Global-flat.com Board
English => General Flatland Forum => Topic started by: Paradoxium on November 05, 2007, 06:12:16 AM
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You know guys, thats what I'd really like to see, a Japanese online flatland store in English, with only Japanese parts, like 059, Magic Fruits, Ares, Nidd, etc etc, direct from Japan. I see new stuff from these companies and its very difficult or expensive to get. For example, the only store I know of that sells 059 is French, and pricey.
Its good Ares has a US distro, but I dont think its got to be cheap to send it half way around the world and back again when I already live in Australia [Japans time zone]. Every Japanese store is in Japanese, is it too much to ask for just one to set up in English as well? What is everyones opinion?
And Japanese riders especially,[and Okinawans] I'm interested in your feedback. Doomo arigatoo. :mellow:
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Yes it's like looking into a candy store but the door is locked!! :angry:
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Yes it's like looking into a candy store but the door is locked!! :angry:
BINGO, thats exactly how I feel, like being taunted. :beer:
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well, alot of stuff in Japan is expensive... generally speaking the same part you would buy in the states for 30USD will cost the equivalent of 50-70USD here. But even besides that.. alot of the shops online are actually small local shops. Riders really enjoy foreigners but its just too difficult to set up a website like that... even after that.. customer service would be a bitch. in saying that.. there are some shops with english service... are you looking for anything in particular?
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Konichi wa Okinawan flatlander,
Well I really like alot of this stuff, but its hard to say, so I'll say yes I'd like some 059 pegs to begin with, but I just think the idea would be a nice opportunity for all flatlanders to have easy acces to these brands. They would sell more parts if even one shop did this. Would there be difficulties with customer service?
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Paradoxium,
Have you tried the google translator ? Do a search on google, for say aresbykes, google knows the page is not in English there is an option to "Translate this page". Google attempts to translate Japanese to English. This is how I have been searching shops in Japan to update the parts database.
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Ill check to see if they have any of that brand peg locally.. i like them too.. just kinda expensive.. lol.. and then you gotta add international shippin if you ordered them from here. As far as customer service.. if you need help with something they will need to have an individual on standby that was bi-lingual..
Paradoxium,
Have you tried the google translator ? Do a search on google, for say aresbykes, google knows the page is not in English there is an option to "Translate this page". Google attempts to translate Japanese to English. This is how I have been searching shops in Japan to update the parts database.
alot of people do that here also for car parts.. it only goes so far if you plan on purchasing though.. another good website translator is http://babelfish.altavista.com/ .. just type the website in there and go.. its been around longer than good translator but i cant say which one is better or worse.. i just know, most of the guys out here use babelfish.
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Paradoxium,
Have you tried the google translator ? Do a search on google, for say aresbykes, google knows the page is not in English there is an option to "Translate this page". Google attempts to translate Japanese to English. This is how I have been searching shops in Japan to update the parts database.
No I haven't tried that yet because I thought I'd see stuff I wanted and wouldn't know how to complete a transaction and converse with the store, about products , sizes, colors, payment details etc, because the only Japanese I know is what I learned in karate, of greetings, counting, blocks and strikes etc.
But if these stores all have English speakers, then its possible I suppose. Its so much easier to order off FF though isn't it, haha. I have ordered non bike related stuff from China before and the language barrier was a huge problem, nearly costing me dearly.
There is room for improvement, and by me putting up this thread, hopefully it gets back to them and encourages even one store to be user friendly for the international community. That would be cool. :mellow:
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most stores wont have an english speaker on the premises. I was saying for the store to have good customer service, they would have to employ someone who was bi-lingual all the time.. and thats hard to find. Normally if they are well versed in speaking english, they have a better job.. or be like my wife and do random translations for money(she got paid 60 bux for less than one hour of translation)lol... Im gonna see what i can find out here and maybe we can work something out. Im just worried about the price you would pay for international shipping from japan... its ridiculous sometimes..
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Does flatland fuel ship to Japan? I thought the mail flew both ways... :mellow:
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it would be nice to get flatland dvd's from japan somehow
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it would be nice to get flatland dvd's from japan somehow
Tonight my boy hooked me up with Proseed issueTWO... its not brand new but its a damn good dvd .. it has KOG 2006 (all 3 rounds) and spaceark league vol.8... content from 2005 has KOG 2005 (all 3 rounds) and Ride the Rhythm vol.1... I guess the next Proseed will have KOG 2007..i cant wait... I have a local dvd that was given to me last week.. i want to grab some peices off of it and post a lil of the flatland but i want to ask the guy first.. you can check out a lil local action on this video.. http://peevee.tv/v?ahgc5 .. no sound on it.. but its short.. i just hum my own tune.. lol
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Does flatland fuel ship to Japan? I thought the mail flew both ways... :mellow:
we ship to Japan almost every day. The Japanese would rather have what we have than what they can get there in a lot of cases. Even with shipping its less expensive to order from the US or Europe than to buy locally in Japan.
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Does flatland fuel ship to Japan? I thought the mail flew both ways... :mellow:
we ship to Japan almost every day. The Japanese would rather have what we have than what they can get there in a lot of cases. Even with shipping its less expensive to order from the US or Europe than to buy locally in Japan.
isn't that ironic ?
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I offered to get some parts for Nathan "Penz", so if there is anyone from Western/Central Canada (or anyone that goes regularly to West/Central Canadian Jams/Comps) that wants parts email me @ cruiserflatland@gmail.com and we'll figure out what you want, what you need and what I can find.
I hopped over to W-Base on Sunday; it's a kick-ass bike shop in Harajuku (yes, home of the Harajuku Girls) and met the guy behind Zen Distribution, maybe he can hook us up with a large order of pegs and stems.
I'm in Seoul right now for 10 days, but I will be back in Japan on the 15th.
cheers, cf
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I hate to be captain obvious, but read the following.
What you are requesting is for a Japanese company, in a country whose official language is Japanese, to send products from Japan for the benefit of foreign, non-Japanese speaking purchasers.
When I type that out, does it not seem ridiculous to you too?
The argument will come up that Japanese will order from the US, blah blah blah... BUT! Those foreign people are forcing themselves to learn English so they can order products from a different foreign country. Not everyone in this world does, or should be forced to, speak English.
End point.
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that is an excellent point. i was going to say earlier that "The US doesnt make webpages available in Japanese so why should the Japanese?" but i felt like it was a little closed minded and counter productive to the topic. In actuality the Japanese do have webpages in dual languages, check out http://www.magicfruits.jp/ (i love the front page picture of the girl also.. damn thats hot). Almost all Japanese students learn english in school these days but if you have ever taking a foreign language class in high school/middle school, you know you dont really learn anything except the basic words unless you have a love for that language.
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I hate to be captain obvious, but read the following.
What you are requesting is for a Japanese company, in a country whose official language is Japanese, to send products from Japan for the benefit of foreign, non-Japanese speaking purchasers.
When I type that out, does it not seem ridiculous to you too?
The argument will come up that Japanese will order from the US, blah blah blah... BUT! Those foreign people are forcing themselves to learn English so they can order products from a different foreign country. Not everyone in this world does, or should be forced to, speak English.
End point.
Yes, thats a good point, but who will be the big winner here if it happens? Japanese flat companies.
The Japanese flatland companies will benefit from higher sales. The flat community will also benefit because you cant buy this stuff elsewhere, so its a win win situation. Maybe FF will sell this stuff in the future, but I dont know. Its expensive, so that may be part of it.
English is extremely widespread and is taught as a second language in many countries, so its more logical for any business to offer english as well as thier own mother tongue.
Foreign languages is one of my favorite hobbies, too, so I am not an English speaking snob, too proud to learn a foreign tongue, and I have no problem with trying to learn other languages, and although I'm not fluent in other languages, I have been studying them for years.
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If you took that perspective the western world would not have a wide variety of cameras, motorcycles, and automobiles.
Also, you will find that Japanese culture is based slightly more on tradition -combined with the incorporation of western concepts, cultures and communication. (explains why you see thousands of businessmen in dark blue suits everywhere)
As for Japanese exports to the US, I see here english as the 2nd most commonly spoke language in all of Asia, but it often takes time and resources to translate ideas and product catalogues into a English-speaking market. The population is so big here (Asia) that it supercedes Canada, USA and Europe combined, so I'm sure certain smaller Japanese companies aren't too concerned with all the effort in exporting overseas.
I'll be in Hong Kong next (after Japan) and ask them what they think about it. I know they get Japanese flatland products.
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move to japan and start a flatland mail order company ^_^ ^_^
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move to japan and start a flatland mail order company ^_^ ^_^
I wish it was cost effective or i would start doing it.. but i think i have only talked to one guy that has said he wanted parts from Japanese companies..
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For the Europeans, Louis in Porto is starting a flatland specialist mail order store with Magic Fruit and some other cool stuff.
Early days, but worth keeping an eye on it ;-)
Raso (http://www.rasobmx.com/raso_home_uk.html)
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For the Europeans, Louis in Porto is starting a flatland specialist mail order store with Magic Fruit and some other cool stuff.
Early days, but worth keeping an eye on it ;-)
Raso ([url]http://www.rasobmx.com/raso_home_uk.html[/url])
Thanks Colin,
RASO is still very new and I dont have to much stuff in stock yet..
We will be selling some japanese brands: Magicfruits, 059brand, Dirty 450 are on the way already!
Something we will also do is custom builds, paint jobs, chrome-plating, and wheel lacing.
The english version isnt updated yet so please check out the portuguese.
www.rasobmx.com (http://www.rasobmx.com)
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If you took that perspective the western world would not have a wide variety of cameras, motorcycles, and automobiles.
Also, you will find that Japanese culture is based slightly more on tradition -combined with the incorporation of western concepts, cultures and communication. (explains why you see thousands of businessmen in dark blue suits everywhere)
As for Japanese exports to the US, I see here english as the 2nd most commonly spoke language in all of Asia, but it often takes time and resources to translate ideas and product catalogues into a English-speaking market. The population is so big here (Asia) that it supercedes Canada, USA and Europe combined, so I'm sure certain smaller Japanese companies aren't too concerned with all the effort in exporting overseas.
I'll be in Hong Kong next (after Japan) and ask them what they think about it. I know they get Japanese flatland products.
It sounds like your having a good time touring all over asia , it would be an awesome thing to do. I saw your pics on another post, lucky you. :beer:
Outriding, i checked out www.rasobmx.com . Looks cool. Much like spanish too, luckily for me ;D. Let us know when you stockpile your Japanese parts that noone else seems to stock. Cheers. :beer: :mellow:
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hey i dont speak portuguese or spanish at all, but i looked through your site and it is so much easier to use and laid out so much more intelligently then other bmx mail order websites! even through the language barrier i could still easily navigate!
props!
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Does flatland fuel ship to Japan? I thought the mail flew both ways... :mellow:
we ship to Japan almost every day. The Japanese would rather have what we have than what they can get there in a lot of cases. Even with shipping its less expensive to order from the US or Europe than to buy locally in Japan.
So true... my bank account got murdered while living in Tokyo when it came to buying parts. $30 Frequency G's, anyone? The Japanese companies were usually the most expensive brands in the shops... nothing like getting to see every flat part you could want in person and having it be out of reach! hehe...
For a good indication of what kinds of prices you can expect for getting brands like Magic Fruits and 059 stuff in the US, just take a look at the Ares Bikes America site... tons of respect for Scott getting everyone access to those parts, but you can see how much it costs to provide that kind of product stateside. Which reminds me: I want a Garuda.
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Does flatland fuel ship to Japan? I thought the mail flew both ways... :mellow:
we ship to Japan almost every day. The Japanese would rather have what we have than what they can get there in a lot of cases. Even with shipping its less expensive to order from the US or Europe than to buy locally in Japan.
haha It's just like that with sport compact cars, The USA wants all the JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) stuff and the Japanese want the American stuff.
Funny how that works... the grass is greener type stuff...
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well, alot of stuff in Japan is expensive... generally speaking the same part you would buy in the states for 30USD will cost the equivalent of 50-70USD here....
So true... my bank account got murdered while living in Tokyo when it came to buying parts. $30 Frequency G's, anyone? The Japanese companies were usually the most expensive brands in the shops... nothing like getting to see every flat part you could want in person and having it be out of reach! hehe...
For a good indication of what kinds of prices you can expect for getting brands like Magic Fruits and 059 stuff in the US, just take a look at the Ares Bikes America site... tons of respect for Scott getting everyone access to those parts, but you can see how much it costs to provide that kind of product stateside. Which reminds me: I want a Garuda.
thats exactly what i was saying... Things are expensive here... But if you live here you normally get paid enough to afford what you want. If i skip pratice today imma run by the shop and check out their pegs...
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This has been a real eye opener for me. It sounds like most of these Japanese parts are so expensive, that not many places stock them. Also the fact that Pat said they often prefer to order from FF insead of buying local made parts is incredible. It looks to me like this sort of stuff will remain inside that locked candy store window refered to at the beginning, haha.
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dood, dont get confused.. they dont order from the states because its cheaper.. they order because its cool to have sh*t from another country.. If i sent you my bike and you started rocking out with it and people figured out it was a japanese company, theyd be all over you.. no matter how it looked.. just cause its cool to have different sh*t.. thats the cool thing about freestyle... different is cooler.. unless its a peice of sh*t.. but thats a different story..
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don’t forget the Yen is the third worst preforming currency in the world in 2007.
so good if you live some place that’s pounding the Yen and bad if you don't.
I think half the problem is that some Japanese companies had some good products over the last few years but as no one could get them outside of Japan other US and Euro companies moved to fill the gap. simple supply and demand. there is very little in Japan that you can't get an equivalent from some place else….
…. apart from those blue Magic Fruits cups for the Profile crank flush bolts, which are the biggest wank I have ever seen, but I want some, 'cos I am a big wanker
BTW I was under the impression the Ares were the trend whore choice of 07? Don’t tell me they aren’t, what I am going to do with my 17.8 tt frame and FU©KN’BLUE pegs
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most stores wont have an english speaker on the premises. I was saying for the store to have good customer service, they would have to employ someone who was bi-lingual all the time.. and thats hard to find. Normally if they are well versed in speaking english, they have a better job.. or be like my wife and do random translations for money(she got paid 60 bux for less than one hour of translation)lol... Im gonna see what i can find out here and maybe we can work something out. Im just worried about the price you would pay for international shipping from japan... its ridiculous sometimes..
I might be able to help. I can understand Japanese to a extent. Enough to poorly navigate most Japanese websites. If someone really wants something translated, I could be of assistance.
But I really don't think its worthwhile for Japanese companies to start a mail-order for us English speakers.
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Has anyone asked whether there would even be a legitimate market for Japanese flat parts in the US? Is there even a market for flat parts made by US companies in the US? Reality is, no one rides flat in the states. There are probably considerably fewer people who ride flat here than in Japan despite the vast difference in total population. Why on earth would Japanese companies worry about selling in a country where flatland is pretty much dead?
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Has anyone asked whether there would even be a legitimate market for Japanese flat parts in the US? Is there even a market for flat parts made by US companies in the US? Reality is, no one rides flat in the states. There are probably considerably fewer people who ride flat here than in Japan despite the vast difference in total population. Why on earth would Japanese companies worry about selling in a country where flatland is pretty much dead?
flatland is far from dead in the US. Its bigger than its EVER been. The US is a big place. The riders here are spread out but there are lots of them. The reality is that nobody in the US is going to buy $100 pegs or $120 stems plus pay for shipping on top of that. Beyond that, 059 brand and Magic Fruits have zero interst in selling outside of Japan.
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hi everyone,
i have a strong interest in this topic. i am in charge of worldwide distribution at magicfruits...yes it is not a joke, we try to make our products avalaible everywhere. i know that many of you would be surprised.
i started this work at the beginning of 2007 and i did great effort to make our parts available in europe and asia. it takes time to deal with many different import taxes, vat and customs rules (i.e. european union is 27 countries). we know our products are expensive, but until now everythings was produced in japan and using 2017 aluminium. that is why magicfruits parts are not cheap, but quality of products is not the same than 6 or 7 type aluminium. magicfruits made every products in 13 colors, it is difficult for a shop to stock that way. you want the green one, shop has the pink one, etc...it is very hard to find a shop motivated to distribute our parts correctly. do not forget, it is flatland parts not street parts. most shop owner do not understand a single word about flatland...
to do better, we work with dirty450 and 059brand that we distribute as well as magicfruits products. bigger quantity means lower cost. and next year we will have a full stock in europe to deal with more shop easily (more brands could work with us soon). avalaibility of products faster, etc. asian country can deal directly with japan but i do not think that chinese, taiwanese or korean writings are better than japanese for english speaker. last but not least, we will have taiwanese production for frames, forks, handlebars, and some aluminium parts.
i am now dealing with american shops about distribution. if it will works every products from 059brand, magicfruits, dirty450 will be avalaible in the us. if it does not work, just send email to me or contact our retailers (bmx-force & rasobmx, more to come).
i am waiting for your comments. advices and critics are welcome. i am not sure that i can promote our brand on global-flat forum but i just want let you know we care about worldwide distribution ( i am not using my poor english skills to translate magicfruits.jp for fun, i prefer keep my time to ride )
take care,
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Thanx for your reponse himo, this is the sort of info I was wondering about. I thought companies like magic fruits were interested in international sales, because I read on a website awhile ago that magic fruits were looking for distibutors internationally.
Hopefully you can find distibutors in various continents so people in the asia pacific region [like Australia] dont have to pay for postage twice by sending it to Europe or the U.S. and then sending it back again. If these Japanese brands were more readily available globally, the sales will increase , therefore possibly creating a small price drop more inline with other brands. This would be a win win situation all around.
One suggestion would be talk to some Japanese stores to find one willing to setup in English as well as Japanese, most people seem to speak some English , or want to learn English, so this would mean international accessability for all. Doomo. :beer:
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So... flatlandfuel.com will have magic fruits parts available sometime soon? Is there any other distributor in the US worth bothering with at this point?
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hi,
thanks for your replies. it will be good to find a shop close to australia, may be an opportunity with a shop in NZ for next year. i heard some parts i sent to europe flew to australia this year...funny but not the cheapest way. english side of a webshop is something i have been thinking for a while and it would be one of the many things i have to deal with next year.
about the us, i let you guess which is the probable distributor. i mean have you many shops over there?
bye