What are the black shops in Japan? What should I pay attention to when shopping in Japan?

Japan is a highly developed country with rich materials, high quality daily necessities, and high safety of food and drugs. Therefore, it attracts a large number of Chinese tourists to shop every year, but there are unscrupulous businessmen everywhere. Everyone must pay attention when shopping and identify carefully. Let me share with you some black shops in Japan.

Actually, these are really not black shops anymore. Even if some of their items are indeed more expensive than other stores, at least they are stores recognized by Japan's formal laws and sell products produced by regular manufacturers.

However, there is a very strange phenomenon in Japan. Except for those products whose manufacturers set a uniform price, if you use a product, even if you go to the same chain store or two different stores in the same place, their prices are not exactly the same, let alone between different stores. So in my opinion, the price difference between laox and Matsumoto is within an acceptable range.

The ones that really use the word "black" are the so-called duty-free shops opened by some of our compatriots. Without legal registration, you can rent a few rooms in a certain building and put some products that come out of nowhere and dare to say they are made in Japan. The cost of a few RMB plus international shipping costs can be sold for tens of thousands of yen. Naturally, some of them go into the travel companies and tour guides who lead shopping groups, and the other part goes into the pockets of these "shady" traders.

These are called black shops. Seeking wealth may also lead to murder.

How can you miss shopping when traveling to Japan? Whether it is household appliances, large or small, or makeup and skin care, gossiping can only be done in six words: "Buy, buy, buy, buy."

Japanese companies are gradually treating Chinese tourists differently from tourists from other countries. Even promote them to VIP service. For example, UnionPay cards can be swiped in many places, and major shopping malls have Chinese notices and Chinese shopping guides. What's more, they only give discounts to tourists from China.

These changes should have been a benefit for Chinese people when traveling and shopping, but they have been taken advantage of by some unscrupulous merchants. Instead of buying good goods, they frequently "accidentally" entered unscrupulous stores and bought shoddy goods at false prices. Something high.

What shady shops are lurking in your travels? How to identify and avoid being deceived? How to effectively protect your rights once your interests are damaged?

The truth about Japanese black shops

When shopping in Japan, be sure to avoid these black shops.

Shop | Duty Free Shop

When I went to Japan for the first time, most Chinese people chose to travel in group tours, basically led by tour guides from travel agencies. After arriving in Japan, it is not uncommon to be taken by a tour guide to interior locations for high-priced shopping. What are the reasons why we are often cheated?

When you see the words "duty-free shop", do you think the products here are so cheap? But please note that please reject the following shops decisively, because the prices here will be much higher than the market price, and it is a place where tour guides and merchants collude to deceive tourists and earn large amounts of kickbacks.

laox

Laox Electric was once a long-established Japanese electrical appliance store, but is now controlled by domestic companies. Most of its employees are from China and it basically only operates in the tourism business.

Most of the things here are not licensed and the prices are not cheaper than in China. For example, compare the price of an ordinary rice cooker. The after-tax price of this product (excluding 8% consumption tax) is equal to the original price of a major department store. Electrical appliance stores are often crowded with Chinese tourists and there are various frenzied buying patterns.

But LAOX is expensive because the products are the same as those of other Japanese electronics stores, and the services are provided by Chinese waiters, so there is no barrier to communication with customers, so in a sense it is not a real black store.

Guangzhen Pharmacy

This duty-free shop is basically a must-visit for every Taiwanese and mainland group visiting Japan. The medicines in this pharmacy are not fake, but the prices are inflated and the medicines have a bad reputation.

No. 1 drug (alexandersun, Daya Duty Free, Daya) No. 1 drug, Gu Ming and Li Qi, sells health care products and cosmetics, but this has been exposed by many media and TV stations.

The products in the so-called indoor duty-free shops are all produced by a company called "First Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd." Not just the PRI

There are many so-called duty-free shops in Tokyo. It should be noted that some are opened by people from Taiwan or mainland China. The stuff inside will be very expensive and there may be some fakes. Generally, in larger shopping malls in Tokyo, you only need to buy 10,800 yen of duty-free goods to get tax-free.

Shop | Akihabara souvenirs

Don’t have high expectations for Akihabara souvenirs. There are many foreign tourists in Akihabara, and classic souvenirs have long been sold out. The remainder are usually the latest or slow-moving products. Otakus must be mentally prepared.

Shop | "Ueno Ami Street" fake goods appear

There are fakes on Ueno Ami Street, especially watches, but the prices of the fakes are clearly marked . In addition, if the second-hand brand stores in Japan are relatively small, they may also have fake brands (mainly due to the insufficient recognition ability of the store staff). This is not a problem for large stores like Daigouya.

7 major features to target scammers and black shops.

1 |Shopping guides deceive tourists and pass them off as good ones

Some irregular tour guides have colluded with duty-free shops, restaurants, and hotels from the beginning to "brainwash" tourists.

How to talk to tourists is specially trained: for example, asking tour guides to lie about their age and pretend to be the beneficiary of skin care products to win trust.

2 |Pull the official banner and engage in deceptive business.

For example, stores claim that the government offers discount promotions specifically for Chinese tourists.

3 |Keep tourists busy and have no time to compare products.

Many products are local specialties and should be of high quality and low price. However, after being stolen by the store, the price of the goods seriously deviated from the actual value.

4 |Internet marketing creates fake brands to confuse the fake ones with the real ones.

Some illegal merchants and online shoppers in Japan have begun to use online speculation to increase their popularity. In fact, most of the so-called best-selling products 33,354 are health care products and skin care products. ——It is not the best-selling product in Japan, or even a product that Japanese people basically do not consume.

5 |In a closed shopping environment, it is difficult for tourists to know.

Some duty-free shops adopt a policy of only opening to domestic tour groups, and even refuse to receive individual tourists and refuse to take photos. United tour guides take advantage of group tourists' shortcomings in information and freedom of movement to deceive tourists.

6 |The customer’s signature turns the service document into a contract, making it difficult to be held accountable.

Be careful with your signature when shopping overseas. For example, if you ask customers to sign shopping receipts, you need to be more vigilant.

7 | Universal trick: Observe whether the store is crowded with Chinese tour groups.

4 tips to avoid money traps

1. When traveling to Japan, it is recommended to travel independently.

In fact, when traveling in a group tour in Japan, it is almost inevitable to be deceived by the tour guide. Most tourists choose low-price travel, which is basically supported by shopping rebates. It is better to change the way of travel, just like that, you can greatly reduce the chance of being cheated.

In Japan, even if you don’t speak Japanese, there are many instructions in Chinese. Subways and trams extend in all directions, so you can choose to travel freely. In this way, there will be a lot of room to choose products and stores.

2. Memorize the tax-free rules of duty-free shops.

There are two types of duty-free shops in Japan. One is at the airport, which is called duty-free shop. Exemption from customs duties, tobacco tax, alcohol tax, etc.

Suitable for purchasing: cigarettes, alcohol, and European and American cosmetics.

The second duty-free shop is called Duty Free. Tax-free and 8% consumption tax free. The general consumption amount is more than 10,000 yen. If you present a tourist visa, you will be exempted from the visa requirement.

Suitable products for purchase: electrical appliances, watches, clothes, luxury goods, Japanese cosmetics, etc.

3. Do your homework before shopping and deal with fraud calmly.

Check online before shopping to understand the distribution of duty-free shops, determine whether it is a regular duty-free shop, search online to see if you have been deceived, and confirm and compare product prices. When shopping, pay attention to identifying duty-free shops and be wary of consumption traps set by shopping guides.

4. There is no loss in shopping around.

In various stores in Japan, the prices of the same items are not uniform, so tourists who have enough shopping time can shop around and compare prices.

When shopping in popular shopping areas, don’t rush to the drug store in front of the station. The items inside will be more expensive or there will be basically no discounts.

When you go to the alley at the fork in the road, the things in the drug store will be cheaper or discounted

Electronic City

You can consider Rabbi, Bik ,.

In Shinjuku, there is a shopping mall opened by BIC and UNIQLO. It's very big. Part Uniqlo, part Electric City. Downstairs is a drugstore, electronic gift area, and 220V electricity area. Opposite is .

Daily groceries

Look for (Tangjik), the logo is obviously a big penguin. Now not only can you pay with UnionPay, but you can also pay directly with seven currencies (), making it a shopping paradise for tourists.

This store also has a second-hand section, 90% new. There is great value in finding some second-hand luxury items.

Luxury goods

Omotesando Mountain is a luxury street, and Ginza is also a must-see.

Watch industry tourism

There are also 100-yen stores Cando and Daiso (daichuang) that are relatively common in Tokyo. Both of these are chain stores and have everything, especially Takeshita Noboru’s Daizo in Harajuku. There are many tourists and Japanese young people.

Comprehensive shopping mall

Takashimaya|Isetan|Mitsukoshi

Old shopping malls with good service, good environment and sufficient goods, generally with first- and second-tier brands Lord.

Dong|Wu

The following are brands suitable for young people.

Lumina

Youth Shopping Center has low prices and is very popular among tourists.

Small specialty store

TSUTAYA in Daikanyama is a bookstore, but it is very unique. You can also check it out if you are interested.

There are also some local shops, or further afield, such as the outlets in the Forbidden City.

Grocery store

Loft

This is a store frequented by locals and has a chain. The products mainly include cosmetics, daily necessities, etc. A lot of little things are very creative.

Tokyu Hands

Mainly sells a variety of groceries, covering almost all aspects of life, especially suitable for people who like DIY.