Buying From Amazon Japan

[Kellhus]

Is importing games from Amazon Japan feasible? Is there some kind of service/website to go through that will buy the games off Amazon for me and ship them to me (probably for a fee)?

I've bought things from sellers on Amazon Japan before, but most of them do not ship to the US. Will Amazon Japan itself ship to the US? I have never tried to buy directly from them.

[StealthLurker]

I've bought from Amazon.co.jp a couple of times. I used shoppingmalljapan.com to do it for me as a proxy service.


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[Kellhus]

I see, thanks for the quick reply.

What kind of fees do they charge you? Do they charge a lot for shipping? I'm assuming this site buys the item from the Amazon seller and then ships it to you themselves. Checking the site out now.

[StealthLurker]

I see, thanks for the quick reply.

What kind of fees do they charge you? Do they charge a lot for shipping? I'm assuming this site buys the item from the Amazon seller and then ships it to you themselves. Checking the site out now.

I don't recall the exact pricing structure but it's not exactly cheap. Just use the special order form and paste the url for the product from Amazon. Very convenient though...


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[Aussie2B]

Only certain types of items can't be bought directly by foreigners, which includes games unfortunately, but you can by books, music, etc. yourself, without much more difficulty than shopping on America's Amazon. It's a great way to get game-related merchandise.

This obviously doesn't apply to the marketplace, though.

[Milk Thistle]

I don't know if it's still true, but HMV.co.jp (yes, the record store) will ship games and systems to the USA. I did it about a year ago and I know a bunch who bought Japanese Xbox systems via them. Their prices and shipping are very similar to Amazon.

It's a shame Amazon Japan doesn't ship their games, since they ship most other things.

[Aussie2B]

Amazon Japan doesn't have a choice in the matter. It's a legal issue. If you've ever noticed, Japanese games say "For Sale in Japan Only".

[Milk Thistle]

Amazon Japan doesn't have a choice in the matter. It's a legal issue. If you've ever noticed, Japanese games say "For Sale in Japan Only".

They say that? :roll:

That hasn't meant anything since the 1990s, if it even did then.

Used game sales of newly released titles were also supposed to be illegal in Japan some years ago (fuzzy on the specifics), but every time I'm over there (since) I've never seen any shortage of the latest releases 15-20 dollars cheaper at Book Off from people who did trade-ins.

[Aussie2B]

Yeah, I don't think these rules are particularly well enforced, but Amazon is big enough that they need to follow everything to the T.

[Milk Thistle]

Yeah, I don't think these rules are particularly well enforced, but Amazon is big enough that they need to follow everything to the T.

It just sucks for us that Amazon caves in. They have a lot of good deals on there when new releases get discounted, cheaper than even being in stores in Tokyo.

I bet it has more to do with them (Amazon) not wanting to piss off any company whos product they stock in another countries Amazon, or because they don't want to cut into their own profit margins.

It's no surprise Amazon USA won't ship games to the UK, because they want the UK folks to get shafted on the Euro retail at Amazon UK instead of getting the cheaper American version.

Which is funny because importing from Japan is the exact opposite, as a foreigner you pay out of the nose for the import, yet they want to stop you from doing so... Seems like more money in the company's pocket, as import enthusiasts usually don't get the domestic release anyway. At least they're buying the game and not pirating.

Has never made sense.

[zemmix]

Yeah Amazon US won't ship console games or systems to me in Japan. But PC games seem to be fair game/no restrictions. I use them to buy collectors editions of pc games I care about (Starcraft, Duke Nukem, future Star Wars Old Republic on pre-order).

Speaking of the exchange rates though I am loving this 78yen per dollar! The dollar is in such limbo I feel like chanting how low can you go.

[Aussie2B]

Well, I'm glad somebody is benefiting from this horrible exchange rate. :P

[XYXZYZ]

What I don't like about Amazon Japan is that they only offer the fastest and most expensive shipping option when shipping to the US. They said it was "to serve me better".:-/

[Parodius Duh!]

fromjapan.co.jp is the best service Ive used, they have reasonable fees unlike rinkya and whoever else...

[The 1 2 P]

I need to get a pen pal in Japan so I can purchase more items. Any takers?

[Nico87]

Send a PM to GaijinPunch or maybe rancor over at http://shmups.system11.org/index.php. They're both incredibly awesome people and I've "used" GaijinPunch quite a few times for both Amazon.jp and Yahoo Auction stuff and it's always been better than perfect.

[sprmaterial]

You can buy from japanese online shops by using this service.
https://anislo.jp

[Radiantdawn]

I buy all my imports on Amazon.com US, really cheap too, I payed like 11 dollars with shipping for lunar 2 sega saturn jpn. If it is a problem for jpn amazon, it certainly isn't for U.S. amazon. I got my jpn white Saturn from amazon, all in near mint to acceptable condition.