Japanese sellers on ebay

[SteveXFR]

I'm seeing lots of basses for sale from Japan on ebay. Has anyone here bought from a Japanese seller?

Did it take a long time to arrive? Would you recommend it?

[Steve Browning]

I have bought a couple of basses from Ishibashi, and both times it was seamless and straightforward. I think delivery may have been a couple of weeks. I would certainly recommend them.

 

The ones that do make me think are those that say free delivery. VAT and Duty are charged on trhe full cost (including these) so it's clearly some kind of wheeze, but I do wonder how these are dealt with, as it can't be free. Anyway, slight digression.

[SteveXFR]

Thanks @Steve Browning

I was looking at one from Sound Store Japan. Free delivery but customs duties to be paid by buyer. I guess that'll be 20% extra which could push the price of the used bass to near enough the same price as a new one from Andertons

[BlueMoon]

Another shout out for Ishibashi. I’ve imported a few Japanese oddities from them. Clear communications; honest descriptions; fast dispatch and secure packaging. Never had a problem. I wouldn't hesitate if it is an instrument that is a Japan-only model.

[Eldon Tyrell]

I would avoid the resellers on Ebay or Reverb. Check out digimart.net. Search there for the bass you are interested in and then go directly to the store that is selling it. Much cheaper than going via the resellers. For example, two years ago I got my Spector Ras Layer via Ishibashi and it went all smoothly. 

Other good shops/chains: Ikebe, Kurosawa and Gakkido. There will be many more but these are the ones I have interacted with. 

BTW, I recently found a cool Spector Euro on digimart and contacted the shop directly. I got it for £500 less than what the resellers wanted. Unfortunately, I am now waiting for it to be released from customs. It has been stuck in Coventry for almost 2 weeks. No idea why and no, I have not received a letter asking for VAT and duties yet. PF gave me an email address (the high value team as the bass cost more than £900) to write to but no reply either. I also contacted the shop in Japan and they confirmed that they filled in all the necessary forms and I am sure they know what they are doing. Very frustrating. It took the bass 4 days from Japan to arrive in the UK and now at least 14 days in Coventry. Total joke and very frustrating 😠

 

You may also want to ask Danny (Bass Japan Direct) to buy and ship the bass you are interested in (for a fee). I have done that for a Yamaha BB1200 he found for me as part of his bass hunter service. He even shot a video before shipping it. Cool stuff:

 

[neepheid]

Another +1 for Ishibashi - smooth transaction, sent in a nice sturdy box, and even with the VAT etc. it still worked out cheaper than local market prices for what I was buying (a Yamaha BB1200, for reference)

[neepheid]

Also would avoid ebay sellers - I heard that many of these are people putting things up that they don't actually own, they're in shops, they tack on a "finder's fee" and then go buy it on your behalf.  That's why you often see the same thing with the same photos up on ebay from different sellers for completely different prices and postage methods (some charge postage, some lump it into the cost and offer "free" postage etc.).  Feels a bit grubby to me although I guess it's no different to a "personal shopper" thing in practice.

[SteveXFR]

24 minutes ago, Eldon Tyrell said:

I would avoid the resellers on Ebay or Reverb. Check out digimart.net. Search there for the bass you are interested in and then go directly to the store that is selling it. Much cheaper than going via the resellers. For example, two years ago I got my Spector Ras Layer via Ishibashi and it went all smoothly. 

Other good shops/chains: Ikebe, Kurosawa and Gakkido. There will be many more but these are the ones I have interacted with. 

BTW, I recently found a cool Spector Euro on digimart and contacted the shop directly. I got it for £500 less than what the resellers wanted. Unfortunately, I am now waiting for it to be released from customs. It has been stuck in Coventry for almost 2 weeks. No idea why and no, I have not received a letter asking for VAT and duties yet. PF gave me an email address (the high value team as the bass cost more than £900) to write to but no reply either. I also contacted the shop in Japan and they confirmed that they filled in all the necessary forms and I am sure they know what they are doing. Very frustrating. It took the bass 4 days from Japan to arrive in the UK and now at least 14 days in Coventry. Total joke and very frustrating 😠

 

You may also want to ask Danny (Bass Japan Direct) to buy and ship the bass you are interested in (for a fee). I have done that for a Yamaha BB1200 he found for me as part of his bass hunter service. He even shot a video before shipping it. Cool stuff:

 

 

Thanks for that info. It's actually Spectors I'm looking at. I've been considering a Euro 5 or Dimension 5 if I an audition goes well next weekend. 

[Eldon Tyrell]

Just now, SteveXFR said:

 

Thanks for that info. It's actually Spectors I'm looking at. I've been considering a Euro 5 or Dimension 5 if I an audition goes well next weekend. 

Have a chat with @Sean who recently got two Spectors sent from Japan.

You can see them here:

 

[Lozz196]

I tried but the bass needed customs forms completing and despite several calls to HM Customs and Parcelforce asking for assistance as to what exactly was needed the only response was “look online”.

 

So I didn’t get my bass. Quite why someone couldn’t have said “give me your e-mail address and I’ll send over the form you need to submit” is beyond me, but then having worked for a govt owned business for years maybe I shouldn’t be so surprised.

[fergs40]

I previously recounted the tale of my Vigier Excess on here - despite An Post’s best efforts to mess things up, Ishibashi went above and beyond to make sure the bass arrived with me safely. I’d not hesitate to order from them again.

[NancyJohnson]

I bought two Thunderbirds through Ishibashi without any issue.

[warwickhunt]

On 19/04/2025 at 09:49, SteveXFR said:

Thanks @Steve Browning

I was looking at one from Sound Store Japan. Free delivery but customs duties to be paid by buyer. I guess that'll be 20% extra which could push the price of the used bass to near enough the same price as a new one from Andertons

 

I would be wary of assuming it is 20%.  I am fairly sure you'd be looking at 25%+ on the total cost, regardless of free shipping.  

[walshy]

Ishibashi are excellent but having imported from Japan it almost works out at an extra 1/3 on top of the bass price. 

[2elliot]

1 hour ago, walshy said:

Ishibashi are excellent but having imported from Japan it almost works out at an extra 1/3 on top of the bass price. 

I've very recently imported a bass from Japan it was definitely close to this. Very efficient service until it lands at customs in the UK, that's when the fun starts, not with the seller, Fedex on the other hand... clueless. 

Edited Sunday at 10:31 by 2elliot