How Fleaven works

Who am I?

My name is Sarah, and I have always been a treasure hunter: Sunday morning flea markets, old furniture waiting for a second life, and of course the toys of my childhood, which I never really put away.

Japan, my hunting ground

I travel to Japan often, and every trip has the same taste of adventure. I spend hours in vintage toy and game shops, from Nakano Broadway to Akihabara, my nose pressed against the display cases. I get up at dawn to wander around flea markets and temple fairs, where people unpack boxes straight from their attics in the early morning. And between trips, I keep hunting online, on Mercari and Yahoo! Auctions.

It is there, on the ground, that I learned to recognise a genuine vintage piece, to spot a reissue and to sense what is really worth it. With Fleaven, I want to share all of this with everyone who has not dared to take the plunge yet.

How I choose my finds

Every week, I go through hundreds of Japanese listings. I look at every photo, check the dating clues, the condition, what might be missing… and I only keep the pieces I truly fall for. Those are the finds, and I write every word about them myself.

On the radar, you will also find listings spotted every morning on Japanese marketplaces, so you can go hunting too. They have not been checked one by one yet: they are leads to explore, not yet favourites.

The prices shown

On the radar and the finds, I show the listing price in yen, converted to euros at the European Central Bank's rate of the day. That is the price of the item alone: the proxy service fees, shipping and import taxes come on top.

To find out what you will really pay, my guide to buying from Japan walks through every fee, with a worked example. And for an auction, remember that the price may still go up.

Who pays for Fleaven?

Nobody! No link is sponsored or affiliated: I earn nothing from your purchases. If that ever changes, this page and every link concerned will say so clearly.

What Fleaven does not do

I do not buy or resell the items shown. The purchase is between you, the proxy service and the Japanese seller. And you will not find Pokémon trading cards here: I prefer toys you can hold in your hands to objects of speculation.

A word about the newsletter

The weekly newsletter is written in French for now. The website is fully in English, and an English edition of the newsletter may follow if enough of you ask for it.

A question, a wish?

Looking for a particular piece, or want to tell me about the toy you loved as a child? Write to me at contact@fleaven.com. I read every message.