Buying from Popondetta by email

[angusmclean]

oops!  sorry Ghan,  must have hit a nerve big time  -  or typical NSW insecurity over their early colonial 'transport' . I've consoled myself by sitting in a deckchair in the paddocks (in the snow I might add) and ruffling my fingers through the wool of my favourite ewes, lol  :))))

 

Angus

[The_Ghan]

Hey Angus,

 

The trouble with New Zealanders is this: every time I start to warm to you guys, you send the All Blacks over to give us a thrashing ... puts me back to square one every single time. 

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[The_Ghan]

Hey Clem24,

 

For the record, Canada does not have SAL. Only small packet air, small packet ground ...

 

Yuh, I know ... who knows how it was sent?  The tracking number didn't register with any post office website and it never arrived.  To me, EMS = on-line tracking and SAL = lack thereof.  So, any order over $100 for me now goes EMS.

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[JR 500系]

Hey Clem24,

 

For the record, Canada does not have SAL. Only small packet air, small packet ground ...

 

Yuh, I know ... who knows how it was sent?  The tracking number didn't register with any post office website and it never arrived.  To me, EMS = on-line tracking and SAL = lack thereof.  So, any order over $100 for me now goes EMS.

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

 

Agreed! Not worth saving abit on SAL and risking not receiving the ite totally...

[cteno4]

Hey Clem24,

 

For the record, Canada does not have SAL. Only small packet air, small packet ground ...

 

Yuh, I know ... who knows how it was sent?  The tracking number didn't register with any post office website and it never arrived.  To me, EMS = on-line tracking and SAL = lack thereof.  So, any order over $100 for me now goes EMS.

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

 

Agreed! Not worth saving abit on SAL and risking not receiving the ite totally...

 

Sorry I keep having to raise my hand to ask where is this risk of loosing SAL shipments in the first place? That certainly has not been my experience and everyone else ive talked to with SAL between Japan and the US.

 

Its all in how you want to pay for the insurance. with EMS you are paying a lot up front for this insurance. I asked a lot of folks when i started buying japanese trains about 10 years ago about SAL from Japan to the USA and folks who actually used it all had pretty much 100% positive experiences, so i took the chance and started to use it. At first if it was something really expensive i would do EMS, but as i had more experience with it, i too found no issues. almost always came w/in 2 weeks (a couple of larger packages took just over 3.5 weeks but i think this was due to how SAL goes on plane space available) and with little or no package damage (well same dings ems packages got on average). I soon realized that in my first 10 SAL shipments i had already saved like $150, so i was pretty self insured now if i were to loose a train in SAL so i moved to all SAL shipping. over the years its now a few thousand dollar savings so im totally insured if i were to ever loose a package and have lots of money in my pocket that can go to more trains or paying the bills! also if its something that goes OOS fast or rare that were to be lost i could afford to dip into the self insurance money (there is a lot there now) to a much greater degree to pay more to try and get the desired item from an expensive source, whereas ems would just refund the purchase price and i would have to eat the additional cost to replace something rare.

 

so the risk of not getting a package is pretty slim by all accounts ive found for SAL to the US from Japan so its a much better bet to go this way and save a lot of money in the long run. i have the patience to wait 2 weeks for my trains.

 

SAL is also nice as its cheap enough to just get a couple of cheaper things and not pay a fortune in shipping. few tomytec items works out to $8-10 for shipping (use to be less with the better yen-dollar). this is reasonable to grab things when you need them or if you are worried they will go out of stock. you dont have to wait for larger bundle orders this way to get more value out of ems (starts at $15 for 300g package, sal is $5 and thats basically shipping the box itself)

 

As for tracking, thats not all that great. Ive lost a few packages that were tracked in UPS and FedEx both domestically and internationally with work. i got a couple back after some of their digging, but 4 went totally MIA with all their tracking (an they track everything just about everywhere). all but one was documents so no biggie other than delays in the work and the shipment of parts was finally paid for by their insurance after like 5 months of back and forth (read a lot of time and frustration). so even though you have tracking there is no guarantee the package will still not go poof!

 

Sorry to keep harping on this but as long as folks keep bashing SAL for the risk of loosing something without actual proof that its a big risk ill keep raising my hand. Self insurance is also something that folks just dont think about and will keep shelling out for it big time with each shipment. While i would not try to self insure my house, it turns out here that if you are willing to take the risk of ponying up the cost of a lost shipment (and that risk is pretty low by all accounts) for the first half dozen shipments then after that its all gravy.

 

granted SAL will not work for larger boxes (same as ems and more at/after 2kg) and may not be the same between all countries, but if it works well to where you go then its a way to save money for more trains. it works out that its a bummer for some countries (like canada) where it trips the customs fee charge where ems does not. its funny as i would expect with all the attention ems gets it would be the opposite, but seems thats not so! Also some countries may not have local post which is secure enough to trust w/o tracking and signing for things (this does not seem to be the case in a lot of the US though).

 

Its cool if folks want their trains fast and watch them move across the world and are willing to pay for it, but its not good to say that EMS has a better record of loss than SAL does and that its a big risk of loosing money -- i just dont see anyone with data to support this. If anything SAL is a better method of insuring your packages at a much better rate.[/rant]

 

cheers

 

jeff

[clem24]

Yuh, I know ... who knows how it was sent?  The tracking number didn't register with any post office website and it never arrived.  To me, EMS = on-line tracking and SAL = lack thereof.  So, any order over $100 for me now goes EMS.

 

In all likelihood, they sent it by Small Packet Air. Absolutely no tracking number. If he sent it using Ship-In-A-Click (i.e. sending it online), he'd have received a CONFIRMATION number which is completely useless. I believe it's only valid after it gets delivered. Also with online, you can only insure up to $100 (which I believe is also the max for small packet air anyway). Yeah make a claim with the post office.

 

Jeff, obviously Ghan has had much worse experience than you, as he's proved that packages DO get lost. Mind you, to be fair, his shipping method was NOT SAL. When I shipped stuff to him, I was expecting him to go with Small Packet as EMS was more than twice the cost but was surprised when he still chose EMS for this exact reason. I consider myself lucky and have not lost a single package from Japan (either SAL or EMS) but again the reason why I avoid SAL to is avoid getting taxed on it...

 

Well supposedly I lost a package from the UK but being as it was from Haruka_Blue, I doubt he ever even sent it in the first place.

[cteno4]

Clem,

 

im talking here about SAL shipping from Japan to US or other countries. i agree there are so many shipping combinations from one country to another, but its usually in this discussion of having stuff sent from japanese hobby shops and such to other countries that stories of shipping from canada to us or england to canada that come up and really should not reflect on the quality of SAL from Japan. on that route of SAL from japan from know entities, ive heard of very very little instances of things not getting through. in fact im not sure if i have heard of one lost of it was shipping from other countries.

 

The reason i asked Ghan about his SAL shipment was to find out if it was from japan to australia where it was lost. It wasnt, it was canada to australia.

 

has anyone had issues with lost SAL packages from Japan (from a known dealer, seller, etc) to other countries? If so i would love to hear them.

 

sorry i dont mean to yell here, its just every time the issue of EMS vs SAL comes up in buying stuff from Japan the security/tracking issue comes up, but again i have not heard of much in the way of missing SAL packages to countries llke the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, England, etc. My own experience in the us is over 300 SAL packages from Japan to the US and not one missing. That tells me that its pretty good to here at least and i have not heard a list of other places with lots of lost SAL packages.

 

cheers

 

jeff

[The_Ghan]

Jeff,

 

Mate!  Sorry if I offended you.  I just thought SAL was a general term for a slower type of service without tracking.

 

I might even take your advice and give SAL a go on some larger orders - but only from Japan ... 

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[cteno4]

Ghan,

 

no worries, no offense taken at all! Sorry i know i sounded like i was ranting there, and probably was! Just trying to get some clear info on SAL shipping from japan. each country's mail is different, so there is going to be a big difference potentially between any two places. Its just I think (as you though) SAL means untracked and unreliable in general to most folks. From all i know SAL from japan to the us and several other countries is really, really reliable. so much so its a very safe bet and quickly a lot cheaper (and better level of self insurance) to use it (if you can wait the two weeks) than ems.

 

Sorry i whipped this up so much, its really more about just clearing up the SAL from japan issue as its of particular importance to us all and newbies coming into the hobby. for new comers to have a save, cheaper alternative to get into the hobby is a great option. I just want to get down that directly and see what is truth and whats myth. also the idea of self insurance is not natural to many as well, but it can have its benefits in some situations like this!

 

this has become a bigger issue with the high yen as even sal shipping rates are hurting, but my zoo train was $40 to send it ems (wanted it for the cherry blossom show so splurged!) a couple of months back and that really hurt!

 

ive started a thread to try and get data from folks that use it to see if there are any issues with it or not.

 

http://www.jnsforum.com/index.php/topic,6799.0/topicseen.html

 

btw up to 1kg SAL is the best deal with shipping. as you go from 1kg to 2kg it goes up a tad. limit is 2kg for standard small packet SAL from japan. there is a larger SAL rate, but its above EMS around 2kg till i think about 5kg

 

SAL small packet and ems rates here: http://www.1999.co.jp/ems.asp

 

cheers,

 

jeff

[Densha]

I have been looking at some 2nd hand stuff from Popondetta but I'm kinda confused by the rating system.

 

Two examples:

1:

ランク  [走]B[ボ]A[付]-

程　度 [A] (程度の説明)

 

2:

ランク  [走]B[ボ]B[付]A

備考1 96年ロット

程　度 [AB] (程度の説明)

 

I know how to interpret the latest one, this website clearly explains even after translation: http://www.u-shop.co.jp/stk/stk_shp_grade.cfm?cmpny_id=571E&bid=BPODTD

But what the first row of ratings mean is not clear to me.

I assume 96年 means that the product was produced in the year 1996? Most 2nd hand pages don't say anything about a year though.

 

Can anyone clear this up for me?

[mamochan]

From what you gave My translation is that there is a remark on the item and that it is the 1996 version of the item.  Would help more if you included the item you were looking at for context.

[Densha]

1996 is pretty old, I don't know if it would be smart to get it. I presume it got a flywheel since it's the same article number but who knows if it really did?

It's mainly about the [走] , [ボ]  and [付] though, I can't figure out what they mean. Well the first one seems to mean how how it runs on the track. But the second character is computer translated as "button" and the last one as "b". And that doesn't make sense to me.

 

It's about this pair of KiHa 100's (with motor and one without):

http://www.popondetta.jp/asp/cgi-bin/shop.php?forward=gds_inf&back_screen=gds_srh&stock_no=571E010105201141

http://www.popondetta.jp/asp/cgi-bin/shop.php?forward=gds_inf&back_screen=gds_srh&stock_no=571E010105201107

I was looking at something else as well, but it's so damn cheap and it's just a 2-axle car that can't be much wrong with.

[JR 500系]

1996 is pretty old, I don't know if it would be smart to get it. I presume it got a flywheel since it's the same article number but who knows if it really did?

It's mainly about the [走] , [ボ]  and [付] though, I can't figure out what they mean. wrong with.

 

Hi Densha! I've ordered from Popondetta a couple of times hence i roughly get what they meant:

 

[走] = Move = Condition of Motor car. If nil means there is no motor car in that set.

 

[ボ] = Body = Condition of body. Usually if there are stains or damages to the body it will be written here.

 

[付] = Comes with = Usually means accessories, much like decals, picks etc or stuff that usually comes with the set if you bought them NEW mint. A 'D' represents NO accessories, and some remarks are included like sticker sheet half used, no picks, etc.

 

Lastly, the 96年ロット propably means the 1996 released model, or the 1996 type of train that ran.

 

Best to my knowledge though, if i'm wrong please feel free to comment please! Hoepd that helps!

 

[Densha]

Thanks!

I also mean to ask mamochan but the "Remark" is that it is the 1996 version right? (備考1 96年ロット)

In the unpowered set it also says [走]B weird enough. Body is B as well and the "Accessories" says A, does that mean all accessories are included?

Now (almost) everything is clear I'm kinda hesitating considering it's a model from 1996, I don't know if it can lead to any unforeseen disappointments because I don't know if Kato changed something in the model between then and the last run from last year/few years ago.

[mamochan]

I am pretty sure it is the 1996 model that kato made since that model should be of a 1991 model kiha.

[VJM]

I posted a full list of the Popondetta ratings here:

http://www.jnsforum.com/index.php/topic,6650.0.html

[Densha]

Wow! Many thanks!

[clem24]

Just an FYI... For the first part of 2012, Popondetta decided that they were not going to discount the taxes of their published prices anymore. No big deal really. But just got an email from them saying they screwed up and determined that they in fact should still be discounting the taxes! So I just got a nice big Paypal refund of 7,500Y! What to buy now... (sorry been noticeably absent from the forums the past few months as I've been banned from buying for the balance of the year ahahaha).

[Densha]

So that means they are still giving a 5% discount on all items for foreign buyers if I understand correctly?

[Guest Closed Account 1]

Pretty much.

 

Every invoice shows the discount.

 

Then you agree to the email and then they send the Paypal invoice.

[VJM]

Same here.  Got an email informing a refund and just needed to reply to get the refund.  Small amount in my case though.

[Densha]

I'm back with a question: what does "備考2: 外紙傷み" mean? Of course it's a remark, but the 外紙傷み doesn't make any sense in computer translation at all.

It's from this page: http://www.popondetta.jp/asp/cgi-bin/shop.php?forward=gds_inf&back_screen=gds_srh&stock_no=571E010105201253

[JR 500系]

I'm back with a question: what does "備考2: 外紙傷み" mean? Of course it's a remark, but the 外紙傷み doesn't make any sense in computer translation at all.

It's from this page: http://www.popondetta.jp/asp/cgi-bin/shop.php?forward=gds_inf&back_screen=gds_srh&stock_no=571E010105201253

 

Hi Densha!

 

For 備考2: 外紙傷み, i think it means this:

備考2: -> Consideration 2

外紙傷み -> Outer Box cover damage

 

Using my limited Japanese knowledge combined with my Chinese knowledge it should be right, but please correct me if i'm wrong! Hoped that helps ~

[Densha]

I tried translating every kanji separately with google translate and combined with your translation it makes more sense.

Thanks!

[Densha]

You guys know if Popondetta blocks Hotmail or not? If they do I will mail them from a different email address.