Japanese kimonos and yukatas are beautiful, traditional garments. They are becoming increasingly popular with fashion-conscious Westerners. However, importing these items from Japan can be a challenge. Customs inspections are often strict and have many hurdles to entry. Government agencies can flag partial or entire shipments for inspection. Inspection levels range from simple x-rays to intense. X-rays are self-explanatory. Cartons or entire containers go through x-ray machines. If anything unusual appears, agents refer the goods for further scrutiny.
Inspection levels consist of minimal, general, customs holds, and intensive exams. Minimal inspections include opening a few cartons, whereas intensive exams can be extremely thorough and very disruptive to the importer. All inspections come with a price tag. Costs are billed to the importer and if unpaid, the merchandise is confiscated and sold at auction to recover the inspection fees. An x-ray or minimal inspection can cost a few hundred dollars whereas an intense inspection can cost thousands and thousands of dollars.
During an intense inspection, containers are transported to a secure yard and any number of cartons in the container are unloaded. Depending on the amount authorized by customs, a few boxes or hundreds are removed from the container. The cartons are opened and customs agents, walk through picking, poking, unwrapping, and inspecting goods. Care of the goods isn’t of much concern. Items are left behind and contracted staff place goods back inside the cartons, and reseal their load back onto the container. For items like clothing, the damage is minimal, but new goods are now open and are not folded or pressed like they were upon arrival.
There are difficulties involved in importing kimonos and yukatas from Japan. Customers that desire these robes are fortunate that some businesses meet the challenge and accept this as part of doing business. But what is done with the opened Kimonos and Yukatas? At Chopa – Your Kimono Source, we work with several third-party sellers that purchase the robes at discounts. The discount helps to offset the cost of pressing, repackaging, and remarketing the goods to their customers.
Recently, after several new shipments arrived, Chopa had the idea to offer these “open-bag” kimonos to their customers. After all, the robes are new, unworn, and ready to wear. Why not offer these discounts to loyal followers? They are still bagged and refolded, however, they are not crisply pressed and folded like they were from the factory. Once out of the bag, a light ironing will remove any wrinkles. This isn’t any different than when robes are direct from the production facility. Often customers will press their newly arrived kimonos because of the folds and creases that show with any new garment.
The discounts on these kimonos and yukatas are as much as 40% off. That is quite the bargain. We initially have several dozen, but they will sell quickly. It’s a perfect time to shop if you are seeking a Christmas gift. You can iron, and fold one neatly into a gift box with some tissue and your recipient will be highly pleased to receive such a gift. If you are not in the gift-buying market, then treat yourself and enjoy the savings.
You can find our current selection on the CLEARANCE page at www.chopa.com.
There are many barriers to importing Kimonos.
