Best place to buy Japanese games (not for current systems)?

[Clownzilla]

Pretty much what the title says. The problem I'm having is that it seems that Play-Asia is too expensive and Ebay sellers seem to gouge. I had a friend of mine come back from Japan with all sorts of PSX games that were pretty fun and he payed MUCH less than what Play-Asia and Ebay sellers want. I understand that shipping half way around the world isn't cheap but there MUST be a better place to buy these things. Do any of the Japanese stores sell online to those outside of Japan or am I pretty much stuck with Play-Asia and Ebay?

[rob black]

http://yahoojapanauctions.com/

[Bojay1997]

http://yahoojapanauctions.com/

Given the OPs desire for low prices, I would strongly disagree. Yahoo Japan auctions are great for rare items, but you end up paying a marshalling service a percentage to bid for you, shipping to the marshalling service and then to the US and the exchange rate is currently terrible. In short, you aren't going to get a bargain buying stuff on Yahoo Japan auctions even if you win items for low prices.

[Parodius Duh!]

yamatoku-classic on ebay, dude lists anything for every system and starting bids are always .01-1.00

[Parodius Duh!]

Given the OPs desire for low prices, I would strongly disagree. Yahoo Japan auctions are great for rare items, but you end up paying a marshalling service a percentage to bid for you, shipping to the marshalling service and then to the US and the exchange rate is currently terrible. In short, you aren't going to get a bargain buying stuff on Yahoo Japan auctions even if you win items for low prices.

Unless you have a friend in Japan (like me) I agree that YJA is absolutely pointless to use unless you are after a very rare item....it will cost you an arm and a leg just to get cheaper games.

[Guyra]

The shipping have been the largest cost every time I've ordered from Japan, but considering the crazy prices you quite often find on Yahoo! Auctions Japan, it's still worth it. Considering the percentage is based on what you actually pay for the item itself, and not the shipping, 5%(which FromJapan take) isn't exactly much. Customs don't take shipping costs into account either, so that won't be a problem. I'd rather have high shipping costs and low item prices, than the other way around. (Also, you can get rather low shipping prices, as well.)

Ony of the main pieces in my collection I bought there for 530 yen. That's roughly six dollars, if you include the extra 5%. The same item recently popped up on eBay for roughly $110. And then you can have the proxy service combine shipping for you, and you can choose what shipping method you want. Super expensive, "have it in a couple of days" shipping? Sure. Really cheap, "wait for three months" shipping? You bet. And anything in between.

And judging from my roughly 50 purchases from Japan, I'd have to say they're generally better to take care of their items, and more honest about their condition, than westerners generally are. It might not be how it really is, but that's my experience. I've bought several items that Japanese sellers have described as "used," having "wear and tear," or being in "acceptable condition," etc. And when I've gotten them, they've been what you get on, say, eBay and Amazon when it's listed as "Great," or, "Like new!"

Oh, and you can even get items for 1 yen. (I've bought an anime motif pillow and an anime figurine for a friend of mine, both for 1 yen.) That's a single cent of a dollar - so basically, I only paid for shipping.

Yahoo! Auctions Japan is well worth it, just use a good proxy service(see link above), and choose whatever shipping options that works for your wallet, and it's quite certainly the way to go if you want to get Japanese games.

[Parodius Duh!]

Fromjapan sucks and almost bankrupted me, for the record they pull money out of your account as they please, so if you are a person with bills and set amount of cash in ur bank, fromjapan will take it out without your knowledge when they feel like it. I use to get Japanese anime VHS through fromjapan and it was nothing but hassles in the long run, they dont just take a 5% commission either, they also take a bank fee, if you use a credit card, thats an extra fee, if it ships from a far away region thats another fee, if the package is over a certain weight, thats another fee.....best bet is just finding a person online who lives in Japan and ask them if they wouldnt mind getting some stuff for you, this has worked like 15 times for me and its usually members on here or any other gaming site, guaranteed at least one member lives in Japan, speaks English, and will be happy to help you!

[Guyra]

Fromjapan sucks and almost bankrupted me, for the record they pull money out of your account as they please, so if you are a person with bills and set amount of cash in ur bank, fromjapan will take it out without your knowledge when they feel like it.

Uhm ... what? You transfer money to them manually, and then you use that money to buy stuff. Meaning you've already payed for the items beforehand, they don't take it from your account. And then you are prompted to pay for the shipping later on, which is also something you do manually. Also, if they "almost bankrupted" you, it sounds more as if though you were spending money you shouldn't have in the first place. Stop spreading FUD, this is just stupid.

Also, guess what? It costs more to ship stuff the heavier and larger it gets! *Ghasp!* And it's the postal service who sets those rules! In fact, that's how it is anywhere in the world! Also, using credit cards anywhere is a fee, that's not From Japan's fee. In fact, you only have to use it once even if you buy several items, so they're actually reducing your fees in that sense. And if you use a credit card, you don't get the bank fee, which you try to make out as a fee they take no matter what. No, that fee is only if you use bank transfer. Which most people don't.

In addition, the only way for them to actually "pull money out your account" would be by them having your credit/debit card info, which they have. But if they were making illegal withdrawals through your card, you could've stopped this by simply contacting your credit/debit card provider. And they might even refund whatever money they illegally took from you if they came to that conclusion after an investigation(which usually takes up to a few months). So either those were legal withdrawals, meaning you spent money you shouldn't have in the first place, or for some strange reason you decided not to do anything about it. Yeah.

FromJapan doesn't automatically "pull money out of your account." You actually get a mail saying that you need to pay for items or for shipping, and then you have to go and do that manually.

[Parodius Duh!]

Well then they must have changed some regulations, I have not used them in years because I thought the service was THAT shitty. Yeah you add the money to bid on shit first obviously, all the fee charges they pull out as they please as well as a small bank charge when they pulled the fees.. And yes packages get heavier the more items you buy, the more shipping costs, Im not a twit! FromJapan use to charge an extra weight fee on top of the post offices cost is what I mean!

Still, best bet all around is finding someone in Japan to get the items for you, proxy services suck always. Its super easy to find someone to help you in Japan...

[Guyra]

Personally, I don't really think the proxy I use suck at all, though I would bet that there are some that do. In any case, I agree with you on the fact that having someone who lives in Japan help you out would be the best solution, but I don't really see how it's easy to find a person willing to help you, a complete stranger, out for nothing at all.

[Parodius Duh!]

well I mean most people come to agreements, Id ask a person to bid on say 3-5 separate items and Id send themlike an additional $10 or 12 bucks, overall it worked out the best compared to proxy services which tend to get a bit confusing as well on top of the fees. Definitely nobody ever use Rinkya, the worst proxy out there...

[Niku-Sama]

why would you use any thing other than a prepaid card for such things?

they may be great services but as always there are communication issues and to be safe a prepaid debit card loaded with $X.XX ammount is probably the best way to go

[Ryudo]

http://japangamestock.com/

[recorderdude]

prices seem to really vary there. just checking on the stuff there, they want 3800 yen for tails skypatrol when you can get it for 900 on japanese amazon. Sonic Drift's less bloated at 500 yen but there was a guy selling them on ebay for $5 apiece a while back anyhow.

[Tanooki]

I feel ya on the shitty prices. I'm trying to find a low price non-inflated price for Bonk on the Gamecube and also F-Zero Climax GBA too. Both on ebay are a rape and pillage job at/over the $40 mark, and Star Soldier normally is $50 but I lucked into a BIN that popped for $25 some days ago which I nailed or that would be on my list too.

[recorderdude]

Goin for the Hudson Selection series, eh? Seems like the PS2 versions are half the price of the GC ones and, having played both the PS2 and GC ones, they're practically identical, so if you want em to play, I'd go for those. If you want them because gamecube though, good luck to ya.

[Nesmaster]

I've been grabbing a few Super Famicom and 64 games from Japan lately on eBay, it doesn't seem so bad to me. Shipping from a lot of sellers in Japan is equal to or CHEAPER for me than buying from the US (being in Canada). You just gotta filter through all the items and find a happy medium. Seems to me the bigger sellers/stores have auctions that end higher then smaller sellers though.

[IHatedSega]

Unless you have a friend in Japan (like me) I agree that YJA is absolutely pointless to use unless you are after a very rare item....it will cost you an arm and a leg just to get cheaper games.

Yeah, I know people who buy very very very very rare Japanese death films, and the only way to get it is on there. Definitely worth it if youre looking for rare stuff thats only released in Japan. Any kind of stuff that would get past customs.

[Tron 2.0]

http://japangamestock.com/

2nd that but it's a shame they don't take request any more.

[Nesmaster]

http://japangamestock.com/

Just checked this out and the prices when buying loose are pretty good. B3G1 on Fami and Super Fami too, shipping cost ~$8 to ship 4 titles. Thanks for the link.