Editor’s Note
This article outlines KARATZ’s new “Kara-Oku” service, a partnership with Auction Net to facilitate B2B auctions of jewelry and precious metals for overseas sales.
KARATZ, a company operating gemstone information media and specialized e-commerce sites (Taito-ku, Tokyo), launched “Kara-Oku” in December, a consignment listing service in partnership with Auction Net (Minato-ku, Tokyo). This service allows customers to easily consign jewelry and precious metals for business-to-business auctions.
Kara-Oku consigns customers’ gemstones to auctions operated by Auction Net. By partnering with Auction Net, the service aims to increase bids from overseas businesses and raise the final selling prices of the jewelry listed at auction.
The service targets jewelry of K9 quality or higher and Pt750 or higher. It is designed for items with a combined market value (including the metal) of 50,000 to 100,000 yen or more.
The process is as follows: First, a preliminary appraisal is conducted via the official LINE account. The customer then mails the item to KARATZ, which performs a formal appraisal and provides an estimated winning bid range. The minimum bid price is set at the lower end of this estimated range.
If the item is sold, a commission of 10-20% (depending on the final sale price) is deducted, and the remaining amount is transferred to the customer. The transaction is typically completed within about a week.
If an item is deemed unsuitable for auction, the company offers to purchase it directly, with no commission charged in that case.
As this is a business model close to consignment sales, KARATZ’s profit increases when customers’ items sell for higher prices. President Keiichiro Koyama commented:
Customer acquisition will be conducted through the company’s e-commerce platform (with over 150,000 monthly users), its own media, and social media. The company also plans to hold eight pop-up events per year to gauge response. The goal is to achieve over 1,000 consignments per month and a transaction volume in the tens of millions of yen range by 2026.