Part III. Advanced
Buying Used from Overseas
Japan has a very vibrant used market. There’s basically two high traffic places to shop, and in my experience one is much better than the other. Note that after discovering that Ishibashi sells used to the overseas market above, you might just want to stick to that; if you speak Japanese or are in Japan, the next two might appeal to you:
- Mercari - Mercari is a relative newcomer to the online marketplace and is by far my recommended used marketplace here, both in terms of relative selection and overall shopping experience. I have bought and sold many instruments here. Prices tend to be lower than other options. It’s not an auction site, it’s a sales site. Shipping will be on a case by case basis you need to work out with the seller before you buy. Japanese required for their site and I do not know if they offer accounts to international customers; probably useful only in Japan. They do have a US affiliate though so you might be able to work something out.
- Yahoo! Auctions - Yes, Yahoo is still a thing here. I don’t know their policy on international accounts. This is an auction site and has all the risks that Ebay does, but with a much worse web experience than Ebay currently has. No English support. Shipping will be on a case by case basis you need to work out with the seller before you buy. Selection is good. Prices bidded up to are often ridiculously bad. Personally I would avoid.
- EBay - I would not use eBay to buy basses from Japan, there are much better options.
Shopping in Japan
Japan is a virtual heaven of musical instrument shopping. All of the chains I mention above have shops around Tokyo (and other cities). But in general, no single area compares to the musical instrument district here, Ochanomizu.
This is basically a must-visit when you come to Japan. It’s actually kind of overwhelming; picture multiple blocks of music shops with (seriously) amazing selections, often in the form of buildings with five or six vertical floors of sales space mixed in with tiny mom and pop shops in the alleys. It’s just incredible. Guitars, brass, woodwinds, there’s lots here; but mostly guitar and bass.
https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/ochanomizu
Kurosawa, Ikebe and Ishibashi also all have outstanding stores in Shibuya, which is more convenient and is a common tourist destination anyway. Ikebe’s new store is especially good:
Most other major shopping areas will have them too; I’ve bought in Ikebukuro before, and almost bought a bass in Shinjuku.
Amazon-like experiences
There’s basically two good choices in Japan for this and they vary widely for their support of overseas customers. I mention them as last resorts but I do not recommend these for musical instrument shopping at all, as opposed to the chains listed above: