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Lucky Bags sold in Japanese Apple Store

Fukubukuro, or "Mystery Bag," is a Japanese New Year's Day tradition during which merchants sell sealed bags of various items at a substantial discount, often as high as 50%. Apple participated this year, and one lucky shopper, Justin, blogged his experience.

For the approximate equivalent of $384US, Justin received

  • an 8 GB iPod touch
  • Nike iPod sensor and armband
  • Logitech Pure-Fi Anywhere2 speaker set
  • Cool, re-useable bag (at right)
  • Commemorative T-shirt
  • 2009 calendar

Quite a haul! Shoppers lined up at midnight on January 2nd for a chance to buy one of Apple's Mystery Bags. I'm thinking that US retailers need to adopt this tradition.

[Via ifoAppleStore]



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Fukubukuro, or "Mystery Bag," is a Japanese New Year's Day tradition during which merchants sell sealed bags of various items at a...
 

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Shaun

I too was in Japan for this and opted not to take the two hour train ride to Fukuoka (my closest apple store) to take part in the January 2nd craziness and decided to stay here in Sasebo instead...looks like it wasn't half bad...although I probably would have been reluctant to hand over 35,000 yen at our hideous exchange rate of less than 90 yen to the dollar for a "mystery bag" that very well could be filled with crap.

January 06 2009 at 5:40 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
umijin

I've lived in Tokyo for about 5 years and have never been able to get to the Apple store in time for this, nor any other retailer. It might be a great deal, but the exclusivity of it sucks eggs. Most of us just don't have the luxury of getting somewhere in the middle of the night to wait in line for the opening bell.

I think last year, however, they did sell a few on-line. Too bad I can't use my US credit card to order Apple products here.

January 06 2009 at 12:30 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
moehong

I read the whole article. Most people's reports on the Japanese mac blogs were of $200 or so worth of gear. This is a ripoff.

January 05 2009 at 11:55 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
designr

What a rip off!

8 GB iPod touch $229
Nike iPod sensor and armband $19.99
Logitech Pure-Fi Anywhere2 speaker set $119
Cool, re-useable bag (at right) $2
Commemorative T-shirt $8
2009 calendar $8

$385.99 RETAIL !!!

Wholesale: About half that!

January 05 2009 at 7:51 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to designr's comment
Matt

No one bothered to read the article, did they? The actual article, not the craptastic, skimp-on-the-details blather TUAW comes up with...

January 05 2009 at 10:02 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Emily

screw the contents - i want that bag!

January 05 2009 at 6:46 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
vanaheim7

Those bags usually contain items whose retail prices sum up at least three times as much as the bag price. This bag should not be called a fortune/lucky bag. As far as price concerns, $400 is more like an expensive side although this year's most expensive one is sold for one billion yen (approximately 10 million dollars.)

January 05 2009 at 6:16 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
required

Totally awesome. That bag alone is worth like three dollars. I bet the commemorative tee shirt is even better and a calender for '09! Dang looks like I totally wasted my January 2nd. Stupid head cold.

January 05 2009 at 5:43 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to required's comment
Patches

if you think that's a bargain, tell you what: i'll give you a tshirt, bag, and calendar for only $200. i'll even throw in my ipod nano. i ran over it with my bike, but it still works perfectly.

January 05 2009 at 6:37 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ryan

I'd do it! Anyone know if we can order a bag online via the Japanese Apple Store?

January 05 2009 at 5:35 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
sonicwind

That doesn't sound like a deal to me. Sounds like a rippoff.

January 05 2009 at 5:34 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to sonicwind's comment
Matt

They left out the USB power adapter, the Skylon sport headphones, the avenue--d leather sleeve for the iPod touch, and an anti-glare film set. Don't know how Dave missed all those, but whatever.

January 05 2009 at 5:48 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
HarryMcBack

I've seen Disney do this in Orlando; unfortunately the bag was just a bunch of old merchandise from the previous season. I think most US retailers would see this as a way to pawn off a bunch of stuff that didn't sell; and thus most consumers would just be upset because they got crap. However, if Apple did it, then you know you are getting quality stuff, but $400 for the unknown. I'm not sure I'm that brave with my money. I'd be afraid to get a bag with $600 worth of nano fatty cases and skins.

January 05 2009 at 5:31 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to HarryMcBack's comment
artifex

Even if it's a bag full of old stuff, it's still often a good deal. I've also bought a grab box from Archie McPhee, and while the stuff was pretty obviously overstock and opened store display stuff, it was still very fun to get, and to give to my sister, too :)

January 05 2009 at 6:07 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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