Album: $23-$29
Single: $10-$15
DVD: $45-$65
When buying DVDs you should check the Region coding, if it's Region 2 (which most are) it will only play in DVD players made in places such as Japan (for a complete guide to region coding please go here). If you're a fan from the United States like myself, unless you have an All Region DVD Player, you can only watch Region 2 DVDs on your computer (which of course, only applies if you can watch DVDs on your computer).
Nasty, nasty business. What is a bootleg you ask? A bootleg is a product that is not created by the person whom owns the copywrite. When you buy these, you are supporting the company that creates these (usually cheap, crap versions of the official products) rather than the artist. I urge everyone to buy official merchandise despite the bootlegs being much more inexpensive. If you buy an album, please buy the official, because bootlegs aren't near as good quality as the official product- and it's not supporting the musician you like so much! So how do you spot a bootleg? Here are a few warning signs.
YesAsia @ http://yesasia.com/ (English, Japanese, Korean, Chinese)
YesAsia offers products of not only Japanese origins, but Chinese and Korean as well. Not only can you find products related to music, you can also purchase a movie, book, or even some tasty Asian snacks with the use of this online shopping center. The prices are fair, and they have a lot in stock. The only area they really lack is indies merchandise.
CD Japan @ http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/ (English)
CDJapan is my most frequented online store for Japanese music. They even offer Japanese brand name clothes such as SexPot Revenge these days! They're very reliable too. Shipping is usually very prompt- and everything I have recieved has been very securly packaged. Additionally- they have a point reward system which helps you to get discounts on purchases.
HMV @ http://www.hmv.co.jp/ (English & Japanese)
HMV is probably what you could call the Japanese equivalent of Hastings in America. It carries anything from Music related merchandise (albums, singles, books, dvds) to DVDs and so on. I have yet to buy from their website. But, good news is that HMV often have sales on their merchandise so it's likely you can find a great deal from them from time to time. The only downside is- that if you are not shipping to a Japanese address the shipping & handling cost is outrageous.
J-XYZ @ http://www.j-xyz.com/ (English & Chinese)
Another place that although I've wanted to buy from- I haven't. Rather than having tons of albums or singles- this site seems to focus more on other merchandise. You can find tons of merchandise related to popular Japanese artists such as: tour goods, buttons, posters, magazines, and many other neat little things you wouldn't expect to find anywhere to purchase. On occasion they even have fanclub only merchandise up to buy as well, which is a relief for overseas fans! I'd recommend you should check this place for any random JRock merchandise you might be craving. :3
eBay @ http://ebay.com/
Ebay is both very wonderful, and very, very terrible at the same time. Although you can find some excellent deals on here, there are tons of bootlegs floating around. If you're concerned that you are getting official merchandise, but still want to buy from ebay, I'd check out the seller and the product pretty thoroughly (especially if the product is a major release). Many people (including myself in the past) have unknowingly ended up with bootleg products from ebay. However- it is still an excellent place for finding odds and ends and even occasionally rare merchandise. So despite the bootleg risk, it's always worth checking out. ^^
JPop House @ http://www.jpophouse.com/ (English)
Another widely used source for both JRock and JPop merchandise. In addition to their online shop- JPopHouse often sets up booths at conventions around the country. They sell a wide variety of albums, singles, odds and ends, and you can even get a subscription to Cure magazine (which I have had in the past). The shipping is prompt (you can have UPS tracking w/ your shipping if you'd like) and they do have some products that are not available in places like Yesasia.com. If, for nothing else, I'd recommend them for the very good deal you get on Cure subscriptions!
