Never ordered from Japan before. Advice?

[Einstein]

Originally Posted by Darth Cylon

Except NY will overcharge you with their ridiculously shipping rate.

Nope, never been overcharged, their shipping is always the same and AE or cheaper.

Originally Posted by Masta_Skidz

horrible customer service can be added and don't forget that if they under value your package and it gets lost good luck getting what you paid for it back

Never had my item undervalued either so I don't know what you're talking about there.

I'll also point out, I've never paid duty on the stuff from NY and I've never had a bad experience with their customer service either.

Maybe it's just you who's had this problem.

[Darth Cylon]

Originally Posted by Einstein

Nope, never been overcharged, their shipping is always the same and AE or cheaper.



Never had my item undervalued either so I don't know what you're talking about there.

I'll also point out, I've never paid duty on the stuff from NY and I've never had a bad experience with their customer service either.

Maybe it's just you who's had this problem.

NY has been over charging shipping since MP-25. I am saying for the identical item using the same shipping service. I've never shopped with AE so I can't say much about the shipping rate difference between NY and AE, but NY has been asking for a lot more for shipping the same item using same service compared to HLJ and AA. Last I checked, NY is not shipping toys in wooden crate.

I've never paid for my orders with NY either, but they customer service is questionable as best. When I and many here questioned them why they asked for so much more for shipping, they claim that the item's package is bigger and heavier. Guess what. It's not.

NY declared lower value on their shipping label. All my order from them (MP20, 21, 21G, 22, 23) had declared 100 yen on the shipping labels.

[Masta_Skidz]

they declare a lower value so the insurance you purchase on your parcel will not be covered for the purchase price if the item is lost or damaged during shipping as they will only cover the declared value.

[Einstein]

Originally Posted by Darth Cylon

NY has been over charging shipping since MP-25. I am saying for the identical item using the same shipping service. I've never shopped with AE so I can't say much about the shipping rate difference between NY and AE, but NY has been asking for a lot more for shipping the same item using same service compared to HLJ and AA. Last I checked, NY is not shipping toys in wooden crate.

I've never paid for my orders with NY either, but they customer service is questionable as best. When I and many here questioned them why they asked for so much more for shipping, they claim that the item's package is bigger and heavier. Guess what. It's not.

NY declared lower value on their shipping label. All my order from them (MP20, 21, 21G, 22, 23) had declared 100 yen on the shipping labels.

Again, I don't know where you get your numbers but it hasn't been my experience with them at all. None of my MP's have come with lower costs on the declared values and their shipping rates are the same or lower than AE.

I find HLJ over-charges for the products so I don't order from them.

[icantbelieveit]

I just checked both HLJ and NY for shipping MP29 via EMS, HLJ charges 2020yan while NY charges 4000yan, which brings up the total cost even higher than HLJ

[Einstein]

Originally Posted by icantbelieveit

I just checked both HLJ and NY for shipping MP29 via EMS, HLJ charges 2020yan while NY charges 4000yan, which brings up the total cost even higher than HLJ

HLJ also charges more for their stuff, so you aren't really saving any.

I can get MP 28 from NY for 5980 Yen plus 1290 Yen shipping or I can pay 6400 Yes plus 1190 Yen shipping from HLJ.

Delivery time is the same, seems to me NY is the cheaper option, 7270 Yen total from NY versus 7590 Yen from HLJ.

[Darth Cylon]

Originally Posted by Einstein

Again, I don't know where you get your numbers but it hasn't been my experience with them at all. None of my MP's have come with lower costs on the declared values and their shipping rates are the same or lower than AE.

I find HLJ over-charges for the products so I don't order from them.

I get my numbers based on what I see in my cart. All products sold in Japan has MSRP. So you can't claim that HLJ over charge their for their products. NY simply sells at a greater discount.

Take the latest MP-29 as example:

Takara Tomy Japanese MSRP: 16800 yen. 18144 yen after 8% sales tax. This is show on Takara Tomy Mall website.

HLJ:
List price 16800 yen. Their 20% off sales price 13440 yen

Put it in cart and it shows their Shipping:
SAL: 1280 yen
Registered SAL: 1690 yen
EMS: 2020 yen


NY:
Sales price 11680 yen.
Put it in cart and it shows their Shipping:
SAL: 2490 yen
Registered SAL: 2740 yen
EMS: 4000 yen


Now take MP-28 as example. It's a much smaller item.

Takara Tomy Japanese MSRP: 8000 yen. 8640 yen after 8% sales tax.

HLJ:
List price 8000 yen. Their 20% off sales price 6400 yen

Put it in cart and it shows their Shipping:
SAL: 780 yen
Registered SAL: 1190 yen
EMS: 1400 yen


NY:
Sales price 5980 yen.
Put it in cart and it shows their Shipping:
SAL: 1290 yen
Registered SAL: 2700 yen
EMS: 2040 yen

These are facts and number from their sites. I don't make them up.

BTW, Amiami and HLJ has very similar shipping rate, difference due to using different shipping box size but usually just 100-200 yen more or less for a small item. NY used to charge shipping rate similar to HLJ and AA so I don't know why they jacked their shipping.

I don't every shop with AE because I don't pre-pay for pre-order.

My last order from NY was MP-23 so I can't say if they are not declaring lower value now. But all my previous order from NY were declared 100 yen.

Again, you decided how you spend your money.

[The7thParallel]

NY DID in fact up their shipping charges starting with Tracks. I bought Magnus and all the Datsuns from them and shipping wasn't a big deal. It's well known now that they charge more than is necessary to make up for their lower-advertised prices.

My Magnus came with a lower-declared value. I was happy because it meant less of a chance of getting hit with duty, which I expected due to his size. I didn't, so it's all good. But all the Datsuns were also lowered in value. I have stubs from 5 figures that attest to this in addition to Darth Cylon's work.

In the end, all that really separates most of the Japanese sites is a few dollars. I go with AE because they're the cheapest, but even then they're getting expensive.

BB, for example, was $38 US. Wheeljack was $41 US. Tracks was $47. Hot Rod was $50. Ironhide and Ratchet were $63 US. Shockwave was $105 US.

Prices are slowly and steadily going up.




OH! I will say this. On the last package I got from AE, their shipping cost on the box was within about 10% of the amount I paid for (benefited them, obviously), but nothing I would consider gouging.

[CanBot]

Originally Posted by Einstein

Use Nippon Yassen, better because you don't have to pay up front

Keep in mind what our CDN dollar is doing, though. If you're already trying to save a buck ordering overseas, then it's often better to pay now while our dollar is north of 70 cents USD. But if you don't have the bucks to pay outright, then by all means go NY. Better to overpay a bit rather than miss out completely.

[QuadESL63]

Some Japanese web stores like HLJ and Hobby Search seldom (or never) carry limited/special edition stuffs like MP Ramjet from the TakaraTomy web mall. You will probably have to depend on N-Y, etc. Oh BTW, N-Y will increase the prices on such limited items over time. For instance, Ramjet was ~17900 yen when it was just available for preorder @ N-Y but it is now $24900 yen! It costs more to import one from BBTS