YesAsia
NOTE: An updated review of YesAsia is available here!
This is the main site most people will start out using as it's one of the big online stores that stocks asian pop music albums. It sells a wide variety of items from movies, video games, book, gifts and anime merchandise. The search engine is easy to use and the site stocks a large selection of J-Pop and K-Pop albums.This is the site I've brought the most of my collection from and have been using it for a number of years. I find it's useful for getting the CD-Only versions of J-Pop singles and ones that are hard to buy outside of Japan. The main problem I find with YesAsia is the albums are more expensive than other sources which is due to raising the cost to cover the free shipping item. But some J-Pop albums are ridiculously over priced from what I've research sometimes. Also years ago, they used to ship orders in a box but a while ago they switched to envelopes. And the weird thing about the shipping is that when I receive it, the sender address shows a random man from China rather than a YesAsia address in Hong Kong (which is where they are based). All my orders have been like this which is strange. I've always been puzzled by this, but I'm guessing it's just a merchant or something they use.
Pros
+ Large selection of albums and merchandise available. It's a good site to use to find the different versions of each album or if you want a certain cover.
+ Great for J-Pop albums that are hard to find outside of Japan Only stores. I've brought a few Dream Ami singles that I couldn't find on other sites.
+ Free international shipping if you order over $39USD worth of items.
+ Good customer service. I've always received quick replies to my inquiries and they will make necessary changes to your order if needed.
+ Free gashapon if you order two Japanese items that have the gashapon icon.
Cons
- Albums can be expensive as YesAsia marks up the prices to account for the free shipping they offer. I find the K-Pop albums can be over priced compared to other sites and once I convert the price to AUD, some end up being outrageous prices for an album of 4 songs.
- Some items displayed on the website aren't actually in stock and will be cancelled from your order. This is one of the things I hate about online stores. It's the worst when stores list items as available, you order and pay for them only to receive an email later stating the item is not available. They always refund your money and offer the free shipping still if you order goes under $39USD. But I wish online stores would not list items if they're not available. This has happened to me three times with YesAsia. Once with a magazine which I wasn't too fussed about and ended up getting it on Amazon Japan. The other two times was when I ordered the B-version of CocoSori's Japanese single. I pre-ordered the item near when it was coming out and then received an email stating it was not available. I asked them to switch my order to the A-version but then I received an email stating that was not available! So YesAsia never even got the CD in but still listed it as available. It's still listed on the site now but as out of print. Luckily a friend in Japan offered to get the CD for me which was lovely after all that trouble.
- Packaging of the orders isn't as good as it used to be. The albums are sent in an envelope with bubble-wrap. I've had a number of K-Pop albums come with the corners slightly damaged or marks on the cover. This is one of the main reasons I'm thinking of switching to another store for K-Pop, receiving my order is good condition is important to me.
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| YesAsia Items |
Amazon Japan
The Japanese version of Amazon is a fun site to use as they stock unique products you can only get in Japan. I use Amazon Japan to buy all my game books and magazines which are only available in Japan. They have a good range of J-Pop available and it's best to buy albums around the time they are released. I've been using Amazon Japan for a few years and I love it! Even though the shipping costs are expensive, the quality of the shipping service is amazing. Takes about 2 days for my items to arrive and they're always sealed and in a box. The most useful thing to do when using Amazon Japan is to translate the reviews into your language and read what people are saying about the item. The ones on the Crayon Pop album are great especially the ones about the DVD because the reviews are accurate about the terrible filming.
Pros
+ Super fast shipping and great packaging!
+ Sometimes you can find albums or singles for cheap prices. I got my After School Bang and Diva singles for under ¥800 and the limited edition version of Crayon Pop's Japanese album for a cheaper price than YesAsia.
+ Use theMP3 section to listen to samples of songs. This is useful if you cannot find a sample of the song on Spotify or Youtube.
Cons
- Shipping costs can be outrageous once you start adding things into your cart. To ship to where I live, it's ¥900 per shipment and ¥300 per item. So I find sometimes the costs add up once you convert it to your local currency. It's best to compare prices on a few different sites before deciding on where to buy.
- Certain items will not be available as they cannot be shipped to your location or outside of Japan. You could get around this using a proxy service but I've never tried that (one day I'll give it go as there's lots of good albums available second hand). Sometimes you put items in your cart and when you go to pay, it will tell you it will not ship to your country. That's a bit annoying as some items even say they will ship on the listing but it doesn't tell you until the payment part.
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| Amazon Japan items |
KpopMart
I've only used this site once and I wasn't happy with it, so I never used it again. Based in South Korea, they offer a wide selection of K-Pop albums and official merchandise. It's a good site for posters and pre-orders. The only time I've used it was to buy Crayon Pop's album Vol. 1 Evolution Pop. It was listed as a cheaper price than YesAsia and you got a free poster if you pre-ordered. So I ended up pre-ordering the album from there and the poster isn't really free as you have to pay shipping. Now to what turned my off ordering from them again. I had to pay $12 USD in shipping costs (that's way more in AUD) and I didn't even get a tracking number. I feel if you're paying that, there should be a tracking option. So my order got shipping eventually when the album came out and the only way I knew it was coming was by talking to other people who ordered the same album who lived nearby. However when my order came, I noticed how awful the packaging was. I was surprised it made it to me in one piece! It came in a large box which was 50% destroyed and all that was in the box was the poster tube and the album wrapped in some bubble wrap. Amazingly that album wasn't damaged with the awful packaging. Turns out the stock KpopMart had of Crayon Pop's album was also faulty as the CD's were not secured properly and were popping out. Mine had this issue as the tabs the CD's were held on had come off the album. I just glued them back on as they weren't damaged with my album. I did read the KpopMart was offering exchanges on the album so other people had the same issue. I think that's more to do with the album being made for the cheap as it's literally in this cheap cardboard box.
Pros
+ Great for pre-orders and posters!
+ Counts towards the Hanteo chart
+ Useful for older albums as they have a good quantity of albums in stock.
Cons
- Searching for items on the site can be difficult as you need to know the exact spelling and some items do not even show up even though they are on the site. For example, try searching for CocoSori's Dark Circle. If you search CocoSori or COCOSORI, nothing comes up. Same with Dark Circle. The single is available on the site but it just doesn't show when you search for it. The only way I found it was by searching through the female group section. Similar thing with Pungdeng-e, they are listed under PUNGDENGI and it will not appear in the search function but it shown under the PUNGDENGI section.
- Packaging is awful
- Shipping cost is added per item and not per shipment. This is frustrating because they charge an extra $7 or $12 per item instead of just charging for the entire weight of the package.
Ebay
This is the most useful site to use to find older or harder to find albums. I've brought a few albums from Ebay over the years and always had a good experience. I find it's a good source to use to find older J-Pop albums and you can save money buying the Taiwan versions of the album as they are usually cheaper than the Japan versions. I managed to buy the Taiwan version of After School's Dress To Kill album for more than half the price of the Japanese version. Another time I brought three Japanese KARA albums from a seller in Japan for about $30. Probably the best deal I've found as the albums were out of print and were way cheaper than the original price they were. One was even a first press limited edition!
Pros
+ Best place to find rare albums or ones that aren't found on other online stores.
+ Good deals if you buy the Taiwan edition of Japanese releases or buy second hand albums. If you aren't fussed about photocards, you can buy cheap albums from sellers in Korea.
Cons
- No indication on whether sales count towards Hanteo or Oricon charts.
- Taking a risk buying from sellers you've never used before or no information about packaging of the order. The best thing to do is check the sellers feedback rating and pictures of the item to ensure it's in good condition.
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| My amazing find of KARA albums on Ebay |
Amazon
We don't have Amazon yet where I live, but I've used the US version of Amazon to buy a lot of CD's. Most were punk or pop ones, but I did purchase a Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi album and Girls Generation's The Boys album from Amazon. I got the US version of the album a few years ago and it was about $9USD when I brought it. I don't use Amazon much nowadays as shipping to Australia is quite expensive, but it's extremely useful for buying DVD's. I've brought a lot of Nickelodeon releases from Amazon that weren't available here. The site would be more useful if you actually lived in the US and if you don't have to convert currencies.
Pros
+ Albums can be super cheap sometimes. A few of the punk ones I've brought were under $10.
+ Reviews are your best friend! Definitely read reviews to find out about the quality of the album and contents.
Cons
- I find the shipping costs have increased over the last few years and aren't as cheap to other countries as they used to be.
- Some albums are only available as MP3's which can only be purchased if you live in the US.
There are a few other sources I've used to purchase K-Pop and J-Pop so I'll include a brief review of those.
- JB-HiFi - This a big entertainment and electronics store chain in Australia which sells a variety of entertainment products. Occasionally you can find asian pop albums in stock. I got my Streets Go Disco album for $9 years ago when Crayon Pop had a deal with Sony Music Australia. JB Hi-Fi used to stock Kyary Pamyu Pamyu albums and I got her third album from there a few years ago. I wish they still stocked albums as it's handy to buy them from there.
- Morning Glory - These can be found usually around Chinatown areas in some Australian cities. There used to be a few stores where I live, but they only have one store now. I find Morning Glory nowadays only stocks the mainstream groups like Twice and focuses more on boy groups. Their prices can be quite expensive but it's convenient to just walk in the shop and buy the album as a treat sometimes. I highly recommend their stationery section, I even have a VIP card for the store because I shop there so much.
- Japan - Yes talking about the actual country. I think this is the best way to get J-Pop. Whilst I haven't been to Japan myself (would love to go one day), I've been lucky to have friends purchase albums for me in Japan. It's the best thing to use for exclusive albums that are only available at Tower Records.
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| Albums from Amazon, JB-HiFi and from Tower Records in Japan. |
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| Albums from Morning Glory |
So that's my thoughts on online shopping for J-Pop and K-Pop albums. I did stumble across a site called Catchop-CD that sells K-Pop albums way cheaper than YesAsia. They seem to have good reviews and people were singing praises of their service, so I'll definitely give them a shot. Even once you convert into AUD, the prices are still cheaper than buying from YesAsia by at least $10 for some albums. Shipping is cheap and it will be useful to order one album at a time, instead of the $39 worth for free shipping. Another site I'd like to try is CDJapan, I just find their payment system a bit confusing compared to what I usually use. Mainly at the moment, I'm working on completing some of my J-Pop collections so YesAsia has been my main site as they have most ones I want in stock and at a good price.
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