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Pricing for the Japanese market
Pricing is where most first attempts at the Japanese market quietly fail. Not because the numbers are too high — Japanese buyers pay well for imported craft — but because the price arrives without a visible reason, or because the maker converted their domestic price and hoped.
Work backwards, not forwards
The instinct is to start from your UK price and add costs. Do the opposite. Start from what the object should look like it costs on a Japanese shelf, then work back through the chain and see whether what remains is viable for you.
If it is not viable, that route is not available at that price point. Better to know before shipping than after.
What the chain adds
Between your workshop and a Japanese customer, the following stack up:
- Freight — significant for anything heavy or bulky. Ceramics are expensive to move.
- Duty — varies by tariff classification.
- Consumption tax — 10%.
- Importer or distributor margin — where one is involved.
- Retail margin — for galleries and craft retailers, commission is commonly in the 40–50% range.
The practical consequence is that a piece you sell at £100 in the UK will not sit at the yen equivalent of £100 in Tokyo. It will sit meaningfully above it. That is normal and it is fine — provided the price is legible.
"Legible" is the key word
Japanese buyers are not price-averse. They are extremely sensitive to a price that cannot be explained.
A high price with visible justification — named material, described process, hours involved, a maker with a documented history — reads as premium. The same price with no explanation reads as arbitrary, and arbitrary is fatal.
Practically, this means every piece needs a short line of provenance attached to it at the point of sale. Not a paragraph. One line: the clay, the wheel, the kiln, the number of firings. That single line does more for conversion than any adjustment to the number.
Do not compete at the bottom
The lower end of the Japanese market is well served by domestic production and by imports from elsewhere in Asia, at prices British making cannot approach. Trying to meet it means losing money and signalling the wrong thing.
Imported British craft belongs in the middle and upper brackets, where the customer is buying provenance and process rather than function alone. Performance is markedly better there, and so is repeat business.
Discounting is dangerous
Set a yen price and hold it. Mid-exhibition discounting is common practice in some Western markets and is actively damaging in Japan, for two reasons.
First, customers who bought at full price on day two will hear about it, and the Japanese craft-buying community is smaller and better connected than it appears. Second, a discount signals that the original price was not real, which retrospectively undermines the provenance argument you just made.
If something is not selling, the answer is better explanation or a different venue — not a lower number.
Consistency across channels
If you sell online, at a department store show and through a stockist, the yen price should be the same in all three. Japanese buyers check. A cheaper direct price undercuts the retailer who took a risk on you, and that relationship is worth more than the margin difference.
Wholesale terms
Where you are supplying a shop rather than selling directly, expect to discuss: wholesale price (commonly around half of retail), minimum order quantity, lead time, payment terms, and whether the arrangement is outright purchase or consignment.
Consignment is common in Japanese craft retail and shifts inventory risk back to you, but it also lowers the barrier for a shop taking on an unknown foreign maker. For a first relationship it is often the sensible trade.
Quote in yen
Quoting in pounds and asking the buyer to convert transfers the exchange-rate risk to them and signals that you have not done the work. Quote in yen, state how long the quote holds, and decide in advance how you will handle currency movement over a long lead time.
Send us your UK retail prices and what you make. We will tell you where the work would realistically land on a Japanese shelf, whether that price is defensible there, and which route makes the numbers work.
Questions people ask
Short, direct answers to the questions this reliably raises.
How should I price my work for the Japanese market?
Work backwards from what the object should look like it costs on a Japanese shelf, then subtract retail margin, importer margin, consumption tax, duty and freight, and see whether what remains is viable for you. Starting from your UK price and adding costs produces a number that may not be defensible in the market.
Why do Japanese buyers reject high prices sometimes and accept them other times?
Japanese buyers are not price-averse but they are very sensitive to a price that cannot be explained. A high price with visible justification — named material, described process, hours involved, documented maker history — reads as premium. The same price with no explanation reads as arbitrary. A single line of provenance at the point of sale does more for conversion than adjusting the number.
Should I discount if work is not selling in Japan?
No. Customers who bought at full price will hear about it, and the Japanese craft-buying community is smaller and better connected than it appears. A discount also signals that the original price was not real, which undermines the provenance argument. If something is not selling, the answer is better explanation or a different venue.
What are typical wholesale terms in Japan?
Wholesale price is commonly around half of retail, with minimum order quantity, lead time and payment terms negotiated alongside. Consignment is common in Japanese craft retail — it shifts inventory risk back to you but lowers the barrier for a shop taking on an unknown foreign maker, which often makes it the sensible trade for a first relationship.
Should I quote in pounds or yen?
Yen. Quoting in pounds transfers exchange-rate risk to the buyer and signals that you have not done the groundwork. State how long the quote holds and decide in advance how you will handle currency movement across a long lead time.