Ukulele price in Japan

Hello, simply but can´t wonder what are they up to in Japan?
There are lots of musical instrument auctions there with high end instruments, among them ukuleles. All tend to be very high priced, why?
Do they seriously expect to sell an instrument with a price almost twice the price of a newly produced instrument?!

I cruise eBay a lot and I'm also amazed at the prices Japan sellers ask. I can't understand why they even show them in the US, not very good business sense. Could it have something to do with currency exchange, weird.

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This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly Grove near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 6 acoustic bass ukes, 12 solid body bass ukes, 14 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 41)

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I think it has to do with VAT and other taxes and custom fees that are added on these products in Japan. Let me add that at 19 percent VAT, European prices don't look good to many buyers from other countries as well.

Henning said:

Hello, simply but can´t wonder what are they up to in Japan?
There are lots of musical instrument auctions there with high end instruments, among them ukuleles. All tend to be very high priced, why?
Do they seriously expect to sell an instrument with a price almost twice the price of a newly produced instrument?!

Click to expand...

Right. Why do they even bother? A Flea with a graphic on the top for $762.50 - vs $264 from Magic Fluke. Who in his right mind...?

I think you need to ignore imports to Japan since they're marked up due to shipping, taxes, extra middle men at wholesale level, etc. Martin, Kamaka or Romero Creations instruments are much more expensive in Japan than the USA. However, you can get a decent deal on native brands like a Famous or Asturias. It's a similar situation with other products. I've bought a lot of made in Japan camera gear from Japan and the deals are reasonable and sometimes a little less than USA prices. I wouldn't bother with a German made Leica...

I feel that the super-high priced Japanese ebay postings are really from a couple sellers. They're just fishing for a sucker.
Maybe it's just one user with a couple different usernames.

I would love to sell a Tangi for almost a $1000. Or an old Regal soprano for $900.

But I call BS. I'm hard-pressed to find one of these ukuleles that actually sold for the amount they ask.
I ran a search on one of the main sellers for "sold" items...and I don't see that they've sold any ukuleles, ever.

Anything else this same seller sold, went as "Best offer accepted."

Henning said:

Hello, simply but can´t wonder what are they up to in Japan?
There are lots of musical instrument auctions there with high end instruments, among them ukuleles. All tend to be very high priced, why?
Do they seriously expect to sell an instrument with a price almost twice the price of a newly produced instrument?!

Click to expand...

The linked Martin Ukulele has MSRP value of $650 but the ebay list price is no doubt factoring in listing fees, payment fees, "free shipping" and a cushion for someone to negotiate "a deal."

To those of us in the US who can buy one for about $500 with free shipping it seems ludicrous but if you live in a country that a US retailer won't ship to this may be the only way to get what you want. Even if a US retailer will ship internationally, they are less likely to mark down the value of the instrument. If you live in one of the lovely countries where import fees effectively double the price of an imported instrument you're much more interested in a seller willing to mark the package at $100 than one that insists listing the full retail cost.

A few thought, plus the ones above (high import duties, thus a more expensive internal market; asking prices are higher than actual prices):
- Japanese people take their hobbies very seriously. They invest in lessons, books, high end instruments, apparel…
- There have been some high profile collectors of musical instruments, especially the Akira Tsumura collection comes to mind (Pharmacy CEO buys up tons of American high end guitars and banjos, publishes a book about them; it then gets auctioned of)

ukulelekarcsi said:

- There have been some high profile collectors of musical instruments, especially the Akira Tsumura collection comes to mind (Pharmacy CEO buys up tons of American high end guitars and banjos, publishes a book about them; it then gets auctioned of)

Click to expand...

I just read about Akira Tsumura for the first time. What an awful situation all around. (this is the brief summary I read). It is unfortunate that the books have gone out of print in light of the damage done to the collection.