Yeah I'd have no problem buying from Japan in theory. I'd been meaning to figure out how to use Buyee anyway to buy some nice Ametora type clothes... But as I was saying above, the listings generally hardly have any info in the descriptions and what they do provide mostly arbitrary and inconsistent rubric scores which provide zero information that you couldn't just get from the photos.
Many of the Japanese resellers list huge volume, often at inflated prices. I assume the volume is what limits their ability or desire to provide a description and they manage to sell in sufficient numbers even with the often high price and average-poor quality.
The occasional benefit is that you can find a very good watch at a reasonable price but the hit ratio is 1:1000.
It’s also worth noting that Japanese sellers often don’t have the watch in hand. They’re drop shipping from other resellers so can’t answer questions or provide additional information.
As Dan says. You can occasionally find good deals but returns are difficult so you’ve got to know your onions and accept a level of risk.
@Dan S I think it was actually reading some of your old comments on posts about this reference that initially inspired me to take a look there. Do you have any insight on the pricing? Is there ever any room to negotiate? I'd feel much better taking a risk if the prices were cheaper than elsewhere, but they seem higher than average especially factoring in whatever the necessary service, shipping, taxes, customs, proxy fees, etc. end up costing.
I feel like I'm noticing some evidence of polishing on the lugs and caseback. Curious what others think.
