Hobby Search

[inobu]

14 minutes ago, Tony Galiani said:

Since I used to work in this area, I ran the site through an accessibility checker for WCAG2.2 and it got a score of 68 with 265 identified issues.  However, this is not an American based company or web site so HS is not required to comply to ADA standards.  (Heck, many American companies do not manage to comply.)   They should meet Japanese requirements but I have no idea how they relate to our ADA.  In my travels I see quite a bit of accessibility options that may be good for that country but do not comply with our standards.  And, of course, US requirements are constantly evolving - often technology is put in place first and then issues sorted out after the fact.

Tony

I used ADA as a topic descriptor. I didn't know what Japan called. It looks like Japan calls it JIS X 8341.

 

Inobu

[cteno4]

A lot of the ada design process for sites actually can be a good process in site redesign in general as it makes you think carefully about all parts of content and nav you have on the screen and how they relate, hierarchy, and placement. Also helps as you tag content bits well which many times is not done well but helps if you redesign or reskin later. I found ADA forced the client to have to think about these things (ie they wanted the compliance), but were unwilling to do a lot of this just for the sake of the content and site design. Content is the very poor step child now, use to be the main thing, but no more. 
 

like tony mentioned many times it’s the rapidly evolving technology that is the biggest pain in the ass to keep stuff compliant. 
sort of on par with keeping stuff working in general on a bunch of browsers and platforms at the same time.

 

jeff

[RS18U]

Anybody else get a bonus 300 points added to their HS account?  The note says "If you don't use these points within the validity period, it will expire." but does not actually say what the validity period is 🤔.  And yes these points are shown in my account, so not some sort of scam.

 

Not likely to make a difference for me though as their prices are a bit higher than PJ and the points won't make really change that.

 

[cteno4]

Hugh, i have 318 points but thats probably should be there from last orders. No messages anywhere on any expiring. Where do you see the expiration notice?

 

jeff 

[bill937ca]

1 hour ago, RS18U said:

Anybody else get a bonus 300 points added to their HS account?  The note says "If you don't use these points within the validity period, it will expire." but does not actually say what the validity period is 🤔.  And yes these points are shown in my account, so not some sort of scam.

 

 

(About points)

37Hobby Search points are only valid on this website.

381 point is equivalent to 1 yen (JPY) and can be used to receive discount on the product cost of an order.

39On purchase of products at Hobby Search, 1% of the purchased product cost will be awarded as points.

40Points will be added to the customer's account AFTER the order is dispatched from Hobby Search.

41The points are valid for up to 1 year from the date that the customer had last been awarded Hobby Search Points to their account, unless expiry is otherwise specified (such as rewards for giveaway campaign etc.)

42Points from different accounts cannot be transferred, and cannot be converted to cash.

 

[Revised on August 3rd 2018]

[Revised on December 6th 2018]

[Revised on July 2nd 2022]

[Revised on Jan 31th 2024]

 

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/terms/

[RS18U]

59 minutes ago, cteno4 said:

Hugh, i have 318 points but thats probably should be there from last orders. No messages anywhere on any expiring. Where do you see the expiration notice?

 

jeff 

In this case its at the bottom of the email that 'granted' me the points, and sort of implies point 41 from @bill937ca post above.  I knew about the 1 year expiry, but thought this may have a different one.  Gives me 900 points.

[bill937ca]

Something going on at Hobby Search. The site was down about 6am today and its now 11am and it is still down.

 

ただいまメンテナンス中です。
いつもホビーサーチをご利用頂き、ありがとうございます。
ただいまメンテナンスのため、一時的にサービスを停止しております。
大変ご不便をおかけいたしますが、今しばらくお待ちください。

 

System under maintenance.

Thank you very much for visiting Hobby Search.
Due to system maintenance, our website is temporarily unavailable.
We apologize for your inconvenience, and your understanding is greatly appreciated.

 

Edited March 14 by bill937ca

[cteno4]

Makes sense taking off line at night in japan. 

 

Jeff

[Wolf]

They moved. There was an announcement:

We would like to express our sincere gratitude for your continued support of Hobby Search.

We are informing you that, due to business expansion, our head office will be relocating to the address below.

 

With this move, all of our employees will renew their commitment and work even harder to provide you with better and more fulfilling services.

 

[New Address]
2F Hongo Fuji Building
4-9-22 Hongo Bunkyo Tokyo,
113-0033 Japan

 

[Relocation schedule (dates stated in Japan time GMT+9)]
March 14th - 15th, 2025

During this period, our website will be temporarily unavailable.

 

Please note that on March 14th (Friday), we will be open as usual.

However, we will not be able to process shipments or respond to email inquiries.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation in advance.

[katoftw]

15th. And still offline.

[disturbman]

It's back online.

[cteno4]

Server work is never fun and full of Murphy laws… Happy to not do that stuff anymore.

 

jeff

[maihama eki]

Hobby Search has suspended DHL and ECMS shipments.

 

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/infodetails

 

That's disappointing. I have found DHL to be extraordinarily fast and reliable, and competitive with EMS on pricing. They have also never smashed my shipments which I can't say about my shipments that arrive through the post office. DHL also allows me to release packages from the signature requirement and leave them on my covered and concealed porch.

[katoftw]

It's just to the USA if you read the link.

[cteno4]

Same will probably happen for most Exporters to the US until the smoke clears on the beginning of duty collection and what the costs will be for duty collection fees. No word what customs/USPS will be charging for fees or how you will pay duties and fees. Private shippers like ups and dhl are currently like $40 custom processing fees if there are any duties owed, but this is for like 8% of the packages coming in and usually higher value packages so the fee is only a few percent. Next couple of weeks will be interesting.

 

jeff

[maihama eki]

Sorry, yes of course only to "America".

 

Edited May 1 by maihama eki

[katoftw]

I must be going blind. Can someone tell me where the watch list is these days on the new sites?

[cteno4]

Its called the “wish list” and its up in the top right corner of the page just to the left of the cart icon.

 

to put something on your wish list you have to click heart outline icon just to the right of the Preorder/Add to cart button and once clicked on it turns red indicating the item is on your wish list.

 

you're not going blind, the new site’s organization really is not easy on the brain. Change for change’s sake innovation.

 

jeff

[katoftw]

@cteno4 thanks Jeff. I'll try again.