|
|
|
|
Buying media from Japan
|
|
5.16.2006
6:20 PM | Link
|
I've been buying lots of CDs and DVDs from Japan lately, which can get expensive, but it's fun! Media is generally more expensive in Japan to start with, so there are rarely any price bargains, but I still like to shop around to compare online stores. I've really only played with a few places so far, but I thought I would give them a quick run-down in case anyone else is buying stuff from Japan. By the way, there are several online shops that sell other general merchandise, but I'm really just talking about media here.
- Amazon (USA): If the thing you want is available as an export, you can always pay big bucks for it from good ol' Amazon. I've done this a couple times, but only when I had some gift certificates from my Amazon VISA, since it's not surprising to see a CD shoot up to $40 bucks this way.
- Amazon Japan: Amazon in Japan does ship internationally, so it's definitely possible to order directly from them. Finding the item you want can be fun, since everything is in Japanese (time to sound out that crazy Katakana), but the checkout process is pretty easy, and most of it can be displayed in English. All the prices are in yen, but you can definitely get an idea of what you're spending. There are no free international shipping deals - the shipping price isn't terrible, but when I did checkout comparisons with some other sites, the overall price seemed to be more, so I haven't actually placed on order with them yet.
- CDJapan: This site is in English, but unfortunately has a lame design that makes checkout a little weird and searching a little confusing at times. However, they seem to have more in-stock than anyone so far, especially older items, so I guess their source has a larger warehouse or something. Their pricing is a little less expensive, too, but their shipping can be high-priced if you want to track your package. I've ordered from them several times using the cheapest air mail shipping, and everything was fine.
- YesAsia: This is definitely the most professional site with nearly everything you could ever want to buy, but I have noticed that they tend to be out of things that aren't hot anymore. Everything is in English and very Amazon-like, but sometimes it can drive you crazy if you're searching for Japanese items and accidentally end up in the Chinese or Korean sections. The best possible thing about YesAsia is they actually do have free shipping if you spend $25! However, their prices are a little higher on everything, so truthfully the grand total often comes out the same as CDJapan, for example. My biggest complaint is that their "packing" time can get ridiculous - sometimes up to a week or more before the package even ships. What takes them so long?
Since there's no clear winner, I tend to switch back and forth between YesAsia (for convenience) and CDJapan (for in-stock items). I should try some other stores sometime, because I know I'm going to keep buying CDs and DVDs!
|
|
|
| |
|
Blogger | HaloScan | Levelfield
|
|
Feed
