Shopping for stuff

By 'Shopping for stuff' I mean, buying the big and little items needed for comfortable living in Japan. Most people say it is expensive to buy things in Japan and it is expensive, but it is expensive everywhere when we are talking about furniture and 'stuff'.

There are several places where you can go for your electronics and furniture. The wife and I went all over the place, talking to heaps of salespeople.

We went to Yodabashi camera in Umeda to check the price of TVs and Stereos, and projectors, and washing machines, fridges, etc. Their prices were good until we discovered the 'catch'. You have to join up with yahooBB to get the 30,000 yen discount off a TV, computer and other stuff. I made notes in a notebook re: their prices. He almost sold me on a 50 inch TV with a built in HD Recorder, but I hate YahooBB, their service a few years ago was shit (according to friends) and that thought is stuck in my head, so anytime anything happened or went slow, I'd instantly blame YahooBB and not be satisfied with my service. I didn't want that. The salesman took me and the wife to speak with a YahooBB rep. We hated this bitch. She was rude, barely gave any info, grouch face and looked tired to speak with us. We complained about her service and the salesman apologized. I think he realized that woman and just cost him a massive sale. I was still willing to go there if we didn't find anything better priced.

That salesman spent three hours with us. Poor guy. He was very professional.

The next day we went to two places: Konan and Daiei.These places are well know over here for home goods at (sometimes) okay prices. This is where we found Wolf and purchased him. That took a LONG time. And will be a post itself.

Daiei is an awesome place in Kobe. We were looking at TV prices and found a 46 inch with built in blue ray dvd player / recorder. 50,000 yen less than the same item at Yodobashi Camera. There was a fridge with handles on both sides of the door so we can open it any side we want. It cost, 61,000 yen. Down from 160,000 yen as it was released ten months ago and in Japan that is considered old. Yay, for me. A brand new fridge, never been used, end of the product line. S-C-O-R-E.
The salesman was really nice and put a hold on this fridge as there were only two left in Kansai. We looked around there and found good prices on most of what we wanted.

The next day the wife went to Don Quixote in Mino, opposite Mister Donuts (YUM). This is a store that has a lot of interesting stuff and electronics, it's part emporium and part clothing store and part electronics. The wife was looking for some lights that Daiei didn't have and in Konan she found some nice lights with attached fans at a price of 13,000 yen. She is glad she waited and hunted around. Today she found the same lights for only 6,000 yen at Don Quixote and they will ship them in two weeks.

Hunting around is the best way to find bargains. Everything is new, nothing is pre-loved. All shops are in competition with one another. Department stores will have an excellent deal on one item but not another, whereas another store will have that non-discounted item on sale.

Make a plan of what you want AFTER you find somewhere to live and stick to that plan. Try not to compromise, get what you want or you won't be satisfied, especially in a foreign land. When I first lived here, I didn't know any of this stuff and no one told me either. I didn't know you could rent a house for the same price as an apartment. I compromised on everything. 

And we all know what compromise means right? Yep, a compromise is where both parties miss out.  
Don't miss out.
People will tell you that you can't do this. I'm proof that you can.