Joined: Nov 2008
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Hello,
I am curious if anyone would be interested in a used books/manga service that could offer reasonably priced books/manga in decent condition from Japan?
Do you guys have any experience with buying expensive books/manga from Japan?
Thanks!
Joined: Jan 2011
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I'd be interested. I'm just now starting to look around for physical native materials (as opposed to downloads). My local library has children's books in Japanese but that's it.
Joined: Apr 2008
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yeh, used manga in japan is dirt cheap. wouldn't be a bad business for someone to start exporting it
Joined: Feb 2010
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I already buy used manga from a few people in big batchs because its such a good deal. Used manga is a kickass idea.
Joined: Oct 2008
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If bookoff would start selling online in the US it would be the greatest thing. Used manga is difficult to find with much reliability, or requires a lot more hoops to jump, like having to use both an auction service and a mule service, so you're stacking fees substantially and then shipping and so on.
People with friends overseas who are willing to comb through bookoff and such for them are really the ones in the best shape, but even then, the stuff is heavy and shipping isn't cheap. At least if you're getting used stuff you're theoretically shaving a bunch off that end so the shipping isn't quite so mean seeming.
Joined: Dec 2008
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Such a service would use surface shipping (the cheapest one), right? Even so, the shipping cost probably outweighs the actual cost of the books.
Joined: Mar 2008
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I would be. But it'd have to be CHEAP.
I currently buy most of my Japanese manga and light novels from Kunokuniya. Usually the New York store, but the other US stores sometimes have stuff the NY store is out of.
As for the shipping... Sea mail is cheaper, but really slow and has no guarantees at all. I used it once and I'll never use it again. Just too bloody slow. In fact, a friend sent me some manga like a month ago and I still haven't gotten it. She was paying for the shipping, so I didn't get a choice in the matter.
Also, I was looking into Weekly Shounen Jump and it's about 250 yen per issue in Japan. The cheapest I can get it here is to sign up for a whole year and pay $10 per issue! (Shipping included.) Shounen Ace is the same way, ending at $17 per issue, shipping included.
If I go with Sea Mail, they are still $9.25 and $14.75.
So yeah, if you can get me those 2 for half those prices, I'm all in. The only way I can see to do it is to get enough people to subscribe and send the issues in bulk... But companies have tried that in the past and ended up with a lot of un-bought issues. I know, because I picked them up dirt cheap afterwards.
Joined: Aug 2008
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Strong yen is killing us all... think il just be stuffing my suitcase and sending a bunch of parcels home, so ive got ones to read next year when im back home.
Joined: Jan 2011
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Life is too short for surface mail.
Joined: May 2009
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Yeah, the shipping is often equal to or more than the cost of the actual items, so it's not really worth it. Places like Kinokuniya might sell books for twice the cost of what they'd be in Japan, but when you take into account shipping and handling it's actually cheaper to just buy from them if you live in the US or a country where they have stores.
Joined: Jul 2007
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Or better yet, if BookOff had a way to figure out what people over in NA wanted, they could fill a few containers full of used books, ship them over, and have a NA mail-order service. Cheaper than building new stores. Just run a virtual one out of Amazon, and a warehouse somewhere where it's cheap to get one.
I hate that there isn't a a BookOff near me. The closest one is in NYC, and that's 650 miles away, and they don't do mail order.
I usually choose between:
a) trying to assemble a $100 order at a Kinokunia in NA (free shipping that way offsets the higher cost of the books... sometimes... sometimes the cost is too high.)
or b) sucking it up and taking the yen hit at bk1. They send out a lot of gift certificates, and redeeming points can cut down the price a bit, too. Also, the new FedEx service is sometimes cheaper than Air Mail. You have to check the rate tables. You can also get hit on currency exchange fees with a lot of major credit cards, though, which adds to the suckage. -_-
option c) is waiting for the May/November 古本市 we have every year at the local Japanese school... with books from the 昭和 era... FWIW.
Edited: 2011-02-02, 1:39 am
Joined: Jun 2009
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dang shipping is ridiculous. Sorry for restarting this thread but I've been searching manga sets(love hina,etc). And the price for shipping is more than the price of the actual manga set.
Joined: May 2011
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I'd like a lending library for Japanese books, particularly picture books and books for small children, so that I can follow an extensive reading program. Used books would help a bit but I think the cost would be prohibitive.
For manga, I think ebooks is more what I want -- is there an ebook provider for manga that this forum recommends?
Joined: Mar 2008
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Shipping from Japan is so expensive I found I have to buy 10+ manga to get a decent rate.
From Kinokuniya, I generally order whatever I want, and it's pretty decent.
I don't have numbers because I haven't ordered in a while.
