus)contact us.
Q: If I'm bidding with my Celga Gold account, will I ever be second in line behind another Celga customer?
A: No, one of the advantages of being a Celga Gold account customer is that you can bid freely on your own. You decide what your maximum is and if you raise it, you can do so whenever you want and as often as you want!
Please note that this means that sometimes you may be bidding against other Celga Gold account customers or Celga customers.
Q: Can I ask a Yahoo Japan seller a question?
A: You can indeed, with our help! Yahoo Japan provides a Q&A board with every auction for just that purpose. Please do not contact the seller without talking to us first, as we need to be in control of all communication with the seller. So, we will post the question for you o r give you the text so that you can post it. Remember that you'll have to keep checking back periodically to see if your question has been answered.
Please remember that the questions must be posted in Japanese, since that's the language the sellers speak! We request that you (contactus)contact us so that we can assist you with asking the question. Remember, we need to know about ALL offers prior to them being made, so please ask all questions through us.
