Hello! Author here. Pleasantly surprised to see this on the front page! I thought I'd address a couple of questions here:
- Why is it so expensive?
You can definitely buy cheaper randoserus made in China and these are giving lower-end Japanese manufacturers a run for their money. For example, https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/dp/B09H5RLGQF is around 45 dollars.
Even off-the-shelf Japanese randoserus are cheaper than the customized ones.
Some basic reasons for the high cost are: materials (leather, fake leather) are expensive, there are many parts, manual assembly, and the variations and customizations don't lend themselves to scale.
Randoseru often last longer with good care, and are in fact passed down. Many organizations also collect and donate used randoseru to the less privileged. There are also businesses that will recycle the high quality materials into other accessories: See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHcgol5i7gs
In addition to this, some people also get their randoseru "minified", where it's cut up and a fist sized version made. My wife still has hers.
My son just received his first randoseru and the company that made it offers to "minify" using almost all of the original key parts from his, in the future.
- Why is it so expensive?
You can definitely buy cheaper randoserus made in China and these are giving lower-end Japanese manufacturers a run for their money. For example, https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/dp/B09H5RLGQF is around 45 dollars.
Even off-the-shelf Japanese randoserus are cheaper than the customized ones.
For an example of the well-thought out design of randoseru, this video does a good job: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/WtWiuWBU9r8
Some basic reasons for the high cost are: materials (leather, fake leather) are expensive, there are many parts, manual assembly, and the variations and customizations don't lend themselves to scale.
This article lists some reasons Japanese randoseru are so expensive: https://rand--torisetu-com.translate.goog/kakaku?_x_tr_sl=au... .
- What happens after 6 years?
Randoseru often last longer with good care, and are in fact passed down. Many organizations also collect and donate used randoseru to the less privileged. There are also businesses that will recycle the high quality materials into other accessories: See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHcgol5i7gs