Purchasing from Japan

Anyone purchased an ukulele to the USA from Japan?
Any issues to be aware of?
Thanks for any advice!

I've bought a lot of somewhat expensive camera equipment from Japan during the past 10 ten years without issues. Everything was from large dealers selling on Ebay and there were no issues and shipping was prompt. No custom fees either. I don't think there is a blanket answer for Japanese dealers as service will vary with individual companies albeit the dozen or so I dealt with were honest and responsive. I'm guessing music dealers are likely to be similar.

I've noticed lately with eBy listing of ukuleles from Japan that some are charging 3 or 4 times the price of normal. Don't know what that's all about.

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This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly West near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 11 solid body bass ukes, 9 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 34)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers

If you want a good price from Japan, you need to purchase Japanese made products. A USA made 'ukulele, say a Kamaka, will always cost more if bought in Japan due to the increased markup of overseas shipping, taxes and middlemen wholesalers. Likewise, you can get a good deal on a Japan made Canon or Nikon camera but a German made Leica will cost a lot more than it does in the USA or Germany. But, yeah, I saw a Romero Creations Tiny Tenor being sold by a Japanese vender for double price and wondered who in the world—outside Japan—would actually buy it. I've been cruising Ebay lately as I really want an alto guitar (B E A D F# B) and most of them are from Japanese venders (guitar orchestras are big in Japan).

I was looking at some Famous ukes in Japan from Rakuten, and the stated shipping prices looked really reasonable, but then when I went to order one, the store quoted me about $100CDN (~$75US) for shipping a $250CDN ukulele. That was a bit much for me. They advise you before you approve the order, so not that big of a deal, but you still waste a few days finding out you have to cancel and move onto somewhere else.

A number of the Japanese music sellers will not ship any instruments that contain rosewood per CITIES regs.

gochugogi said:

I've bought a lot of somewhat expensive camera equipment from Japan during the past 10 ten years without issues. Everything was from large dealers selling on Ebay and there were no issues and shipping was prompt. No custom fees either. I don't think there is a blanket answer for Japanese dealers as service will vary with individual companies albeit the dozen or so I dealt with were honest and responsive. I'm guessing music dealers are likely to be similar.

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Same here, only not "a lot." Fast shipping and no extra charges - all done through eBay.