my advice is
1) make it very clear what you're selling and what not (e.g. international power supply, cables etc)
2) make it very clear what support you offer (sold with/without Jp->English conversion)
3) make it very clear how you handle returns (who pays for shipping, how you charge for repairs etc)
If you know people who regularly travel from Jp to UK/Eu/USA, you'd have a useful conduit for couriering items.
I'd say there's a definite market, ebay seems to be a popular place for people to do this. see also conics, pricejapan etc etc. Check out the "where to buy" at https://www.oesf.org/index.php?title=General
You'll find there's a three-tier system. People like Trisoft who do a top professional service - get EU approvals, provide documentation online, provide repair service. Then there's a midle tier, Conics, who do a simple language conversion and a basic returns.
And finally there's the "pack it and ship it, you're on you're own" services.
I bought my 860 from the latter (ebay), because I saved enough money to factor in the risk of having to arrange my own repair. Like anything on ebay, is the price saving covering the true costs of risk... sorry, I digress.
I hope you DO do it, especially if you are able to do all the accessories and interesting software like picsel viewers too.
Paul
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Paul,
Thank you for your input. I had the same general idea, though I haven't done any proper research yet.
I probably would fall between the 2nd and 3rd level you described.
Level 1: I don't have the time to get goverment approval, provide documentation, etc, and my repair capabilities would be even worse then
what is described to be the state of Sharp official repairs!
Level 2: I am capable of doing language conversions and the like, though I suspect that the folks buying Zs from OE forums would
probably just asume to do this themselves. Simple returns may be a possibility I would assume, though the shipping costs
is the key problem to work out.
Level 3: I suppose that what I am thinking of doing is not so far from what vendors offer now on ebay.
I guess what I am looking for is any creative ideas on how I can use my advantage of living in Tokyo to both
provide better access to Zs and accessories for people outside Japan, and make it worth a bit of my own time.
As for knowing regular travelers, I am afraid I don't have any good connections, though I do have many friends in the US
and also have a US address (of my "snowbird" parents)
I don't see any reason that if it works to export Zs, that I could not also export interesting accessories as well (for that matter,
I suppose non Zaurus items could be fair game). I really have no idea what the rules are governing Japanese exports, etc. though.
I assume that the companies that currently export Zs also export other products to make a decent profit.
This is not my goal. I am just toying with the idea of a side-business/weekend pastime.
Please keep the ideas coming!
Brian
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