Japanese Ebay Store Guitar Prices

[Jay K]

I have been noticing some Japanese Ebay stores (maybe Reverb too, I haven't paid close attention) that offer American-made guitars used for less than they usually sell for in the U.S. used. For example, a couple of months ago I saw a number of Les Paul Historics at prices lower than offered by American sellers.

What confounds me is I thought guitars cost more in Japan than the U.S., often much more. I had assumed this reflects duties charged on imports as well as a better controlled marketplace that offers consumers fewer breaks. Maybe things have changed recently as these opinions of mine were formed sometime ago after visiting some music stores in Japan.

In any event, does anyone have any insights on the offerings from the Japanese music stores and their pricing? Most helpful would be anyone's experiences buying from them over the internet (Ebay, Reverb, etc.).

 

[schoe1]

I just returned from Tokyo last weekend what I can say is the USD has been strong against the Yen which prompted me to purchase a new Fender Telecaster Custom RI 72 (MIJ of course). I did not notice any significantly lower prices on the U.S. made new guitars.

 

[Orville Greco]

My guess is mostly prices in the US have/are going up for new stuff. But in Tokyo there are shops that buy a LOT of teles, strats, Les Pauls you can walk into several shops & see HUNDREDS of very high priced Gibsons so they can likely negotiate decent buying prices as well.

You can sometimes find decent prices here, but vintage you typically pay more here I wud say. AMPs however have ALWAYS been steeply priced here, new used , vintage, yikes don't fly to Japan for ampage!!