Melonbooks Point Card Changes
Very minor news since I have a bit of spare time: As of this Monday, doujin chain Melonbooks has changed from their old and busted paper + stamp point card to a much fancier solid plastic card with barcode. Instead of 500y/point, 20 points for 500y off, it’s 500y/25 points, 1000 points for 1000y off. If you can’t crunch those numbers in your head, that just means the numbers got bigger now that they don’t have to stamp each point manually. Honestly, I’m normally not much of a Melonbooks kind of guy, but it’s really the only choice for new doujin goods I have here in Kyoto. Also, this post would be totally non-notable, but I heard reports from one guy that they kind of sprung this on him, and that they didn’t transfer his old points to his new card, so if you’re going and you aren’t super proactive about getting Japanese store clerks to actually speak to you instead of mumbling under their breath because they don’t think you speak The Language, have your old point cards and some form of ID with your age on it ready. (apparently, the new cards are also used to check if you’re of age, not that they ever actually do that in Japan for anything. except for taspo :argh:) You also get 25 points if you register by 3/31, and you get 50 points whenever your birthday rolls around. You have until 1/31 of next year to transfer points at a store, and after that you have until 1/31 of 2011 to contact support and transfer points that way.
Minor other notes that will probably affect exactly no one reading this blog: if you have online points and want to get a point transfer certificate, you have until the end of the month to order them. Starting 4/1, you’ll be able to transfer online points to the new card system. Also, handing over your personal information is optional, but all they seem to jot down is your birthday for age checking+point bonus, it’s not like they’re making photocopies of your gaijin card or something.