How to Pay on DLsite from Outside Japan: Cards, Points and Serial Codes

Short answer: if your card fails, buy viviON points and pay with points. DLsite always bills in Japanese yen; other currencies on the site are only a guide.

Paying by card

• DLsite's payment guide shows JCB as the card brand, and says cards issued outside Japan may not complete. It recommends buying points instead. DLsite payment guide
• If a card is declined: check that it allows international use and 3-D Secure. Cards issued abroad, debit and prepaid cards may not work, and your bank may add an overseas fee. Card errors (DLsite help)
• The charge is in yen and your statement shows “DLsite”, not the work's title. Billing currency (DLsite help)

Points and serial codes

• 1 viviON point = 1 yen. Points are bought from “Buy Points” in My Page, from 1,000 points. They expire 1 year after you last got or used points. Buying points
• Most in-site point payment methods are for Japan. DLsite's help suggests buying a 16-digit serial code on an official partner site and entering it at “Enter Serial Code”. What is a serial code
• Use only the sellers DLsite lists (For Books, Point Market, Dianshu.jp, DLpay Taiwan, DLpay Crypto, DPay, WaffoPlay, PtPtPoints). DLsite says codes from other places — especially person-to-person resales — can get your account suspended. Official seller list

Welcome coupon

DLsite's overseas welcome page offers a 30% OFF coupon for new accounts: enter DLsiteWelcome30 in the Promotional Code box on the last page of sign-up. Per the page it is valid for 3 days after you get it, once, and some works are excluded. Official coupon page Coupons can't be combined with each other, but can be used with points.

Before you pay

• Check the language first — how to tell if a work is in English. Purchases can't be refunded (refund rules).
• Free samples are on each DLsite work page.

Checked on the official DLsite pages on Nov 3, 2026.