Originally Posted by ra_yy
the only way i can get her stuff is from amazon or ebay or some other online store
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I recommend amazon.co.jp over amazon.ca, as they could actually charge you less total (even with the international shipping), but Amazon (in any form) probably isn't the best source of Shiina Ringo music in particular.
I don't recommend eBay for people who are new to collecting Japanese CDs, as it's very easy to get tricked into buying Taiwan counterfeits. It's not an entirely bad source for experienced buyers who know all the red flags to watch out for, though. Actually, the Shiina Ringo market on eBay isn't
so saturated with fraud, compared to other Japanese musicians who are more internationally recognized. Legit products are the majority among Shiina Ringo listings, instead of the minority. But you should always independently research a Japanese music release before buying it on eBay, so you'll know what it
should look like - instead of using the seller's photos as your only reference.
There are other online stores. A lot of us use CD Japan and/or HMV Japan. They're more English-friendly than Amazon Japan, and their shipping is cheaper, too. But don't expect the end result to be cheap. If you don't already know, Japanese CDs are expensive. Maybe not so much if you can get them used, but definitely if we are talking about new. It's not quite so bad, now that the Japanese Yen is weakening (relative to other world currencies), but it's still significantly more expensive than what North American CDs cost, before international shipping even factors into it.
There's also YesAsia, but you should be aware that they are based out of Hong Kong, so although they offer Made In Japan CDs and they're always sincere about what you're getting, they are slower with new releases than any of the vendors based out of Japan, you're less likely to get bonus stickers/posters/whatever specific to the releases, and they are worse about estimating availability of 'backorder' products (which often turn out to be out-of-print). People do have success stories with YesAsia - I got my first couple of Shiina Ringo CDs from there, like 8 years ago. But I see other YesAsia buyers sighing about how long it takes them to receive the latest release which everyone else is already reviewing. YesAsia's main claim to fame was they accepted PayPal for years when no other major vendors (of Japanese music) did, but more recently so does CD Japan.
There are issues with Customs fees which I'm unfamiliar with, as it's not something the United States government is serious about. So if you care about keeping the final costs as low as possible, you may want to see what other Canadians have to say about their experiences with the different vendors, as what's cheap for me (an American) may not necessarily be cheap for you. Supposedly some vendors (or more specifically some shipping methods which not all vendors offer) will slip through Customs more-or-less often than others.