Japanese online store

[Curmudgeon]

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

[Duncan]

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.

[Burd]

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?

[PSchoolen]

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.

[himo_mgf]

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,

[Paradoxium]

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.

[Burd]

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?

[himo_mgf]

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