Japanese DVDs (Expert Play, etc) - Rediculouslly expensive!?

Hey Everyone, When I look at Japanese DVD's of Expert Play material, or tournaments, etc, I always see these disks being sold for like $50+ dollars. Is there a reason for this? I'm pretty used to paying the North American price of $20-$30 for a DVD, or $10-$20 for a Chinese DVD (Legit).

 

well, when concider that the avarage price for a DVD like that in Japan cost 4000 yen (42USD) it's no surprise they cost 50 or more dollars.

 

Furthermore you must consider that many of these DVD's are both out of print and very sought after by the fans. That said it's no surprise that none of them goes for 30-50$ even in used condition.

The retail prices are probably so high because of the low print, the exclusive material (that many are willing to pay big money for, and the know it) and, in some cases, bonus booklets or special packaging like the Mushihimesama Secret Lover DVD's.

 

All Japanese products are overpriced. I can't think of anything where the import version is more expensive than the Japanese. Fruit, whores, media... everything. Seriously.

But super play DVDs are made on such a micro scale, they are more expensive to make their money back. You can get doujin stuff very cheap though!

 

VHS tapes in Japan used to be of the very highest quality tapes money could buy, none of the cheap crap we had in the west. The main reason that VHS and DVDs are so expensive is because they are sold mainly as rental tapes as most Japanese rented tapes rather then buy them as storing them was unlikely (the back of most of them will say for Sale or Rent). In the west most rental tapes and DVDs are very expensive too.

 

Surely sushi should be cheaper in Japan than in North America? (With exception of Salmon which is probably imported to Japan from Canada)

 

Since I'm coming from Swiss, for me almost everything here is cheaper than I was used to pay there. Sure there are few exeptions like Lindt chocolate and imported gruyere cheese etc.

 

I'm referring to buying Japanese version versus import version in Japan. Not what things cost in the west versus Japan.

And sushi is such a sliding scale here. You can pay anywhere from 800 yen to pretty much as high as you want. Unless you go to kaiten, it's not really considered cheap, especially if you want Toro.

 

Indeed

This was 800 Y




This was 1600 Y




CD at HMV

 

And the Japanese pressing of the same CD would've been 2800 I bet.

 

Oh for sure, however I don't read Japanese and making random dips into sections in various stores gave me the Rolling Stones and Corey Hart, I gave up trying to track down anything, but most of random stuff I looked at was 2500 - 3500 Y

HMV (Shinjuku Station) was the only store with a romanji index I encountered.

 

It is funny it costs more when you consider that it is domestic, even games I am shocked, since shouldn't it be more cheaper if it's made in that country? Though could also be an issue i guess of supply and demand. So japan used highest quality of vhs tapes huh? So I am guessing they didn't wear out easily?

 

Produce is the really big one. The spread on bananas isn't too drastic, for which I'm thankful, but the "summer" fruits can be appalling... and I like them the best. Melons, for one, can get really pricey, but it's the one fruit that you can taste the difference between 600-700 yen (average) and 1500 (good). It's one of those "present" fruits as well so you can get into the 5000+ club quickly. They're organic and more time is spent on the fruit. And yes, it's shocking considering that the imports are shipped in, and they're not necessarily light.

 

Japanese don't often buy new cd's or dvd's because they prefer rent them.
Cost less and use less space. But at any Book Off you can find LOT of anime media at decent cost, it's used, but japanese used is very clean.

 

I didn't get the game pricing either, new releases were like 8000 Y vs ours at $59.99

 

They're actually somewhat cheap. Only really, really expensive games retail for 8000 yen (I think the latest FFs and whatnot). Most are max 7000 if not 6000 yen, and you can either get them at Amazon for a discount, or a chain for a small discount + points for your next trip.

I fucking hate point cards.

 

RE: 5 and Yakuza 3 were going for 8000 last March, I was more surprised at the pricing on RE:5

List of prices in Akiba I saw.

 

It's cool for big purchases, forgot i had some points. Wanted to buy a psp game at yodobashi, gave my card to the cashier by reflex and surprise ! no yens left my wallet.

 

It is cooler if you buy the item for cheaper than the price - points you get which is almost always possible via kakaku.com or even amazon. With points in the electronics world you are not getting shit for free... you are getting items for a competitive rate only if you keep coming back. It's the ultimate scam, but the Japanese public eats that shit up.