Golden Week

[Guest bill937ca]

A little heads up for anyone planning on ordering from Japan.  :D  Golden Week is approaching and Japanese  online stores will shut down at least for the designated days if not the whole period.  Plaza Japan on eBay usually shuts down completely.

 

You are still be able to order on the internet, but when the online stores return they will be completely swamped and shipping orders will take much longer than normal. I waited two weeks last year to have an order processed.  While the Japanese  are off emails usually are not answered.

 

Wikipedia describes the current practice:

 

"Many Japanese take paid time off on the intervening work days, but some companies also close down completely and give their employees time off. Golden week is the longest vacation period of the year for many Japanese jobs. Two other holidays may also be observed for most or all of a week: Osh?gatsu in January and Obon in August. Golden Week is an extremely popular time to travel. Flights, trains, and hotels are often fully booked despite significantly higher rates at this time. Popular foreign destinations in Asia, Guam, Saipan, Hawaii, and major cities on the west coast of the U.S., such as Los Angeles, Seattle, and San Francisco, as well as in Europe, are affected during these seasons by huge numbers of Japanese tourists."

 

The holidays are as follows:

 

April 29 Showa Day

May 3 Constitution Memorial Day

May 4 Greenery Day

May 5 Children's Day

 

May 3 and 4 fall on a Saturday and Sunday this year so Golden Week may be extended by a couple of extra days.

 

If you are going to order something I would be a good idea to do it soon so there is time to have the order processed and shipped out of Japan before Golden Week.

 

The next festival, Obon, is in mid-August.

[Bernard]

Bill,

Thanks for the heads up!

I was putting together an order for Hobby Search, I'm not in a rush so now I might wait on it.

[Guest bill937ca]

Rainbow Ten now has a notice about Golden Week:

 

http://www.rainbowten.co.jp/english/news/salenotice.htm

 

Golden Week Holiday Schedule 

 

Between 29th April 2008 and 6th May 2008 inclusive, we run our operation with less number of people, taking vacation in turn. There will be a delay in our process. Please kindly understand. We can have your order during vacation as usual, but shipment will be carried out after 7th May2008 as stated below:

 

1) Shipment suspension: From 3rd May 2008 to 6th May 2008 inclusive

Any orders placed during vacation will be held shipment until 7th May 2008.

 

 

2) Operation Slowdown: from 29th April 2008 to 2nd May 2008

We can still answer to your inquiry, also shipping order but not as quick as usual.

 

 

3) No operation: 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th May 2008.

During these days, no personel will be on-line.

 

 

Rainbow ten mail order team

[Bernard]

Bill,

I've never ordered from Rainbow Ten but I have heard of them. As I remember, I found their product listings a little confusing compared to other suppliers. Any recommendations?

[CaptOblivious]

I order from them all the time, their prices are often just a little lower than Hobby Search. You have to know what you want, though! Ordering is a simple matter of copying-and-pasting the "order form" (available here: http://www.rainbowten.co.jp/english/howtoorder.html) into an email, and the copying-and-pasting the items you want (current list available here: http://www.rainbowten.co.jp/data/etrain.htm)

 

It's...weird, yes. But they have been nothing but a pleasure to deal with. One order I placed with them came with the wrong parts by mistake, and within just a couple of days of notifying them, I had the correct parts in my hands.

[Guest bill937ca]

Bill,

I've never ordered from Rainbow Ten but I have heard of them. As I remember, I found their product listings a little confusing compared to other suppliers. Any recommendations?

 

For the first nine months plus I only ordered from sites with photos of the product.  By January I was comfortable enough to order from Rainbow Ten.  It was easier to put together a large Tomix  track order from Rainbow Ten than Hobby Search.

 

My experience is that Hobby Search and Rainbow Ten prices are identical, usually 10% off list. But with Hobby Search you can register as a Point Member and get an additional 5% in points which you can take at any point during a 12 month period. Each point is worth one Yen.  All you do is put "points use" in the comment section of your order and you have your bill reduced. Each time you order you just enter your user name and password to get the points.

 

http://www.1999.co.jp/faq_e.asp?Typ1_c=104#p1

 

With my most recent order that shipped last night I have now have taken over 9700 points and reduced my bills by 9700 Yen.

[Guest bill937ca]

Golden Week has passed and Hobby Search and Rainbow 10 should have resumed operation, although they noted there may be backlogs after Golden Week.

[bill937ca]

For anyone ordering soon, remember Golden Week is coming up again.  The first holiday is April 29. Most vendors are closed for May 2 - May 6, although orders can be placed during that time.  After that there will be a backlog of orders to be processed.

 

Rainbow Ten

 

Between 29th April and 6th May inclusive, we run our operation with less number of people, taking vacation in turn. There will be a delay in our process. Please kindly understand. We can have your order during vacation as usual, but shipment will be carried out after 7th May2009 as stated below:

 

1) Shipment suspension for SAL/AIR/SURFACE: 29th, 30th April, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th May.

Any orders placed during vacation will be held shipment until 5th JAN 2009.

 

2) Shipment suspension for EMS: 29th, 30th April, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th May.

Any orders placed during vacation will be held shipment until 5th JAN 2009.

 

2) Operation Slowdown: from 29th April to 6th May

We can still answer to your inquiry, but not as quickly as usual.

 

3) No operation: 29th April, 2nd and 3rd, 5th and 6th May

During these days, no personel will be on-line.

 

*We also need couple of days to catch up the delay after the holiday.

 

Hobby World Japan

 

Closed May 2nd to May 6th.

 

Tokyo Rail

 

From May 2 to May 6, Tokyo-Rail is closed

for a Japanese holiday.(Golden Week)

An order is accepted for 24 hours.

Dispatch and an inquiry section are closed.

[bill937ca]

FYI,

 

Plaza Japan has just posted that they will be closed May 1 to May 10 on their front page.

 

VACATION NOTICE

 

Due to a holiday in Japan, we will close from May 1 to May 10. Item purchased during this period will be shipped on May 11 (please note that there may be some delays in shipping for items purchased during this period).

 

There will also be delays in replying to your emails during this period.

[Bernard]

Bill - Thanks for the heads up. I still hoping the New Tomytec Tram comes out soon.

[bill937ca]

As usual Hobby Search is the last to advise.  HS will be closed May 3 to May 6.  No shipping and no email response.

[SubwayHypes]

Woohoo luckily i got my orders in before, my plazajapan shold be arriving any day