juno doesnt kmport pachinko machines :

[PachiPachi]

Does anyone know of any alternatives to ship pachinko machines from Japan to USA? Pachigoda charges almost $400! Is that normal? I emailed Juno and he said that pachinko and pachislo machines exceed the size limit

[hanabi]

Sorry on iPod at the moment and I've not imported myself

But I thought Juno split the pachinkos into 2 or 3 packages to get the weight down??

[emmadog]

Last machine I imported thru Juno cost about 350 for shipping. This was a few months back and it was an arrange ball machine which falls between a modern and a traditional vintage concerning weight. 400 sounds about right and if its over the weight limit, it'll go FedEx and be much more expensive. You can also ship by boat but it takes a couple months at least, no tracking, and is probably subject to much more handling which isn't good for electronics.

[Drunkenclam]

Shipping by boat also has a 30kg weight limit.

[mosheste]

Juno helped me import from Japan to Israel last month - he asked the YJA seller if he is willing to divide it to three packages (20KG each since EMS limits each package to 20 KG to Israel) - the seller agreed and sent the three packages to Juno which in turn - sent them to me...so maybe you should offer him to ask the seller of the machine you want if he is willing to do so...
Regarding the price - 400$ is not bad at all! mine cost 705$ (Using EMS)for the three packages+customs...

[candyflip]

Pachigoda charges almost $400! Is that normal?

Completely normal.

Which is why importing of these things is so rare in your country.

...and unheard of in mine.

[p.opus]

And this is why 4 or 5 year old machines still cost 300 to 500 dollars to purchase from importers like akimono.com or 5 brothers trading company.

The cost of actually purchasing the machines is dirt cheap. After 1 year in the parlor, they are not certified for use anymore. So the resellers are litterally picking them up a "scrap" rates. In many cases, there is little cleanup necessary and the cost for a transformer in bulk is less than 20 bucks. So the majority of the cost you are paying for when you purchase them from a reseller in the states is the cost of getting the machines over here. The resellers get a little bit of break because shipping 20 machines is not 20 times the cost of shipping one machine, so they get a break in bulk shipping. But the fact still remains is that probably over 50% of the cost of a modern purchased from a reseller is reinbursement of their shipping costs, 10% to 20% for the actual machine and 30 to 40 percent profit margin.

[PachiPachi]

Makes sense! I understand the concept much better. So $295 + $85 for shipping is a steal compared to the cost of singley ordering the machine from Japan. I suddenly have an even higher respect for the machines here!