CDJapan vs Yesasia.

[KarenPang]

Ok for starters , both pros's part for both sites is that whatever jpop stuff you ordered , it's counted towards Oricon .

That didn't happened for YesAsia in the past just recently this year but anyway

CDJapan

Pros

- 4 shipping methods to choose from

- various payment methods other than PayPal & credit card

- fast , reliable . Customer service's good

- For 1st press items , they state on their website if it's available or not . So if you were to preorder early or later , should the 1st press's stated on the website , there's no need to worry on it

- the packaging that they used's great & solid . They don't fold posters . They used a big box & they packed it together with your CD

Cons

- shipping's quite expensive . Like you have to pay 650 Yen for a CD single & then it adds on 300 more yen if you buy 2 copies

- only Japan press items are sold , no OS presses's involved

- limited edition(s) surrounding hot/popular artistes tend to go outta print very fast . Like for ARASHI's case , the CD + DVD limited edition of their past few recent singles were sold out on CDJapan within less than 2 hours @_@

- you pay them in Japanese Yen & if your country's currency's weaker against the Yen , then obviously the stuff you will get from them might be a tad pricey

YesAsia

Pros

- various payment methods other than PayPal & credit card

- their customer service's friendly I feel

- availability of OS presses

Cons

- shipping's SLOW (to me) . The last time I used YesAsia , it took me 13 days to get my stuff from them @_@ & their headquarters's in Hong Kong & not in the North/South Pole T_T

- In order to get free shipping , you have to spend US$39 & above . If not you have to pay shipping

having said that , this might be a pro for you if you buy things in bulk

- they sometimes can take FOREVER to source out for items that you order

- no guarantee of 1st press items . It's logical & understood that the earlier you order ,the better but sometimes depending on your luck , you might get it later on

- after a while , they tend to jack up the prices of some items on their site . Like for ayaka's History 2006 - 2009 , the 2CDs limited edition with photobook . It was initally priced at US$40+

now it's US$49.99 which's no doubt ridiculous