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Seeking Advice on Buy from Japan

Pellman73

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Joined
Aug 9, 2016
Messages
1,762
I would caution anybody against simply buying a costly guitar from Japan on faith and a few photos.

This purchase of the True Historic 1959 Dark Burst has been a disaster of dispute, wasted time and lost sleep, one which I shall write up in a different thread in coming days.

If you can go through a known and trusted figure, great, but based on my experience, do not do this on your own without direct support.

dang man. what happened?
 

Lebond

New member
Joined
Jun 10, 2015
Messages
29
I would caution anybody against simply buying a costly guitar from Japan on faith and a few photos.

This purchase of the True Historic 1959 Dark Burst has been a disaster of dispute, wasted time and lost sleep, one which I shall write up in a different thread in coming days.

If you can go through a known and trusted figure, great, but based on my experience, do not do this on your own without direct support.


Thanks for the words of caution and sorry to hear about your troubles. I hope you manage to get things sorted.
 

Top Gun

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Joined
Mar 31, 2007
Messages
1,523
Duane,

I have been following a red M2M True Historic 58' LP on E-bay. Its being offered by "fun-japanproduct".

Curious if you might know what shop it's at? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 

duaneflowers

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Aug 13, 2013
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2,522
Duane,

I have been following a red M2M True Historic 58' LP on E-bay. Its being offered by "fun-japanproduct".

Curious if you might know what shop it's at? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Shoot a link to my message box (which I've just emptied again) and I'll take a look... :)
 

jb_abides

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Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Messages
5,276
Sorry to resurrect older thread but I am looking for advice as well...

Looking at a (used) R9, to be purchased directly from Miki Gakki in Amemura Osaka. This requires CITES application to bring back to the States, i.e. not from an Ebay intermediary like EastIslandCrew, etc. who sometimes employ a CITES 'bypass' move.

- Miki estimates 3-4 weeks for CITES application to clear. Does the buyer need to participate in the process? Anyone have experience with Miki shipping to US (they are a known retailer, not sure how much they ship...)

- If I purchase and CITES is somehow denied, I would expect to receive a refund from Miki Gakki. What else might I expect to encounter as part of the process?

- Given CITES approval, any issues foreseen on the receiving end, at US Customs?

- I've had USA-made guitars come back from Canada, haven't really have issues with duty taxes. Any pointers here?


@DuaneFlowers, Nikku - if you are still monitoring the boards, appreciate any more advice you may offer... same for other folks.

Thanks!

:salude
 

Sparta

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Aug 7, 2002
Messages
693
Well, you got the only two guys in the world named in your post who I would trust.

I see no upside that compensates for the risk, hassle, cost, and delay.
 

0 2339

Member
Joined
Feb 8, 2017
Messages
166
@jb: when i purchased my r8 last year in japan i wasn't involved in the SHites clearing at all; took them around a week and it didn't cost me anything. of course i only have my own experience, but i guess if this procedure would be too complicated or often refused you would find lots of people complaining about it and japanese shops wouldn't offer export... from a quick search on the web the shop looks legit, but wait until duane or nikku jump in to give clearance. can't tell you about customs, fees etc. as i'm in europe...

mikigakki (dot) com is the site, right?

@sparta: would you mind sharing your experience? or did you already post a thread somewhere about what went wrong?
 

duaneflowers

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Aug 13, 2013
Messages
2,522
I've never had a guitar shipped from Japan to the States so I'm really not sure what the exact experience would be like. I do know that Miki Gakki is my absolute favorite shop in Japan and those guys will do everything they can to get the guitar to you as smoothly and painlessly as possible. I won't be seeing them until Japan's big guitar expo which is in May this year so I won't have a chance to ask them what kind of problems (if any) they've experienced with CITES (pron: SHITES). If you're paying by credit card then you are fully covered to receive what you pay for, but as long as the paperwork is in place I really don't foresee any problems at all. :salude
 

jb_abides

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Apr 6, 2005
Messages
5,276
Thanks guys, esp Duane.

I've got a finger near the trigger but not on it yet. :hmm

So far the folks at Mikki have been super responsive.

Will let ya know... :salude
 

0 2339

Member
Joined
Feb 8, 2017
Messages
166
just one more thing, i'd recommend you ask them about originality too if you haven't already. for example; when i bought mine it wasn't mentioned the guitar was wired 50's style until i asked about it... saved me the work to do it myself but some folks might prefer it original.

good luck mate, curious to see how it goes... whatever you do make sure you post a lot of pics once you get it ; )
 

sonar

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Jan 10, 2003
Messages
3,589
I've bought 2 guitars internationally - a personal transaction from Canada and the other from Ishibashi in Japan. Ishibashi was a "Used" or floor model Strat. I assume Ishibashi was a Pre-Cites(?) ordered 1/15/16. Shipping was around 9-10 days for the Japan purchase. No duty taxes with either guitars.
 

Ivan R

New member
Joined
Mar 19, 2018
Messages
1
Anyone needs help getting anything from Japan give me a shout! I live in Shibuya and know all the shops, read and speak Japanese and I know my guitars!

Hey There
Im buying from fun-japanproducts over there. I believe there located in Osaka. Is there anyone you know rhat could check on the guitar Im buying?
Thanks..
 

Sidstorm

New member
Joined
Aug 27, 2019
Messages
1
Any good or bad experiences buying from Japan?

[/Buying from Japan]

Well, now you can easily buy specials from japan but definitely there are CITES Certification an other issues. But there are plenty of proxy service and fulfillment service provider using their service you can buy directly from the relevant website. Like Ishibashi Music is one of my popular, they have the site in english too, apart from that when accessing website from outside japan, worldshopping titled banner will popup, u can buy and get it delivered. even when buying from yahoo auction, you can use services like zen market, buyee, from japan
 

wolowski007

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Joined
Aug 24, 2017
Messages
10
Just a word of warning, when I was doing my due diligence on purchasing from Japan, I discovered there are a lot of disreputable sellers on eBay and other sites that list guitars available elsewhere. I don't know if they're all scams, or if they are just acting as middle-men purchasers to buy something from another shop if someone tries to buy it from them.

I ended up with zero issues buying my R8 from Japan. I had originally found it on eBay, but thanks to watermarked photos, I tracked it down from the real seller's website (Nico-Nico Guitars). They were easy to work with, handled the CITES paperwork in a couple of weeks, and updated me when it shipped. I would highly recommend Nico-Nico Guitars.
 

0 2339

Member
Joined
Feb 8, 2017
Messages
166
Just a word of warning, when I was doing my due diligence on purchasing from Japan, I discovered there are a lot of disreputable sellers on eBay and other sites that list guitars available elsewhere. I don't know if they're all scams, or if they are just acting as middle-men purchasers to buy something from another shop if someone tries to buy it from them.

I ended up with zero issues buying my R8 from Japan. I had originally found it on eBay, but thanks to watermarked photos, I tracked it down from the real seller's website (Nico-Nico Guitars). They were easy to work with, handled the CITES paperwork in a couple of weeks, and updated me when it shipped. I would highly recommend Nico-Nico Guitars.

another huge thumbs up for nico-nico - top notch service and handling!
 
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