Rakuten Ichiba

Nine dimensions merchants should review before joining:

Merchant snapshot

Japan's largest open marketplace, with the strongest repurchase engine built on points + fintech synergy; fee and shipping costs are high. Suited to merchants of repurchase-oriented categories with a Japanese entity that are willing to invest deeply in points promotions.

Entry requirements

Opening a store in Japan requires application in the name of a legal entity (company registration, bank account, Japan-based customer service and logistics capability); onboarding review and screening are strict. From July 2025 the platform began recruiting Singapore sellers and expanded its international seller network to six more countries in September; overseas brands can enter via the International Seller Program (Rakuten official press release 2025.9.30). Initial registration fee: JPY 60,000 (excl. tax, per the official store contract and fee guidelines 出店規約・料金ガイドライン). Cross-regional view: the Japan site (Rakuten Ichiba 楽天市場) and the International Seller Program (Rakuten Global Express, etc.) differ in entry qualifications and settlement currency; overseas sellers should follow the official international program rules.

Fee structure

The official store contract and fee guidelines (2024 revised edition) show: initial registration fee JPY 60,000 (excl. tax); monthly basic store fee tiered by plan — Gambare! Plan (がんばれ！プラン) JPY 25,000/month, Standard JPY 65,000/month, Mega Shop JPY 130,000/month (all excl. tax); system usage fee (システム利用料) billed in tiers by monthly sales — published plan rates are roughly 3.5%–6.5% on PC and 4.0%–7.0% on mobile (excl. tax; e.g., the Gambare! Plan PC tier is 6.5% up to JPY 500,000 in sales, tapering to 3.5% above JPY 10 million), plus a platform-wide 'system usage fee for transaction safety and convenience improvement' (交易安全・便利性向上システム利用料). Rakuten points campaigns (Super SALE, Okaidaimarathon お買い物マラソン shopping marathon) often require stores to bear the points' source cost (店舗原資) — an extra cost. Advertising uses Rakuten RMS ads (pay-per-click); rates and plans are per the official latest fee schedule.

Getting traffic

On-site search + category browsing + Rakuten points redemption drive traffic; points campaigns and coupons (クーポン) are the main promotional levers. Rakuten RMS ads (keyword/display placements) are the core of paid traffic, alongside Time Sale (タイムセール) limited-time offers and placements such as Rakuten TV/content. Traffic depends heavily on store ratings (reviews レビュー) and promotion participation — operational investment determines exposure.

Fulfilment & logistics

The platform has no mandatory FBA-style logistics; merchants mainly self-fulfill (home delivery 宅配便 / postal mail), meeting Rakuten's delivery rules and packaging requirements and managing timeliness themselves. Since 2020 the mandatory 'free-shipping line' (送料無料ライン, free shipping on orders of JPY 3,980 or more incl. tax) makes stores bear shipping costs (the JFTC once filed a case and applied for an emergency stop order); the new free-shipping system in March 2026 continues to shift shipping costs onto sellers. International sellers usually need a Japan local warehouse or logistics partners to meet delivery-timeliness requirements.

Payments & settlement

Receivables go through the Rakuten Pay settlement system (credit cards, Rakuten points offset, cash on delivery 代金引換, pay-later 後払い, etc.), in JPY. Settlement funds (精算金) are paid monthly by Rakuten, with store fees and other dues deducted directly (official store contract articles 13/15). Overseas sellers' settlement follows the International Seller Program terms.

Compliance

A Japanese legal entity (or International Seller Program qualification) is required, plus JCT consumption-tax invoice (インボイス) compliance. Merchants must follow the Act on Specified Commercial Transactions (obligations to disclose price/shipping/returns), Rakuten's store contract and prohibited-conduct rules (strict governance of counterfeits and exaggerated claims). Dealing in used/second-hand goods requires a Secondhand Goods Dealer license (古物営業法). Rakuten's forced free-shipping and search-ranking rules have drawn attention from Japan's Fair Trade Commission (JFTC, 2020 emergency stop order), so platform-policy compliance risk needs continuous monitoring.

Key risks

1) The free-shipping system shifts costs — the March 2026 new scheme triggered another wave of large-scale merchant discontent and risks losing small/medium sellers (reported by jinfengkou/ESG Cross-border); 2) GMV growth is slowing (H1 2026 domestic EC GMV only +4.9%), and the platform faces maturity-stage growth pressure; 3) the group posted its 7th consecutive year of net loss (FY2025 net loss of ¥177.8B, mainly due to Rakuten Mobile), raising doubts about long-term investment capacity; 4) Temu/AliExpress cross-border low prices divert price-sensitive users, and the battle with Amazon Japan for No.1 intensifies; 5) the points/promotion/ad system is complex, making learning and trial-and-error costly for new sellers.

Best-fit sellers

Best suited to mid-to-large sellers with a Japanese legal entity, operating repurchase-oriented categories (daily goods, food, beauty, mother-and-baby, apparel) and willing to invest deeply in points/promotion operations. Cross-border sellers can enter via the International Seller Program. Not suited to small teams or low-margin standardized-product sellers — after the points burden + system usage fee + shipping costs stack up, profit margins are thin.

Sources

research/sections/jp_platforms.md 5.2.1; 各地区电商平台Top5深度研究报告.md 5.1; 楽天市場出店規約・料金ガイドライン https://www.rakuten.ne.jp/gold/_sales/pdf/disclosure/01_kiyaku_guideline.pdf; 楽天出店料改定案内 https://www.rakuten.ne.jp/gold/_sales/pdf/notice_price_revision_2024.pdf; Rakuten 国际卖家新闻稿 https://global.rakuten.com/corp/news/press/2025/0930_03.html; JFTC 2020 紧急停止命令 https://www.jftc.go.jp/houdou/pressrelease/2020/feb/200228honbun.pdf; ESG跨境 https://www.eservicesgroup.com.cn/news/178669.html; jinfengkou https://www.jinfengkou.com/show-140847.html

Rakuten Ichiba appears in the Top-5 lists of 1 regions: Japan.

• Japan（#1）：Rakuten Points closed loop across ecommerce / finance (Card/Bank) / mobile

Every figure is taken from that region’s Top-5 report and source audit. No cross-region conversion or new estimates: