Aww, you should come to NY. My husband and I purchase our J-cd's from a Japanese store called
Book-Off in Manhattan. The store sells Japanese Books, CD's, DVD's, and Magazines. They also sell English books, CD's, etc. Most of the CD's are used but in exceptionally mint condition. Trust me. Most of the Japanese CD's there sell between $10-$15. I've purchased brand new CD's there but that was because I took my time to find them. The only exception is recently released CD's, for example Ayu's R'nRC will sell for the original Japanese asking price of 3,000 yen ($30), while Next Level will sell for $15 because it is no longer recent. So don't bother purchasing recently released stuff in the store. You have to wait for the pricing to drop.
For instance, I purchased Kumi Koda's Kingdom (first press) and Best First Things (first press) versions for $23 each and they were never used granted this was last year but still you can't beat the price. Like I said, you really have to take the time and find steals in that store. You never know what you will find. And many people I know purchase their J-CD's from that store and their stock is unbeatable. If you see something there that you really want, don't hesitate to buy it. Because chances are that item will be gone in a few day's time. Oh, and their Ayu stock is huge, no really it is.
I also shop at Kinokuniya as well but like others mentioned, their prices are deplorable. That's why I shop at Book-Off most of the time. If anyone is looking for an Ayu CD that they cannot get a hold of online and they are desperate, shop there. Trust me, this sista' will never do you wrong.
