Recently, I have friends as well as readers of this blog asking me where I get my CDs from and why I get my CDs from there and stuff like that. I think to address all these questions, as well as to inform people who are interested in getting CDs (especially Japanese CDs) online, I’m writing this post in hopes of enlightening you music lovers out there!
Just to inform you, this post is based on my own PERSONAL experiences with these 2 online retailers, namely CDJapan and YesAsia.
So let’s see… What do you normally think about when you buy things online? For me, I will look at the followings:
- Pricing
I mean, who would buy something that’s overpriced?! - Selection
If there’s nothing to buy, what’s there to buy? - Shipment
If your goods are going to take forever to arrive, might as well get it straight from the store right? - Packaging
You do want your stuff to arrive in one piece right? - Additional Goodies
FREEBIES!!
Now, let’s look at each individual aspects…
PRICING
We all know that Japanese stuff are never in the cheap region and therefore, making informed choices of where you want to buy your CDs is really critical.
I’m going to take some examples of both CDJapan and YesAsia to illustrate this point…
Say, I’m going to buy ayumi hamasaki’s new single “L” (YES!! AGAIN!! :P) I’m going to look at the pricing from both sites. Let’s see…
YesAsia - US$31.99
CDJapan - US$22.19
There’s lots of information that can be gathered from these two screen captures. First of all, they are both selling the same item (ayumi hamasaki’s L -First Press-) which comes with a poster. However, why the difference in price?
Here’s why…
YesAsia provides FREE SHIPPING if you make purchases of over US$39 whereas for CDJapan, you pay for your shipping fees yourself! That means, the more you buy, the heavier your stuff gets, the more costly your shipping fees will be!
And I’m gathering that because of the free shipping of YesAsia, the hidden shipping fees are cramped into the product’s prices so in actual fact, you are paying for the shipping but subtly.
Now you know!!
So, which is ultimately the cheaper choice if you are just getting a single single (HAHA!!)?
Doing some simple math…
YesAsia = US$31.99 + Shipping fee (US$12.95) = US$44.94
CDJapan = US$22.19 + Shipping fee (650 yen) = US$30.21
LOOKIE LOOKIE!! CDJapan is still ultimately cheaper! Why? Because of YesAsia’s policy of US$39 for free shipping! Simply put, it’s not worth it getting a single item from YesAsia because regardless of the weight of the item,they charge the same shipping fee. Just doing simple calculations like this, I save over US$10!! That’s a lot of money!!
Verdict:
CDJapan is cheaper if you are getting just a single item that’s under US$39.
But there’s the other camp! What if you want the free shipping from YesAsia? Sometimes when I want to buy lots of CDs, I will go for YesAsia because of the free shipping. Let’s say we want to buy 2 copies of “L”…
YesAsia = US$31.99 x 2 + Shipping fees (US$0!!) = US$63.98
CDJapan = US$22.19 x 2 + Shipping fees (1150 yen) = US$58.56
Erm…. Okay… Failed explanation since CDJapan is still ultimately cheaper even with the shipping fees. But at least the price margin between the both of them are getting closer right? You see the point? The more you buy at YesAsia, the more you actually save. CDJapan’s shipping fees will just increase the more you buy.
Verdict:
CDJapan is still slightly cheaper in the example above but the price margin suggests that the more you buy from YesAsia, the more you tend to save!!
Verdict 2:
Do your own calculations!! It takes less than 5 minutes!
SELECTION
Now that we’re done with the money money part, we look at the selection of items on sale.
CDJapan specializes in Japanese goodies such as CDs, DVDs, Anime, Movies, Books, Calendars, etc etc. What I can say is that they sell all things Japanese and Japanese. No exceptions!
YesAsia on the other hand also specializes in CDs, DVDs, Anime, Movies, etc etc. Basically the same as CDJapan. HOWEVER!! They are not everything Japanese and Japanese! YesAsia, as the name suggests, has a huge selection of Mandarin, English, Korean music on sale too!
Which means!! YesAsia has different presses of the same item! And because of that, you have more to choose from and therefore, have cheaper alternatives!!
Look at the diagram below!!
SEE! Both of these singles are essentially the same thing but the pricing differs so much! This goes to show that where your CD is printed makes a huge difference in the price!
So, for cheap people (like myself sometimes), you may want to go for the Hong Kong version of the single because it’s so much cheaper as compared to the Japan press one! That’s what I do sometimes when I’m collecting ayumi’s singles because it’s not economical to get all the Japan press.
Furthermore, the Hong Kong press is 90% similar to the Japan press. Other than the differing information on the packaging (which is almost insignificant), the sound quality is THE SAME! Therefore, why not get a cheaper alternative if you’re on a budget right? At least you are still buying the ORIGINAL CD as opposed to the losers who opt to download right? :)
BE PROUD OF YOUR ORIGINAL CDs!!
And since YesAsia carries Hong Kong press items, it’s only natural that the DVDs that they sell also comes in Hong Kong presses and that means REGION 3 DVDs!! That’s very important for me because my laptop and PS3 is not region free and only region 3 DVDs work on these devices. CDJapan sells Japanese DVDs which are region 2 and they only work on region-free DVD players so you might want to take note of that! Furthermore, region 3 DVDs are so much cheaper as compared to region 2s.
Other than the different presses that YesAsia offers, YesAsia also have merchandises of the various Avex artistes for sale! For instance, ayumi hamasaki concert goods (key chains, T-shirts), a-nation goodies (caps, fans), you name it! They don’t come very cheap though but rest assured that they are the original stuff! CDJapan, on the other hand, does not offer such goodies.
Verdict:
YesAsia wins hands down when it comes to selection! They have nearly everything of what CDJapan has to offer AND MORE! Like the merchandises of your favorite artistes as well as different presses of the same CD!
Because of the different presses they carry, the consumers can pick to their budget and not burn a big hole in their pockets!!
TIP!!Now here’s where the free shipping is really handy! Every time I want to get Hong Kong press stuff, I would buy a lot so that it will add up to over US$39! That’s when I find the free shipping is really free because the things are already so cheap! Save more money using this method when you’re purchasing Hong Kong presses!!
SHIPMENT
I think this aspect is pretty important because you don’t want to buy something that takes forever (or never!) to reach your home! Here, I will tell you more about my personal experiences with both CDJapan and YesAsia when it comes to their timeliness when shipping.
CDJAPAN
I have bought from CDJapan many times and honestly, I have never ever been disappointed by their shipping time. In fact, there are times when I’m really impressed by their speed and reliability!
The diagram above shows the “Air Mail” that I always use because it’s cheap and fast enough. Don’t bother with the Economy Air (SAL) because I think it will take forever for your stuff to reach you.
Normally when I choose Air Mail, my CD will arrive within a week (less than 7 days). There are times when my CDs actually arrive on the actual release date, same as Japan! That’s how surprisingly fast CDJapan is! They normally ship like one or two days before the official launch of the CD in hopes that you can receive it fast enough too.
YESASIA
YesAsia, on the other hand, is a wild card if you ask me. Just looking at what they promise and you’ll see the difference. CDJapan promises a duration of 4 - 12 days while YesAsia promises a duration of 6 - 14 days. 2 extra days makes a huge difference!
There are times where YesAsia ships reasonably fast (less than a week) but there are also times where YesAsia ships like a snail! Just recently, I received my stuff on the 12 - 13 day after they shipped my order! To me, that’s pretty unacceptable although it’s within the time frame because if CDJapan can do it, I don’t see why YesAsia can’t.
Furthermore, YesAsia is based in Hong Kong and isn’t that so much closer than Japan? If Japan can ship things so much faster, then shame on you, YesAsia!
But that’s not to say that YesAsia is always this sucky. This happens occasionally but the recent experience wasn’t the first time where I got my stuff so late so I’m starting to question YesAsia’s reliability and speed when it comes to shipment.
Verdict:
CDJapan wins again in this department because of their fast, reliable and sometimes surprising speed of shipment. That’s not to say that YesAsia is horrible but there is so much more room for improvement. Or maybe because when shipping is free, they can’t be bothered?
PACKAGING
One of the fears when it comes to online shopping is that you are afraid that your fragile goods might get damaged in the process of shipping. No worries when you purchase from YesAsia or CDJapan though because I believe that their packaging is good enough to protect your CDs from the rough rides!
However, if you were to ask me to pick which is better… Let’s see…
This is how YesAsia typically wraps up your stuff. Normally, they do not send your CDs in a box like you see above. They would use a bubble wrap envelope to send your CDs to you. Sometimes, I feel that the bubble wrap envelope is still not good protection but so far, I have no complains because all my CDs arrive in good conditions. But recently, I received a box with lots of tape wrapped around it so I’m hoping that YesAsia decided to use boxes because they are so much more sturdy!
This is how CDJapan is clearly a winner again. They send their CDs not just in bubble wraps but also with an easy-to-open box! Sometimes, they will tape the disc to the box itself to minimize movement and use green paper to stuff around the item to prevent sliding. Furthermore, they use 100% boxes as opposed to YesAsia, who only use boxes occasionally.
When it comes to posters though, YesAsia would ship the poster in a separate shipment, which goes to say that you may receive your poster either earlier or later than your CD if you do not receive it at the same time. This is a good and bad though because the cardboard tube that your poster comes in will ensure that your poster is in good condition but the wait is sometimes annoying.
CDJapan, on the other hand, packages your posters inside the shipment itself so that you do not have to wait. Since they are already using cardboard boxes, your posters will be relatively safe. Besides, how damaged can paper be right?
Verdict:
I think both retailers do a good job in terms of packaging but CDJapan definitely went that extra mile of using cardboard boxes plus bubble wraps to ensure that your products do not get damaged. YesAsia, on the other hand, seems not to really bother but so far, their packaging had proven to be effective.
In terms of posters, CDJapan triumphs because everything is shipped together, unlike YesAsia who ships the poster with the CD separately.
ADDITIONAL GOODIES
FREEBIES! Who doesn’t like freebies! Okay, it’s not just freebies we’re talking about here but the reward schemes as well as other additional features of both CDJapan and YesAsia.
Let’s talk about CDJapan first.
This screen capture itself shows a lot when it comes to what CDJapan has to offer. The most important thing that I want to point out the is point system CDJapan has.
For every purchase that you make at CDJapan, you are awarded with an amount of points. I shall not go into detail of how the points are calculated because I suck at numbers. (Honestly, I have no idea how it works; I just know there are points!)
These points are really handy because every point means 1 yen. During your next purchase with CDJapan, you can actually use these points to offset your grand total, meaning you get slight discounts! Isn’t that cool?! Sometimes, I get so many points that I can offset most of the shipping fees! Furthermore, CDJapan give out points at random moments (e.g. when you do a survey, when it’s your birthday, etc) so be sure to check your e-mails!
Speaking of e-mails, you can subscribe to your favorite artistes on CDJapan and when your artistes of choice has a release soon, you will receive a notification. This is where I normally get my new release information from even before the official website announces the release. Cool feature!
CDJapan also indicates if the item you are purchasing is a limited edition or if there are any first press goodies or not. First press goodies are normally posters or better packaging but it varies from item to item. Limited edition items normally gets sold out very fast (as you can see from ayumi’s new album above!). CDJapan also makes it a point to inform you how many more limited edition copies they have so that you can play the “fastest fingers first” game!
Anyway, I’ve already pre-ordered ayumi’s new album “Love songs”! The limited edition one!! HAHAHAHA!!
Well, YesAsia also has tricks up it’s sleeves as well when it comes to reward systems and freebies.
Like what the screen capture above stated, as long as you purchase 2 or more Japanese items with the “Free Japan Mini” icon 
, you are entitled to a free Japan Mini toy! It’s like a Kinder Surprise kinda toy just that it’s bigger and so much more interesting!
The toys are random but you get to pick from which “capsule machine” you want the toy to come from. For instance, if I like Super Mario, I can select the Super Mario machine and hope for the best toy to be shipped to me. Hey~ It’s free so stop whining!!
This is what I received the other day when I bought CDs from YesAsia. Cute much?!
Other than Japan Mini toys, you get a US$5 voucher for your next purchase when you make a single purchase over US$50! This is almost like CDJapan’s point system just that it’s so much easier to do the calculation. However, it may not necessary be a good thing because you are only awarded when you spend US$50 or more as opposed to CDJapan where you accumulate points for every single small thing you buy.
Posters! When it comes to posters, CDJapan is pretty generous because first presses normally come with the poster at no additional cost! However at YesAsia, if you want the poster, you have to pay for it, which means that the item will potentially cost more! I think that’s a big scam though, because what’s the point of getting a first press without the poster? Big BOO to YesAsia on this aspect.
Verdict:
I think this is really up to the individual. Do you like the point system or do you like the Japan Mini toys? Personally, I think the point system is a very practical way to make consumers come back but again, the Japan Mini toys are so freakin’ adorable! I think what matters is that you enjoy the shopping experience and the freebies that you’re entitled.
If I want posters, I will go for CDJapan.
If I want points, I will go for CDJapan.
If I were to buy more than US$50, YesAsia would be a good choice.
If I want free toys, YesAsia.
See, it all depends!!
So now, do you understand more about CDJapan and YesAsia, my top 2 favorite online retail stores? I hope that this post will really help you when it comes to making your decision in purchasing CDs online.
Well, if you want me to give a final verdict for both these 2 retailers…
FINAL VERDICT:
Most of the time, I would go for CDJapan simply because overall, it’s the cheaper than YesAsia even though I have to pay for the shipping fee and because of the shipment and packaging (they are damn reliable, no?) The point system also makes me feel like going back to make my purchases so that I can utilize them.
As for YesAsia, I normally use it when I want to buy Hong Kong press items and region code 3 DVDs because they are cheaper, especially when I buy over US$39, I get the free shipping! I would not buy single items off YesAsia because shipping is expensive and they do not include the posters most of the time.
So, my first choice is CDJapan, followed by YesAsia. But I like the both of them!! :)
