Apple Lucky Bags go on sale in Japan

[TheFreshPrince]

Apple Japan is selling their lucky mystery bags again this year, except this time you can book them through the online store. They aren't cheap though at Y52500 (about US$450 each! But Apple says there is at least Y110000 (US940) worth of audio related products inside so you know there is gonna be an iPod of some description in there.

They are selling 10 bags a day from the 7th December to the 26th December on the online store, and then I presume they will have some more for people to wait in line at the stores in the freezing cold for on the 2nd January when they are actually released.

I am poor at the mo so I'm not sure if I will try to get one yet. The thing is that I don't really need another iPod on top of what I've already got, but the mysteriousness of it all, it's so damn tempting!

Here's the link if you are interested: http://store.apple.com/0120-APPLE-1/...&nclm=LuckyBag

[MacSyn]

What's inside the bag actually?

[buffalo]

Is there a promotion like this in the US?

[arn]

Apple Japan is once again offering "Lucky Bags" for sale to customers for the 2007 New Year. These Lucky Bags (Fukubukuro) appear to be a common retail custom in Japan for the New Year.
Fukubukuro is a Japanese New Year's Day custom where merchants make grab bags filled with unknown random contents and sell them for a substantial discount, usually 50% or more of the list price of the items contained within. The low prices are usually done to attract customers to shop at that store during the new year.

Unlike previous years, Apple Japan is offering a limited number of bags to online customers. The online sales are limited to only 10 bags a day (limit 1 per customer) for the 20 days between December 7th and December 26th.

These Lucky Bags cost ¥52,500 (~ US$450) but promise to have contents worth ¥110,000 (~ US $940) in audio related products. Apple has previously offered this promotion in Japan (photos from 2006) and even once at the opening of the San Francisco Apple Store.

The $250 Lucky Bag at San Francisco Apple Store Opening (2004) offered the following contents: iLife, Keynote, .Mac subscription, 10% discount card, Bluetooth Adapter, Wireless Mouse, Wireless Keyboard, and either Airport Extreme, iPod Mini or iPod 20GB.

[TheFreshPrince]

That's the thing, you don't know what is in the bags.
It's an old Japanese tradition where shops sell mystery bags full of discounted stuff in the New Year. Loads of shops do it, but it is usually clothing and accessories etc, rather than electronics.

I read on MR that the San Francisco store did a similar thing when it opened but I don't think US stores do this every year like here in Japan.

[caliguy]

Wow those are great deals. I would buy one for sure and then at least resell the things I already have.

[Zwhaler]

I'd love something like this in the US. Good way to give a gift

[MattyMac]

That is awesome!

I wish they would do something like this in the US!

[iW00t]

I will gladly buy a bag that is rectangular and Macbook Pro sized

[justflie]

hey, this sounds like fun!

[mac 2005]

If Apple were to do something like this offer in the United States, there would be a crushing amount of "negative" votes from people outside the United States. Yet Apple offers something like this program in Japan and none of our MacRumors members gives it a second thought.

Why is that?

I don't begrudge the Apple customers in Japan anything that Apple cares to offer its customers in Japan. I'm just curious why so many people on this board lose sight of the fact that Apple seldom does one thing in the United States without doing something equally cool in any number of other countries.

Or is it a matter of few people having traveled outside of their country and not understanding how difficult it can be for an international company to make offers such as these?

End of Rant

[kansaigaijin]

Originally Posted by mac 2005

If Apple were to do something like this offer in the United States, there would be a crushing amount of "negative" votes from people outside the United States. Yet Apple offers something like this program in Japan and none of our MacRumors members gives it a second thought.

Why is that?

I don't begrudge the Apple customers in Japan anything that Apple cares to offer its customers in Japan. I'm just curious why so many people on this board lose sight of the fact that Apple seldom does one thing in the United States without doing something equally cool in any number of other countries.

Or is it a matter of few people having traveled outside of their country and not understanding how difficult it can be for an international company to make offers such as these?

End of Rant

whoa there cowboy. Apple is merely going with the culture and/or laws of the respective countries it operates in. Over on the Apple Store fan site the y are all impressed that Apple has window display signs and employment ads in French for its stores in Quebec. Guess what, that is the law in Quebec, no English allowed for signs visible outside the store.

When in Rome, and all that.

[Flowbee]

That settles it. I'm naming my next dog Fukubukuro.

[mahonmeister]

450 bucks is a lot to commit for a bag of random Apple stuff, even if it is almost half price. But I won't have the opportunity to turn one down so whatever.

[kansaigaijin]

Fuku means fun.

[Ravel]

I'm naming my dog Handbanana (for those who've watched ATHF)... and boy I wish we did get an offer like that here in the U.S.

[Bob Knob]

I love Lucky Bags, several times when I have been in Japan I have bought them (never at Apple though) and I've never been disappointed... although I have gotten some truly weird stuff in a couple of them.

[ChrisA]

I was in Tokyo over New Years a couple years ago. Along with the "Lucky Bags" is the other custom of giving kids "Lucky Money" as a New Years gift. Kids get some from most relatives. So the lucky bags get bought with lucky money. Pretty direct connection. You see mostly high school and slightly older (mostly) girls lining up very early before the stores open. We have some smaller kids so went into a toy store, a large one, five floors tall that my wife remembered being there when she was little and living in Japan. They had the bags, but they where displaying contents so no surprise. There were about four different bags and you could pick. I think a lot of the stores were letting you know more about what you'd get but it's hard to tell when you can't read the ads.

I was more interested in the many street vendors selling food. Seems they are allowed to set up on the sidewalks for new years. New Years is by far the biggest holiday in Japan.

[siurpeeman]

the japanese get the coolest stuff. psh, those lucky bags.

btw, didn't us apple stores do something similar during os launches (jaguar, panther)?

[mdntcallr]

i like this idea of lucky bags.

wish they would bring more of this to usa.

[mattalici]

WHY has AMERICA fallen so far behind the rest of the world when it comes to being cool? THEY GET FUKUBUROKUSUDUKO and we get LINDSAY FREAKIN LOHAN.

iPhone at MacWorld 4 sure.

or I'm a monkey's uncle

(I kinda am, my sister's kid has back hair, I swear it, and SHE is only like 4 months old... yikes, so gross, good luck in P.E.)

[mkjj]

I bought through eBay one of the Tshirts shown in these pics
http://www.kodawarisan.com/report/20060102/0102.html

They are all standard in size but are very small!! (unlike the US/UK shirts which are all XL)

Great design also.

[FireArse]

This articly reminds of the colc November evening I spent outside Regents Street.

What a fab night. My brother and I each got a lucky bag. He sold his for over £100 profit on eBay. I kept mine and used the majority of the items (some crappy DVD about London?!)

It wasn't very well policed, and towards the morning, we saw come poeple queue jump, leaving the poor sods who waited all night near the 230 mark without anything. We were in the low hundreds, so we werent bothered.

All very very good fun, think there's a picture of us somewhere on the Apple retail area

Incidently, the store has had a big refurb, with waay more space dedicated to support. Genius's get more 'bars' to work from, with areas for iPod and Mac now seperated.

Very Ikea style. I love it

One more thing, loads of people were praying for iPods that night, and from the people I spoke to, not one had one in.

But it was still all very worth it!

F

[Sesshi]

Originally Posted by mattalici

WHY has AMERICA fallen so far behind the rest of the world when it comes to being cool?

Perhaps it's because they let their midriff proudly hang out these days instead of keeping it in its place.

The post made me laugh. Thanks.

[koobcamuk]

Originally Posted by mac 2005

If Apple were to do something like this offer in the United States, there would be a crushing amount of "negative" votes from people outside the United States. Yet Apple offers something like this program in Japan and none of our MacRumors members gives it a second thought.

Why is that?

I don't begrudge the Apple customers in Japan anything that Apple cares to offer its customers in Japan. I'm just curious why so many people on this board lose sight of the fact that Apple seldom does one thing in the United States without doing something equally cool in any number of other countries.

Or is it a matter of few people having traveled outside of their country and not understanding how difficult it can be for an international company to make offers such as these?

End of Rant

Just pretend it hasn't happened. Then get over yourself. Japan rules.