I would like to find someone who can sell me a printer that is
currently being sold only in Japan.  The printer is the Canon 950i
Pixus and the average street price is 38,700 yen (according to ZDNet
Japan).

The requirements are
  - The seller can be in Japan, but someone there needs to be able to
communicate in english (at least via e-mail), and must be trustworthy.

  - The product must be in stock.

  - The price including shipping costs to Dallas, Texas must be less
than 60,000 yen ($500 USD)

Thank you.

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Clarification of Question by lwhitney-ga on 03 Jan 2003 13:53 PST

Since this looks like it will be more difficult than I thought, I
increasing the value of this question, and the price I'll pay for the
printer.

Thanks for your comment.

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Clarification of Question by lwhitney-ga on 09 Jan 2003 12:20 PST

Hailstorm,

Google has deleted my response to you because I included an e-mail
address.

If you still get a chance to read this, I would like to accept your
terms and send the money to your paypal account.

If it's acceptable to post your paypal username as part of the
clarification, please do so.  If it should only be sent privately,
please say so and I'm sure we can find a way to do this.

Regards,
lwhitney

lwhitney,

I have found a post on USENET from a person who is looking to purchase
a Canon 950i Pixus printer in Japan, and ship it to somebody in
Dallas, TX after accepting prepaid Paypal payment.

http://groups.google.com/groups?q=paypal%40freeshell.org&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&scoring=d&selm=4fcfe2ad.0301091252.585f615f%40posting.google.com&rnum=1

If you contact this person, they should be able to fulfill your
request.  Please be advised that a three-day weekend will be starting
in Japan, so it's possible that this person may require until Tuesday
to get to the post office to ship your printer.

Google search terms used (Google Groups):
    Purchasing Canon 950i Pixus

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Request for Answer Clarification by lwhitney-ga on 12 Jan 2003 15:04 PST

This looks like a good answer thank you.

I have sent the money as described on USENET, and will close out this
question as soon as the shipment is verified.

Thank you,
Lee

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Clarification of Answer by hailstorm-ga on 19 Jan 2003 03:11 PST

lwhitney,

I'm glad that you seem to have completed your transaction.  Enjoy your
new printer! :-)

Very creative and helpful.  There are very few people who could have
helped me with this question.

As someone who is fairly fluent in Japanese and educated about
Japanese business practices, I have a feeling this product will be
very difficult to obtain. Many products that are only available in
Japan have many restrictions and taxes that make them nearly
impossible to obtain in the States. This is especially true for many
electronics (hence the reason why the Japanese cell phone industry is
so much more advanced technologically than in the States).

That given, your best bet would probably be the the Apple Japan store
online (http://www.apple.co.jp/). Most Japanese businessmen working
for American based companies are bilingual, or have a company
translator, so you shouldn't have a problem emailing them. I did not
actually find a service email address, but you should be able to email
the webmaster at webmaster@apple.co.jp and he or she can direct you to
the proper email.

Good Luck!

leeann-ga
Google Answers Researcher