DAITEI Ordering Instructions

Part A

1. Print out the form.
2. Fill in the quantity desired and calculate the total in yen, MDs and DATs can only be ordered in packs of 10. Don't forget to include the shipping charges (JPY 1000 per MD 10 pack).
3. Decide if you want EMS shipping. This provides:
   • Express service (3 days to Europe and North America)
   • Insurance (if lost, DAITEI recovers value of goods shipped and can resend them)
   • Notification of receipt (you must sign for the package -- DAITEI receives notification that the package was delivered)
   The cost is an extra JPY 900 per order plus an extra JPY 100 per MD 10 pack (in addition to the normal JPY 1000 per MD 10 pack). If selected, mark the amount in the space provided.
4. Print your name and address in large clear block letters in the shipping label section. Don't forget to include the name of your country.
5. Select one of these five payment methods:
   1. International Postal Money Order (Recommended for North America)
   2. Postal Money Transfer to DAITEI's Post Office Giro Account (Recommended for Europe, where available)
   3. Bank Draft (Bank Check)
   4. Cash in Japanese Yen
   5. Cash in US$
   and carry out part B of the instructions appropriate to your selection.

Part B

1. Using an International Postal Money Order

   1. Find out what the Japanese Yen is currently worth by checking the Federal Reserve Bank Foreign Exchange Rates, AFEX, UBC, or using the currency converter (call a bank for a recent quote if the WEB information is more than 5 days old). Fill in the form with the yen rate and the date on which that rate applied. Convert the Yen total to your local currency by dividing by the Yen rate. Since the Japanese Post Office will convert your money order to JPYen in Japan, some 8 to 10 days after you mail your order, it behooves you to round up, or hedge the rate to a degree so that sufficient JPYen will be available to cover your order despite normal shifts in the exhange rate during the intervening period. This is the most inexact part of the whole process and I apologize for there not being some more certain method.
   2. At your post office purchase an International Postal Money Order suitable for sending to Japan for the amount needed (they look like this in case you're not sure). This will cost $3 (in the USA) plus the amount in question. If Hideyuki Tanaka's name will appear on the postal money order, make sure you give both his first and last name.
   3. Mail this money order along with the filled in form to DAITEI, at the address shown below:

      HIDEYUKI TANAKA
      DAITEI INC.
      4-8-13 NIHONBASHI
      NANIWA-KU, OSAKA 556
      JAPAN
      

      (FAX: +81-6-6632-5860 Phone: +81-6-6632-5723
      Store Hours: 10AM - 7PM JST, Closed Thursdays)

   4. Allow approximately 20 days for delivery.

2. Using a Postal Money Transfer to DAITEI's Post Office Giro Account

   This uses a service provided through the Post Office in many European Countries (specifically the institutions shown in parenthesis in the following list: Austria (P.S.K), Belgium (POSTCHEQUE), Denmark (GiroBank A/S), Finland (Postipankki Ltd.), France (LA POSTE), Germany (Postbank), Italy (Banco Posta), Luxemburg (P&T), Madagascar (PTT), Morocco (PTT), Netherlands (Postbank), Norway (POSTBANKEN), Republic of Korea (Ministry of Communications), Spain (Cajal Postal), Sweden (Postbank Ltd.), Switzerland (PTT). This service allows you to transfer money directly to another Post Office "Giro" acount.

   (A customer has reported his experiences using Post Giro Transfer from Austria).

   1. If this service is available in your country you should be able to go to your post office and transfer the total amount due in JPYen to DAITEI's Post Giro Account. The transfer information is as follows:

      DAITEI's POST GIRO ACCOUNT:
      

      NUMBER: 00970-1-99172
      NAME: DAITEI
      POST OFFICE: NANIWA, OSAKA 556, JAPAN
      

   2. The post office will no doubt give you a receipt with a reference number for the transfer, copy this number onto the order form, in the space provided.
   3. Mail or FAX the form to DAITEI using the address or FAX number shown above (sending a copy of the transfer receipt could provide an extra measure of certainty).
   4. Allow 20 days for delivery (10 days if FAXed).

3. Using a Bank Draft Denominated in Japanese Yen

   A Bank Draft (Bank Check) may be used for payment, but in this case JPY 3000 must be added to the total amount. The draft can be denominated in US$ or Japanese Yen, though Yen is preferable since there will be no uncertainties due to exchange rate fluctuations.

4. Using Cash in Japanese Yen or US Dollars

   Somehow I've always heard people say "Never send cash through the mail!", but a fellow in the U.K. proposed this, and said that his post office would allow him to send the cash via insured mail, with insurance sufficient to cover the amount enclosed. I've talked to DAITEI and they are happy to accept cash in the mail, preferably in JPYen but US$ are also acceptable with a 2% surcharge.

   One problem with sending JPYen is that the smallest JPYen note is JPY1000, about US$10, so you may end up overpaying by up to $10 depending upon how close your total is to the nearest JPY1000. In this case, if the amount you would be overpaying is greater or equal to the price of one MD, you can ask for your "change" back in the form of one extra MD. Please mark the form next to the kind of MD you want as change with "+1 OTSURI", this means "change" in Japanese.

   The procedure is to buy enough JPYen to cover the total amount due on your order and then mail the JPYen along with the filled in order form DAITEI (insured I'd say!), at the address given above. You can probably buy your JPYen through a large bank in your area.

   If you are sending US$, you must add 2% to the total price to cover the handling charges for currency exchange.

Please Note the Following:

• Please print in large clear block letters on all your documents. Go slow, be neat. You are sending this information to a country in which the people do not normally deal with the Roman alphabet. In the case of EMS Shipping, DAITEI must transcribe your shipping label information onto the EMS form, please make it easy for them.
• I am not formally associated with the store DAITEI and I receive no remuneration. I have asked them to accept mail orders from abroad and have made this page simply so that people outside Japan can purchase MDs at reasonable prices. I bear no responsibility for your dealings with this store.
• Shipping insurance is available by choosing EMS shipping. If you do not use it, the store will make every effort to ensure that your package arrives safe and sound, but if for some reason the shipment is lost they bear no responsibility. (Though no losses for normal air mail have been reported yet).
• If you are thinking of making a large purchase of MDs or DATs, it would make sense to insure the order.
• US Customs may charge duty on consumer electronics related overseas purchases which exceed US$200.
• If you pay by Postal Money Order and for some reason the amount of your money order is insufficient (this could be caused for example by a large, unfavorable currency fluctuation after you purchase the money order) DAITEI will mail back your money order to you, uncashed.
• The staff at DAITEI speak only Japanese.
• If you send me email ([email protected]) telling me of your experiences ordering through here I will keep a summary so that others may know the relative risks.
• Methods for dealing with defective media have not been addressed. (Note however that I have seen only one defect in the 50 or so MiniDiscs I have purchased and was able to work around it by isolating the bad spot with the MD editing functions).
• It would be nice if the purchases could be made by credit card, however DAITEI doesn't seem to be able to find a way to do this cheaply and easily.
• It would be nice if DAITEI left their FAX machine on overnight, however they turn off the entire store's power at night for safety reasons.

Comments from purchasers (so far):

• I ordered from them, and it went without a hitch. If you can live with the wait, the prices are worth it. It took 19 days from order sent until order recieved (sent 2/1/96, received 2/20/96). Cost for 10 Discs was approx. $US 66.00 (Including shipping)+ $US 3.00 for the US Postal Money Order. The discs were packaged well, and I paid no duty. [Later...] I received my latest order from DAITEI within 10 days. It was for 20 Keep 74 MD's, and I have had no problems with them (the MiniDiscs or DAITEI).
  -Alexander DeWolf ([email protected])
• I was able to pick up 20 74' MDs for $118 (Keep brand...including shipping). That's less than $6 per disk! The whole process took 2 weeks...from the time I sent off my postal money order until I received the package today.
  -Edward Chung ([email protected])
• Just this note to say I am very pleased with the 20 Scotch 74 min MDs I have ordered from Japan, for globally less than half the price I can find them in France. My order was sent on the 20th of March and I received my MDs on the 29th of March. Quick, and cheap.
  -Lionel ([email protected])
• Man, I couldn't believe how quick my minidisc order arrived from DAITAI. I ordered a 10 pack of the Keep brand disks on Monday April 8. I mailed out the money order late in the afternoon. I received my disks today, Thursday, April 18. That is only 8 business days.I am very satisfied with the service and I will order more when I need more.
  -Altaf Kassam ([email protected])
• I had some problems at the beginning with Daitei. I did an international money order, following the help in MD pages, and the order didn't arrive because in Japan they were not able to find the destination address. I repeated the order after a month (specifying also the name of Mr. Tanaka) and in 23 days (here in Italy mail is so slow) I received 10 Idemitsu disks with no problem, though I've not tested the disks yet.
  -Giovanni Gagliardi ([email protected])
• I ordered 20 Scotch 74's and received them in 22 days. That's as quick as the last order I made within the US. Total cost was $116.06 + $13.94 shipping making the cost per disk $6.50 per disk. That's less than half of what I paid J&R 18 months ago for TDK 74's. The hardest part was getting the International Postal Money Order at the post office! I am pleased with the price and the service and will most definitely order again.
  -Jerry Bradshaw ([email protected])
• Just received my order of 20 Scotch 74's today, 5/10/96. I placed my order on 4/26 -- that's only 11 working days! I'm totally satisfied, as I paid about $6.40 per md, shipping included. I'll be ordering more as soon as I need them.
  -Name withheld by request (aloha.net)
• I have just received the 3M MDs that i've ordered twenty days ago. All is gone OK. A beautiful chance for us (in Italy the 74 min. MDs costs about 10-11 $).
  -Massimo Bertin([email protected])
• I ordered 10 Keep and 10 Idemitsu MDs. I sent my order on the 3rd of April and I received my discs today (May 24) so it took a little over 7 weeks to Australia. The wait was worth it. I paid no duty and they were well packed. Including cost of Money Order, Shipping etc the Discs cost A$9 each. It is not possible to buy blank discs in Australia for under A$28-$30 so Daitei represented a major saving and I will be using them again. [Australians might consider using EMS shipping -eaw].
  -Matthew Baird ([email protected])
• Just want to let you know that I too have just ordered discs from Daitei. I sent my International money order on 5/20/96 and received my discs today (5/31/96). My order was for 30 3M discs and I used the EMS shipping method (I had to sign as well as show a photo ID to receive the package) for a per disc price of about $6.40 each. I will be ordering more shortly.
  -Karlton Kam ([email protected])
• Just a note to report on good "order fulfillment"! A friend and I split an order for 20 Keep 74' MDs. We met and mailed the money order on May 20th and received the disks yesterday May 30th. This is excellent service! I dubbed from a CD to a Keep MD last night. The results are fine.
  -Ken McGreevy ([email protected])
• I'm delighted to say that I received my pack of MD's from Daitei this morning (to Scotland UK). They were very nicely packed and I was not asked to pay import duty or value added tax. I used the "sending cash in JPYen (notes) by registered post" route and requested "change" in the form of an extra disc. It all worked without a hitch and took 19 days in total from sending the order. to receiving the package. Including all charges the cost per disc worked out at 4.51 UK Pounds against the price here of 10.99 UK Pounds. I am extremely pleased and thank you very much for arranging this great facility.
  I had enquired about the official situation regarding import duty and value added tax in the UK. HM Customs and Excise Notice 143, dated September 1993 refers. Goods imported from Japan to the UK of value exceeding 15 UK Pounds are liable to 4.1 percent import duty (for recordable discs) on top of any Japanese tax (which I assume has already been charged?) and then a charge of 17.5 percent value added tax on the total (ie. a tax on a duty, all on top of any Japanese tax!). There are one or two stated exceptions to the charges, e.g. if the goods are declared as a gift.
  -Alan Hood ([email protected])
• Using a Postal Money Transfer to DAITEI's Post Office Giro Account is no longer possible in the United Kingdom using the Girobank plc or Alliance & Leicester plc. I checked this out with more than one post office and Alliance and Leicester who called their head office, the system was closed down earlier this year. Instead I sent cash based on the exchange rate at my local Bureaux de Change and it worked just fine. My discs arrived in 2 weeks and I was given an extra disc because I had rounded up in DAITEIs favour. I won't hesitate to order a second set when I need to because my trust in the postal tracking and insurance system is basically well founded.
  -John Ridge ([email protected])

Problems (so far):

• Daitei was unable to cash a check from T. K. in Germany. This was not a postal money order, but an International Order Cheque. Daitei has sent his check back to him. His comments are as follows: I went to my home bank. They ordered a international order cheque from the Deutsche Verkehrs Bank (DVB). My home bank garantues for the amount of money to the DVB. The DVB sent a order cheque. The order cheque contains the german money garantueing bank (DVB) and the partner Bank in Japan. The DVB is giving garantue for payment to the japanese Bank Sukarta Bank ltd. [Post Giro Transfer is now available and is the appropriate way to make a payment from Germany]
• Daitei did not receive a postal money order from Jan-Willem Hartman in Holland. In this case the postal money order was mailed by the Dutch Post office, under separate cover from Jan-Willem's letter containing the order form for the minidiscs. Jan-Willem subsequently discovered that the problem was caused by not having Tanaka's first name on the the Postal Money Order. He resent the order and it got lost in some Post Office confusion in Tokyo. DAITEI shipped the order when they finally received the money and Jan-Willem finally received the discs. [Europeans should use Post Giro Transfers now that they're available].
• The postofficials in Japan could not handle my postcheck as i had forgotten to mention the first name on the check. They asked their colleques in The Netherlands to get a complete name from me. So i did. I presume that i will get the package with the MD's from Japan in due time. -R.H.M. Jonkman([email protected])[His second money order was again lost in the post, but he prodded his local post office and eventually DAITEI received payment. On June 21, he finally received his discs.]
• Five weeks after his shipment of 40 MDs was sent out by DAITEI, Mark D'Hondt (in Belgium) was notified by customs that his order had arrived. Customs has asked for 11% in duties and 21% VAT, plus an invoice (which DAITEI does not normally include). On June 22 he finally received his discs. [EMS shipping is likely to be the best choice for orders from Belgium].