# Discounts in Tokyo/Japan



## heartface

I've noticed these shops around Shinjuku where they appear to be selling all sorts of gift vouchers at a discount (e.g. 500Yen McDonalds card for 470Yen). They also sell JR tickets at a discount, like a 190Yen single use ticket for 150Yen. Is there a catch?


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## larabell

I'm pretty sure the shop is simply buying in bulk and getting a discount. For example, frequent users of a specific train line can usually buy tickets in packs of 10 at a slight discount over the single-ticket price. Next to most subway ticket machines, there's a pile of small envelopes with a hole in one side -- that's for people who buy these bulk tickets to keep the extras until they use them. There's usually some kind of catch. In the case of bulk subway tickets, the tickets themselves have an expiration date. You generally have to use them within a certain amount of time. I've used the bulk Shinkansen tickets before and there's usually blackout dates written on the ticket (for example, you couldn't use them during the New Year's holiday or other travel-intensive days). There's no restriction on reselling them (at least none that I've ever seen published on the ticket).

It's not usually a big deal for the customers of these discount shops because the shop will put the valid/invalid dates or any other restrictions on the price card in the window so you should be able to figure out whether the ticket you're buying will work for you before you actually buy it.

I've also bought tickets for the Yomiuri Giants from discount places and they're essentially season seats (which means that either the shop bought one or more season tickets and they're parceling them out one-by-one or they bought someone else's season ticket(s) for a certain day. Either way, the ticket is still valid and you're essentially splitting the discount with the shop.

Some travel agents also offer discounts by making a "tour" deal with an airline. The agent gets a huge discount but, if the tickets don't sell, they're also usually stuck with them. The airlines don't particularly care because they know they're going to get paid whether someone sits in the seat or not. And the agents are able to sell below the list price to certain destinations. H.I.S. is one of the agents that has used that trick, as is No.1 Travel that you see advertised on TV all the time (FWIW, I generally use No.1 Travel for non-business trips).

So yeah... there's usually a catch but it doesn't generally matter to the end buyer. You're getting less of a discount than you could if *you* made the bulk deal yourself but, on the other hand, you don't have to do anything yourself (like figure out what to do with the other 9 subway tickets before they expire ;-).


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## Joppa

larabell said:


> I'm pretty sure the shop is simply buying in bulk and getting a discount. For example, frequent users of a specific train line can usually buy tickets in packs of 10 at a slight discount over the single-ticket price. Next to most subway ticket machines, there's a pile of small envelopes with a hole in one side -- that's for people who buy these bulk tickets to keep the extras until they use them. There's usually some kind of catch. In the case of bulk subway tickets, the tickets themselves have an expiration date. You generally have to use them within a certain amount of time. I've used the bulk Shinkansen tickets before and there's usually blackout dates written on the ticket (for example, you couldn't use them during the New Year's holiday or other travel-intensive days). There's no restriction on reselling them (at least none that I've ever seen published on the ticket).
> 
> It's not usually a big deal for the customers of these discount shops because the shop will put the valid/invalid dates or any other restrictions on the price card in the window so you should be able to figure out whether the ticket you're buying will work for you before you actually buy it.
> 
> I've also bought tickets for the Yomiuri Giants from discount places and they're essentially season seats (which means that either the shop bought one or more season tickets and they're parceling them out one-by-one or they bought someone else's season ticket(s) for a certain day. Either way, the ticket is still valid and you're essentially splitting the discount with the shop.
> 
> Some travel agents also offer discounts by making a "tour" deal with an airline. The agent gets a huge discount but, if the tickets don't sell, they're also usually stuck with them. The airlines don't particularly care because they know they're going to get paid whether someone sits in the seat or not. And the agents are able to sell below the list price to certain destinations. H.I.S. is one of the agents that has used that trick, as is No.1 Travel that you see advertised on TV all the time (FWIW, I generally use No.1 Travel for non-business trips).
> 
> So yeah... there's usually a catch but it doesn't generally matter to the end buyer. You're getting less of a discount than you could if *you* made the bulk deal yourself but, on the other hand, you don't have to do anything yourself (like figure out what to do with the other 9 subway tickets before they expire ;-).


Yep, that pretty well sums it up.
But before you part with your money, be very careful to ask about restrictions attached to the ticket. English isn't often spoken in those shops and once you buy it, there is normally no refund. And also the discount is quite modest, around 3-5% for shop or restaurant vouchers and about the same for train tickets, but this varies between routes, classes, seasons etc. Usually the more expensive and the more restrictive the ticket, the bigger the discount in monetary terms. For reserved-seat Shinkansen tickets, you have to make a reservation yourself through a station (midorino madoguchi), as ticket shops (called Kinken in Japanese) don't.


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## larabell

Joppa said:


> For reserved-seat Shinkansen tickets, you have to make a reservation yourself through a station (midorino madoguchi), as ticket shops (called Kinken in Japanese) don't.


Which can be done on the day of the trip, assuming seats are available. Also, it might be worth noting that a reserved-seat ticket can also be used to sit in the non-reserved seating cars (on the off-chance a reserved seat isn't available or on a later train if you reserved a seat but missed that particular train; though, obviously, that makes the discount look even less impressive).


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## Lily22

Hi,

There shouldn't be bad catches, though some restrictions may apply like noted on previous posts.

What people here do is sell their vouchers, tickets, etc., to those shops. We get vouchers from accumulating points at shops, from owning a stock, or as a gift, and if it's something that people don't really use, they cash them at those stores. When they cash it, the store buys really cheap, like half price, and when they sell it, they make a profit by selling them more than the amount they purchased, but less than retail.

As for train or domestic plane tickets, some people buy multiple tickets (like 11 tickets for the price of 10), and sell the extras. That's why they have use-by dates; depends on when the original purchaser bought the ticket.

Sometimes people have to cancel their concert and sell their concert ticket; similar for baseball game tickets, where the season seat owner can not go to games and decide to sell some rickets for particular games.

Same logic for used-book or CD/DVD/game stores like "Book Off". They buy used books for 20 yen, and sell it for 500. At least you can get 'some' money back, instead of throwing them away.

Hope this helped!


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## chiucek

Lily22 said:


> Hi,
> 
> There shouldn't be bad catches, though some restrictions may apply like noted on previous posts.
> 
> What people here do is sell their vouchers, tickets, etc., to those shops. We get vouchers from accumulating points at shops, from owning a stock, or as a gift, and if it's something that people don't really use, they cash them at those stores. When they cash it, the store buys really cheap, like half price, and when they sell it, they make a profit by selling them more than the amount they purchased, but less than retail.
> 
> As for train or domestic plane tickets, some people buy multiple tickets (like 11 tickets for the price of 10), and sell the extras. That's why they have use-by dates; depends on when the original purchaser bought the ticket.
> 
> Sometimes people have to cancel their concert and sell their concert ticket; similar for baseball game tickets, where the season seat owner can not go to games and decide to sell some rickets for particular games.
> 
> Same logic for used-book or CD/DVD/game stores like "Book Off". They buy used books for 20 yen, and sell it for 500. At least you can get 'some' money back, instead of throwing them away.
> 
> Hope this helped!


I agree. :clap2: That discount sale must be from some unused things or junk for other person and they sell it in some discount shops.


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## Joppa

Lily22 said:


> Same logic for used-book or CD/DVD/game stores like "Book Off". They buy used books for 20 yen, and sell it for 500. At least you can get 'some' money back, instead of throwing them away.


This is very important for Japanese consumers as most new Japanese books and some DVDs are sold at full retail price with no discount, even from discounters like Amazon Japan (you do get free carriage). Secondhand examples (even not actually 'used' as such) can be sold at any price.


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