Japanese Prices

[Tony Galiani]

I was in Paris last week and had to make the obligatory stop at some train shops.  Turns out these are on the same street as a number of music stores, including Bass Centre and Bass Maniac, so I got to see the differences between Japanese and European pricing for these items.

 

I have a small collection of Euro models but everything I saw was quite expensive including most locomotives running the equivalent of about US$150 and higher and freight cars running US$30 and up.  No bargains to be had that I could find.  In Tokyo I spent less than US$100 and came away with a Tomix DMU, containers, buses, and some other small items.  And the Japanese products are very high quality.  I am thinking economies of scale may have something to do with this but, in any event, I am pleased that I can get such high quality products for, what seems to me, very reasonable prices.

 

And, BTW, bass guitar prices were pretty absurd as well.  I saw one American made bass at over 4200 Euros (for which you could buy several better quality Japanese basses in Tokyo).

I know that for a fact since I did just that.  Actually, for less than half that.

 

Not quite sure why the dramatic price differences but it was certainly an eye opener for me.

Ciao,

Tony

[cteno4]

I’ve always found Japanese model trains a great bang for the buck! These days they are probably some of the most inexpensive in the world (much of the really cheap us stuff seems to have disappeared in the last decade), but up near the top in quality. I think you are right it’s the biggest market and almost all is internally focused so easy to market, produce, etc.

 

also traveling in japan has also been a relative great bang for the buck compared to comparable countries as well.

 

jeff

[railsquid]

Another thing to bear in mind is that Japanese N gauge (at least from Tomix and Kato) very often comes ready-to-run but not-quite-complete, with some of the "basic detail" (grab handles, whistles, antennae, number/maker plates) needing to be attached by the end user, which will also help keep down manufacturing costs.

[bill937ca]

28 minutes ago, railsquid said:

Another thing to bear in mind is that Japanese N gauge (at least from Tomix and Kato) very often comes ready-to-run but not-quite-complete, with some of the "basic detail" (grab handles, whistles, antennae, number/maker plates) needing to be attached by the end user, which will also help keep down manufacturing costs.

 

Those are also fragile pieces subject to breakage before arriving in the hands of the final owner.

[chadbag]

9 hours ago, Tony Galiani said:

I was in Paris last week and had to make the obligatory stop at some train shops.  Turns out these are on the same street as a number of music stores, including Bass Centre and Bass Maniac, so I got to see the differences between Japanese and European pricing for these items.

 

 

What street was this?  I would like to visit the street when I go to Paris in June.

 

I saw some nice basses in a music shop in a mall in the Osaka area that were reasonably priced.  The US brand basses were not that great but the non-US ones seemed very well made, and reasonably priced.  And the one I tested sounded nice.

 

[stevenh]

The mark-ups on Japanese model trains are just as bad here in Australia!

[disturbman]

5 hours ago, chadbag said:

 

What street was this?  I would like to visit the street when I go to Paris in June.

 

Probably around Pigalle, rue de Douai, a street that is famous for its music instrument stores.

[Tony Galiani]

It is indeed Rue de Douai where I saw four train shops.  Further east, this same street is named Rue Victor Masse.  Most of the music shops are located near where the street changes names at their intersection with Rue Jean-Baptiste Pigalle. 

 

If you want basses, I highly recommend Bass Japan Direct in Tokyo.  Danny operates a web shop (and has a youtube channel) but he does welcome visitors by appointment and he ships around the world.  I purchased a bass from him when I was there in October and just ordered a second from him this week.

 

Ciao,

Tony

[disturbman]

23 minutes ago, Tony Galiani said:

It is indeed Rue de Douai where I saw four train shops.

 

Funny, I can’t remember these. Usually I visit one around place de la République when I go back to visit my parents. But choice is scarce and everything seems overly expensive (in comparison to the usual prices of Japanese models). Anyway, I haven’t reached the nostalgic point where I want to collect French rolling-stock 😂