Forum - View topicWhere's the BEST place to buy Japanese CDs?
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Kimiko_0
 Posts: 1796 Location: Leiden, NL, EU |
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Ooh, just the topic I should've looked at earlier today..
I bought some anime soundtrack CDs from the USA* Amazon. Was this a bad idea do you think? I must say I don't like how inconsistent they are in naming soundtracks there. Sometimes it'll be listed under the artist name, sometimes as 'Japanimation'  , sometimes 'original soundtrack' or something like that. Details given also vary. Sometimes there's the whole tracklist, other times nothing.
And then there's always the incertainty whether I really found the most complete edition if it's a popular anime. * I usually buy CDs and games and stuff in the USA because it's very cheap due to the dollar → euro conversion rate. |
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poonk
 Posts: 1490 Location: In the Library with Philip |
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I was wondering about people's experiences with HMV, specifically customers in the United States. Usually I get my CDs from YesAsia or, failing that, cdjapan (both of which I like), but the CD I currently reeeally want is out of print (according to those 2 sites) and the only place I can find a reissue for sale is HMV. What concerns me is that they can't exactly say what shipping will be. The table they give estimates ￥1,200 for "2 or less units" (items). I want to buy a CD and a calendar, and this seems to be a reasonable shipping cost to import these items. However, they also say it's based on the weight of the items and may be more. I guess what it comes down to is, I'm a little nervous about handing my credit card over without knowing exactly what I'm being charged (i.e. I don't want to end up paying like ￥2,000 for shipping when the actual items only total about ￥4,500).
I'm also wondering how they deliver in the U.S. - they use EMS (Express Mail Service) to ship internationally so, if I understand correctly, once it gets to the States it goes through the US Postal Service... right? (not entirely clear on this either). Any information would be greatly appreciated-- I'm very, very much wanting these items (especially that elusive CD). |
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daxomni
 Posts: 2650 Location: Somewhere else. |
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I haven't used them directly but I know folks who have and the views seemed to range from moderate to positive. Someone told me that you have to use kanji and kana on their Japanese page to find some things. I guess their English page is only a subset or something.
I wouldn't worry too much about ordering from HMV, I've heard nothing bad about them yet.
This sort of ambiguity isn't all that rare for international purchases.
2,000円 for EMS is pretty standard. Heck, I paid $40 to ship $10 worth of candy to Japan, so in the grand scheme of things you're actually getting a pretty good deal. If you don't want to pay that much then ask them about other options such as SAL.
The Japan Post part of the trip is nice and speedy. They handle your package until it reaches SFO, at which point it will sit around for 1-3 days passing through customs and being picked up by the USPS. This is a bit slower than FedEx's, UPS' and DHL's pre-clearance procedures that take less than an hour to process. Once your package is in USPS hands it will be tagged as "Global Express" and get 1-2 day service to the rest of the country from the west coast. I would assume you'll wait about a week for EMS from start to finish.
Hope that helps. |
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leenchie
Posts: 1 |
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HMV only use EMS for international shipping, and the shipping cost could be checked on JapanPost. |
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