Is Five Brothers Going Out of Business?

[heima]

I went there today and there are no pachinko or pachislo machines for sale, except for "Animal King" on the Desktop Pachinko page and "Fist of North Star" and "Spiderman 3" pachislos.

Anybody know what is up?

[PachiPachi]

I just came here to post about this. I was going to buy one today! Of all the times, right before Christmas to take the items off. I emailed them, hopefully I will get a response. Who knows. Maby he went on vacation?

[alphaminor]

They were listed this yesterday or early this
morning,
perhaps they're reconfiguring the page or something since they were expecting a new shipping very soon,( should have arrived by now)
lets hope for the best

[PachiPachi]

Good point. I think there is still time to get orders in and receive them by Christmas.

[heima]

Hoping you are correct Alphaminor. I was wanting to get a Fever Macross and GITS Stand Alone Complex for Christmas.

[PachiPachi]

Lol now that i cannot buy it I want it really bad.

[PachiPachi]

Anyone able to get a hold of 5brothers? I emailed them yesterday morning with no reply. On thinking they are on Christmas vacation.

[PachiPachi]

Just got word from them that someone bought up all of their machines.

[alphaminor]

Just got word from them that someone bought up all of their machines.

Thanks for finding out PachiPachi

Wow! That's really crazy, are they planning on restocking?
Hmmmm...
I wonder if we will see a new vendor popping up or if Akimono.com or Rita at Blue Hotaru snagged them all?

[heima]

Strange, I was thinking that something like this had happened.
Yep, who is going to be selling them now, and for how much more?
5brothers did have some good prices.

Makes me think I should have pestered them more to get the pachinkos I wanted sight-unseen, instead of waiting for them to be listed on the website.
Nuts!

[PachiPachi]

Yeah 5 brothers had excellent prices. Much less than Akimono's prices. Seriously, no one is going to buy Popeye for $399 + $90 shipping.

I miss them already

[jackdanielsx]

Yeah 5 brothers had excellent prices. Much less than Akimono's prices. Seriously, no one is going to buy Popeye for $399 + $90 shipping.

I miss them already

Our shipping is free now which is why some of our prices went up.

[Chumsize]

bought up all their machines? Someone opening a parlor? That would be interesting.

Though I do question the wisdom of completely depleting their stock and simultaneously leaving any other customer base they have in the lurch right before the holiday. Dumb move. Could have at least kept a token few around to keep up the appearance of being alive.

Good to know Akimono is still active. The extra customer service is worth a few bucks.

[mark1120]

Who bought out Gaku a few years back? Its a shame this hobby is on life support with no large scale importers. I ran into an American slot machine vendor earlier in the year who told me he used to import these for $25 a piece back in 2005 and would sell 20 a day every day at $200 a piece. I've heard the import cost is more like $80 now due to changes in exchange rates, etc.

[luckydog]

not a lot of profit in importing pachislos or pachinkos

and if you don't have a good contact in japan to buy better machines for you,

your container will arrive filled with ones that aren't popular.

many have tried, but most have failed.

pachi buyers are a very, very small percentage of the population

[PachiPachi]

Our shipping is free now which is why some of our prices went up.

Ah makes sense! Sorry about that comment.

[jackdanielsx]

Ah makes sense! Sorry about that comment.

No Worries!

[pachiwall]

Our shipping is free now which is why some of our prices went up.

There is no such thing as "FREE SHIPPING". Someone has to pay the shipping. Since the seller pays the shipping, he raises the price of the product. Therefore the buyer actually pays the shipping, he just thinks it is free. This is the 1st time I have seen a seller say it in print.
Kind of like when politicions want to raise taxes on corporations. A lot of taxpayers cheer "Yea! Get those money grubbing capitalists!" Not realizing that the corporation just raises the price of everything they sell, and the consumer pays the tax increase!

[luckydog]

send me 10 bucks and I'll mail you $5.00 back with free shipping

[heima]

send me 10 bucks and I'll mail you $5.00 back with free shipping

But I will still have to pay tax on that 10 bucks, though. Screw that, I will save on shipping and go to my own bank and get $5 for 10 bucks, tax free!

(Yes, that wasn't supposed to make sense.)