Severe Japan Post SAL/EMS/ePacket suspensions due to COVID-19 + Russia's invasion in Ukraine! -> (Updated March 8 2022)

[Yavianice]

Japan Post announced today, starting April 2nd:

 

ALL SAL SERVICES ARE SUSPENDED (ePacket Light is a SAL product)

 

ALL EMS/ePACKET/Air Mail SERVICES ARE SUSPENDED except for Germany, S.Korea, UK, France, Netherlands and a handful of other countries

 

Packages which are still in transit and have not yet left the country by April 2nd will be returned to sender.

 

April 10 updates:

More countries have been added to the list of exclusions

 

April 23 updates:

All package service that Japan Post offers to the U.S. has been suspended. Packages that have not yet left Japan and are bound for the U.S. are returned to the sender. Only surface mail and letters will be accepted.

 

May 28 updates: 

Bad news for forum members living in Djibouti, Zimbabwe and Fiji (and some others), mail has been suspended. U.S. mail is still suspended, only some letters are getting through.

 

June 4 updates:

EMS services to Spain, Botswana, Switzerland and Curaçao services resumed

 

June 18 updates:

EMS services to the following countries has resumed: 

Estonia, Austria, Croatia, Sweden, Spain, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Norway, Hungary, Bulgaria, Belgium, Poland, Portugal, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg

 

June 30 updates:

EMS has resumed for New Zealand, and Italy. Surface mail resumed for Indonesia and China.

 

March 8 updates:

All Air shipments (Air Parcel, SAL Air, EMS) to Europe have been halted

 

https://www.post.japanpost.jp/int/information/2022/0308_01_en.html

https://www.post.japanpost.jp/int/information/overview_en.html

 

Please see for more information and the full country list here (Updated link from June 30)

 

https://www.post.japanpost.jp/int/information/2020/0630_01_01_en.pdf

 

Edited March 8, 2022 by Yavianice
March 8 updates

[Tony Galiani]

Didn't expect that.  I placed my order a few hours ago and chose the ePacket option.  Since I am in the USA, it looks like I will still get it.  I guess it's a good thing that I decided to work on my new project only using items I already had.  My small equipment order is not at all crucial in the bigger scheme of things however.

 

Tony Galiani

[cteno4]

I guess my order with nariichi San will need to wait a while to go out! No biggie, I’m sure if he does not get it out he will just hold them Till it’s clear.

 

jeff

[katoftw]

This will be a long wait. Not much planes let flying after March 31.

[Socimi]

I've bought from Buyee a Kato 205 Series, and it has been stuck at the Tokyo International Post Office since March 23rd. It's a standard Registered SAL.

 

Does this SAL suspension means that if it doesn't leave the post office by tomorrow it will be returned back to the sender (in this case the Buyee warehouse)?

[roadstar_na6]

Phew, luckily I‘m in Germany 😄

 

EDIT: I usually ship my ZenMarket stuff with AVIA small packages. I can‘t find anything towards them on google, are they different to SAL and will still be shipped?

Edited March 31, 2020 by roadstar_na6

[Cat]

We've been accelerating our purchases in general, anticipating mail suspensions might be likely.  Since USA is still good (for now), we'll put in some big orders tonight.  Having completed solid first drafts of our mainline modules, we have a good sized shopping list of essentials and most all of we'll need to get them mostly completed.  Remaining small details can always be acquired later.
 
Tonight's mission: shopping spree!
 
Shopping spree and a few wee drams of whisky.  I'm still pretty tense and wired from having to go out on an actual grocery run today and brave the crowds.  

[deathletter]

I just started using buyee but I haven't purchasing anything yet. I will have to make sure I choose the proper shipping option if I do find something.

[katoftw]

2 hours ago, Cat said:

We've been accelerating our purchases in general, anticipating mail suspensions might be likely.  Since USA is still good (for now), we'll put in some big orders tonight.  Having completed solid first drafts of our mainline modules, we have a good sized shopping list of essentials and most all of we'll need to get them mostly completed.  Remaining small details can always be acquired later.
 
Tonight's mission: shopping spree!
 
Shopping spree and a few wee drams of whisky.  I'm still pretty tense and wired from having to go out on an actual grocery run today and brave the crowds.  

You sure you should be going on a shopping spree with 24 hours left. Remember date is jp time. Not 18hr slower usa time.

 

Packages need to leave jp by tomorrow or be return to sender.

[Das Steinkopf]

Luckily Oz seems to have dodged a bullet regarding this announcement, that said the exchange rate is nothing short of woeful and is more of a reason not to order than disruption to postal services, I had done a number of pre orders prior to the $AUD collapsing so I will continue with those but I won't be looking to add more for a while. I have a large order coming from AmiAmi via DHL which was shipped a couple of days ago which I am looking forward too, it contains more track as well as some other bits and pieces including the rest of the DX Island Platform parts that I need to build my Tokaido Honsen based layout. The business I manage went into Stand Down mode due to the fact the Federal Government had declared that all indoor leisure and sporting venues had to close, I am using some of my annual leave and I am eligble for the Job Keeper allowance for the duration of the shutdown, sure the money is less than my salary but it will be enough to get through this crisis, I will be utilising the time off well getting some exercise, doing some jobs around the house and most importantly working on a layout to run my trains and maintain my sanity.

[Cat]

55 minutes ago, katoftw said:

You sure you should be going on a shopping spree with 24 hours left. Remember date is jp time. Not 18hr slower usa time.

 

Packages need to leave jp by tomorrow or be return to sender.

 

USA is not on the list of prohibited countries yet.  But want to get in before they change plans later.

https://www.post.japanpost.jp/int/information/2020/0401_02_01_en.pdf

 

**edit**
I'm three-fisted cart filling with HLJ, 1999, and Plaza Japan.
Need a 4th fist now for another dram of whiskey!
< , ^

 

Edited April 1, 2020 by Cat

[bill937ca]

From Model Train Plus on Facebook:

 

As many of you know, Japan Post will be stopping acceptance of international shipments to many countries. At this moments, I have alternative shipment via DHL, but costly at most of the cases. Now I am setting up deal with FEDEX. They gave me better rates especially for Europe and seems cheaper than ordinary EMS by Japan Post. More to be shared later.

 

https://www.facebook.com/modeltrainplus/

Edited April 1, 2020 by bill937ca

[Cat]

Our last HLJ order we went with the FedEx option, it was just a couple of dollars more than breaking it down into 2 or 3 SAL parcels and got here pretty fast.  Not quite DHL fast.

[Cat]

3 hours ago, deathletter said:

I just started using buyee but I haven't purchasing anything yet. I will have to make sure I choose the proper shipping option if I do find something.

We have a ZenMarket package on the way.  When that arrives, I'll be able to post a comparison of the actual costs with Buyee in the Proxy Service thread.  Their fee structures are so different, that I've placed somewhat comparable orders with each so I can then math the final costs.

It is worth noting that in the current situation, Zenmarket has extended their 45 day free holding period to 90 days.

[cteno4]

Dhl was like 180¥ more than fedex and I thought I would just see as I haven’t done dhl with hlj before. Last one was fedex as it was actually A tiny bit cheaper than trying to do it multiple Sal packages.

 

jeff

[Cat]

75% success rate on tonight's mission.  Orders are in with HLJ and Plaza Japan.  Still need to finalise new yard thoughts before adding turnouts to 1999 order.  Now, it's time to sleep on the options and then discuss them when both of us are awake to ponder.

 

[JR 500系]

Oh dear... I have like 3 SAL parcels from AMI and one SAL from Mandarake all stuck at Tokyo …..   😑  Guess i'm screwed.... 

[bill937ca]

Updates from HS

 

2020/04/01    

Due to COVID-19 pandemic, Japan Post has announced temporary suspension/delay of international mail service destined to various countries as of 2nd Apr 2020.

Given the situation, we are only able to use EMS shipment to certain countries.
Unfortunately, SAL shipments cannot be used for the time being.

For detail, please see Japan Post website.

As for processing of your orders, payment will be charged as usual.
However, orders that cannot be shipped will be paused until their corresponding shipping services are resumed.

We greatly appreciate your understanding and patience, and pray everyone stays safe in this difficult time.

 

2020/03/27  

 Amid outbreak of COVID-19, we are still shipping orders as usual.
However, please note that international shipments are delayed/restricted in some countries (especially great delay has been confirmed for shipments to USA and Australia.)

 

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

[Cat]

Similar note from HLJ this morning too:
"Don’t worry about our normal 60-day storage policy. We are here to help and have temporarily lifted the limit to make sure your items are here for you when you are ready."

We're still proceeding with super-accelerated acquisitions here while packages are still coming to the US.  Working on the train modules together is a big part of our 'Stay the F at Home' plans.

[kami_illy]

Having a couple of small boxes on the way as well... by chance. Just checked the only one of them with tracking and it cleared costumes today... kinda last minute escape. Now I hope they all got through. 

[roadstar_na6]

33 minutes ago, kami_illy said:

[...]

As long as we don’t use SAL we’re safe for now here in Germany tho

[deathletter]

On 3/31/2020 at 10:18 PM, Cat said:

We have a ZenMarket package on the way.  When that arrives, I'll be able to post a comparison of the actual costs with Buyee in the Proxy Service thread.  Their fee structures are so different, that I've placed somewhat comparable orders with each so I can then math the final costs.

It is worth noting that in the current situation, Zenmarket has extended their 45 day free holding period to 90 days.

I now have a ZenMarket account. I look forward to your comparisons.

[bill937ca]

From Model Train Plus on Facebook

 

Now I am ready to ship via Fedex. Here is brief comparison with Japan Post (EMS) and DHL.

 

To Hong Kong
Fedex shipping is the cheapest compared with EMS or DHL.

 

To Western Europe (UK, DE, BE, ES, FR, IT, NL)
Fedex shipping is the lowest rates. Depending on the weight range, Fedex rate is even lower than ePacket.

 

To U.S.A
DHL is a bit better for lightweight parcel. Fedex rate is better if the parcel exceeds 1kg.

 

To Australia
DHL is better for light weight parcel up to 1.5kg. Fedex is better for more than 1.5kg weight.

 

Please let me know if you like to participate testing Fedex service. Especially it will worth a try as postal service may have service disruption at most of the countries.

 

*Please note both DHL and Fedex rate changes frequently as their fuel surcharge rate changes.

**If your delivery location is remote area, DHL or Fedex shipping may not be available.

 

https://www.facebook.com/modeltrainplus/

Edited April 4, 2020 by bill937ca

[Sheffie]

I just put in an order with Hobby Search and the system would only let me use EMS shipping. Other methods will be held up until Japan Post announces the resumption of regular service. 

[Cat]

I got that from Hobby Search too. 

HLJ, the FedEx option was at a good price. 

Plaza Japan shipped with whatever it is they use.

Small stash awaiting arrival at ZenMarket, they also use FedEx or will at least hold free of charge for the duration.