Plaza Japan

[bill937ca]

Plaza Japan, long known for its eBay site with pricing in US dollars also has a Plaza Japan website with pricing in Japanese Yen.

 

Website (with Japanese Yen pricing)     https://www.plazajapan.com/n-scale/

 

eBay Store    https://www.ebay.com/str/plazajapan?_dmd=1&_sop=10&rt=nc

 

https://www.plazajapan.com/about-us/

[cteno4]

@bill937ca Thanks Bill I added this info to the first post of this topic as well.

 

jeff

[gavino200]

Is the mirror site cheaper? Different selection?

 

[bill937ca]

About a year ago I found the selection on eBay was larger. You can also shop by brand there. As for cheaper I haven't found a definitive answer.

 

The protections of eBay may be comforting for those newly venturing into buying trains off-shore.

[katoftw]

Ebay shop version has been very expensive in the past. And the shipping costs were disgusting before covid. Hate to look at them now.

[cteno4]

Actually their shipping Sal to the us was not horrible, just started at like $6 not like $4 for smaller stuff, but were pretty good if you combined things and asked for combined shipping Sal. Some things like the tomytec truck sets were always cheapest including shipping to ship from plaza than other regular sources. They also at times have stuff sold out everywhere else. Also just reliable for ebay as well as ebay sellers seem to come and go and can start out great and just decline with time. Folks have used them a lot on the us for a small premium to get ebay protections as Bill noted and worth it for them to get into Japanese stuff with some comfort for a pretty small surcharge.

 

jeff

[disturbman]

From what I have seen on their website, their shipping is more expensive than HS by 3 or 4€. Item price is about similar, some are more expensive, some are less expensive. It's more or less a wash in terms of costs. They are not my favorite option but they can be a good contender for items that are out-of-stock at other suppliers.

[bill937ca]

 

1 hour ago, disturbman said:

They are not my favorite option but they can be a good contender for items that are out-of-stock at other suppliers.

 

I find they have items often after HS is sold out which helps many times on anew project.

[cteno4]

My experience as well on having stuff more out of stock elsewhere.

 

a few years back our club wanted like a dozen or so buildings. Plaza was the only source with all of them in stock. We contacted jun and he got us the cheapest price Sal in two boxes for shipping (it was just at that weight and size that it was pushing the Sal price high in one box), was about the same overall cost if we did a similar 2 box order from HS, but HS did not have them all in stock. 

 

jeff

[bill937ca]

I find right now there shipping is way better than HS time wise and one of the few alternatives to DHL>

[brill27mcb]

It seems that it is different in Australia and Germany, but I have always found the Plaza Japan prices (and total cost with shipping) very competitive to the U.S.  The COVID-related shipping mess has changed that situation for many sellers. Usually I would use the Hobby Search and Plaza Japan prices (and total costs) as baselines to compare others. A lot of Hobby Search listings sell out quickly, which is annoying. When I can't order everything I want in one shipment, that affects the total cost dramatically and often causes Hobby Search to not get my order. Also, Plaza Japan has always been cheapest for me for Tomytec powered chassis.

 

Rich K.

[katoftw]

Well since you are in the U.S. currency conversion costs/fees may make it a viable cheaper option for U.S. buyers. That 2%-5% difference on final all in costs depending on payment option changes things up.

[cteno4]

Well not a cost to make the shop very expensive. Can you you use non exchange fee credit cards to avoid the international transaction fees, or are they not around in Australia?

 

jeff

[katoftw]

Situations are different. Good for you if eBay PJ is one of the cheaper options.

Edited April 25, 2021 by katoftw

[arkh]

I was pretty excited to try PlazaJapan but I haven't had a great experience with them so far. My first order, they had to cancel it a week later as they wrongly listed the item I purchased as still being in-stock. I actually contacted them because I noticed the item went out of stock a couple of days after I ordered it. At the time they told me if it was in-stock when I ordered it, they definitely have it. A few days later they messaged me to let me know that the item is out of stock and they've tried asking around but they can't get it from any of their suppliers. Okay, no big deal but...

I'm suspecting the same thing is happening with my second attempt at purchasing through them as it's been over a week with no movement on my order and I've noticed a couple of items in my order are currently out of stock. They haven't gotten back to me yet, but I presume they are trying to see if they can get the items from their suppliers first before letting me know either way (similar to what happened last time). Of course, I'm just assuming based on my first experience but not a great impression so far.

I like that with HLJ, you at least start out knowing that an item is out of stock but that they will try to get it for you instead of thinking the item is in stock and then suddenly being surprised that they are trying to order the item for you and that you'll have to wait a bit.

EDIT: I did end up getting a message from PlazaJapan and it is what I suspected. They only told me about one of the items being out of stock that they are waiting to get in from their supplier, but I imagine there were some other items that they also had been waiting to get back in stock before shipping my order out. Not a huge deal but I wish there was more transparency with them so that I'm not just waiting and wondering why my order hasn't shipped.

Edited September 14, 2021 by arkh

[bill937ca]

Information on Plaza Japan's shipping. Right now this is my only source for Economy Air.

 

https://www.plazajapan.com/pages/ordering-information.html#shipping-info

 

Covid 19 updates:

 

https://www.plazajapan.com/information-regarding-covid-19/

[JR 500系]

It's great to see they finally have a home page of their own, guess they're done paying fees to ebay! Those kids sweaters are so nice, wished i could wear them!  😛

[bill937ca]

For some time now the Plaza Japan eBay shop has been on hiatus.  This was just extended to December 28. For now its only their website...

[katoftw]

Is anyone having joy with their shipping?

 

4x 1/72 airplane model kits. Weight almost nothing and 15x10x5cm boxes.

 

Regualr shipping 8000jpy! WTF? Japan to Australia. 9600jpy for the priority option.

 

The items are worth 945jpy and 1575jpy each. Shipping that high outdoes the low prices.

 

Might be a question for AUS/NZ residents only.

Edited January 2, 2022 by katoftw

[beakaboy]

1 hour ago, katoftw said:

Is anyone having joy with their shipping?

 

4x 1/72 airplane model kits. Weight almost nothing and 15x10x5cm boxes.

 

Regualr shipping 8000jpy! WTF? Japan to Australia. 9600jpy for the priority option.

 

The items are worth 945jpy and 1575jpy each. Shipping that high outdoes the low prices.

 

Might be a question for Oz residents only.

my last order in mid oct 2021 from Plaza was sale specials of 1 Tomix 6 car set and 1 Kato 4 car set. DHL was 2700 jpy.  I find it strange  that DHL is usually the cheapest shipping option to NZ from Plaza, but Hobby search orders with DHL work out alot more. 

[katoftw]

Thanks for replying.

 

DHL was the cheaper option at 8000jpy. FedeX was the higher option.

 

Just thought that the weight was very low, and volume shouldn,'t have got it up to 8000jpy.

 

After some more digging. 1x of these models is 2700-2800jpy to send. And 2x is 2800-2900 to send.

 

The rates change slightly, but guessing is is a percentage of value of the items for insurance.

 

So I'll just buy 2x models at a time. Still high for basicly 300g combined. Will have to do until I can find a better retailer.

 

The only bonus is that the parcel will arrive in 5 days.

Edited January 2, 2022 by katoftw

[brill27mcb]

I find Plaza Japan to be a good retailer. In these times, it seems as though different sellers in Japan have access to varying limited shipping options, and these also vary by the country being shipped to. It has certainly suppressed my ordering of things from overseas to the U.S. I look forward to things getting back to a more normal situation.

 

Rich K.

[cteno4]

Have you tried dropping them a note? Maybe that a weight or size data point for one or all of the items is in error and just calculating a silly rate.

 

jeff

[katoftw]

I might try that Jeff, when holiday season ends.

[katoftw]

So in the end, I checked HobbySearch for the stock.  Assuming they wouldn't have most. And I didn't originally look as they are between 112-225jpy (15%) more expensive to buy from.  In the end, HS has 90% of what I want.

 

Their shipping is a follows:-

1x-2x = 1010jpy surface 1x-3x months

3x-5x = 1600jpy surface 1x-3x months

6x-?? = 7200jpy EMS priority 5 days

 

So I'll just order 2x or 4x at a time.

 

The models end up being around 35x20x5cm and 250-300g each. A little more volume and weight than I originally thought.

 

Spend and extra 300-600jpy on 2x-4x items, save 6400-7000yen in shipping.

 

 

 

Edited January 3, 2022 by katoftw