Why don't boutique pickup makers have more Japanese customers?

[kevinT]

I have had customers from all over the world purchase my pickups....Italy, Sweden, New Zealand, UK, etc... But I have not had many sales to Japan (maybe one or two in the past couple years). I know the Japanese love quality gear and there are many players over there. I'm just wondering why sales to customers in Japan aren't greater?

Any thoughts?

Does anyone else have many sales to Japan? If so, give a ball park number.


P.S. There is one exception... they love Tom Holmes' pickups so no need to mention that.

[voodoochild]

Considering the Japanese economy has not been so good for several years, I would think that no one except (big names ie Gibson etc) are selling much to Japan. They seem smart enough to save there money when times are bad.

[Spence]

I have sold pickups to Japanese customers but most of them have a strong enthusiasm for their own products especially when it comes to cars and electronics.

[belwar]

Currently, the economy in Japan is awful, combine that with the fact that the yen is in the toilet right now and you have yourself an awful mess.

Japan is also a VERY wierd market. My gut tells me the country is far more acoustic oriented than electric. As an acoustic maker we have had the same distributor in Japan for 25 years and our orders from them came to a halt about 9-12 months ago.

The market there does like high end product, but the quality must be superb. The are probably the pickest client I have. On a shipment of 50 guitars they probably spend 20-30 minutes inspecting each guitar for flaws.

[archtop]

1. Japanese are picky because in Japan there isn't really a return nor refund policy. They don't nag nor complain if not satisfy.

2. It's shameful as a buyer and insulting to the seller to ask for a return or refund. They will never ask for a discount since they considered that as begging and low balling.

3. Japanese are perfectionist and they love attention to detail. So your work must be flawless.

Tom Holmes succeeded because he had the right people to market his product. And in Japan it's all about BRAND NAME...

[belwar]

1. Japanese are picky because in Japan there isn't really a return nor refund policy. They don't nag nor complain if not satisfy.

2. It's shameful as a buyer and insulting to the seller to ask for a return or refund. They will never ask for a discount since they considered that as begging and low balling.

I completely disagree. My distributor is one of the largest more respected music product distribution chains in Japan and they have no quams asking for a discount for a VERY minor cosmetic issue. I've also had them return product ona couple of occasions

3. Japanese are perfectionist and they love attention to detail. So your work must be flawless.

Tom Holmes succeeded because he had the right people to market his product. And in Japan it's all about BRAND NAME...

That is part true I believe. The Japanese love American goods of quality, with a well defined brand image.

[kevinT]

I agree that it has a lot to do with your distribution chain and who, respectable in Japan, pushes your product.

But I'm talkin' direct sales to players/customers.

I'm also wondering what percent of folks speak and read English. Maybe they just can't read the descriptions or understand recommendations that folks post on forums.

I know that they're brand loyal to Japanese manufacturers for the most part, as Spence stated.

I also know that your're almost always assured of a high quality product from Japanese brands. I just wish they viewed us more like that.

If there is a clash of cultures with regard to how they view themselves if wanting a refund (begging, etc...) because they're not satisfied, they shouldn't worry about it, I won't tell anyone in Japan that they want a refund or discount.

On another note, I wonder how many Japanese boutique pickup makers are there? Maybe they're just buying from them.

[archtop]

[QUOTE=belwar;94224]I completely disagree. My distributor is one of the largest more respected music product distribution chains in Japan and they have no quams asking for a discount for a VERY minor cosmetic issue. I've also had them return product ona couple of occasions


maybe at the wholesale/distribution level. But at the consumer (like someone walked into a guitar shop and buy a guitar or a set of pickup) level, there is none.

[Brock Little]

I can't speak for the Japanese, but my experience in Hong Kong is that it absolutely MUST have a recognisable brand name. To look at the styles of music that are popular over this way, there's not a lot of focus on tone. This goes for Hong Kong and Japan.
The music scene is overwhelmingly dominated by industry pop rubbish. Any guitar you hear is generally going to be a stock shelf Ibanez run through a digital effects processor with the most annoying nasal craptone you've ever heard.
I'm sure you'll be able to find people in this region who appreciate good tone, but you'd have to look long and hard to find them. Percentage wise, it's rare enough to find people who appreciate the boutique buying experience. In Japan.... Good luck.

[dai h.]

-they don't know who you are/never heard of you/don't know you exist

-language barrier (not a lot of English speakers, conversely, how many boutique PU makers have info in Japanese?)

-the brand name thing. Go to a music store, and the ones that seem to prevail are American ones like DiMarzio, Seymour Duncan, Gibson, Fender, EMG. Maybe some smaller boutique stuff here and there--Rio Grande(I *think* this was a brand but don't quite remember lol), Lollar, whatever. While it's true that a lot of Japanese think Japanese products are higher quality(in the same sort of way Americans think of American stuff), I think it'd be far too oversimplified to say that was the only idea people had. Can't think of any notable Japanese boutique PU makers (thought I'm sure they must exist).

-discounts (which do exist as well as haggling but I think it depends on the situation) wouldn't seem to be an issue if buying direct since it seems the prices can be much higher (maybe 2 to 3 times) here after the boutique thing goes through the middlemen.

-musical tastes vary. Just because you hear one kind of music here doesn't automatically mean everyone listens to that and likes it. Depends.

[David Schwab]

I've had the same experience as you. Sent pickups to lots of other places, but never Japan.

I have had customers from all over the world purchase my pickups....Italy, Sweden, New Zealand, UK, etc... But I have not had many sales to Japan (maybe one or two in the past couple years). I know the Japanese love quality gear and there are many players over there. I'm just wondering why sales to customers in Japan aren't greater?

Any thoughts?

Does anyone else have many sales to Japan? If so, give a ball park number.


P.S. There is one exception... they love Tom Holmes' pickups so no need to mention that.

[kevinT]

I wonder whether wolfe, jason, and fralin do well there?...some of the better known makers.

[Ruel]

I work for a Japanese company and I've been to Japan. I think the biggest part of the problem is the language barrier. Yes, not so many people speak or understand English. I guess you have to have someone to represent you there in order to penetrate the market. Nobody would bother to learn about your product on their own.

Japanese guitar sales people are very funny. I walked into a guitar store in Osaka about three years ago. It was stocked with American made PRS, Gibson and Fender Guitars. They also had on display, Fernandez and some Chinese made guitars. There was no Ibanez nor Yamaha guitars in sight.The salesman used a tuning fork when I asked to try out a Gibson SG. He also was not aware that Fernandez is a Japanese brand. When I mentioned it, he had to check the catalogue to verify if what I said was true. Jeez, talk about product knowledge.

[JGundry]

The biggest problem is getting the transaction done. If Ebay had an interface that worked in Japan it would be easy to sell to Japan. It is the second largest consumer market in the world and guitars, vintage guitars, effects.. are big business there. PayPal is not really set up for transactions to and from Japan although it can be done. I have sold to Japanese customers but all but one of the sales has been done through a buyer's agent in the U.S.. The way I understand it is the Japanese Yahoo auction site is very popular and they use what is called the Yahoo wallet instead of PayPal. But there is no easy way to list products in Japan from the U.S. through Yahoo.

[David Schwab]

PayPal is not really set up for transactions to and from Japan although it can be done.

Why is that? Montreux does his transactions with Paypal, and I sold a guitar once on eBay to someone in Japan. The Yen is one of the accepted currencies on PayPal.