TOKYO,
Oct. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ --PayPal Japan announced today that
"iichi" (iichi: http//www.iichi.com/ ), a new consumer-to-consumer
marketplace targeting the overseas market offering high quality
handmade products of artisans and craft-makers from all over Japan,
has adopted one of the world's largest online payment service
"PayPal™" as the exclusive global payment method.
"iichi" is a marketplace based on the philosophy of contributing to
the creative activities of artisans and the Japanese craftsmanship
culture. The craft makers can easily create their own page on the
"iichi" website to introduce or sell their work. Overseas buyers
can then purchase the work directly from the craft makers through
the website.
"iichi" aims to introduce and sell
Japanese crafts internationally from its beginning, so its
corporate keyword is "Handmade in Japan". Since many Japanese
craft-makers want to be connected to the global marketplace,
"iichi" is now available in English and accepts online payments via
PayPal to open the marketplace for overseas buyers. "iichi" also
ships to 40 countries around the world.
Handmade products found on the
website vary from handicraft, jewelry, fashion items and art
collections crafted by 50 participating craft makers, and there are
approximately 200 handmade products at the time of its overseas
launch. "iichi" is operated by iichi Limited Liability Partnership
(iichi LLP), which was established by the Hakuhodo DY Group.
"iichi" adopts PayPal as the
exclusive payment system because it considers secure, reliable
overseas payments as a very important service for the Japanese
craft-makers. PayPal is a safer and more convenient way for online
payments with over 100 million active users in 190 markets
worldwide and supports payments in 25 currencies. Moreover, PayPal
has a reliable track record as a global online payment service as
cross-border transactions accounted for 25% of their total
transactions globally last year. Based on these considerations,
PayPal meets the requirement of the overseas payment system of
"iichi".
Kentaro Iinuma, representative of
iichi LLP says, "In the near future, people will seek new
production and consumption lifestyle which focus on relationships
between people and society. I think the shape of happiness in the
next era is "pleasure of creation", "pleasure to help people", and
"pleasure to connect with people and society". For craft makers,
the greatest pleasure is to please people with their handmade
products. "iichi" was born with the philosophy to create a service
which helps craft makers to meet people who want their creations.
The environment to develop cross border business in Japan is
improving as the internet and social media are becoming popular.
However, it is difficult to deal with hurdles of language, payment
and shipment for individuals who want to introduce their works
internationally but we aim to solve such problems through our
translation service, overseas payments by PayPal and international
shipping."
Kazumitsu Tanaka, a potter who is
participating in the overseas marketplace of "iichi" says, "For
individual crafters, it is difficult to introduce my own work
internationally but "iichi" enables me to introduce and sell my
work to overseas buyers. This is a chance for me to approach my
work from a different angle as well as challenge myself to
introduce my handmade products to people who appreciate
craftsmanship."
About "iichi": http://www.iichi.com/about
About PayPal
PayPal is the
faster, safer way to pay and get paid online. The service allows
PayPal users to make payments for goods or services purchased
without sharing financial information with the sellers, with the
flexibility to pay using their account balances, bank
accounts(Note1), credit cards or promotional financing(Note2). With
over 100 million active accounts in 190 markets and 25 currencies
around the world, PayPal enables global ecommerce.
More information about the company
can be found at PayPal.com. PayPal is headquartered in San Jose,
Calif. and its international headquarters is located in Singapore.
PayPal is an eBay company.
Notes:
Media Contacts Dickson Seow Idran
Junadi PayPal Asia Pacific The Hoffman Agency Tel: +65-6510-6463
Tel: +65-6238-1851 Email: [email protected] Email:
[email protected]
SOURCE PayPal