Kaya Table Board

Looking for a used goban? Have some beginner books you no longer need? Trading/selling/buying can take place here.
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usagi
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Kaya Table Board

Post by usagi »

Hi, does this go here or in new equipment news?

I bought a Kaya table board and then I really decided I'd rather get a floor board. So I am selling my brand new Kaya table board. I made a video and put it on youtube as well.

youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMN8P54YGaE
ebay: http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... 0598004337

The other thing is, i'm toying with the idea of trying to import these gobans. It seems I can get them really cheap, that is, cheaper than the usual importers which are based in the USA, since I will have no shipping or other overhead. Is anyone trying to source gobans, bowls or stones? I am guessing the suppliers I've found are pretty "direct".

Well, I really only have this one goban right now, all the photos are of this exact board, I put it on ebay, link above.

Feel free to ask questions.
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km1000
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Re: Kaya Table Board

Post by km1000 »

Two observations:
1. You'll get much more interest if you ship from the US.
2. Your closest competitor for Chinese-made Go equipment will be YMI, who are (unfortunately for you) hard to beat.

Best of luck in any case
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Re: Kaya Table Board

Post by usagi »

km1000 wrote:Two observations:
1. You'll get much more interest if you ship from the US.
2. Your closest competitor for Chinese-made Go equipment will be YMI, who are (unfortunately for you) hard to beat.

Best of luck in any case


Thanks. Yeah unfortunately I don't live in the US and I don't know anyone there.. I guess thats why I got the idea to try and import, I figured with the shipping savings, not having any real employees and not having to keep a stock, I could sell pretty much the same stuff as something like YMI but at nearly half the cost.

It doesn't look like the goban will sell, so I will probably just keep it and use it. I should have bought a floor board :p
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Re: Kaya Table Board

Post by prokofiev »

km1000 wrote:Two observations:
1. You'll get much more interest if you ship from the US.
2. Your closest competitor for Chinese-made Go equipment will be YMI, who are (unfortunately for you) hard to beat.

Best of luck in any case


It looks like YMI's Kaya table board is $599 (though apparently it's "Hyuga" whereas this isn't, whatever that means), so it seems this price undercuts them quite a bit even with international shipping and/or is offering a different category of product they don't carry?
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Re: Kaya Table Board

Post by mohsart »

usagi wrote:The other thing is, i'm toying with the idea of trying to import these gobans. It seems I can get them really cheap, that is, cheaper than the usual importers which are based in the USA, since I will have no shipping or other overhead. Is anyone trying to source gobans, bowls or stones? I am guessing the suppliers I've found are pretty "direct".

I may be interested, if you can beat my current supplier's prices and/or have things of interest that they don't carry and/or can deliver smaller amount of items than they for a not too much higher price...

Drop me a email and we can discuss further if it sounds interesting.

/Mats
shop@mohsart.se
mohsart - games & books
http://spel.mohsart.se/
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Re: Kaya Table Board

Post by deja »

usagi wrote:Feel free to ask questions.

Hi usagi,

Could you be more specific about where the board was made? If it's not Hyuga Kaya, is it Hon-Kaya? Do you know if the Kaya was harvested in Japan or Korea? From where did you originally buy it? Sorry for all the questions. Thanks!
"This is a game that rewards patience and balance. You must think like a man of action and act like a man of thought."
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Re: Kaya Table Board

Post by usagi »

deja wrote:
usagi wrote:Feel free to ask questions.

Hi usagi,

Could you be more specific about where the board was made? If it's not Hyuga Kaya, is it Hon-Kaya? Do you know if the Kaya was harvested in Japan or Korea? From where did you originally buy it? Sorry for all the questions. Thanks!


It's from a kaya tree grown in China. I don't know where, exactly. But I'm pretty sure it's from a Chinese tree. It was made in Taiwan. They imported the wood.

-
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Re: Kaya Table Board

Post by deja »

usagi wrote:
deja wrote:
usagi wrote:Feel free to ask questions.

Hi usagi,

Could you be more specific about where the board was made? If it's not Hyuga Kaya, is it Hon-Kaya? Do you know if the Kaya was harvested in Japan or Korea? From where did you originally buy it? Sorry for all the questions. Thanks!


It's from a kaya tree grown in China. I don't know where, exactly. But I'm pretty sure it's from a Chinese tree. It was made in Taiwan. They imported the wood.

-


Thank you. I appreciate the quick response.
"This is a game that rewards patience and balance. You must think like a man of action and act like a man of thought."
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Re: Kaya Table Board

Post by gowan »

usagi wrote:Hi, does this go here or in new equipment news?

I bought a Kaya table board and then I really decided I'd rather get a floor board. So I am selling my brand new Kaya table board. I made a video and put it on youtube as well.

youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMN8P54YGaE
ebay: http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... 0598004337

The other thing is, i'm toying with the idea of trying to import these gobans. It seems I can get them really cheap, that is, cheaper than the usual importers which are based in the USA, since I will have no shipping or other overhead. Is anyone trying to source gobans, bowls or stones? I am guessing the suppliers I've found are pretty "direct".

Well, I really only have this one goban right now, all the photos are of this exact board, I put it on ebay, link above.

Feel free to ask questions.


I think the "click" sound works best with biconvex stones.

I think it is very hard to make a lot of money selling go equipment, especially selling fancy equipment like kaya boards. Most players don't want to spend even a couple of hundred dollars on go equipment. Even in prosperous Japan the go board shops make most of their money selling inexpensive equipment like folding or slotted boards, glass stones, and plastic bowls. Once the manager of one premier quality shop I visited told me he only sells one kaya floor board per year on average. I think the market for top level go equipment (e.g. kaya table boards) is very small. Not to discourage you from trying ;-) Good luck.
Last edited by gowan on Fri Aug 06, 2010 8:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Kaya Table Board

Post by gowan »

prokofiev wrote:
km1000 wrote:Two observations:
1. You'll get much more interest if you ship from the US.
2. Your closest competitor for Chinese-made Go equipment will be YMI, who are (unfortunately for you) hard to beat.

Best of luck in any case


It looks like YMI's Kaya table board is $599 (though apparently it's "Hyuga" whereas this isn't, whatever that means), so it seems this price undercuts them quite a bit even with international shipping and/or is offering a different category of product they don't carry?


"Hyuga" refers to an area in southern Japan, Miyazaki Province. The soil and climate conditions contribute to the grain and hardness of the wood. It's kind of like the "terroir" with wine. "Hon-kaya" just means Japanese kaya from some other region of Japan.
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