If anything, this thread is gold because of the recommendations. I don't buy in PA for years because of their higher prices.
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Warning to ImportERA: Do NOT give Play Asia your business
- Thread starter Deleted member 7217
- Start date
If anything, this thread is gold because of the recommendations. I don't buy in PA for years because of their higher prices.
I remember their shipping fees were pretty good back then, and then they started to charge a lot.
What a bummer. Play-Asia was the first website I used to import stuff. Haven't used them in years thanks to their high shipping costs and switching my import CD book/CD shop to CDJapan.
Looks like I won't be a returning customer.
Looks like I won't be a returning customer.
I don't use import services anymore, but amiami is what I used when I still lived in the states. They were way better and cheaper. Give them a try.
I've not used them since the 3DS was region-locked - they used to be handy for importing US games to the UK - but with the Switch being region-free, they were the first company that came to mind when I was thinking of importing again. Having read all of this after not paying any attention to them for years, though, I've no intention of giving them my business again. If they're willing to pander to the GG crowd for the sake of sales, I think that tells me all that I need to know about their attitude to consumers and how they want to run their organisation.
Is there a need for an Import OT? Seems many people don't know which alternatives there are for Play-Asia and I think a lot of people are still unaware that Amazon JP ships internationally for many items and that sites like YesAsia (at least last I looked) and HeavyArm also sell Asian games. I haven't used Play-Asia in years, even before the whole GamerGate stuff, because there were always way better and cheaper alternatives (though ymmv depending on where you're from).
It's just sad some people have no principles in life other than selfishness and money.
I have a pair of Virtua Stick High Grades I bought from them back in the day that are still in use thanks to them. Also got my PS3 copy of Gundam Extreme VS from there. Since I've gone all digital with my games though, I don't have much of a reason to buy stuff from them anymore
What principles? I have to be concerned about some nonsensical twitter fued?
What's interesting (and I've seen this happen over and over in many social issue threads) is the need for people to post in defiance and say they'll buy/continue said behavior. And I'm referring to very specific posting behavior - often stating that they will dismiss said information and can't wait to enjoy it etc. Last Night, Kingdom Come and so on. It's like a reverse virtual signaling of sorts. Sorry for the meta post, but this keeps coming up.
They openly side with neo nazis/nazi sympathizers and push followers to harass private individuals. You'd figure that would be enough for people who give a shit to go elsewhere with their money but apparently their precious games and occasionally saving a few bucks is put above all else.
I mean if this is the extent of the doa hing it just reads like pa would sell the uncensored doa.
This doesn't read as a "no doing business anymore" situation unless you left something out
Alternatives!
CDJapan - Fantastic site. Maybe slightly pricey (nothing more than retail though) and customs can suck but otherwise nothing to really fault. Points system is good, service is polite and always friendly. and they even secure odd items as a third-party. Best overall site. Oh, it stocks books, games, music, etc. Packaging is excellent, too.
Amiami - Almost always guaranteed customs but has good stock. May still be awkward to cancel goods from them, not sure. But it's quite a popular import site.
Nippon Yasan - More a reseller than anything. Service is slower than CDJ, they will eventually match eBay/reseller prices. Customer service has been very mixed from reviews. I've been lucky so far (still slow on responding) but they are far from CDJ's level of customer service. I wouldn't recommend even live chatting as the person usually can't help with any account or order specific problems, weirdly. That all said, they will stock limited, web exclusive items but just get in quick before they jack up prices. Other prices are usually cheaper than CDJ too. I use them frequently, even more than CDJ. I guess I live on the edge! Site can sometimes be NSFW (when you log in you're always faced with an ad for their JAV site, which is mega annoying).
Amazon Japan - Never used them but they ship some music, games and books abroad. I assume their service is decent since it's amazon.
Nin-Nin Game - They now charge on order so that's a turn off. Otherwise a similar site, service and response to Nippon Yasan, but better points, if that helps. Can also be NSFW since they don't filter figures... really don't need to see certain new stock of what would probably be illegal in the west.
YesAsia - Used to be alright. Used them for music and games way back but their prices aren't that great anymore.
Others that I've rarely/never used:
Playmoya
Solaris Japan (I used them once only and it was fine)
PlazaJapan - Used once or twice and it was decent. I think they also may adjust pricing since they're basically a reseller. Good for Pokemon goods.
Overall, I super duper adore CDJapan. If only they could dodge customs!
CDJapan - Fantastic site. Maybe slightly pricey (nothing more than retail though) and customs can suck but otherwise nothing to really fault. Points system is good, service is polite and always friendly. and they even secure odd items as a third-party. Best overall site. Oh, it stocks books, games, music, etc. Packaging is excellent, too.
Amiami - Almost always guaranteed customs but has good stock. May still be awkward to cancel goods from them, not sure. But it's quite a popular import site.
Nippon Yasan - More a reseller than anything. Service is slower than CDJ, they will eventually match eBay/reseller prices. Customer service has been very mixed from reviews. I've been lucky so far (still slow on responding) but they are far from CDJ's level of customer service. I wouldn't recommend even live chatting as the person usually can't help with any account or order specific problems, weirdly. That all said, they will stock limited, web exclusive items but just get in quick before they jack up prices. Other prices are usually cheaper than CDJ too. I use them frequently, even more than CDJ. I guess I live on the edge! Site can sometimes be NSFW (when you log in you're always faced with an ad for their JAV site, which is mega annoying).
Amazon Japan - Never used them but they ship some music, games and books abroad. I assume their service is decent since it's amazon.
Nin-Nin Game - They now charge on order so that's a turn off. Otherwise a similar site, service and response to Nippon Yasan, but better points, if that helps. Can also be NSFW since they don't filter figures... really don't need to see certain new stock of what would probably be illegal in the west.
YesAsia - Used to be alright. Used them for music and games way back but their prices aren't that great anymore.
Others that I've rarely/never used:
Playmoya
Solaris Japan (I used them once only and it was fine)
PlazaJapan - Used once or twice and it was decent. I think they also may adjust pricing since they're basically a reseller. Good for Pokemon goods.
Overall, I super duper adore CDJapan. If only they could dodge customs!
There is no censored version. There's no western version period because of whatever dumbass reason Tecmo came up with. Play Asia decided to take this and made a full GamerGate play with it. Telling GG idiots what they wanted to hear: "THE PURITANS ARE PREVENTING YOU GAMES FROM BEING RELEASED!" They're just signal boosting the fact you can buy shit off their site, to own the libs or something. But it's clear they also drank their own kool aid
I've only purchased a game with them once 3 years and don't hang around on social media to know if they support Nazis. Most people are like me: They log in, buy a game and bounce.
Most people are in this camp, where life is too short to try and police the politics of every business or artist they may patronize.
Totally agree with this, if I had to stop using services or liking company that do something wrong I think I would be playing with rocks in my yards lol.
But anyway, the few times I ordered from PA I did not had great service.
With Amazon jp, amiami and cdjapan I don't really care about them.
Also did not they had super sfc mini a while back and were selling it like twice the price ? I remember seeing this and told myself nope not doing business with this place again.
Just bought an item from them after not using them for years but they can fuck off for that and the late customer service woes I've been reading. Wish I'd been paying more attention.
do they accept paypal? The dispute feature would be a solution then.
I thought this was about shady business practices or credit card fraud or something serious like that and then the OP wastes my time with a twitter argument or whatever the fuck this nonsense is about.
amazon.jp doesn't ship half the things I'm interested in abroad
nippon-yasan takes a week to send PSN-codes per email, how the fuck does that happen
amiami stocks three copies of everything max, hope you pre-ordered half a year in advance
Play-Asia is ok I guess, prices suck most of the time but they get the job done. Thanks for the useless warning.
amazon.jp doesn't ship half the things I'm interested in abroad
nippon-yasan takes a week to send PSN-codes per email, how the fuck does that happen
amiami stocks three copies of everything max, hope you pre-ordered half a year in advance
Play-Asia is ok I guess, prices suck most of the time but they get the job done. Thanks for the useless warning.
I actually have the complete opposite experience with them and have avoided them for a really long time. I ordered the FFX Vita from them and it never came. They kept telling me that it was delayed when it wasn't, and that it was sent when it wasn't. They provided me a FedEx tracking number a month after I was supposed to have received it and the package never left the warehouse. Couldn't get a refund, either.
I'm sure those posters would be happy to buy from whoever you suggested if you were willing to pay the difference.
Play Asia often have best prices and their parcels almost always evade customs. You get hit by customs a £16 item can easy turn into a £31 item.
Gonna need more than this to avoid them.
Gonna need more than this to avoid them.
I don't quite get this: Liam wrote on Twitter that he was mad at Play-Asia and wouldn't continue doing business with them, in a public way, Play-Asia answered to that and this is all? I mean, I can see why one would be unhappy about Play-Asia's original posting, but as I understand this, Liam began the discussion in a public way and the answer he got is rather inoffensive, is it not? I see no "go get him" there. It is very common that if you write something in a public forum to someone, that they may write an answer, so I really fail to see how the embedded tweets fit the description.
It's feels like the only reason your post exists is so that you could skip this passive aggressive ending in there.
I just spent 100 bucks on Play-Asia, come here to be greeted by a thread title that makes me go "uh-oh, hope I didn't fuck up too bad", only for it to be some twitter beef. Passive aggressive my ass, how about a thread title that is not sensationalist garbage.
Thought this was about some legit credit card, postal or whatever scam, phew. Granted, I haven't ordered there in ages since I don't import anymore but having your info on file is having your info on file.
You don't quote tweet something in the fashion that Play Asia did there if you aren't deliberately trying to bring attention to it, particularly not with the kind of flippant response that they made. It's not the tone of the reply that they made in so much as it is the specific mechanism with which they made it, as it's been deliberately done in a fashion that it exposes the comment to their entire readership, as opposed to just those who follow just the people in question.
Are there different ways? I'm not a twitter expert, I primarily use it to beg for Banjo games, but I would expect this to just be a regular answer to a tweet? I mean, yes, by answering to a tweet, additional people might read the original tweet, but if I have a problem with that, then Twitter does not seem to be the right medium to use. And Liam is a professional in digital communication, so I think it is fair to assume, on Play-Asia's side, that he is fine with having this discussion in the public.
Been importing since the mid-90s, sadly many of the sites (or shops) from back then are defunct or just overpriced now (*cough* ncsx *cough), but this list should be helpful.
Just a note: I don't know anything about customs (see disclaimer below) nor Asian English games (since my Japanese is serviceable enough)
JP PSN Codes:
japancodesupply.com
Pre-orders and/or recent releases:
amiami.com
amazon.co.jp (also good for Japanese PS+ cards)
Eshop:
Get a cheap and/or used Japanese 3ds and link your account funds (can use foreign cards on 3ds eshop).
Amazon.jp for specific digital games (can get a good deal on Monster Hunter XX there, but you DO need to use a JP address).
Older Releases
Ebay
Amazon (US, but I assume other countries have third party sellers)
Amazon.jp (but use Tenso or another similar service).
Yahoo Japan Auctions (using a deputy service).
I've only ordered from Solaris Japan once (but it is where I bought my Japanese 3DS back in the day), and had a good experience, but someone who may have had more experience could vouch for them more, so YMMV.
Disclaimer: I can't say anything about customs because we don't have them for games/books in the US. Sites like Nippon-Yasan and Nin-nin Game seem to cater more to EU customers, so you might have better luck with those places; however, in my experience they take forever to ship.
Just a note: I don't know anything about customs (see disclaimer below) nor Asian English games (since my Japanese is serviceable enough)
JP PSN Codes:
japancodesupply.com
Pre-orders and/or recent releases:
amiami.com
amazon.co.jp (also good for Japanese PS+ cards)
Eshop:
Get a cheap and/or used Japanese 3ds and link your account funds (can use foreign cards on 3ds eshop).
Amazon.jp for specific digital games (can get a good deal on Monster Hunter XX there, but you DO need to use a JP address).
Older Releases
Ebay
Amazon (US, but I assume other countries have third party sellers)
Amazon.jp (but use Tenso or another similar service).
Yahoo Japan Auctions (using a deputy service).
I've only ordered from Solaris Japan once (but it is where I bought my Japanese 3DS back in the day), and had a good experience, but someone who may have had more experience could vouch for them more, so YMMV.
Disclaimer: I can't say anything about customs because we don't have them for games/books in the US. Sites like Nippon-Yasan and Nin-nin Game seem to cater more to EU customers, so you might have better luck with those places; however, in my experience they take forever to ship.
This doesn't affect me much as I only bought like 3 things in the past 10 or so years from them.
But I was unaware of how they handled their business. Thanks for the heads up, OP.
But I was unaware of how they handled their business. Thanks for the heads up, OP.
Quote tweeting embeds the content of an entire tweet within the tweet you are making - it's typically used when you want to retweet something whilst also making an additional comment regarding it. It exposes that tweet to everyone who follows you on their timeline.
Replying directly to someone, on the other hand, will only expose it onto the timeline of folks who follow both users in question. You could still see it if you were looking specifically at PAs timeline, or someone else you follow retweets it, but generally, you probably wouldn't.
Now, if PA were generally looking to have a discussion here, that'd be one thing, but the tone of the response basically equates to "look at this guy". This gets to be problematic because PA has a history of courting specific parts of gaming fandom who have a... specific type of reaction to these kinds of comments (just look at the thread Liam was quoting here).
Now, you could argue that Liam brought it on himself by quote tweeting PA in the first place, but you'd generally hold the account associated with an actual business entity to a higher professional standard that a single user, particularly in replying to complaints.
Bought my framemeister from solaris, it went fine. They seem to have a pretty bustling used section for cables, consoles, and games.
Normally I just go for ebay and order straight from Japan from someone who offers EMS.
They're one of the very few import stores that offer shipping with pre-paid customs to my country. So like them or not, I'm stuck with them.
To be clear, this is a part of their business. If you choose to be actively aggressive as a marketing strategy, that is an aspect of your business. This isn't a one off. This is how they are branding and aligning themselves and how they wish to treat former customers. You can consider it beneath your concern, I suppose, but there's no way to extricate it from how they operate as a business. They're an online storefront. How they conduct themselves online sort of counts.