Are there brick and mortar stores where one can buy raw manga in the US? Shipping from CDJapan or whatever is like half the cost, and it seems a lot more efficient to buy it in a store, the only problem is there isn't likely to be much of a market for raw manga in the US so I don't know if anywhere here would sell it.
>>141874599
kino and book off
> and it seems a lot more efficient to buy it in a store
You don't think the stores pay shipping anon?
>>141874599
http://www.kinokuniya.com/us/
I think you should re-do your math regarding Amazon.jp. I buy a ton of shit from them and even with the recent exchange rate rise I still get shit pretty cheap.
PROTIP: Buy used and ship from Amazon.
>>141874701
They sure as fuck don't pay $5 in shipping for every single $6 manga volume they order
>>141874599
There's only like 2 stores I can think of within an hour of me that do, Book-Off and Kinokuniya.
Honestly, if you have a good proxy there's no reason to buy it in person. You'd be buying most shit used anyways, you might as well find an auction site. I got a 34-volume series used and in good condition last week for only 1500 yen, and my proxy has an option to have it shipped by Fedex and DHL because of the weight.
>>141874599
You need to buy in bulk from Amazon.co.jp. I recently did the math on ordering from Kinokuniya in the states, and only the smallest orders work out better than Amazon. You should also aim for the sets from Amazon, because you get better prices per volume and less on the shipping.
Make sure each order is at least over $100 and you'll get a rate of about $8 per volume new or less if buying used.
>>141874599
Order sets from amazon Japan is often cheaper than buying individual volumes elsewhere, especially since amazon usually price shipping sets as a single item.
>>141876231
Recommend a proxy?
>>141874636
Book Off is great, when I went to New York I made that one of my top priorities and walked out with $60 worth of raws, pretty cool. Kinokuniya is very pricey though and you'd expect to pay what you would at an average bookshop. They've got a nice Japanese classical literature collection though.
I really wish there was something like that in the UK.
>>141876238
Unless you're ordering sets, honto is cheaper. Especially when you get good at stacking coupons and points.
What are the best places to get new and used raws online?
As others have said, buying online is usually a better deal. Kino and others have pretty huge markups and I've seen 500 yen books go for $12usd.
Personally I've fallen for the kindle meme and just use Amazon Japan, I'm just too lazy nowadays.
>>141876710
Kindle manga is usually abhorrent quality though, I've wasted way too much money there on hyper-JPEG'd 30MB/volume bullshit. The reason I want physical volumes is actually to scan a few that I can't find quality scans of.
>>141876624
Does it require using a proxy/forwarding service? Cause that extra inconvenience would probably have me continue using Amazon.
>>141876568
Zenmarket
Can't really speak for the US, but here in Europe/Germany it's usually cheaper to import yourself rather than to go to a Japanese bookstore.
They are charging insane prices. Practically in line with what you'd pay using next day delivery buying from Japan.
The only reason I ever go there these days is to browse through their sale corner.
I wouldn't really recommend buying from amazon.co.jp, though. Skim through the buyfag thread guide for more information.
