The vicuña, for those of you had never heard of it before (guilty!), is, according to humanity’s savior Wikipedia, one of two wild South American camelids (you know, llama-like animals) living in the high alpine areas of the Andes. Its coat is said to produce the finest wool in the world. It also happens to be the most expensive for a variety of reasons, including that the animals will starve themselves to death if held in captivity, meaning they cannot be farmed, and shearing wild ones can only be done once every three years, and even then only about three pounds of the animal’s hair can be harvested.
So, I guess that explains why a seller on Amazon Japan was trying to offload what I am sure is a very nice futon quilt for 67,200,000 yen (about US$674K).
But is it worth the price? Well, there’s only one way to find out: time to call accounting for some cash and place an order.
Me: Hey, you guys are always forking over cash so we can check out things firsthand like prison food and poisonous fish. I need a few yen so I can review an item for sale on Amazon.
RN24 Accounting: Oh, yeah? What is it?
Me: A futon.
RN24 Accounting: What’s so special about it?
Me: It’s supposed to be really soft and all–the softest in the world, in fact. I want to make sure that’s true, in the interest of our readers.
RN24 Accounting: Hmmm, just a second, let me check with the boss. It could be tough; it appears Mr. Sato is drinking and eating up the budget checking out frozen beer and fried chicken curry.
Me: Ah, come on! Why should he have all the fun? It’s only a futon!
RN24 Accounting: OK, how much do you need?
Me: Aboutsixtysevenmillion.
RN24 Accounting: What?
Me: Sixty-seven million, two-hundred-thousand yen. <silence> Hello?
So, here are some customer reviews from Amazon JP!
Five stars: “All I can say is it’s so cheap! I’m going to buy one right away!”
Five stars: “I can’t afford to purchase one; I wish someone would give it to me as a present.”
Three stars: “I thought the price was reasonable, however, after trying it out I can’t tell the difference between this futon and one I bought for 10,000 yen (about $100) at discount retailer Nitori.”
Five stars: “It’s great, and so warm! The price is also reasonable. I bought it at the old price so am a bit disappointed to see it marked down 90 percent. Still, a great product.”
Breaking news update
The item’s price seems to have dropped substantially! The futon is now on sale for a mere 6,720,000 yen (about US$67,500), a 90 percent discount from four days ago when this story originally broke on our Japanese site! I think it’s time to call accounting again.
Check back soon for further updates!
[ Read in Japanese ]
