Back in May I started sourcing used equipment from Japan and started selling on Etsy. Then in November I teamed up with Devin at Baduk Club in his mission to bring people together with affordable equipment!
The vintage sets are coming from pawn shops, antique shops, estate sales, and from peer-to-peer sites in Japan. When I find something decent for a good price I buy it, mark it up to cover shipping (and my time), and I consequently have a half-dozen boards and sets of stones and bowls ready to ship from Japan. At the same time, I have another couple bowl and stone sets that are currently in Colorado where I have been refurbishing them.
I’ve learned a lot and have some pretty extensive Care Instructions in case you already have a set but need help taking care of it.
This is as much a labor of love as anything else - we’re not trying to make a living doing this - so you’ll notice that our prices are pretty reasonable. We will have gear to fit any budget, with some very inexpensive club sets coming soon, both for players as well as teachers and organizers. I have done several Custom Orders, so if you see what we have and it’s not what you’re looking for, message me what you’re after and I can give you a quote.
I’m from Italy.
An Italian player told me about your store on etsy just a couple weeks before you moved to Baduk Club.
I think that it’s a wonderful idea to sell in western countries old sets from Japan.
My daughters play violin and I think that, just like violins, old goban and stones are made to live more than their owners. We keep them and enjoy them for a while, to let then someone else keep and enjoy them after we pass.
I would love to buy one set, but unfortunately they don’t fit my house and my pockets. For the moment I’ll just keep visiting your store from time to time just to enjoy the view of those beautiful sets and dream of buying one one day.
I’m kind of the same, will be window shopping for a while I’ll have to save up for something nice eventually. I am upgrading from plastic to glass stones this christmas, maybe then eventually some fancier board and stones
I absolutely agree! This is one of the reasons that playing on a new board feels so strange - it has no history, like a baby who knows nothing of the world.
I’ve done a few discounts for students and other players with limited budgets. So let me know if we can meet in the middle someday~
It’s really exciting to see something like this spring up! I hope you have great success in these endeavors. Perhaps this might morph into a new GoGameGuru-like store, filling in for that void.
I’d looked into books. But with Yutopian going out if business due to falling book sales along with the increased amount of high quality free content on YouTube it is something that didn’t seem wise.
Yeah I haven’t really bought physical books much, just one I think from Mateusz Surma. I’ve mainly been getting them from SmartGo although you can’t get everything there.
Well, those are some amazing prices … if you look some of those items and try to buy them new, you’d need thousands upon thousands of euro/dollars, so those are really affordable in comparison.
If I had people to play with live, I would have certainly saved up and bought one.
I’d say if I had people to play at home.
I have the chance to play live, but these sets are about 20 kg: you can’t really bring them with you at the go club!
No, but that makes things easier. You can show those boards at the club and you can all chip in and buy one for the club. That way the cost is divided and the joy of playing in such a board is multiplied
I support your endeavors in spirit, we can all secretly wish for a nice goban one day, right?
I preemptively apologize for the OT, but I figured it doesn’t hurt to ask: We had a discussion a while ago, following this video
about how white stones are made, but nobody seems to be able to find one about how black stones are made.
If you happen to have come across a relevant video during your journey, I would be eternally grateful.
I’ll have to save up for something nice eventually. I am upgrading from plastic to glass stones this christmas, maybe then eventually some fancier board and stones 
