Cheaper to buy while in Japan?
11-05-2010, 02:36 PM
#16
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but with those things said, you will for sure see things on the shelves there that we won't get for another year or two, heck I wouldn't be surprised to learn they have GT 5 there ! (ha- sorry brucelee- just had to get that little dig in)
11-05-2010, 02:48 PM
#19
Only place to get things cheaper (not car parts, etc... Stuff is already cheap here in the USA) is China and places like Taiwan and such... Otherwise, we have stuff that's already really cheap here.
Lets put it this way, my cousins live in Bosnia, a second world country and I buy them things here because they are much cheaper than over there in Bosnia. Things are really cheap to buy here in the USA, there isn't really anything you can buy in Japan and bring back that will be cheaper than here in the USA. The only reason it's worth bringing something back from Japan is items you can ONLY find in Japan, otherwise you're not saving any money at all.
Lets put it this way, my cousins live in Bosnia, a second world country and I buy them things here because they are much cheaper than over there in Bosnia. Things are really cheap to buy here in the USA, there isn't really anything you can buy in Japan and bring back that will be cheaper than here in the USA. The only reason it's worth bringing something back from Japan is items you can ONLY find in Japan, otherwise you're not saving any money at all.
Back when the exchange rate was better things were actually cheaper there (for the most part). You just had to figure out how to get it home.
Even just recently with the yen at 80 = 1 USD I was able to find stuff that was still cheaper there then it was here. But it wasn't the norm this trip, even though the initial pricing was cheaper the exchange killed it.
I remember the first year I went it was around 120 yen = 1 USD and stuff was so much cheaper. Car parts were typically 10 - 15% cheaper (no mark-ups for transit, etc.) and things like toys/electronics/etc were sometimes up to 50% cheaper depending on where you were looking.
11-05-2010, 06:28 PM
#25
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Honestly, even with the exchange rate, almost anything made in Japan will be cheaper in Japan than here in the States. Common (dollars) and sense! 
11-05-2010, 07:25 PM
#26
I know a lot of JDM heads on i-club always rave about the JDM airfresheners that you can't get in the US....maybe a JDM fanatic can chime in and let him know which brands people like?
11-05-2010, 08:47 PM
#29
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Dude the sad thing is I was just in Guam a few weeks back and they advertised their yen exchange to be pretty good. Like y94 to $1 at the ABC stores...I saw that and was incredibly surprised. Maybe I should have exchanged some $ for Y while I was there 
11-05-2010, 08:48 PM
#30
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i already picked up a few air fresheners earlier this year, but so far i still have the new-car smell so I haven't used all of them yet.
I heard that japan was planning to artificially deflate their yen to boost exports.
I heard that japan was planning to artificially deflate their yen to boost exports.