Japan import games store

[Nakano]

I'm thinking of starting a Japan import games store on a web site and Ebay, selling normal console games and maybe arcade stuff. I have contacts in Japan and Hong Kong, so all I need now is some pointers from you guys, who imports regularly.

I guess mostly general advise or opinions would be good, like:
1. What do you look for on these type of sites, is it price, some rare unheard of game etc
2. Do you think places like Playasia already satisfies your needs, or you feel there is something that no one has been able to do properly yet etc.

Thanks for your help guys!

[nakamura]

Might be good for collectors importing older titles as they are often hard to find. I am not sure how much importing goes on now though what with much closer releases etc.

[speedlolita]

I'm more than happy with Play-Asia for 360 stuff.

I know they don't import Sony stuff anymore, but I don't have a PS3 anyway so I'm unaffected.

[J0e Musashi]

Unless you were drastically cheaper than elsewhere, I think you'll have limited success. P-A have anything non-Sony covered already, and you can find any Sony item and the majority of retro stuff on forums or via eBay.

[Decider-VT]

Or Genki, for that matter.

[fuse]

There's definitely a certain amount of shop loyalty you'd have to combat. Speaking personally in relation to Play-Asia, it's taken far more poor experiences than it should've for me to start handing some of my custom over to other retailers, and that wasn't so much out of dedication to them but rather convenience - even now I still buy some things from them as it's oh so simple, they advertise well, and are often much cheaper than anywhere else.

Going toe-to-toe with the big boys on new releases is always going to be a tough way to start out, as their buying power with distributors will always give them more room to cut prices before eating into profit margins, but that's not to say you can't win some of that fight back in other ways. Just look at VGI - at first I was apprehensive due to weighing up the choices purely on price, but after one order with them I was very impressed - there was an issue with the order and I had someone on the phone to me the same day, and on top of that the speed they got stock from their supplier was awesome.

[abigsmurf]

The key thing you'll struggle with is import duty.

There's a 1/4 chance of import duty with PA (depending on the nature of your package), if you're setting up an import shop you'll have to charge it every time.

[J0e Musashi]

There's also YesAsia to worry about. On smaller purchases you totally avoid customs taxes as they ship from within the UK. They also sell NTSC-J Sony goods to us.

[Salsa Party Animal]

I would like to be able to order from japan, rather than via Hong Kong play asia/yes asia.

I also want to be able to order Japanese XBOX 360 in future and no import duty.

I don't want to see massive mark up for profit on collection edition of games. ie 70 quids for a shoot them up.

[J0e Musashi]

I would like to be able to order from japan, rather than via Hong Kong play asia/yes asia.

Both of those companies sell Japanese items, it makes no difference where they are shipped from.

I also want to be able to order Japanese XBOX 360 in future and no import duty.

Unless you buy one from within the EU you likely will face import duty wherever it comes from.

I don't want to see massive mark up for profit on collection edition of games. ie 70 quids for a shoot them up.

LE's are around £60 in Japan, so paying an extra £10 is hardly a massive mark up.

[Nakano]

Yes it won't be easy, but PA & Yesasia are mainly for new title's, whereas we will mainly do 2nd hand stuff initially.

We are thinking of doing a lot of the niche stuff that is hard to find, 2nd hand stuff, Limted Editions or are Japan only titles. New titles we will do too, but mainly the Japan only releases like some of the Cave shooters.

We will also offer to look for hard to find/specific items, not just for games, but also anime, models, books, mags etc

Please keep the ideas/advise coming!

[importaku]

We will also offer to look for hard to find/specific items, not just for games, but also anime, models, books, mags etc

Please keep the ideas/advise coming!

You might have the most success with this part, the main import places might do good on games but the other stuff they sell can be lacking sometimes. There are always people on here after bits of merchandise related to games & stuff.

For me the 2 main things when i look for imports is condition & how well they are packed as nintendo games (well the older stuff) is a nightmare as it's so easily damaged.

[kryss]

You might want to contact scanalation groups about supplying manga. Amazon Japan charges enough for the postage on it that I'd be tempted to go there and fill a suitcase.

My advice would be to check Medialand and Amazon Japan and compare prices against PA and YA. There might be some older stuff that people would want that you can undercut them on.

Good luck.

[dotoko]

With the HD consoles it isn't really an issue being PAL anymore and most games get a global release date anyway. Some even hit the west first so I wouldn't be shocked to find Japanese importers are a shrinking market. Or at least it's mostly limited to stuff like the 360 Shooters, Initial D and Fist of the North Star. TBH I think in the end you'd find yourself providing a useful service rather than running a viable business.

The only real area I can see you having success is if you had a massive stock of retro at reasonable prices and a website with a well laid out inventory system and detailed descriptions/pics of each individual item's condition. Even then however to be successful I imagine you'd have to present yourself as a base for collectors (much like this forum) as much as a shop.

[NemesiS]

I ummed and ahhed about doing this a few years ago and came across the same problems then that you are faced with now.
The main trouble then was the explosion of the internet as a buying source for anything and its even worse now as there are millions more at it

I'm not saying it's impossible and if you have contacts in the Far East then that will certainly help but i actually think the main problem you are going to have is that Importing is nowhere near as big a business as it used to be quite simply (as someone else pointed out) that release dates for titles & hardware are almost simultaneous worldwide now and distributers who in the main, are massive corporations, are onto getting the rights to most Eastern titles in a flash (there's not many stellar titles like Demons Souls which slip through the net), meaning meaning very few will import compared to say the SNES era when a very large margin of gamers, (myself included) wouldn't think twice at paying £100 for a game 6-12 months before it hit our shores.

The second hand route would certainly be the way to go but even so, to make it work you need reliable contacts who would almost certainly want paying for their troubles of sourcing and sending, import taxes which would ramp up the price you are paying and losing in profit, and then you have to price competitively against other sellers who will probably be selling from the Far East undercutting you by some distance. Though in your defense, people do still like to know that they are buying a title that is in the UK

Most importantly though, you would be hit with what i think is a shrinking market in general. Gaming now is a different beast to what it was 10-15 years ago. You had no choice but to import to play the latest games or even older games as you simply couldn't get them over here. I would hazard that 70% of gamers now are this or last generation who buy PAL from online or retail.
Collectors and Retro buyers will be gamers mainly from the MD and SNES era, not all but i reckon most, and with a lot of gamers now being "casual" so to speak, i don't think they would be interested in buying older titles as they never grew up on them to have any love to collect them. Its a small market to target.

Good luck with it though and i hope it works for you