something i must say about HobbyLink Japan

[auw12]

about 3 months ago i ordered something from hlj,and i chose SAL as usual.after 2 months' waiting i still haven't got my package i sensed it probably lost.when the 90th day since my package was shipped came i wrote to hlj and tell them the case as their policies.after a few questions and inquiry they refund all the money(8905yen) to my account.they are gentle and no troubles at all in the whole course.all my respect to hlj,they are really trusty!but what about the postal office?if the items worth 89000yen not 8900yen?if you are hlj,what will you do?let it be?i really think the postal office should take responsibility with this.ok in another case.give up SAL and provide only EMS to customers,no it's way too EXPENSIVE i think.i never made orders from Hobbysearch(1999) since they canceled SAL.and there's a third problem.the whole thing is depending on TRUST.hlj could never make sure whether my story is true(of course it's true).if i lied to them they would never know...so what do you guys think about this?no matter you're a buyer or a seller.at last i have to thank hlj again,you're really trusty and credible!many thanks!!!

[hirofkd]

If you are making a big purchase, say worth several hundred dollars, just add an insurance. Insuring the first 20,000 yen costs only 400 yen, and 50 yen for each additional 20,000 yen. (NOTE: That's the Japanese postal service, each store might have different rates, so make sure you ask.)

In order to insure a package with the value of 100,000 yen (about US$870), you only have to pay 400 + 50 x 4 = 600 yen, which is a fraction of cost compared to the value of the item.

As for EMS, it's not all that bad.
Here is a shipping cost to north America.
X-axis: kg, Y-axis: Yen



Of course, small packet is always cheaper, but compared to SAL, EMS is cheaperup to 1.75kg. EMS is much faster, online traceable, and insured up to 20,000 yen with no additional fee. Between 3.0 and 3.5 kg, EMS is 6100 yen while SAL is 6150 yen.

And SAL and EMS rates increase almost side by side, and the differences are about 400 to 900 yen up to 5.5kg. Then, EMS starts to cost a lot more, like more than 1200 yen difference.

So, if your package weighs less than 5.5 kg, EMS is a pretty good deal with its extra advantages over SAL.

[klutz_100]

OK, dumb question - what is SAL and what is EMS? What they mean? What's the difference (I don't mean price).

Tang - I think it's really cool that you post when you have something GOOD to say about service.
We all do it too rarely IMO. I'm a believer in positive reinforcement

[anopanjo]

SAL is small pac which means that it hasnt got as higher priority over EMS. Therefore EMS comes alot quicker then SAL on ave EMSis about 5-14 days and SAL is longer at 7-45 depending on where you live, this makes SAL alot cheaper then EMS. And im prety sure that EMS also has a tracking code if it gets lost.

Hope this helps,n i hope this is correct. BTW any Australians bought from Hobby link?? if so how long does it take to get here on Average??

[Macio4ever]

Originally Posted by klutz_100

OK, dumb question - what is SAL and what is EMS? What they mean? What's the difference (I don't mean price).

Tang - I think it's really cool that you post when you have something GOOD to say about service.
We all do it too rarely IMO. I'm a believer in positive reinforcement

EMS: Express Mail Service, it takes about 4 days to reach Poland (from HLJ). It has a sort of insurance so the payback is for the first 20000 yen (as far as I rememeber). Trackable.

SAL:Surface Air Lifted. Packages are handled by air and ground and wait for the space in the plane so that's why it may take so long to arrive. Cheaper and less safe.

The main problem for the EMS - cost. It is added on the custom to the value of the package and VAT is added (in case of buying from States or Asia)

As for HLJ - I have had similar experience (shippment lost) and hlj has send me the same goods for free. They are really good.

For the more expensive goods EMS is much better. If you agree to lower value of the shippment (risky and illegal :; HLJ will not do it) you will avoid problems. As far as I heard EMS is extremly seldom to be lost.
I can recommend www.rainbowten.co.jp in this case.

Maciek

[cyclone1410]

Originally Posted by anopanjo

BTW any Australians bought from Hobby link?? if so how long does it take to get here on Average??

I have purchased many kits from HLJ and it usually takes about 12 to 20 days to reach Brisbane with SAL. This is 12 to 20 days after the shipping notice arrives.

[anopanjo]

ok then that sounds good, wel i live in South Aus so might take abit longer, thnx for the help!

[malscar]

Via EMS, 5 days including a weekend only in the last week and a half.

[91p10nizmo]

I live in New Zealand have brought from hlj a couple of times, both times with sal and the package has arrived in 7days after they have processed the order. Which i thought was alright.

[anopanjo]

wow that seems quite good, hope mine comes sometime this week then!

I ordered my first Aoshima Kits, ER34 BLITZ and HKS Silvia, how come most aoshima kits are outa stock?? time of month or is it usualy like dat??

[klutz_100]

Originally Posted by Macio4ever

EMS: Express Mail Service, it takes about 4 days to reach Poland (from HLJ). It has a sort of insurance so the payback is for the first 20000 yen (as far as I rememeber). Trackable.

SAL:Surface Air Lifted. Packages are handled by air and ground and wait for the space in the plane so that's why it may take so long to arrive. Cheaper and less safe.

The main problem for the EMS - cost. It is added on the custom to the value of the package and VAT is added (in case of buying from States or Asia)

As for HLJ - I have had similar experience (shippment lost) and hlj has send me the same goods for free. They are really good.

For the more expensive goods EMS is much better. If you agree to lower value of the shippment (risky and illegal :; HLJ will not do it) you will avoid problems. As far as I heard EMS is extremly seldom to be lost.
I can recommend www.rainbowten.co.jp in this case.

Maciek

Dzięki!

Could be easier to just call me next time?

[Khier]

My experience with HLJ is similar to yours. Although I never had packages lost, they were ready to refund or re-send packages that were sent by mistake to Costarica. It happened once they sent the wrong kit. And upon my complain they took fully the cost of a second one.

I guess they consider these additional costs as a sort of advertisement costs. Indeed, we are all sitting here praising their excellent service, what could be better advertisement than satisfied customers? By this way HLJ could achieve excellent reputation that they deserve.

[nugundam93]

HLJ won't actually ship SAL if the value of the goods are very high.

To their credit, I've ordered a lot of model kits and magazines from them and they all arrive unscathed due to their large boxes that give the model box inside some "crush room". Thankfully I have not gotten anything lost yet.

I did get an r34 GT-R V-spec2 body bent though when tamiya shipped me one...coz it was manhandled at the post office. gah. it even had "fragile markings". the box though was just exact for the bodyshell.

[DVST8R]

Originally Posted by anopanjo

SAL is small pac which means that it hasnt got as higher priority over EMS. Therefore EMS comes alot quicker then SAL on ave EMSis about 5-14 days and SAL is longer at 7-45 depending on where you live, this makes SAL alot cheaper then EMS. And im prety sure that EMS also has a tracking code if it gets lost.

Hope this helps,n i hope this is correct. BTW any Australians bought from Hobby link?? if so how long does it take to get here on Average??

Took less an a week by EMS to Sydney. That was just done last week.

[manu80]

Some sites ship faster than them.Hobbysearch or mediamix are really good. But hlj is taking a lot more time than they used to to complete an order.
Still they're perfectly reliable.