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Japanese online record stores

GropeGrope 2,970 Posts
edited September 2007 in Strut Central
Does anyone on Soulstrut order from Japanese record stores? Some seem to have a great stock and sell some good records for cheap. At least thats what www.xe.com tells me.But every email I send remains unanswered. I tried to reserve or ask about some records, but never got back any confirmation. Are Japanese online stores reliable at all? Do they sell the records they list? I dont understand any Japanese and some of the best sites lack English sections. Do the employees speak English? Does it make any sense to send them emails?What are your experiences with Japanese online stores?

  Comments

  • OkemOkem 4,617 Posts
    I ordered from one a while back, but I think I remember them having a 'notice to overseas customers' on the website. Some wont ship overseas, Jap. ebay/yahoo always looks good but they never ship overseas. Also shipping is kinda expensive.
  • Big_ChanBig_Chan 5,088 Posts
    Most shops in Japan have enough local Japanese buyers to stay in business. Shipping records from Japan is very expensive and maybe a lot of the shop owners don't want to deal with customers that do not speak Japanese.
    Email my homie Taka aka "Silverchild" aka "Mr. Find 45" at his shop in Kobe, Vinylchamber. He speaks English and he is a cool dude.

    www.vinylchamber.com
  • hammertimehammertime 2,389 Posts
    well obviously it varies depending on the store/site you're talking about. i've never had problems with any of the places I've ordered through, except one where I paid with US cash for years with no problem, then all of a sudden once the dude got super pissed at me for not sending Yen. I'm not sure what that was all about.
  • GropeGrope 2,970 Posts
    i never got any reply from the stores. that's what's worrying me. there's hardly any info in english and the records i want to buy don't seem to be available although they have just been listed. maybe some online stores post fake lists only to attract customers?

    i don't really get why they won't ship worldwide. i buy lots of records from japanese eBayers. they are very reliable (records in stunning condition) and the shipping costs are usually cool. plus, some big records seem to be pretty cheap over there...

    so do you order expensive records or just some new stuff like hip hop 12"s?
  • hammertimehammertime 2,389 Posts
    if they don't have an english site, there's a good chance they don't speak much english.
  • djsheepdjsheep 3,620 Posts
    Most shops in Japan have enough local Japanese buyers to stay in business. Shipping records from Japan is very expensive and maybe a lot of the shop owners don't want to deal with customers that do not speak Japanese.
    Email my homie Taka aka "Silverchild" aka "Mr. Find 45" at his shop in Kobe, Vinylchamber. He speaks English and he is a cool dude.

    www.vinylchamber.com

    Word TAKA is that mutherfuckin' dude! Chan, did I tell u his partner Masa had the yahoo japan auction ID "mrfind45-2" and taka is "mrfind45-1"... comedy.

    Yeah, most stores will not ship outside of Japan. Your best bet is to find someone with a Japanese address and head straight to the yahoo.co.jp auctions, you can get all the italian soundtrack stuff, etc. there HELLLLLLA cheap....

    http://list3.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/22260-category.html?

    I'll post up a translation of how to navigate the site, but with a little bit of trial and error you'll find stuff. Most stuff is listed in English, but you need a Japanese mate and you'll be killin' it in no time!

    Big Guns, Stone Killer, etc. etc.

    peace.
  • SoulOnIceSoulOnIce 13,027 Posts
    I bought some 45's from one a few months ago,
    and it was a very satisfying experience. I honestly
    can't remember the site, although I could find it again
    if I needed to. I was buying a bunch of girl group stuff
    as a gift for my girl, and they had raers for $8-$20 US,
    really good prices. They got back to me quickly, shipped
    immediately and everything was as described.

    The best part of getting records from Japan are the Japanese stamps
  • bboyparkzbboyparkz 549 Posts
    Its always surprised me the amount of Japanese stores that wont ship abroad.
    I???m guessing that over the next few years they will start to ship international to stay in business, I guess record shop???s must be struggling a little in Japan as there are going to be less young folks buying wax and going microwave, so the home grown market is going to shrink like everywhere else.

    Its possible to buy off Yahoo Auctions using a middle man service, this costs a bit but at least it give those without Japanese connections a chance to buy.

    Ebay seems to have an ever growing amount of Japanese sellers, and shit can go on there cheaper than it does in Japan.
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