If you’re coming to Japan with the idea that you’re going to save big buying electronics in Akihabara or another electronic town in Tokyo then you’ve got another thing coming! Electronics aren’t cheap in Japan and in fact you can probably buy them cheaper in the USA.
I’ve worked in the video production industry for many years and my main source of income has been selling cameras, lenses and other production related equipment. I can’t tell you how many times, when I wasn’t able to source wholesale, I’ve shipped directly from B&H Photo in New York to Japanese clients who were looking to save a buck. Even after the cost of shipping, B&H is still cheaper than Japan. Think I’m crazy?
I’ll use the most popular camera in the world as an example – the Canon 5D Mark II. It’s selling at B&H Photo for $2,699 USD. The same camera is selling at Bic Camera in Japan for 286,600 JPY. Accessories: how about a 16GB Extreme III CompactFlash Card for 27,700 JPY at Bic Camera? Hold on a second… B&H is selling them for $203.
The Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM lens is selling for $1,190 at B&H after an $80 rebate. Bic Camera has it online for 196,300 JPY.
Broadcast and professional equipment have even bigger gaps in pricing between Japan and the USA.
The Sony PMW-EX3 XDCam Camcorder sells at B&H Photo for $8,320 with free shipping. The same camera, minus the battery and charger which are sold separately in Japan, is available at Bic Camera for 980,000 JPY! That’s a difference of almost two thousand dollars.
Why is it that Japanese electronics are sold cheaper overseas than they are domestically. Do the manufacturers realize that the merchandise they are dumping to China, Singapore and even the USA is ending up back in the Japanese domestic market for far less than what their authorized dealers can buy from the factory? Have they not grasped the idea of a global marketplace?
So whats’ u’r point.
I’ve wondered the same thing. We were at Yodobashi Camera in April and I was surprised at some of the prices. I’d thought,as I suppose most people do, that electronics would be cheaper. But I was mollified by the 2500 yen purchase of a movie that would have cost me at least $60 if purchased online from the States.
Electronics bought for domestic (Japanese) use often have warranties that are only valid in Japan. In my experience, the warranty and support you get in Japan is usually superior to what you’d get from something bought in the States (but you often need to speak Japanese to get that support).
If you’re going to be buying something extremely pricing and used for professional use, you’re going to want the support and warranty. So reverse importing will be small/rare for professional equipment, I think, as the odds of commercial shops taking a chance on unsupported equipment are low.
Also, your price comparison for the XDCam was based on the assumption of the current yen/dollar rate (where the yen is at a historically freakish high against the dollar). If you compute that dollar amount against a more typical exchange (pre-recession crash) rate (¥120/$1), their is no significant markup. Retail local prices don’t usually fluctuate against the foreign exchange market.
It’s a bad time to live in Japan (and many other places in the world) if you make your salary in dollars.
* So reverse importing will be small/rare for professional equipment, I think, as the odds of commercial shops taking a chance on unsupported equipment are low.
I see your point and I, along with my clients, feel the same way about the key items (cameras, VTRs, computers…etc.). – domestic warranty is needed. But items like lenses, tripods, bags… zillions of 3rd party accessories..etc are not likely going to require warranty related service. Those are worth importing. The PMW-EX3 wasn’t the best example.
* assumption of the current yen/dollar rate
Yes, you are right. I am talking about the present time and not the past when days were brighter and the dollar was strong. That was a few years ago… seems like an eternity.