Hobby Search Shipping

[digitalbanzai]

Does anyone know the shipping costs for Hobby Search? I'm about to place an order but it doesn't tell me the shipping cost before I submit my card number.

Thanks!

[Asmenoth]

They kinda do tell you. It's a chart that shows the various shipping weights to different countries giving you the different EMS shipping prices. The crappy thing is...they do not tell you how much the stuff weighs. If they did, you could figure it out. What you could do is find a kit at home about the same size of what you are ordering, shove it in a box and weigh it...then look on the chart. A pretty good approx. I just got Tamiya's Peugeot 307 and PE set and shipping was about 2800 yen...but I got it in about 4 days AND it was delivered on Christmas day...pty EMS is so expensive.

[digitalbanzai]

Funny how Fujimi always costs more than Tamiya and Aoshima, lol. I guess i'll just not worry about shipping, maybe I should be concerned about picking something out, such a big selection!

[ales]

OK, the first thing you need to know that they have stopped offering SAL shipping and offer only EMS now.

Secondly, there is another reason why I will never order from them again - they don't give a crap about their customers' money at all. Unlike HLJ or RainbowTen they make absolutely no effort to effectively manage their shipping. I have been bitten by that not once, but twice, and decided it's enough (mind you, I used to prefer ordering from them than from HLJ back in the day). The first example was a SAL shipment that weighed just over 2 kg (IIRC, it was a matter of 30 gramms or so), but they shipped it anyway and if you know about SAL shipping you'd know that the cost was more than it would have been to ship EMS. HLJ or R10 would have sent the items in two packages. The second time was when the wieght was well under 2 kg (1700 or so) but they couldn't fit the kits into a SAL-size box due to the size of the box of one of the (cheap!!!) kits. So again the cost was more than EMS but without the benefits. They never contacted me or tried to offer any alternatives, nothing. Chances are that I'd have ordered something else too and then would've asked them to ship in 2 packages. Again, in my experience, this would not have been an issue with HLJ or R10 as they know what they're doing and display significantly more consideration for their customers. Basically all the discounts Hobby Search offer have been more than nullified by what I've had to pay for shipping from them. Have been ordering more and more from R10 and I have to say that they're a pleasure to work with in more than one respects.

Didn't want my first post of the year to be so negative, but what can I do? Anyway, happy New Year everyone!

[Lownslow]

Originally Posted by ales

OK, the first thing you need to know that they have stopped offering SAL shipping and offer only EMS now.

Secondly, there is another reason why I will never order from them again - they don't give a crap about their customers' money at all. Unlike HLJ or RainbowTen they make absolutely no effort to effectively manage their shipping. I have been bitten by that not once, but twice, and decided it's enough (mind you, I used to prefer ordering from them than from HLJ back in the day). The first example was a SAL shipment that weighed just over 2 kg (IIRC, it was a matter of 30 gramms or so), but they shipped it anyway and if you know about SAL shipping you'd know that the cost was more than it would have been to ship EMS. HLJ or R10 would have sent the items in two packages. The second time was when the wieght was well under 2 kg (1700 or so) but they couldn't fit the kits into a SAL-size box due to the size of the box of one of the (cheap!!!) kits. So again the cost was more than EMS but without the benefits. They never contacted me or tried to offer any alternatives, nothing. Chances are that I'd have ordered something else too and then would've asked them to ship in 2 packages. Again, in my experience, this would not have been an issue with HLJ or R10 as they know what they're doing and display significantly more consideration for their customers. Basically all the discounts Hobby Search offer have been more than nullified by what I've had to pay for shipping from them. Have been ordering more and more from R10 and I have to say that they're a pleasure to work with in more than one respects.

Didn't want my first post of the year to be so negative, but what can I do? Anyway, happy New Year everyone!

pretty much the reason why im still with HLJ my friend tried HS and he got screwed on shipping hes now with R10

[RallyRaider]

Have to agree with Alex. Rainbow 10 are the best Japanese store for quick and cheap shipping. HLJ are good too, but a lot slower to process an order, not a big problem and they have the advantage of taking backorders. Hobby Search on the other hand are simply not smart and WILL end up costing more for shipping, despite their discounts. I can see no reason to use them over R10 or HLJ.

[digitalbanzai]

I really can't figure out how Rainbow 10 works.

[ales]

Originally Posted by digitalbanzai

I really can't figure out how Rainbow 10 works.

R10 works quite well

Just read their "how to order" page, it's all explained there.

Phil, lately I've found that HLJ have become quite a lot quicker processing orders than they used to be. Unfortunately, when I order from them I have to pay 18% customs tax from the cost of goods and shipping, whereas R10 ...

[Lownslow]

Originally Posted by ales

R10 works quite well

Just read their "how to order" page, it's all explained there.

Phil, lately I've found that HLJ have become quite a lot quicker processing orders than they used to be. Unfortunately, when I order from them I have to pay 18% customs tax from the cost of goods and shipping, whereas R10 ...

i also noticed they seem to take more days off too. i dont like how r10 works but until hlj fails me im not bothering with it if anything ill have my friend order me stuff

[digitalbanzai]

Originally Posted by ales

R10 works quite well

Just read their "how to order" page, it's all explained there.

Phil, lately I've found that HLJ have become quite a lot quicker processing orders than they used to be. Unfortunately, when I order from them I have to pay 18% customs tax from the cost of goods and shipping, whereas R10 ...

So you don't get to see what you are buying? Maybe i'm not looking in the right place but all I see are stock lists.

[RallyRaider]

Yeah R10 will even post paint and aerosols internationaly! Gotta love those guys. And it isn't a safety issue or anything because quite often my packages are opened by customs with not a problem.

[ales]

Originally Posted by digitalbanzai

So you don't get to see what you are buying? Maybe i'm not looking in the right place but all I see are stock lists.

While not the easiest way to order, most of us either know exactly what they want to get or can browse HLJ and HS to see what the kit is like and then try to find it on R10 and order it.

[hirofkd]

Hobby World (http://hobbyworld.aoshima-bk.co.jp/eindex.asp) will give you shipping estimate if you proceed up to just before you place an order. At that point, you can still choose either SAL or EMS to compare prices. In a sense, Hobby World is most accurate when it comes to estimating shipping costs.

I do use Hobby World, but what I also do is to get the weight estimate (which sometimes includes out-of-stock items) and order from Rainbow 10 or HLJ, depending on the combination of in-stock items.

[ales]

Good call, Hiroaki. Hobby World was also very pleasant to work with, haven't ordered from them in a while though.

[digitalbanzai]

Wow, this Hobby World is great, thanks!