Online JShops comparision

[Lebon14]

Yay!  Well, I just decided to show you the shops one beside one.
The CD I will use is for pricing is Action.

If appliable, all taxes are included in the cost

First shop : CDJapan

CDJapan is mainly known to ship oversea Japan's large exclusive techno CDs (Eurobeat, Trance...).  Anyway, price side, it's 3059 yen for Action.  Shipping is 800 yen for Air Mail and 1200 yen for EMS (Priority).  Japanese's taxes are included already in the price.  The website is loaded in English by default.  They also have their Japanese side called "Neowing".  The special thing about CDJapan, beside the fact it's a little more expansive, it's the Frequent Shopper Points.  Frequent shopper points are points you receive after a purchase depending on his price and weight.  For Action, it is worth 87 points (87 yen).  Also, you can register your birthday to receive, annually, 300 points.  Each points you gain after a purchase (I mean, after you clicked the last button of the checkout) will add to your existing points.  They can be used during checkout (at the total screen, the one you see how much you have to pay), you can apply the points in units of 100 points, which is equivalent to 100 yen.  I mean,  you can use 400 points during an order, but not 401 points.  You need 500 points to be OK again.

Database side, they have a pretty good database on everything.  Including Japan Bonus US artists.  Example : I searched for Sum 41 and there was results.  A lot of them actually.  Also, if you happen to pre-order with Airmail, it happens that the item ships 1-2 days before the release!!

For the ergonomy and the ease-of-use of the website, everything is pretty well explained.  The only thing is the search box.  Instead of writing Artist/band, they wrote People.  It can be confusing.  Also, searching for Japanese artists can be a pain, but, if you only write only a part of their name, it's OK.  Also, CDJapan is the only shop where you can choose your currency.  Once you choose your currency, the green text that was US dollars (yen -> US) will become your currency (yen -> your currency).

Pretty good shop.  I use this one the most when I buy stuff

Summary :

Shipping : 800 yen for Airmail, 1200 yen for EMS
Price of Action : 3059 yen / 29.45$ US
Special : Frequent Shopper Points (see description).
Default Language of Website : English

Positive points
- Shopper points
- Bonus points for our birthday
- Good interface with default interface in English.
- Good overall product library
- Custom currency
- Pre-order items can ship a few days before release

Negative points
- No shipping special...
- (small negative) Search box : "People"...?

Lebon's appreciation : 9/10


Second shop : YesAsia

YesAsia... It's considered the best for Jfans because of the free shipping.  Well, maybe, but, if you consider some other stuff, it's a medium shop.  If we look futher, it's based in China.  Some countries denies anything coming from China.  It's a fact, thus, truth.  The product library is... kinda bad because they only have product that has been released in 1999 and later.  A shame.  Also, if you buy a single... shipping is not free.  You need to buy at least another one.

The interface is in English by default (Phew!) and the site is not bad at all.  The prices are a little less expansive than on any other Japanese stuff sites.  Why?  CHINA!!!!!!!!   But, it's only 1$ US difference...
The rest is pretty straight forward.  There's a thing that YesAsia has that no other has : Any-region DVD-players   Those are for those that don't want to care with AnyDVD on their computer.  Those are useful for region 1,3,4,5,6... and 7? to play the DVDs you buy.

*For info, Region 7 is a region for planes, cruises (botas...) DVD players...  Wow... a region for them.

Summary :

Shipping (for one item) : 0 yen (super saver only, 25$ and more), 3$ US (Regular), 6$ (Express), 9$ (Express Air).
Shipping charge for each added item : 0 yen (super saver only, 25$ and more), 1$ (Regular & Express), 2$ (Express Air)
Price of Action : 2966 yen / 28.75$ US
Special : Free shipping on super save if 25$ and more order.
Default Language of Website : English

Positive Points
- Oversea versions...?
- Free shipping for the most patient buyers
- Electronic products
- Good interface
- Good prices.

Negative points
- Small music database (1999 and onward)
- Emphasis on oversea products
- Based in China, can produce problems.

Lebon's appreciation : 7/10

Third shop : HMV Japan

They probably have the best B'z library on the net...  From the first single to the last DVD... Wow.  I'm really astonished.  They have everything... (except Film Risky and Just Another Life which are Out Of Print) at the usual prices.  But tou know, they are specialized in music, dvds and books.  So, it's normal.  They have a pretty good techno compilation CDs too (Yes, yes, I'm always after Eurobeat heh...) but not as good as CDJapan.  Why?  Example.  Search "All" with "We Love TechPara".  There are now 8 releases of those now...  How many results? One.  CDJapan? All 8 including DVD only releases (Parapara routines DVDs...)

Anyway, I think HMV Japan is the direct concurrent to CDJapan to me.  Same prices... bad shipping prices... (thanks Djinn (what element btw?))

Update on shipping :

I finally found the prices... instead of using the "shipping" term, they used "freight".

I will let the good/bad points talk.

Summary :
Shipping : See above.
Price of Action : 3059 yen / 29.45$ US
Special : Some rabates..
Default Language of Website : Japanese

Positive Points
- Extensive JMusic database.
- Good item prices.
- Some rabates on some items.
- Easy to understand site

Negative points

- Shipping charges.
- Japanese site by default.

Lebon's rating : 8

Fourth shop : Amazon Japan

Amazon Japan... is probably the worst store you will have to face.  In fact, it's not bad... it's just the English version is secondary and the pages are half translated.  Shipping side, it's 2000 yen every where in the world.  EXPANSIVE!!!! (I just ordered B'z live in Namba there coz it was 26% off).  The also the points system CDJapan has.  The interface is hard to understand.  You can't create an account with the "create new account" we habitually see.  Also, the English side of the website is half Japanese/English which makes it hard to understand sometimes.  But, everything is okay during Checkout (phew!).  Everything is in English.

Pricing is the same that on CDJapan except that they have some specials sometimes. The seach is pretty straight forward... select the category & hop.  Japan's taxes applies. 

The great thing about Amazon japan is the dept of their libraries.  You can still order Dakara Sono Te Wo Hanashite, which is B'z's 1st single.  They still have lots of stuff that CDJapan or YesAsia doesn't have.

BIG EDIT : SHIPPING INFOS

Amazon is really a bitch for International shipping.
Look at this :



More expansive than them, you die.  Each item you add is 300yen for North America and the rest of the world...

For Japan... they have good price... pff. Look :



I must say, Japanese are lucky bastards.

Summary :

Shipping : See above.
Price of Action : 3059 yen / 29.45$ US
Special : Frequent Shopper Points (see CDJapan's description).
Default Language of Website : Japanese

Positive points
- Big library of products
- Shopper points
- Rabates
- Straightforward search

Negative points
- Shipping for oversea is WAY too expansive.
- Interface is half Japanese/English during shopping and Japanese by default.
- Interface is annoying.

Lebon's appreciation : 5
Bought something there once and I will never order there anymore.

------------------------------------------------------------

I hope it'll helped you to know of the JMusic stores online.

EDIT

Frequent Shopper Points : Frequent shopper points are points you receive after a purchase depending on his price and weight.  For Action, it is worth 87 points (87 yen).  Also, you can register your birthday to receive, annually, 300 points.  Each points you gain after a purchase (I mean, after you clicked the last button of the checkout) will add to your existing points.  They can be used during checkout (at the total screen, the one you see how much you have to pay), you can apply the points in units of 100 points, which is equivalent to 100 yen.  I mean,  you can use 400 points during an order, but not 401 points.  You need 500 points to be OK again.

From the CDJapan comparision.

For Amazon's points, I don't plan on using them (after buying Live In Nanba) because the site sucks big time for shipping.

EDIT 2

Edited some stuff Arthuro pointed out

EDIT 3

Shipping info updated on Amazon Japan.

EDIT 4

Shipping info updated for HMV Japan

[jayz24]

Thanks for the comparison Lebon14! This came at the right time... I'm getting ready to break in my first ever credit card.

I think you should put in an explanation of what the Frequent Shopper Points are for. I went to the site to check and found out that the points get you discounts on your next purchase. I initially thought that it's like the reward point system by credit card companies where you can exchange the points for an item. My bad. :blush:

[Lebon14]

Jayz24, check back my posts for the explication.  Thanks to ask the question, I would have not edited it if it was not you.
In case, check CDJapan site for more explanation Click Here

[Arthuro]

Thanks for the nice comparison! This will surely help other people get their B'z(and other) stuff!

Tax : Yes, Japanese included in price.

No, you don't pay taxes at CDJapan if you're ordering from overseas.

Japanese Consumption Tax

In Japan, there is a 5% consumption tax applied to the price of every item purchased.
Non-residents are exempt from this taxation. On the other hand, if you are a resident in Japan, please refer to the
item price including tax displayed in parenthesis for the amount you will be charged for purchasing the item. Our
system determines whether you are a resident or a non-resident based on the first shipping
address you register when creating your customer account.

If we look futher, it's based in China.

It's based in Hong Kong. But yeah, that's in China...
Strangely enough they don't put the sender's address on your shipments.
There's only the recipient's address on it.
Perhaps that's how they want to work around the "No stuff from China!" thing.

Tax : No taxes (lol China)

Wrong, you just don't pay taxes because you order from overseas. And taxes should already be included in the price because they import it from japan or from a local supplier that gets stuff from Japan. I'm talking about customs here. (Do they even pay customs in China? lmao)

The product library is... kinda bad because they only have product that has been released in 1999 and earlier.

Yeah, that is true. But you mean "later" and not "earlier", right?
You could try sending the customer service a message about the item you desire(with link to it).
They'll see if they can get it for you.
I did it once and they got what I wanted. And they responded fairly quickly.

Last thing: About the prices being cheaper... There are a some japanese import shops out there and I think they just want to keep the competition going by keeping the prices lower than their competitors... it's as simple as that. The reason that they're doing that due to being located in china is just BS.

[Lebon14]

Corrected tax & the mistake of "earlier"

[jayz24]

Considering everything, CDJapan sounds like the best choice, and for all other hard-to-find stuff, HMV Japan. Thanks guys. Will see you soon in the Pictures of B'z stuff thread.

[Djinn]

Very useful list I think. Thank you so much! :smile:

HMV point system, if someone intrested in...:
"As for Normal Point items, you will get 1 point per 500 yen purchase when your order is dispatched.
As for W Points items, you will get 2 point per 500 yen purchase when your order is dispatched.
As for 0 Point items, no point will be given.

You can use Member Points as follows;
.1000 yen (tax included) discount per 50 points
.2500 yen (tax included) discount per 100 points"

/--------

And one more site I use to shop from Japan:
http://www.i-tm4u.biz/

I use it for yahoo auctions. (10% commision) They are reliable and helpful.