Different Region (Japan) & Price Differences

[NviGate Systems]

So I am doing a big order via White Rabbit for items in Japan, (a few TV Seasons of anime that I can't buy in N. America) and I decided to check out various online shops.

Normally, if it were just a one off purchase that had to be shipped, it wouldn't make any senseto get it from Japan, but some items are interesting as brands available there are vastly diffeent from what's here in Canada.

Rakuten has Kioxia 128GB Flash Drives for roughly 1,500 Yen which is around $15 Canadian. Xioxia is the rebranded Toshiba name, I believe. The cheapest 128GB flash here in Canada is like $40 from Kingston. They also have 256GB Lexar drives for 2,700 Yen ($27 CDN) and the cheapest here in between 55-88.

I realize I would get zero warranty, but the idea is interesting where the cost of the products is appealing enough fr some items that it *might* be tempting to try it out.

Some items are cheap in Japan, like if you are a retro game fan, then Suruga-ya has lots of classic NES/SNES/N64 titles pretty cheap, especially titles not often seen in N. America. Because Japan has a unique "don't throw it away" culture, Suruga-ya has a huge selection of very antiquated PC items that made me laugh. Android Tablets for $50, even a few 128GB iPads for cheap, although they do state it's got issues. I saw an older Intel NUC on there for around $50.

Since I'm not travelling anytime soon, might as well get myself a little something... ;-)

 

[frase]

Would love to take a trip to Japan, love the culture and of course the retro wares.

 

[alexsmith2709]

Xioxia is the rebranded Toshiba name, I believe.

Yep, Kioxia is the rebranded Toshiba Memory Holdings and Western Digital share their facilities for flash memory chip manufacture.
I dont know if Japan has any sort of tax thats needs to be added. The delivery and possible import taxes may also negate any savings made.
Im not sure if it still is, but it used to be rare to get different pricing in different countries, for example, a lot of tech would keep the same numbers but change the currency symbol for each market, so 100USD is 100GBP is 100CAD.
The cost of shipping from Taiwan or wherever the tech is made will also be reflective in this lower price. I know during the pandemic shipping container prices went from around $2000 from china to UK to over $20000 and im sure similar happened from China to Canada/US.

 

[mikeroq]

It's all interesting for sure. For instance on Amazon in the US:

128GB USB drive: $14-$19+ (HP for $14 which converts to $18 CDN, $30.39 CDN sold by Amazon.ca)
256GB USB drive: $24-$30+ (HP for $23 which converts to $30 CDN, $42.70 CDN sold by Amazon.ca)

 

[Sky-Knight]

Canada has absurdly high costs on electronics for some reason... even relative to the US. This cannot be fully accounted for in the differences between the dollars either.

 

[NviGate Systems]

Japan has a 10% sales tax. Shipping is free to my freight forwarder.

Although I found Amazon.ca offers the same drive for $24.99.

Maybe I'll stick to the 512MB flash drive that looks like a train and commemorated the opening of one of the new train lines. 700 Yen. Plus lots of Bus and train models unique to Japan.

Now, 512MB might not look like much, but it can be instrumental in doing certain BIOS flashes and other work where the high capacity can cause issue. Of course, that's mostly legacy work.

Anyone care for Sake and an adult film from Amazon.jp? One of the odd things about Amazon Japan. Took me by surprise when I was searching for something. I've never seen Amazon.ca have that stuff. I know eBay does bit it's squirreled away in a corner, although lots of sellers try and evade the censor.

 

[VISA MC]

Now, 512MB might not look like much, but it can be instrumental in doing certain BIOS flashes and other work where the high capacity can cause issue. Of course, that's mostly legacy work.

It’s hard to find these days! I needed one 1GB to move a file on a Micros POS system. It wouldn’t recognize anything larger. Ended up ordering on Amazon after couldn’t locate one locally.

 

[NviGate Systems]

As a quick update to this, I ended up placing an order for a Tablet, as I've been wanting a tablet.

Local Craigslist sellers were insane (Dell Venue 8 Pro $75) (Dell Inspiron Duo Atom $75) (HP Stream 7 $50) keep in mind many of these systems are well over 10 years old. Android Tablets were limited to again, old Samsung models from 2014 they wanted $100 for or one guy had one of those fake 10 core 128gb devices he wanted $50 for. :/ One guy had a Tab 4 8" and wanted $100.

So I was browsing a flea market in Japan and found a junk listing (they call it junk even if it works but they don't want to give warranty) and picked up a Acer W4 820 & Docomo Tab 4 8" for 2,000 Yen. The order is still pending but I'm excited.

 

[Markverhyden]

When one is comparing same product prices across different countries there's a couple of things to consider. For starters there are many different regulations related to electronic devices across countries. These may drive up costs, therefore prices. Import duties. Even if the item is assembled in country it will include items from another country. So duties on subcomponents will vary. Another is taxation. While sales taxes are nearly universal VAT is a common tax outside of the US. Those taxes don't show up in currency exchange rates.