Im also going to explain the different shipping methods available through them.
My Top 3 Japanese Export Hobby Shops
1: amiami
A 10 year old site that just in the last few years added a English catering webpage, is the best of the best. Their processing times are short and all your transactions are managed through email messages. You place an order or pre-order on their site and they send you a confirmation email, then a payment request, a payment confirmation, and finally a shipping confirmation, and are very lenient about how fast you pay. They often have small discounts but their prices are almost always 25% less then retail to begin with, being the cheapest of the three.
However be warned they are known for blacklisting and banning people who constantly cancel pre-orders or cause problems for them in general. they also only allow payment through paypal so thats also a problem but only a minor one, since its easy to make a paypal account and its safer then using your credit cards directly. They also are known for on rare occasions packaging things oddly, ive actually heard of them sticking a small inexpensive item in multiple boxes full of packing paper, but they do however package things well normally.
Also be warned they have a lot of business and popular items often sell out the first couple days and in rare cases the first couple hours.
2: Hobby Search
Hobby Search Japan is a large modeling and PVC figure store that is usually very fast at shipping out orders and has a very large stock that often last longer then amiami's and they often become my fall back plan if i miss something their. Hobby Search was actually the first Hobby store i ordered something from.
Their Organization goes according to brand and genre and its easy to find things.They have everything from Anime goods to scale military models and RC models. They often have higher prices then amiami but they also allow you to pay with debit or credit cards directly which is nice.
The only complaint I have with them I have on occasion had them take some time shipping orders, seemingly forgetting to ship them. But this was only once but its worth mentioning since ive never had this with amiami. This is also another store that heavily uses a ton of package paper handling causes your shipping to be more which is normal tho. Sometimes i just wonder if 2 pounds of packing paper is necessary when i ordered one small figure.
They are currently having a 50% off shipping promotion, so now is a good time to test out their services.
Hobby Link Japan is a very well known store and has excellent customer service for the most part, and have big sales several times a year. Theirs currently a 70% off shipping promotion so long as you pay with PayPal, however their stock is pretty ravaged since they also just had a free shipping sale a week ago.
They are the most expensive of the 3 but their site has a shipping estimator which none of the others have, and it just has a ton more options and a large stock of varied goods. I shop with them only when they have sales or the other stores are out of something. They offer everything the others have and more.
But here comes the bad side of Hobby Link Japan, their processing speeds. Ive ordered several times with them and ive never had something ship within the two days. Its always 3 days or more, one actually took more then a week. They are s known for this, but you will eventually always receive your order it just may take a lot longer then with other retailers.
I recommend them as a last resort but still check their site like you would a your main retailer to see what sales and promotions are taking place. They always have some good stuff marked down.
Places to avoid
Never under any circumstances use Toys N Joys, and only use Angolz if their the last store on the planet with what you want. Ive rarely hear anything good about them and iv actually heard of them making a guy wait almost a year for a order to ship. They are both unreliable.
EMS, SAL, FED EX
EMS Simply put is 4 day shipping to anywhere in the world, so long as customs does not hold your package for long amounts of time you will receive it within 3-5 days and its insured in-case its lost. Fed Ex is similar but is faster in transporting goods to the United states and ive actually gotten orders in 3 days consistently.
SAL is cheap, un-insured shipping that will most likely take anywhere from 2 weeks to a month to get to you. It simply works by taking your order and placing it on planes to the states that have some remaining space for cargo. If theirs no room then it sits waiting for the next flight. Once it reaches the states its handed over to the USPS and is carried normally to its destination.
I personally use SAL for everything but the most expensive stuff i don't want to risk loosing in the shipping process. Never use anything but unregistered SAL, at its price your better off going with EMS and all the tracking will do is make your angry as you watch for days without your package leaving Japan.
Also to the US nothing under 200 dollars will be charged with customs fees, so long as your order doesn't cross that line your fine.
What online retailers do you prefer?
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