BuySell’s 650-store plan prompts caution over entering Japan’s resale buying franchise market

BuySell’s nationwide recruitment of new franchisees for its shops specialising in buying second-hand goods has prompted caution over entering the market. On 7 October 2026, Livedoor News featured an explanatory video by Mr Matsubara of ‘Hitori Kaigyo Channel / by Build’s’, a channel offering advice on starting a business independently. The discussion focused on the group’s ambition to reach 650 stores by the end of 2027 and the competitive environment facing businesses opening new buying outlets.

The 650-store plan and prospective franchisees’ decisions

According to the article, BuySell aims to have 650 stores across its group by the end of 2027. Matsubara’s video addressed BuySell’s nationwide recruitment of new franchisees and discussed the decision to open a business as the store network expands.

An important distinction is that the 650-store figure is a group-wide target. It does not mean that all 650 outlets will be newly opened franchises, nor is it the number of stores already operating. Anyone considering joining the network needs to distinguish figures describing the group’s scale from the business plan for their own proposed location.

The article does more than report a company’s expansion ambitions: it also presents an outside business start-up adviser’s assessment of them. For the franchise community, it is therefore important to keep the plan itself separate from Matsubara’s views.

Existing owners and use of the brand

In the video, Matsubara explained that BuySell originally focused on buying goods through home visits and that most of its customers are aged 60 or over. This was his description of the business’s characteristics, rather than the result of a new customer survey presented in the article.

He also discussed investment fund Midas Capital’s acquisition of the buying-store chain WAKABA and its subsequent incorporation into BuySell Technologies. In that context, he expressed the view that existing WAKABA franchise owners were moving towards using the BuySell brand.

The broader point is that the expansion of a store network should not be understood solely in terms of recruiting new franchisees. Existing owners adopting a brand and new franchisees starting a business face different circumstances. Existing outlets already have a trading record, whereas newcomers need to build a plan around their own conditions.

However, Matsubara’s explanation does not confirm any individual WAKABA franchise’s rebranding or contractual terms. Prospective franchisees seeking clarity on use of the brand or the relationship with existing outlets should first ask the franchisor to confirm the recruitment terms and contract provisions that would apply to them.

Competition concerns are an outside assessment

Matsubara cited intense competition among buying outlets as a reason for his caution about new entrants. He said that rival chain Kaitori Daikichi spends heavily on advertising and expressed concern about competition over store numbers and advertising. The article also quoted him as saying of entering the buying-store franchise sector: ‘I am absolutely against it. I don’t feel I could win.’

This is Matsubara’s personal assessment, however, rather than a conclusion based on an examination of the profitability of every franchise in the sector. The article does not provide specific comparisons of advertising expenditure, regional store density or franchisee profit margins. His comments alone cannot establish whether a particular outlet will succeed or fail.

He also speculated that BuySell might not intend to compete head-on with Kaitori Daikichi in store expansion. This, too, should be treated as his own view expressed in the video, not as a policy announced by the company.

When considering such debates, the franchise community should focus on the reasoning behind an assessment rather than the strength of its language. Warnings about the number of competitors can provide a starting point for evaluating a location, but they cannot replace checking the conditions and financial projections for a specific site. Equally, group growth targets do not guarantee profits for individual franchisees.

Assess shop-based and home-visit models separately

At the end of the video, Matsubara suggested that people who are comfortable dealing with others and motivated to pursue the work might find more opportunity in buying goods through home visits than in running a shop. His comments pointed to the potential of a working model in which conversations with customers lead to purchases of their goods.

This recommendation does not demonstrate that a home-visit model generates higher earnings than a shop-based one. When comparing a business that waits for customers to visit with one that visits customers, prospective operators should examine customer acquisition methods, day-to-day tasks and their own sales responsibilities in concrete terms. His comments offer a reason to consider how they want to run their business before choosing a brand.

The debate surrounding BuySell’s 650-store plan illustrates that a franchisor’s expansion strategy and a new franchisee’s decision to open an outlet are not the same thing. Rather than accepting an outside warning as a final verdict, or deciding to join on the strength of the group’s scale alone, prospective franchisees need to test the proposition against their own location and operating conditions.

In practical terms, franchise enquiries should include specific questions about existing outlets and competitors in the proposed catchment area, the franchisor’s customer acquisition support, the franchisee’s sales responsibilities and the assumptions underpinning financial projections. Expansion targets and the viability of an individual outlet should be assessed separately, with contractual terms and figures checked before a decision is made.