Best places to import Japanese games/consoles?

Josh1billion

Josh1billion

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Anyone have any recommendations as to which sites are cheapest for imports? I've taken a look at Play-Asia, and wow, the mark-up is insane. I'm guessing much of that is due to shipping and import taxes, but still, $299 for a 3DS LL is something like $60 above retail, and a part of the CAG in me would perish if I were to have to resort to such a thing. ;) ..especially when the games often for $70 a pop.

I recently bought a Japanese PS3 game on eBay at a good price because the person was in the U.S., but that's been my only luck so far in getting a good deal. Any other recommendations?
 
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[quote name='Josh1billion']Anyone have any recommendations as to which sites are cheapest for imports? I've taken a look at Play-Asia, and wow, the mark-up is insane. I'm guessing much of that is due to shipping and import taxes, but still, $299 for a 3DS LL is something like $60 above retail, and a part of the CAG in me would perish if I were to have to resort to such a thing. ;) ..especially when the games often for $70 a pop.

I recently bought a Japanese PS3 on eBay at a good price because the person was in the U.S., but that's been my only luck so far in getting a good deal. Any other recommendations?[/QUOTE]

Why did you get a JP PS3? The US PS3 & JP PS3 models both play each other's regions games...because they have the same region code; or something like that (except that ps1/ps2 games only work for their own region...in which case, good choice).

As for getting foreign imports, I've found that going to some small, lesser-known stores are really good. A good chain (but a small one) I can suggest is BookOff. Those stores are just awesome. There's not many of them though; most of the ones in the US are in CA, &...maybe one in New York? I can't remember...But stores like BookOff are often great for imports of all kinds (Videogames, manga, & etc. , old & new)...just make sure that the one you go to actually has JP stuff, because I've been in a store of theirs where they move most of their JP stuff to the small store I usually go to. The games will still be a bit expensive; they are imports, after all...but it'll be much, much more agreeable than in some places. At the very least, you won't have to pay the price of shipping, & they have very specific rules for the stuff they accept to sell.

Online sites I would suggest against frequenting are Craigslist, e-Starland, & Play-Asia. Too often are the prices on each of them overpriced, even for imports. I've had situations with them all in which there were some small deals which I could grab a hold of, so they aren't always bad, but be careful with said deals; always look up the prices for the stuff you're interested in purchasing from an online store...& include shipping; importing is a bitch. Craigslist can be pretty awesome sometimes, though.

EDIT: As for Japanese-region consoles...I honestly don't know. Try Craigslist; eBay sucks for that sort of stuff (I know you got your PS3 there...but still)
 
[quote name='Josh1billion']Anyone have any recommendations as to which sites are cheapest for imports? I've taken a look at Play-Asia, and wow, the mark-up is insane. I'm guessing much of that is due to shipping and import taxes, but still, $299 for a 3DS LL is something like $60 above retail, and a part of the CAG in me would perish if I were to have to resort to such a thing. ;) ..especially when the games often for $70 a pop.

I recently bought a Japanese PS3 on eBay at a good price because the person was in the U.S., but that's been my only luck so far in getting a good deal. Any other recommendations?[/QUOTE]

This is really going to come down to how quickly you want it and how much effort you apply to find it. I personally just stick with Play-asia and try to find coupons when I can. Sure you're paying a markup (really depends which console / color you want, but their prices are usually mark up of the original MSRP. So at launch it might be $50 dollar mark up, where as now it might be $70), but a lot of other stores charge a lot more. NCSX wants $340 for a LL and the same goes for Yes Asia. So your choices are pretty much...

1) Trying to find someone in Japan who will sell you it cheap / somewhat cheap.
2) Try your luck with a used / ebay seller (be warned that many people think weird text = Japanese. I bought a JP copy of NMH's, which was Korean and many Cags will call the Asian version Japanese. This means you will need to verify / figure it out and make sure you don't end up with something you can't play.)
3) Buy from a place like Play-asia and try to find a coupon. (It's the holidays, so finding a 15 or so dollar off coupon isn't impossible.)
4) Buying from Amazon directly and shipping it to a place that ships internationally. This will add a bit of fees here / there, but you will be saving money at the cost of longer shipping / more hassle. One such site is Tenso, which will do it , though you're looking at more costs...
These break down to roughly the following...
System + Shipping (not sure how much, but I saw one list 340, so I went with that) + Tenso fee + Tenso shipping fee = roughly 242 for a standard 3DS LL after a 2 + week wait.
 
[quote name='delsus09']Why did you get a JP PS3? The US PS3 & JP PS3 models both play each other's regions games...because they have the same region code; or something like that (except that ps1/ps2 games only work for their own region...in which case, good choice).[/QUOTE]
Ahhh sorry, I left out a word in my post somehow.. how embarrassing. I meant to say that I recently bought a Japanese PS3 game on eBay, not a console itself. (edited OP to fix this)

Thank you all for the advice. Sounds like buying from a fellow CAG in Japan (like dv8cag) might be the best route.

I'll keep an eye out for Play-Asia coupons too. I'm in no rush to buy the 3DS LL-- just looking to buy it when Shin Megami Tensei IV is released (TBA 2013, so my guess is that I have at least 7 months until then). If anyone happens to come across a 3DS LL deal in that time, please PM me. :) Even a used one is cool with me if the price is right.
 
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