Ordering from HMV Japan

[n***@yahoo.com]

I'm in the US and have never ordered from Japan, or anywhere else
overseas. That Czech PO/Neumann Dvorak cycle mentioned a few threads
back really has me reaching for the old wallet.

2 questions;

At today's exchange rate (115 yen = 1 US dollar), will I be charged
$38.00 and change for a product listed at 4,410 yen?

Are there any duties, customs, currency exchange charges, etc. applied
when ordering from HMV Japan? (I was able to find theshipping charge
schedule.)



Anything else to be aware of?

Thanks in advance,
Bruce

[Handel8]

Post by n***@yahoo.com
I'm in the US and have never ordered from Japan, or anywhere else
overseas. That Czech PO/Neumann Dvorak cycle mentioned a few threads
back really has me reaching for the old wallet.
2 questions;
At today's exchange rate (115 yen = 1 US dollar), will I be charged
$38.00 and change for a product listed at 4,410 yen?
Are there any duties, customs, currency exchange charges, etc. applied
when ordering from HMV Japan? (I was able to find theshipping charge
schedule.)
Anything else to be aware of?
Thanks in advance,
Bruce

I have ordered from them in the past, but only if I can't get the
item(s) from cdjapan.com first. The reason is that the shipping by
HMV, at least to the USA, is very very high. HMV insists on using Fed
Ex because they can track the shipments, etc. What I object to is
that they insist on shipping at the fastest, most expensive way
possible. Yes, the packages have come to me only a day or two to the
east coast of the US, but at such incredible cost ! I would gladly
wait a week or two or three for the package to arrive.
You will be charged a currency conversion fee from your credit card,
which may be as high as 3 %, I believe. Some credit cards can be very
fussy about allowing charges coming through from foreign countries.
Your card my block your whole account until they call the card's
security operation calls you on the phone to confirm the order. This
can cause problems on the vendor's end as they will see this and may
cancel or hold the order, which they should, of course.

Alan Prichard

[Jerry]

True.

The delivery is very fast (because they ship everything EXPRESS).

I've ordered many items over many years and still can't
be absolutely sure how the shipping charges are
calculated. In any event, you should be shown the
full cost (and charges) before commiting to the order and then
you only need to calculate what the credit card company
will tack on for currency exchange [something that used to
be FREE, until the credit card companies starting
getting greedier].


As an example, my last order for two 4-cd sets and two
single CDs (Yen 8,207) got a shipping cost
of Yen 1,860 for a total of Yen 10,067.

I believe the costs for shipping go up in a stepwise fashion,
but (again) it's unclear where each break point is.
If there are single CDs that are of interest, you
could try creating test orders, adding single CDs
until you determine the break point.

[Frank Berger]

Post by Handel8
Your card my block your whole account until they call the card's
security operation calls you on the phone to confirm the order. This
can cause problems on the vendor's end as they will see this and may
cancel or hold the order, which they should, of course.

My Bank used to do this regularly until I threatened to take my business
elsewhere. Hasn't happened since.

[Mark Obert-Thorn]

I have another question for anyone who has ordered from HMV Japan
before. Many of their listings say "For Order" rather than "In
Stock", and many of the "For Order" items are listed at CD Japan as
being out of print. What has your experience been with "For Order"
items? Do they usually come through, and how much longer do such
things take than the ones that are "In Stock"?

Mark O-T

[Todd Schurk]

Post by Mark Obert-Thorn
I have another question for anyone who has ordered from HMV Japan
before. Many of their listings say "For Order" rather than "In
Stock", and many of the "For Order" items are listed at CD Japan as
being out of print. What has your experience been with "For Order"
items? Do they usually come through, and how much longer do such
things take than the ones that are "In Stock"?
Mark O-T

I have ordered "for order" items many times with Hmv/Japan and they
have gotten me every single one of them usually within 3 or 4 days of
my order. Also-you earn points which can be put towards future orders-
my last shipping charge was offset by my bonus points. Todd S.

[rkhalona]

Post by Mark Obert-Thorn
I have another question for anyone who has ordered from HMV Japan
before. Many of their listings say "For Order" rather than "In
Stock", and many of the "For Order" items are listed at CD Japan as
being out of print. What has your experience been with "For Order"
items? Do they usually come through, and how much longer do such
things take than the ones that are "In Stock"?
Mark O-T

In my experience, they have delivered over 90% of the "For order"
items. When they are waiting for items, they send you a progress
report and give you the choice to keep waiting, cancel the bakordered
items from the order or cancel the order altogether. Except for the
high shipping charges, I have always been pleased with their service
(they also have a much better search engine than CD Japan's).

RK

[Satid S.]

Post by rkhalona
In my experience, they have delivered over 90% of the "For order"
items. When they are waiting for items, they send you a progress
report and give you the choice to keep waiting, cancel the bakordered
items from the order or cancel the order altogether. Except for the
high shipping charges, I have always been pleased with their service
(they also have a much better search engine than CD Japan's).

My past experiences with ordering "For Order" items from HMV Japan
were also consistent with Mr. Khalona's and Mr. Schurk's.

[John Thomas]

Post by Frank Berger

Post by Handel8
Your card my block your whole account until they call the card's
security operation calls you on the phone to confirm the order. This
can cause problems on the vendor's end as they will see this and may
cancel or hold the order, which they should, of course.

My Bank used to do this regularly until I threatened to take my business
elsewhere. Hasn't happened since.

Since everyone in the US is enslaved to credit card companies, and
since all credit card companies now seem to be owned by Chase/JP Morgan
or Bank of America, I can't imagine why one of them would care where you
took your business

[Matthew B. Tepper]

I have ordered from them in the past, but only if I can't get the item(s)
from cdjapan.com first. The reason is that the shipping by HMV, at least
to the USA, is very very high. HMV insists on using Fed Ex because they
can track the shipments, etc. What I object to is that they insist on
shipping at the fastest, most expensive way possible. Yes, the packages
have come to me only a day or two to the east coast of the US, but at
such incredible cost ! I would gladly wait a week or two or three for
the package to arrive.

You would gladly wait, and so would I, but the Japanese sales/consumer
relationship is built to a large degree on quality of service. Thus the
customer in the home company expects a certain speed of shipment, and the
vendor is basically set up to handle that level of service and nothing
less, even for foreign orders.

[Kimba W. Lion]

Post by Handel8
I have ordered from them in the past, but only if I can't get the
item(s) from cdjapan.com

The correct URL is www.cdjapan.co.jp .

[Steve de Mena]

Post by n***@yahoo.com
I'm in the US and have never ordered from Japan, or anywhere else
overseas. That Czech PO/Neumann Dvorak cycle mentioned a few threads
back really has me reaching for the old wallet.
2 questions;
At today's exchange rate (115 yen = 1 US dollar), will I be charged
$38.00 and change for a product listed at 4,410 yen?
Are there any duties, customs, currency exchange charges, etc. applied
when ordering from HMV Japan? (I was able to find theshipping charge
schedule.)

Is that a Japanese release? That is typically what I usually order
from Japan. I thought the Dvorak cycle with Neumann was dirt cheap
from MDT in the UK. Check their price too.

Yes, $38 sounds right.

In the U.S. have never been hit with anhy duties or customs. Just the
shipping charge.

Steve

[m***@comcast.net]

Post by Steve de Mena

Post by n***@yahoo.com
I'm in the US and have never ordered from Japan, or anywhere else
overseas. That Czech PO/Neumann Dvorak cycle mentioned a few threads
back really has me reaching for the old wallet.
2 questions;
At today's exchange rate (115 yen = 1 US dollar), will I be charged
$38.00 and change for a product listed at 4,410 yen?
Are there any duties, customs, currency exchange charges, etc. applied
when ordering from HMV Japan? (I was able to find theshipping charge
schedule.)

Is that a Japanese release? That is typically what I usually order
from Japan. I thought the Dvorak cycle with Neumann was dirt cheap
from MDT in the UK. Check their price too.

I bought this set in Japan a couple of years ago - it's a slim/wallet/
cap box, part of a Japanese Supraphon series that included
other boxes of chamber music and tone poems.

Marc Perman

[m***@comcast.net]

Post by m***@comcast.net

Post by Steve de Mena

Post by n***@yahoo.com
I'm in the US and have never ordered from Japan, or anywhere else
overseas. That Czech PO/Neumann Dvorak cycle mentioned a few threads
back really has me reaching for the old wallet.
2 questions;
At today's exchange rate (115 yen = 1 US dollar), will I be charged
$38.00 and change for a product listed at 4,410 yen?
Are there any duties, customs, currency exchange charges, etc. applied
when ordering from HMV Japan? (I was able to find theshipping charge
schedule.)

Is that a Japanese release? That is typically what I usually order
from Japan. I thought the Dvorak cycle with Neumann was dirt cheap
from MDT in the UK. Check their price too.

I bought this set in Japan a couple of years ago - it's a slim/wallet/
cap box, part of a Japanese Supraphon series that included
other boxes of chamber music and tone poems.

And apparently not the Neumann Dvorak cycle I thought I'd purchased!

Marc Perman