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syaoran-kun said:

How so? Actually..they're cheaper if you don't consider the shipping, cuz people outside japan don't pay the consumption tax on stuff. The only thing that sucks is that most shops use EMS, that's a fucking amount of fail.
well, im getting it from a brick and mortar shop when im there or if they have a limited edition book that i know i wont be able to get it when im out of the country, ill have it delivered to my relatives.

what i ment by cheaper was that lets say, RRP in japan is 1k yen and after converting it to my local currentcy id be paying an equavalent of 1.2k-1.3k yen?
this is good and 'cheap' for me since if i import it directly to the UK(which im at for most of the year) the same book would probably cost me an equivalent of say close to 2kyen after shipping and all the stupid customs crap.
and since the postal system in my country is utterly useless and will often get hol'ed up in customs, getting it in a physical shop is 'cheaper' for me and i get to browse through the book to see if i actually like it or worth the price im paying.

it might seem little to save some 500-800 yen per book, but when you are talking about my type of buying, it adds up to a lot.

and since its a reputable shop and they import their stuff from japan, so im practically guaranteed to get genuine goods.

btw, like the post above me, getting books from ebay is practically a no-no since almost all of the stuff on it are bootlegs and for people who dont have experience in this would often end up with a counterfeit or bootleg.
even getting books from a physical shop is not a guarantee that it wont be a bootleg if the retailer dont know much about it/dont care but less likely in a bigger chain.