What's the floor price on reels?

[LowRange]

Is there a bottom? For example, I'm in the market for a Tatula or something. A $250 Tatula Elite goes for about $170 on Aliexpress or $80 less than retail. The same site can't break $110 for the $169 Tatula 100. I would assume the Tatula 100 could be found for a little under $100 or a Fuego CT for under $70 but no.

There seems to be a floor with these reel with the Tatula 100 not able to break $100 and the Fuego CT is stuck around $80 on Amazon. Is the markup that great on the Elite that it can be discounted that much or is there enough support at $120 for the Tatula 100 that there is no pressure to drop prices?

[rando]

I think you are probably right on the mark up. Think steez ct in US for over $700.

[DirtyD64]

I wonder this about the JDM sites all the time. Why will one reel, like the new Metanium get a HUGE discount, but other reels might only be $40 or $50 off. Just strange. Always made me think that some countries get the highest quality products and the ones that were rejected or damaged go to discount sites.

[dennis_rf]

Oh and think about this: when exporting, Japanese sales/consumption tax does not apply. When shopping via Amazon Japan, this tax will be deducted in the cart, shipping added + import tax for your country already added. With other Japanese international oriented shops they seem to still charge the sales tax and keep it for themselves. I just don’t see it represented in the price they charge, for reels amazon JP seems unbeatable atm.
As Europeans always having to pay import tax, aliexpress isn‘t the cheapest option, maybe for the elite, not sure.

[LowRange]

Do you need to use a 3rd party to buy from Amazon Japan?

[DirtyD64]

Do you need to use a 3rd party to buy from Amazon Japan?

When I searched for a few reels on there it seemed you just check out like normal. I never fully ordered anything, just went through the steps to see.

[LowRange]

Do you need to use a 3rd party to buy from Amazon Japan?

When I searched for a few reels on there it seemed you just check out like normal. I never fully ordered anything, just went through the steps to see.

"Tatula" produces no results on amazon.jp.

[DirtyD64]

Do you need to use a 3rd party to buy from Amazon Japan?

When I searched for a few reels on there it seemed you just check out like normal. I never fully ordered anything, just went through the steps to see.

"Tatula" produces no results on amazon.jp.

Huh. I only ever searched for a Conquest on Amazon Japan. Found a ton of strangely bad reviews, seemed to be from one mad customer who got a lemon.

[Bass Junkie]

Going through Amazon . jp has worked great for me, and the checkout process was identical to the US version. Everything was accurate, correct, and shipped quickly

[dennis_rf]

You just need to create a new Amazon account with them. searching in Japanese characters helps from time to time - I get them from the Official Japanese websites.

[City17Banner]

I use Amazon.co.jp all the time for JDM tackle purchases as they are willing to take US credit cards and you can pay in USD via the built in Amazon Currency Converter which guarantees that you can return an item for the same currency value as well.

Similar to DirtyD64, I'm primarily a Shimano guy for baitcasting gear and tend to buy those types of reels, however, I did perform a search for "Daiwa Tatula Elite" and found the first hit was a "Daiwa Bait Reel 20 Tatula SV TW 103XHL (2020) Model" for 17,903-yen with either 2,168-yen standard Amazon global shipping or 2,660-yen priority Amazon global shipping. I always upgrade to priority Amazon global, and this order would have been received by 2/23-2/26 to my address in MN upon placing the order.

Total transaction in USD is: $183.17 in my checkout review page right before placing the order in USD. This is just an example but from previous purchase history the Amazon.co.jp site is easy and convenient to use and has the same sorts of benefits that the US Amazon site possesses such as fast reliable shipping.

A couple of key items I have found for Amazon.co.jp
- When you register, ensure you add an address in your account before you put anything in your cart otherwise you can have some weird issues related to the state/prefecture drop down menu while checking out.
- Prior to adding a credit card to your Amazon.co.jp account, ensure that the credit card does not charge international currency transfer fees such as the Capital One SavorOne or another similar card depending on your bonus requirements.

[City17Banner]

I use Amazon.co.jp all the time for JDM tackle purchases as they are willing to take US credit cards and you can pay in USD via the built in Amazon Currency Converter which guarantees that you can return an item for the same currency value as well.

Similar to DirtyD64, I'm primarily a Shimano guy for baitcasting gear and tend to buy those types of reels, however, I did perform a search for "Daiwa Tatula Elite" and found the first hit was a "Daiwa Bait Reel 20 Tatula SV TW 103XHL (2020) Model" for 17,903-yen with either 2,168-yen standard Amazon global shipping or 2,660-yen priority Amazon global shipping. I always upgrade to priority Amazon global, and this order would have been received by 2/23-2/26 to my address in MN upon placing the order.

Total transaction in USD is: $183.17 in my checkout review page right before placing the order in USD. This is just an example but from previous purchase history the Amazon.co.jp site is easy and convenient to use and has the same sorts of benefits that the US Amazon site possesses such as fast reliable shipping.

A couple of key items I have found for Amazon.co.jp
- When you register, ensure you add an address in your account before you put anything in your cart otherwise you can have some weird issues related to the state/prefecture drop down menu while checking out.
- Prior to adding a credit card to your Amazon.co.jp account, ensure that the credit card does not charge international currency transfer fees such as the Capital One SavorOne or another similar card depending on your bonus requirements.

Just a clarification regarding Prime for Amazon.co.jp, if you sign up for the free Prime trial you get free expedited shipping for 30-days and ongoing Prime membership is 500-yen (~$4.34) per month so if you are likely to order more items over time, I recommend getting Prime membership as you'll save your money on expedited shipping fairly easily.

[LowRange]

I ended up finding regular Tatula 100s on Amazon.jp but they want $120 before shipping. I can get them for $110 free shipping on Aliexpress but to me the 100 is an SLX tier reel. It's just not as smooth and refined as a Curado so I guess the street price of around $120 is right but the Elite and SV is only going for $50 more. My logic says the 100 should be lower than just a $50 difference but that's not how the market works. To me, the aluminum side plate and retail $45 Elite Spool more than make up the price difference.

I already have an Elite spool and want a red and black 100 for my Jackall BPM rod. I would think the places that sell the $250 Elite for $170 would sell a $169 100 for $90 but there seems to be a floor to the 100's price. I wonder if there is just more mark up on the Elite and the cost to manufacture both is pretty similar allowing only a $50 street price difference despite an $80 MSRP difference?

It doesn't really matter I guess. I just got told I get to have a $170 gift card to BPS/Cabelas for a reduction in MSHA citations. I can go to my local BPS or Cabelas and demand they let me open boxes and turn handles on reels like a schitzo until I find one I am happy with the smoothness.

[DirtyD64]

I use Amazon.co.jp all the time for JDM tackle purchases as they are willing to take US credit cards and you can pay in USD via the built in Amazon Currency Converter which guarantees that you can return an item for the same currency value as well.

Similar to DirtyD64, I'm primarily a Shimano guy for baitcasting gear and tend to buy those types of reels, however, I did perform a search for "Daiwa Tatula Elite" and found the first hit was a "Daiwa Bait Reel 20 Tatula SV TW 103XHL (2020) Model" for 17,903-yen with either 2,168-yen standard Amazon global shipping or 2,660-yen priority Amazon global shipping. I always upgrade to priority Amazon global, and this order would have been received by 2/23-2/26 to my address in MN upon placing the order.

Total transaction in USD is: $183.17 in my checkout review page right before placing the order in USD. This is just an example but from previous purchase history the Amazon.co.jp site is easy and convenient to use and has the same sorts of benefits that the US Amazon site possesses such as fast reliable shipping.

A couple of key items I have found for Amazon.co.jp
- When you register, ensure you add an address in your account before you put anything in your cart otherwise you can have some weird issues related to the state/prefecture drop down menu while checking out.
- Prior to adding a credit card to your Amazon.co.jp account, ensure that the credit card does not charge international currency transfer fees such as the Capital One SavorOne or another similar card depending on your bonus requirements.

Just a clarification regarding Prime for Amazon.co.jp, if you sign up for the free Prime trial you get free expedited shipping for 30-days and ongoing Prime membership is 500-yen (~$4.34) per month so if you are likely to order more items over time, I recommend getting Prime membership as you'll save your money on expedited shipping fairly easily.

I actually only own one Shimano casting reel at the moment... Was just looking at all the different JDM options for a new Conquest because my most used site cannot get them in stock. Knew I should have ordered long ago...