[a-LeXx]

Hello Everybody,

well, this just can't be true. The beautiful ATH-W5000 seems to be available for less than 80000Yen everywhere in Japan, but there is no way to buy it. Being able to read and write Japanese doesn't help a bit.
During the past days I tried all the different on-line shops, writting emails to them in polite Japanese. All I'm getting back are replies telling me in a polite japanese way to go ***** myself.
What's wrong with them? Are my gaijin's money any worse than those of nihonjin? Those lazy b*st*rds!

Why do I have to pay premium at audiocubes, only because my name is not Tanaka???

C'mon guys, I'm sure somebody of you has already found a nice friendly dealer willing to sell to US or Europe! The sixty-four-dollar question is - what's the URL? I'm perfectly ok if there is no English on that site

And yes, I know about audiocubes, bluetin and price japan, but none of them is selling ATH-W5000 at anything near to 80000Yen.

Regards,
a-LeXx

 

[Carl]

www.pricejapan.com

 

[akwok]

Quote:

Originally Posted by a-LeXx And yes, I know about audiocubes, bluetin and price japan, but none of them is selling ATH-W5000 at anything near to 80000Yen.

PriceJapan has it for 79,570 Yen..

 

[a-LeXx]

Hi Guys,

thanks for you replies. Hmm, yes, pricejapan. But something is not kosher with them. According to my calculator, 80000 should be around 560 Euro. Well, pricejapan has no quotes for W5000 on their main page any longer, but last time they had quotes they wanted around 720 Euro for them. A very extravagant exchange rate, if you ask me...

a-LeXx

 

[akwok]

Quote:

Originally Posted by a-LeXx Hi Guys, thanks for you replies. Hmm, yes, pricejapan. But something is not kosher with them. According to my calculator, 80000 should be around 560 Euro. Well, pricejapan has no quotes for W5000 on their main page any longer, but last time they had quotes they wanted around 720 Euro for them. A very extravagant exchange rate, if you ask me... a-LeXx

Shipping with DHL is around $70 usd.. then they charge the 5% fee.

It is about $800 usd shipped for the W5000 at the moment, to Canada.

The products price YEN 79,570
Shipping cost YEN 9,300
Our fee YEN 4,000
Insurance YEN 651
YEN Total YEN 93,521

Obviously you have to expect to pay shipping from any vendor!

 

[a-LeXx]

Hi akwok,

yes, agree, I'm not saying they should ship for free

And the US price seems to be absolutely ok. But, I'm in Europe, and somehow pricejapan seems to have troubles with math. When the price was at about $800, they still asked for 720 Euro, while it should be about 660. That's more than $70 difference.

Oh well, I'll email them and ask for a price quote, maybe this time they will be a bit more european friendly

a-LeXx

 

[Carl]

Unless you want to fly over there, you're going to have to put up with

a) shipping and handling fees involving an express courier service of some sortand their international rates

b) the deputy service's fees so that they can pay the power bills and even put some food on the table from time to time.

This is true for all deputy services, not just PJ.


It'd be lovely if Amazon Japan shipped electronics internationally, but no luck. So, short of having a friend in Japan, PJ are about as good as it's going to get.

 

[a-LeXx]

good news, seems PJ have done their home work. At least the price seems to be very reasonable in Euro now, I've just gote a quote.

Well, then I'll try my luck

 

[milkpowder]

Quote:

Originally Posted by a-LeXx good news, seems PJ have done their home work. At least the price seems to be very reasonable in Euro now, I've just gote a quote. Well, then I'll try my luck

How much?

 

[a-LeXx]

around 660 Euro shipped

 

[mattigol]

Good for you, but I am a bit confused. I ended up paying some 90 Euro more than you at PJ in December, at 82,000 Yen base price and roughly the same exchange rate. Ah well, better not think about how much money one can sink in this hobby...

 

[a-LeXx]

Hi mattigol,

that's exactly what I've been complaining about with PJ, the strange exchange rate for Euro. But they changed as it seems

Well, for those 90 Euro more you are enjoing your cans for 5 months longer now, isn't it worth it

And, happy with them so far?

a-LeXx

 

[mattigol]

Alex,

I ain't complaining. I rechecked the bill: I payed 720 Euro, so it's a bit less than I thought. Either way, the W5000 are good value for money in my point of view. Obviously, at 300-400 US$, the K701 and HD650 represent a greater bargain, but in my book, the W5000 are extremly versatile, neutral cans in the best sense of the word and the least expensive de-luxe headphones out there.

I have been debating with myself if downgrading both my phones and my amp would be in order due to changing listening habits (speakers), but came to the conclusion that I would be hard pressed to find anything as good anywhere near the prices that the SLAM and the W5k would fetch on the used market. At this point I'd even let go of the HF-1 before parting with the W5k.

I wish these phones would find their way into the hearts of more head-fiers. Yes, they are more expensive than most real-world cans out there, and it's a shame they aren't sold through retail channels in the US or Europe, but I think they have the capacity to replace 2 or 3 phones within any given headphone collection, effectively turning them into a good deal.

 

[Oski]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattigol but I think they have the capacity to replace 2 or 3 phones within any given headphone collection, effectively turning them into a good deal.

Yeah, I haven't been tempted to buy another set of phones since getting the W5000. I feel that between these and my HP2, I've got it covered. So I suppose in that way, it's a bargain if it stops the incessant upgrades and accumulation that is the Head-Fi norm.

 

[BRBJackson]

Quote:

Originally Posted by a-LeXx During the past days I tried all the different on-line shops, writting emails to them in polite Japanese. All I'm getting back are replies telling me in a polite japanese way to go ***** myself. What's wrong with them? Are my gaijin's money any worse than those of nihonjin? Those lazy b*st*rds! Why do I have to pay premium at audiocubes, only because my name is not Tanaka???

I would suspect that the average Japanese online shop would look at a foreign sale, consider the pitfalls of international shipping as well as potential return expenses (see the recent thread about receiving flawed W5000's from PJ), and decide it wasn't worth the risk. Glad you finally got a good price from Pricejapan though.