HelloStoreUSA to Open Soon

Tuesday, 22nd September 2009 12:54

The title of this post will seem fairly obvious to anyone whose popped over to HelloStoreUSA recently as the home page has been updated with a new graphic saying the exact same thing, this graphic also gives an indication as to what will be going on sale when it opens.


Also, over the weekend JapanFiles gave me the opportunity to have a sneak peak at the site, unfortunately I wasn't able to make any sneaky early orders ;p
I've had a stupidly busy weekend, so I wasn't able to spend as much time jotting down notes about the site as I would have liked, but I'm sure that if there's anything anybody wants to know they can just ask and if I can remember I'll answer and if not I'm sure JapanFiles will be able to answer without any problems.

The store covers not just the current units within Hello! Project of Morning Musume, Berryz Koubou, C-ute and Mano Erina but has the likes of Melon Kinenbi, Ongaku Gatas, Hangry & Angry, Ayaya, Mikitty, Nacchi and Yuko.
Currently the products in stock consists of tour merchandise, covering all the usual; photos, towels, key rings, visual books and tshirts. With regards to the actual tours that they have merchandise for, they are pretty much up to date with the tours. For examples, Morning Musume has merchandise for Platinum 9 Disco and Resonant Live, with I'm presuming the new ~ Nine Smile ~ merchandise arriving shortly.
Personally, as most people who read my blog will probably be aware of, I'm a huge fan of the member and tour tshirts. When I looked they only had a small variety of these (all in L size); a Platinum 9 Disco tour shirts, Yossie and Charmy Come Together Tour member shirts and a Mikitty Party '09 shirt. But, JapanFiles assure me that things like the member shirts will be available, but in a limited supply with the possibility of this changing depending on customer response.

As I said previously I didn't really have enough time to compare all the prices to the likes of the regular people I purchase my merchandise from (Ohta and HelloProLand) I was however able to grab a few prices which I'm hoping I'll be able to find relevant prices online to compate against.
For most people, Ohta's prices have gradually become to expensive, although the plus side is that he offers such an amazing service and will gladly hunt around for anything you're after, H!P related or not. HelloProLand, aside from a few minor problems I've had offers a good service at a reasonable price, with quite a lot of the older merchandise available. As I said above I didn't get a chance to note down the prices of products that I would be able to compare with both of these (you're all more than welcome to give me a slap around the face for being so slack) which is a bit unfortunate, but I will however post the prices of the products that I did manage to make a note of.


$6.00 - £3.19 Platinum 9 DISCO Summer '09 Tour - 2L Photo Set 1 - Ai Takahashi

$17.00 - £9.04 Platinum 9 DISCO Summer '09 Tour - Microfiber Mini-Towel - Ai Takahashi

$17.00 - £9.04 Platinum 9 DISCO Summer '09 Tour - Mirror Ball Phone Strap - Ai Takahashi

$23.00 - £12.23 Platinum 9 DISCO Summer '09 Tour - Muffler Towel - Aika Mitsui

$10.00 - £5.32 Resonant Live Autumn '08 Tour - L Photo Set A - Group

$39.00 - £20.74 Resonant Live Autumn '08 Tour - Microfiber Sports Towel - Ai Takahashi

$7.00 - £3.72 C-ute Spring Tour 2009 / ABC - Solo Fan - Chisato Okai

$17.00 - ££9.04 C-ute Spring Tour 2009 / ABC - Visual Book

$7.00 - £3.72 C-ute Summer Tour 2009 / Cutie JUMP! - L Limited Mail Order Photo Set (Group)


As, you can probably see from the prices above (being in dollars and pounds), the really good news is that unlike the CDs and MP3 downloads these items aren't limited to just the US, they will be shipping outside of America with there shipping rates showing prices to the Australia, Canada, Europe, Mexico and the US. With the standard flat rate to the US being $5 and outside of that $14 (with larger packages increasing the price).

Obviously it's in their best interests to cater for the merchandise that we as fans want and although at the moment the merchandise offered is just tour based there's the hope that given time their product range will increase offering more of the items that we want but are just unable to get without excessive hunting around. JapanFiles certainly seem open to the idea of recommendations from us as to what we look like them to stock, after all it's in everyone best interests, they get it, we buy it, everyone's happy :D Certainly it would be good if they were to extend their range into things like Fan Club merchandise and the other things we see over on HelloShop.
Although they can also start to sell DVDs and PBs, these are already readily available from the likes of CDJapan, HMV and YesAsia and unless they can offer them at a cheaper price, from my perspective I can't see myself ordering through them as I generally purchase the DVDs along with CDs in one go especially when shopping with YesAsia to try and take advantage of their free shipping offer. I guess the growth of the store and the direction that the merchandise goes in depends greatly on if and what we buy, hopefully we won't be waiting too much longer for the store to open and fingers crossed when it does they'll be even more merchandise, hopefully including the ~ Nine Smile ~ Tour Merchandise...I need to get Koha's shirt for this tour....Koha :'(

TAGS [ Hello!Project HelloStoreUSA JapanFiles ]
Posted Tuesday, 22nd September 2009 12:54 | 3396 Reads

Comments

Comment by Morningtime on Tuesday, 22nd September 2009 13:44
I'm very hopeful that this will mean western fans can get merchandise at affordable prices. Even taking into account the postage those prices don't seem as dear as the usual ebay places. Although for us here in the UK we'd have to remember to be careful of import tax. Even so if it means I'll be able to get photosets or t-shirts cheaper then they'll have themselves one guaranteed customer at least.


Comment by Ayuchii on Tuesday, 22nd September 2009 23:55
Those prices look cheaper than anything I think I've seen, probably because a lot of what I've seen has the shipping price next to it that makes me keep window shopping. :(

Thanks for all the information, though! I've been watching the site since the banner changed especially. Did you manage to get anything on the shirts? Prices, mainly? If not, it's okay. :)


Comment by Rick on Wednesday, 23rd September 2009 02:13
Awesome news, and thanks for the heads up. Am looking forward to seeing what they will have available.


Comment by HelloStoreUSA on Wednesday, 23rd September 2009 10:12
We've posted a HelloStoreUSA information thread on our JapanFiles forum.

Information and feedback forum:
http://www.japanfiles.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=104

There is an official opening date (October 1) and some information about the types & quantities of items that we're offering on opening day and in the future.

We've created this thread to answer questions from fans about the store.
The staff of JapanFiles and HelloStoreUSA want to make this a team effort with fans worldwide to increase the popularity of H!P/UFA artists and the ability of fans to purchase special items that they will treasure forever.

Please give us your suggestions and feedback!




Comment by jun on Wednesday, 23rd September 2009 13:58
omg yeah it seem at a good price really looking forwrad to it hmmm gosh i watn so many i try to buy from the offical but my japaense is not quit right or too much money hmmmm so cant wait i hope i can get it soon!!!!


Comment by Abbath on Wednesday, 23rd September 2009 17:30
I would like to know if DVDs are coming in a region playable with standard US DVD players. Some info on that?


Comment by momo on Wednesday, 23rd September 2009 18:12
As Paul pointed out, DVD's are already available from cdjapan, HMV, etc. So I don't think the may sell DVD's in the near future.

I don't see MM DVD's being region 1 anytime soon. Sooner or later they will have to go to Blu-Ray disc in which the US and Japan are the same region (region A), but most BD's in Japan are region free anyway


Comment by Ongaku on Wednesday, 23rd September 2009 21:54
Finally there is going to be one. But where is it located?


Comment by Kelly on Wednesday, 23rd September 2009 23:19
but i think the shipping fee would be quite expensive?

i really hope the next one could be in uk~ ^^


Comment by Pixie Risa on Thursday, 24th September 2009 00:22
I'm so excited for H!S USA to open!!! lol

I am going to have a hefty Christmas list this year... xD


Comment by momo on Thursday, 24th September 2009 04:23
@Ongaku, there is no physical location, it's all on the internet, click the link to HelloStoreUSA on October 1st when the site launches.


Comment by Meyouu on Thursday, 24th September 2009 04:27
Seems pretty good, I might be able to pull some strings to get me some stuff, but...

...heh, it does not have particular stuffs that I may want... :)


Comment by Miko-chan on Thursday, 24th September 2009 08:45
I'm just so thrilled that they are shipping to places other than the US~ the name's a bit misleading, huh? ^^
I'm also really glad that they're stocking older stuff as well as the more recent stuff!


Comment by shantewillie on Thursday, 24th September 2009 19:12
The prices are cheat. I am so happy we have the opportany to have these items. Finally, I can have my very own member shirt or towel.


Comment by Nao on Thursday, 24th September 2009 21:07
I better take my credit card out for a fancy dinner to prepare it for the pain it's going to suffer in early october...


Comment by dragonflychaser on Friday, 25th September 2009 03:17
Wait... Although you say that they might start selling PBs, aren't PB's and visual books the same thing? /:|

I'm glad they're opening pretty soon!! XD I've been watching this site since day 1 (when they started passing out tickets with the info at AX)

But hmm... I'm still kinda worried about the number of items they're offering... 250 items with 1000 in stock each... idk, seems like a small number to me... hope they do increase the range of items they'll sell (alarm clocks with momo's voice if those ever are in stock in japan, maybe? ^_^)

But oh well *gets credit card out* I'm ready for you october and christmas!! XD


Comment by paul.thomas on Friday, 25th September 2009 10:55
Morningtime, it certainly looks like the prices will be cheaper. But the ever ennoying import tax is always a pain in the backside, haha I guess a possible downside to buying outside of eBay is that you can't send an email over asking if they can alter the prices on the customs form to avoid paying it ;p

Ayuchii, sorry I'm really kicking myself in with the shirts for some strange reason I wrote down what shirt they had in stock but didn't write down the prices :S From what I remember they were cheaper than Ohta.

Rick, no probs I'm glad I was aloud to share it was everyone. By the sounds of it when the store opens they should have more stock than when I looked, so I can't wait to get back in there and see what's been added.

HelloStoreUSA, ah so we've got a date for the store opening, cool! I'm hoping it all goes well for you.

jun, yea it's always a bit of a problem buying from Japan, the language barrier isn't too much of a problem for me, it's mainly when buying through YahoO!Auctions that the prices can get stupidly high and that's when it hurts my wallet, lol sometimes I got to learn to just say no :S

Kelly, shipping could probably work out a little costly for non photo items to the UK, but I'm guessing it saves paying the high cost for the merchandise and then the shipping costs from Japan.

Pixie Risa, lol now that things like the photos are easier to buy I'm thinking much the same, although with my reason I guess I'm looking forward to the wonderful presents of kettles and bath towels :( oh well you never know then odd H!P photo might crop up in there somewhere.

Meyouu, from my understanding of how the store is going to work, the guys want feedback from us fans on what we want them to sell, so if they haven't got what you're after let them know and fingers crossed you'll see it appearing in the future.

Miko-chan, it's great that they're shipping outside of the US when I originally heard that they were doing this I was worried that it was going to be US only. But now we have another easier means of clowing all my cash on H!P XD

shantewillie, you must be looking forward to grabbing some merch, whose you going for?

Nao, LOL!!

dragonchaser, the visual books are the tour photobooks as opposed to the member photobooks. Is the alarm clock the ones that are avaible now, someone else has mentioned alarm clocks to me but I haven't seen them, they have their voices on them?? Now that's a must buy! Well fingers crossed the stock will grow if the store is success, at the mo I know theres some C-ute tour merchandise I'm definetly after as soon as the store opens, haha I've become addicted to C-ute merchandise lately I get this feeling that I'm going to be buying way more photos than I'm currently planning, it's always the way lol.


Comment by Ayuchii on Tuesday, 29th September 2009 02:19
LOL it's all good! I believe Japanfiles told me that they would be between $31-$39 US. From what I think, that's cheaper than Ohta. I want to grab one before everyone else does...


Comment by Ayuchii on Tuesday, 29th September 2009 02:21
So sorry! My iPod messed up... :( spam totally not intended!


Comment by paul.thomas on Tuesday, 29th September 2009 02:22
Lol, no worries I'm messing around with the site at the mo anyways and saw them come in, so I tidied up :D


Comment by Specktakus on Tuesday, 29th September 2009 02:42
Paul, just a note that I had to put a block on the new scrolling flash (music player?) below the banner. It was causing over 90% CPU utilization on my PC (Linux, Firefox 3.5).


Comment by paul.thomas on Tuesday, 29th September 2009 03:01
Specktakus, thanks for letting me know, I'll have a look into it. I'm planning on putting in a customise option into the site soon which will allow you to remove the player from the pages. So fingers crossed I'll get both working :)


Comment by HelloStoreUSA on Wednesday, 30th September 2009 08:26
UPDATE: HelloStoreUSA will open at 12:01 AM (USA Pacific time) on Oct. 1.

http://www.hellostoreusa.com

Thanks to everyone for your support & feedback. Many items are in limited supply for opening day, but we will do our best to keep items in stock and add new items ASAP.

Please keep your suggestions & requests coming!

http://www.japanfiles.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=104




Comment by paul.thomas on Wednesday, 30th September 2009 13:19
So that's 8am GMT right? Hmmm, I'm useless with time differences :S Well, looks like I've got a reason to be up on time tomorrow...you'd of thought that work would be that reason, but recently that's not been happening XD


Comment by Morningtime on Thursday, 1st October 2009 17:23
$33 for oversize shipping pretty much means my hopes of getting t-shirts any cheaper than the usual ebay sources has pretty much gone. £20 to post a t-shirt to the UK is a bit too much. I recently got a Hangry & Angry t-shirt from a seller in the US (via ebay) and all it cost me in total was £20. If only a UK company could start selling this stuff. Ah well.


Comment by momo on Thursday, 1st October 2009 21:17
@Morningtime, i'm not sure if you saw this http://www.hellostoreusa.com/shipping-info.html but T-shirts do not fall into the Oversize category. But however if your order contained 1 oversize item, then you would be charged 33 dollars or 20 pounds for shipping instead of 14 dollars or 8.80 pounds.


Comment by paul.thomas on Thursday, 1st October 2009 22:17
Morningtime, although the prices of the shirts aren't as cheap as some eBay stores, the shirts work out to just over £28 (I think it was something like £28.19) including shipping, it's not such a bad price, especially considering that through Ohta the same shirt works out to be about £47.
If the store was chucking up the oversized price when you was looking at the shirts today ignore it, the same thing happened to me when I was buying some photos, I lol'd when my shipping for 5 sets of came to £17.55, but as it turns out it was a bug in the store which I'm guessing they've sorted and I've been refunded the difference back.

I can't wait to get my photos, I got those C-ute Safari suit ones, they're so good, I need more Nakki/Chisato/Maimai photos :D


Comment by Morningtime on Thursday, 1st October 2009 22:59
So the shirts won't be treated as oversized? If that's the case then I take it back.

I am looking at a load of Nakki pics I have to admit. :D


Comment by Morningtime on Thursday, 1st October 2009 23:03
Oh and Momo the site was throwing just a shirt on it's own up as being oversized earlier today. However now it's not in which case the price works out a lot better than the usual ebay sellers. Something that pleases me a lot!


Comment by HelloStoreUSA on Friday, 2nd October 2009 16:01
@Morningtime --
We announced the bug in the shipping calculation system as soon as users reported to us.

The bug was fixed, and all affected users (a) have been contacted and (b) already had the difference refunded. It affected about 20 customers, and we sincerely apologize for the error.

Besides that temporary issue and the initial slow loading speeds (the store got SLAMMED at midnight and we sold out of several items almost instantly), the opening day was a tremendous success, and our staff was on the phone with UFA that night working out our next order.

(We'll have some news on NINE SMILE goods in the HelloStoreUSA newsletter next week.)

Thanks you to Paul at hello! Blog and all of the fans who helped spread the word. We're very excited about it and we hope to keep the store growing more and more over the next several months. Stay with us!

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