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Alpine gear motherlode: Yahoo Japan Auctions


Dan

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I'm such a gear junkie that the Bomber classifieds and Racebooter.com's eBay search aren't enough to satisfy the cravings...I have to go overseas to slake my unbridled lust for ogling alpine gear.

Yahoo Japan Auctions is more than happy to feed the addiction - it has alpine-specific categories for boards and boots, with over 500 alpine boards up for grabs right now. Here's some of the more interesting finds. Note that most of these sellers aren't willing to ship overseas...is Baka Dasai still in Japan? :-)

<a href="http://list4.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/2084032367-category-leaf.html">Top page of alpine board category</a>

-The often-mentioned but rarely-for sale phantom board, the Sims Burner: http://page6.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/f37948172

-Lots of skwals - what's going on in Japan? http://page7.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/g35600590

-Another skwal: http://page7.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/g37927731

-More skwal: http://page7.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/g35642274

-An Ogasaka - this company also makes high-end skis. I visited their factory outlet in Nagano once and even there everything was still way more than I could afford. http://page9.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/k21412348

-Another Ogasaka: http://page6.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/f37743216

-Anyone ever heard of SG Snowboard? Anyway, this is a really cool-looking shape: a long skinny board with a boat nose: http://page11.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/n29250362

-Here's a Gray, another Japanese board brand: http://page9.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/k25097030

-A Wild Duck - old school! http://page2.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/b61015683 (Wild Duck - old-school)

-Here's a GS board from BS Stream, another Japanese maker: http://page9.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/k24868722

<a href="http://list4.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/2084032332-category-leaf.html">Top page of hard boot category</a>

-G-style boots - I guess these are a homegrown Japanese brand. Does anyone have any experience with these? http://page4.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/d57376405

-Some Blax/Head boots: http://page4.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/d56703184

-More Head (you can never have too much, right?) boots: http://page4.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/d56700564

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ogasaka actually makes most of the snowboards in Japan...not to mention the fact that that 184cm is one SWEEEETT board.

Gstyle boots are very nice the plastic on the ones I tried was stiffer than my 413's. what I really liked was the adjustment. You actualy have a choice of clips ratchet of bail (why would you choose ratchet if you can have bail) but they were EXPENSIVE...even for Japan Expensive...you could get two sets of Suzukas for the same cost

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Can one of you guys that speak Japanese create a custom search for us for the items that can be shipped internationally?

In the advanced search on the US Ebay you can search by "items avaliable to" and choose "any country/region". Not sure if the Japan Ebay has this advanced search but it would help in weeding out the items that won't ship internationally...

P.S. Any of the Japanese BOL'ers interested in playing middleman for cheap fees? :)

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Can one of you guys that speak Japanese create a custom search for us for the items that can be shipped internationally?

In the advanced search on the US Ebay you can search by "items avaliable to" and choose "any country/region". Not sure if the Japan Ebay has this advanced search but it would help in weeding out the items that won't ship internationally...

I played around with it, but didn't see an option to limit the search like that. Also tried using search strings like "will ship overseas," but it looks like their search function doesn't hit that field. Maybe someone else can prove me wrong though.

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I purchased some gear through Yahoo Auctions when I lived in Japan. There is a lot of interesting stuff for sale. Got some smokin' deals on boards that were over 1 year old. Some still in the plastic.

My wife (who is Japanese) set up this search for me. I still drool at all the gear every once in a while.

http://list4.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/2084032367-category-leaf.html

This is probably similar to what you found Dan.

Most sellers will not ship internationally so it may be more of hassle than what it is worth. Also, most sellers will only accept a bank transfer (like a wire transfer from your account to their account) for payment. The banking system in Japan is set up to do this easily. From the USA it would be a hassle and cost you about $30 per transaction.

Shipping a board from Japan could probably be handled by Kintetsu Express or Yamato Transport for around $100.

Now I am back living the American Dream in L.A. No more Yahoo Auction deals for me. Now just saving my extra cash for runs up to June Mountain.

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I just kept hitting it regularly and finally found what I wanted (almost) He actually had a 167 and a 178 left, but by the time I received his reply about shipping to the USA he'd sold the 167, so I grabbed the 178. Shipping costs are expensive, but if you really want something you can't get here how much is it really worth to you? I think someone will eventually jump on the Japan/Europe to USA connection for alpine, it's just a matter of someone who really wants to create/maintain that market getting involved. I've tried contacting Hasco myself to no avail, maybe someone in Japan can get me some more solid information so I can pursue it further?

Thanks,

Paul

p.s. Evil Sports hoodie courtesy of Bobby Buggs!

post-857-141842208914_thumb.jpg

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...is Baka Dasai still in Japan? :-)

Sigh, if I was I'd be getting ready to start the season, but I'm now in the southern hemisphere, where it's summer, and even if it was winter the snow would be lousy and far away, so I have to make do with slalom skateboarding instead.

Good luck with Japanese Yahoo!

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  • 2 weeks later...

The way to search the Yahoo auctions is to open it with googles "translate this page."

Search "Yahoo auctions" then select translate this page.

You`ll see something like this.

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://auctions.yahoo.co.jp/&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dyahoo%2Bauctions%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DG

Viola.......Drool till your hearts content!

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