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A huge chunk of that price is because these guys are importing them from Japan, and selling in brick and mortar stores in the US. You are paying a significant s

A huge chunk of that price is because these guys are importing them from Japan, and selling in brick and mortar stores in the US. You are paying a significant sum for the convenience of ordering them. If you know what you want, you can order them from rakuten with a bit of google translate directly. Also, the law of diminishing returns and all that. The sweet spot is generally $75-$150, even for fancy raw denim jeans if you look out for deals etc.

nightski 9y ago
I see that makes a lot of sense. The jeans I am wearing now were originally ~ $80 so $75-$150 is much more reasonable to me. They do look really nice, I was just slightly shocked by the $300-$400 prices.
baus 9y ago
You can buy Japanese selvage denim jeans in Tokyo for around $150 or less. You can buy SF / NC made denim for around $100. I think that fair for a higher quality product made with fairly paid labor [http://www.tellason.com/tellason-stock-straight-leg-fit/ http://www.tellason.com/tellason-stock-straight-leg-fit/] If you want denim of the same quality of Japanese selvage, made in the US, then it is back to the $200+ range [http://www.tellason.com/ankara-straight-leg-selvedge-jeans-16-5-oz/ http://www.tellason.com/ankara-straight-leg-selvedge-jeans-1...]
ashark 9y ago
How does one nail down sizing on stuff like this? I imagine returns to a Japanese-only store from a US address, for someone who doesn't speak Japanese, and crossing a cultural barrier for how sales/service should work, are nightmarish, so you'd want to get it right the first time.
- bubblethink 9y ago
  Yeah, that's why I said 'if you know what you want'. It's not that bad though. The listings have accurate measurements. You do need to have a general sense of what would work for you though. The only variable that you are choosing really is waist size. Jeans are not hemmed anyway.

nightski 9y ago

I see that makes a lot of sense. The jeans I am wearing now were originally ~ $80 so $75-$150 is much more reasonable to me. They do look really nice, I was just slightly shocked by the $300-$400 prices.

baus 9y ago

You can buy Japanese selvage denim jeans in Tokyo for around $150 or less. You can buy SF / NC made denim for around $100. I think that fair for a higher quality product made with fairly paid labor [http://www.tellason.com/tellason-stock-straight-leg-fit/ http://www.tellason.com/tellason-stock-straight-leg-fit/] If you want denim of the same quality of Japanese selvage, made in the US, then it is back to the $200+ range [http://www.tellason.com/ankara-straight-leg-selvedge-jeans-16-5-oz/ http://www.tellason.com/ankara-straight-leg-selvedge-jeans-1...]

ashark 9y ago

How does one nail down sizing on stuff like this? I imagine returns to a Japanese-only store from a US address, for someone who doesn't speak Japanese, and crossing a cultural barrier for how sales/service should work, are nightmarish, so you'd want to get it right the first time.

bubblethink 9y ago
Yeah, that's why I said 'if you know what you want'. It's not that bad though. The listings have accurate measurements. You do need to have a general sense of what would work for you though. The only variable that you are choosing really is waist size. Jeans are not hemmed anyway.