Buy Japan Retro Games

Buy japan retro games

So you want to buy Japan retro games, where to start and what you need to know….
Ok, first things first, you can go to Japan, Tokyo specifically and visit any number of specialty shops to buy Japan retro games, or assuming like most of us you don’t have spare cash for a round trip flight to Tokyo, and you are considering ordering online.

So what are your options?
Let’s start off with the basics, you can begin your search on eBay, which to give it credit, does have a pretty decent variety of Japan retro games for sale from various sellers. Some of the Japan-based sellers do have some reasonable and competitive pricing however there are a few things to note on these.

Buy japan retro games on eBay
Many of the seller’s prices may look attractive at first glance, but that’s because the sellers are at the starting bidding price, they started the bidding price off very low to attract bids, but pretty quickly these dollars will add up. So make sure you do a search for “buy it now” to see the products with a true price, you can pretty soon get an idea of what the real selling price could go up to or beyond.

Another issue here with ebay is that some of the Japan and international sellers will have what looks like a competitive price on their games, but then that’s until you add on the hidden cost of shipping which they don’t show directly on the main price in the listings view.

Once you’ve added on your shipping costs you can kiss goodbye to what you might have thought was an ok price.

Another problem with using eBay as your primary source to buy Japan retro games is that many of the prices listed are reseller/drop-shippers or scalper prices.

The resellers often buy japan retro games from other sellers on eBay and to make money have to bump up the price further than normal. If they manage to get a sale or two then other sellers will see this and often follow suit with the same game inflating the true value and causing a price jack chain.

Drop shippers just search around eBay for the lowest prices and clone the product info for their advert, sometimes even going so far as to use the same image of the product or use scanned artwork /box art of the game instead of a genuine product picture like the actual game cartridge, or CD Rom, physical box etc.

These drop-shippers add an inflated price so they can make some free cash, once the order is placed they simply buy the lower priced product and have the real seller ship it to the customer without any invoice inside.

Scalpers also look for deals on bulk products or limited quantities that they can snatch up and just jack up the price beyond the value, hurting the customers and availability for real Japan retro game collectors.

With that said of course there are many reputable sellers on the eBay market place that offer you to buy Japan retro games at a fair price, just make sure you shop around for it and do check out the seller ratings and feedback.

We’ll also throw Amazon into the same pot as eBay. Many of the items for sale on the Amazon marketplace are new, but you can find used Japan retro games, however, you still have the same issues to deal with as eBay above.

Buy Japan Retro Games on Facebook
Facebook marketplace and Facebook groups are another source that you can use to buy Japan retro games, and there are a few very good ones out there.

One thing about some of these groups to be aware of is that they may not have clear price listings or purchase information. It’s often just a jumble of pictures of what they have in stock at the time, that they decided to buy to sell.

This often makes it difficult to browse specifically for what you’re looking for in a group. You will have to ask the seller directly and wait for their reply when they are available.

You can use the “search this group function” but then the item you are looking for may well have been sold if it was posted a long time ago. Also, you have to hope the seller has added the product name correctly in the post description or title to be found in your search.

Another thing about groups is that often there are only one or two people who run the group or business, so this also means that you might have a slow response, imagine one guy trying to post products, price them answer questions and get them wrapped and mailed out every day, it’s a lot of work.

Questions you need to ask are, do they have customer service, do they provide any guarantee, exchanges or refunds policy, buyer protection, or warranty for the Japan retro games and consoles that you might be buying. After all, many of the items are collectible and don’t come cheap, the last thing you want is to buy something that doesn’t work or function.

A good Facebook group will have been going for at least more than a year or two, have an active community, recent posts with positive discussion and a decent size audience/ membership.

The same goes for the Facebook market place besides groups, you will also need to have a lot of trust in the seller and hope that they will fulfill your order properly.

Another issue with some of these Facebook sellers is that they won’t even ship /mail your order and will require you to meet them someplace to collect the item, this can be costly and also a bit scary, do you really want to travel to a strange place and meet someone you don’t know and hope they give you the games when you hand over your cash?

Some of these Facebook sellers do ship but won’t ship internationally so then your shit out of luck if you’re not in their country.

However, as we’ve said earlier there are some very good sellers and really nice people on Facebook who do sell japan retro games and are very professional about it, it’s just pot luck finding them. The good thing about the Facebook marketplace, unlike groups, is that you can specifically type in what you are looking for and find recently listed Japan retro games, consoles and handhelds to buy.

Buy Japan Retro Games from Yahoo Auctions Japan

Now getting more complex you can consider buying japan retro games or bidding on products from Japan directly using Yahoo Japan Auctions. This website offers a fantastic selection and assortment of products. However, unless you read Japanese and have a Japanese address you keep dreaming, as they won’t allow you to register or to even bid or buy.

The good news is there are a few ways around this by using a proxy service and forwarding service, from a company like “ZenmMarket” “Tenso” or “From Japan” for example. These services allow you to bid from their interface and have your product stored and reshipped from their warehouse.

Overall, they are really good, but a few things that can quickly add up. Double shipping fees for example, often, they will charge you a fee from the japan seller to their Japan warehouse. On top of this, you still have to pay your international shipping fee which in some circumstances can often wind up more than the cost of the product in the first place.

The proxies also charge a buying service fee, packaging and consolidation fees. You also have a limited time in which to ship your product which can be painful when waiting from 3-4 games to arrive at their facility from several different sellers, who may send them at different times. If you exceed your minimum storage time you will be billed extra charges per day. So there can be some expensive additional costs to consider before you try.

Buy Japan Retro Games from third party websites

There are some great websites and businesses selling Japan retro games through their own websites. Many of them have a good assortment and are reasonably priced.

A couple of things to consider before purchasing. Firstly, is to know exactly what you’re buying. Can you see the actual picture of the product you are buying, many older Japan retro games from the 80s and 90s or around the millennium will have had some wear and tear, if you’re buying as a collector or as an investment then you need to make sure you know exactly what you’re getting for your money and real pictures of the products are vital.

Does the website you are buying from test their products? As robust as cartridges are, they do suffer from corrosion, battery failure and also pin damage. You absolutely want to make sure the Japan retro games are sold as tested and working before you buy them, make sure this is stated on the website or product information before you buy.

Statements like sold as seen can be misleading as there is no way of knowing a CR ROM /GD Rom will play just because it looks clean or appears to have no visible scratches in a picture.

Disc rot, yes, my friends it’s a sad but very real problem. For those who don’t know Disc rot is the tendency of CD or DVD or other optical discs to become unreadable because of physical or chemical deterioration.

Older discs and disc technology wasn’t built to today’s standards and just not meant to last forever (even though that’s what they said to us in the ’90s). Disc rot is especially prone in tropical/subtropical and humid climates.

If you’ve ever been on a trip or traveled across Japan you will know that the climate of the Japanese archipelago varies from humid continental in the north to humid subtropical in the south.

During the summertime in Tokyo and other parts of Japan, it can be extremely hot and humid which is one of the worst climates for CDs and CD-based games, it is vital to make sure your games have been tested and working before you buy them. CD-based games stored properly (out of direct sunlight and in a cool dry place or with appropriate air-conditioning), have a much better chance to avoid any problems related to disc rot.

Refunds, returns and warranties/guarantees. We’ve heard some absolute horror story’s about some websites practice when it comes to their returns policy, everything from not taking responsibility for damaged goods on arrival up to forcing customers to take videos of themselves and the product before they will even discuss acceptance of the return.

This can be especially harrowing if you have paid for an expensive Japan retro game or console and it arrives broken or damaged in transit. Make sure the website you buy from has a clear return or refund policy in place so you know your rights in such a situation. Is the product guaranteed to work, get replaced or your money back?

Payment methods and transaction fee charges and security. These are important factors to keep in mind when you buy Japan retro games online from a website seller or business.

Shipping fees
Doe the website charge shipping fees and are they visible upfront so you know exactly what your costs are, these days many sellers are offering free shipping and discounted shipping options, so keep that in mind when you are shopping around to buy Japan retro games, consoles or handhelds.

Conclusion

If you want to buy Japan retro games from a safe importer, why not give us a chance. We offer a wide selection of quality Japan retro games. We also source games to order from Japan based on customers’ requests.

All our games are fully tested. We offer a 30-day refund and returns and 180-day buyer protection for payments via PayPal.

We frequently give FREE global shipping offers to our customers and we cut out the costs of middlemen and proxy services by buying direct and shipping direct to the customers reducing costs, customs headaches and language barriers.

Click here to check out our shop or read our FAQ for more info.