Hobby Search

[cteno4]

A few interesting laser cut structures at decent prices.

 

jeff

[Welshbloke]

A few tempting prices on GreenMax kits, but I know from experience that finding the right paint shades outside Japan is extremely difficult.

[bill937ca]

2018/11/26    https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/infodetails

 

For certain countries, the "SAL" shipment has been stopped since December 2017.
As this problem has been continuing for almost a year, we are introducing 
new shipping option called "ePacket Light" scheduled to be added after 6th December 2018.

For details of ePacket Light shipment, please check the Japan Post website below.

[Japan Post website: ePacket Light]

https://www.post.japanpost.jp/int/service/epacketlight_en.html

For customers from the following countries, ePacket Light will replace Registered SAL and SAL Small Packet.

France / Spain / the Netherlands


For customers from the following countries, we are afraid  only EMS will be available for shipment.

Ukraine / Algeria


Due to the SAL shipment being very unlikely to be return anytime soon,  we will also be changing the shipping options for all orders from  the affected countries.

For customers from France, Spain, and the Netherlands, the orders will be changed as follows.

- "SAL Parcel" will be change to "EMS"
- "SAL Small Packet" will be change to "ePacket Light"
- "Registered SAL" will be change to "ePacket Light"
- "If possible" options for EMS will all be changed to "ePacket Light if possible"

For customers from Ukraine or Algeria, all orders will be changed to EMS.

To check your current shipping options or updating order information,  please use your account page.

[katoftw]

I wished they offered epacket for all orders.

[chadbag]

Ami Ami offers DHL and based on some price requests for shipments to the US, it is very reasonable.  Don't know what they offer to non US addresses.  But I wish HS would offer that level of DHL service. 🙂

 

[katoftw]

AmiAmi offer DHL to most countries. EMS speed with a 10-15% cheaper rate.

 

I like epacket cos it is a mid point between costly 5 day EMS and cheap 20 day SAL.

[cteno4]

Kato, have you tried epacket yet? Was it faster than sal? The japanpost site said the epacket was shipped sal so I assumed the same speed as sal.

 

Does sound nice with tracking.

 

jeff

[katoftw]

For me...

SAL takes about 20 days.

ePacket about 10 days.

EMS/DHL about 5 days.

 

Not I have only used ePacket, not ePacket light.

 

Edited November 27, 2018 by katoftw

[cteno4]

Thanks, good to know. Nice that epacket speedier, sounds like what I use to get for small stuff like parts airmail in time but airmail is really cheap, but I think they may be limiting the package to letters now for first class or at least the cheap first class. Now the usps jacks the price up a lot if even a flat padded envelope on first class everywhere.

 

i wonder what the light will be for shipping time. Fees are about 60% more for a half kg box, but it mentions price includes 370 yen for international acceptance record fee. Wonder if that’s the tracking and if the tracking is optional, but I doubt it.

 

they say the light is 2 weeks (same as they say for sal) and is sent as sal. But I guess moot as they don’t seem to be offering it to places other than the problem sal places. I wonder if this will eventually replace sal.

 

jeff

[katoftw]

Well it seems everyone is being offered ePacket Light.

 

So my assessment of ePacket Light, is that it is similar ePacket, but for a 10% cheaper rate, you can get it at super slow SAL speeds.  So it is basicly a Register SAL parcel, but now the sender can do all the paperwork and attach it from home (like a normal ePacket) rather than dealing with the post office.

 

ePacket Light is also being offered to more countries than what Registered SAL had to offer.  So hence why it is more expensive than Registered SAL.  I guess over time it will probably replace Registered SAL as the paperwork is easier for the sender.

[katoftw]

Thanks Hobby Search.  They emailed me to tell me 3 of my December release items have had a date of release change.  To "Late" December. haha

[Das Steinkopf]

2 hours ago, katoftw said:

Thanks Hobby Search.  They emailed me to tell me 3 of my December release items have had a date of release change.  To "Late" December. haha

 

It is rather ironic when you have them all marked for Monthly Shipment and they send you that email, I much prefer that my orders are shipped all together at the end of the month as it helps me keep track of my budget, or should I say the lack of a budget and more akin to spending.

[EdF]

What the reservation process like here?  There are some Casco cases I want to try, do they charge when it arrives or right away, can you cancel?

[chadbag]

6 minutes ago, ecfitzgerald said:

What the reservation process like here?  There are some Casco cases I want to try, do they charge when it arrives or right away, can you cancel?

 

They charge when ready to ship.  HS has a short cancellation window, after which there is no cancellation possible.

[Welshbloke]

One question: HS place a restriction of (for example) "2 per household" on some items. Does that mean I can order two and that's it forever, or two per order? I ask as they've put that restriction on GreenMax gangway bellows which I need rather more than two packs of!

[katoftw]

Yeah I've hit the linit of purchases with them on some items over multiple orders. I do find on spare parts that some of their limits are way too low.

 

So I just order from elsewhere.

Edited January 6, 2019 by katoftw

[bill937ca]

3 hours ago, Welshbloke said:

One question: HS place a restriction of (for example) "2 per household" on some items. Does that mean I can order two and that's it forever, or two per order? I ask as they've put that restriction on GreenMax gangway bellows which I need rather more than two packs of!

The HS software remembers what you have purchased in the past. Don't know you would get around this on the HS site.

[Kiha66]

Might be worth emailing them and asking about the limit on that particular part.  If its a regularly used part that's still in production I can see them letting you order more than the software limit.  

[Welshbloke]

These parts do seem to sell out fairly often, so I wonder if it resets after selling out and restocking? GreenMax are still making them but evidently struggle to match demand. Amazon Marketplace sellers were asking ludicrous sums given it's a cheap, small and light package.

[marknewton]

I think it must reset after restocking, as I've been able to buy a couple of batches of Tomix TR-41 trucks over the years.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[Sheffie]

How long does it usually take them to process an order? I got the automated email but nothing since, and I chose the  PayPal option where you have to pay within 7days, so I really do need to hear from them. Time zones are confusing the issue but they must have had at least two business days to see my order. All the stuff was in stock, so presumably that isn’t an issue. 

[Gryphr]

Usually 1-3 business days in my experience. The 7 day deadline however starts from the day you receive the payment request, not the day you place the order, so I wouldn't worry about that. Check your Spam folder for the Email with the payment request, just in case it got flagged by your mail system.

Edited January 25, 2019 by Gryphr

[chadbag]

12 minutes ago, Gryphr said:

Usually 1-3 business days in my experience. The 7 day deadline however starts from the day you receive the payment request, not the day you place the order, so I wouldn't worry about that. Check your Spam folder for the Email with the payment request, just in case it got flagged by your mail system.

 

I think if you log in they will prompt you if they are waiting for you as well (?)  I've not used PP but with other forms, they jave prompted me when logging in.

[Sheffie]

Actually I just got the payment request, so we’re all good. Thanks 🙂

[cteno4]

Great! They are not quite as zippy as they were way back, but it’s usually a few hours to a couple of days for me. I think they want to pull the stock to make sure it’s all there and ready for payment as I’ve never had them ask for payment then say whoops sorry we don’t have this part!

 

jeff