Plaza Japan

[cteno4]

Yeah some size products end up bumping your to a bigger box with wasted volume that then dings you in the final shipping charges. I use to play with this with hlj’s virtual warehouse and at times found permutations of two boxes being less than a single box by quite a bit. They use to be able to do the whole file the box live and that made it super easy to play dropping in various combinations to figure out what was going on, but an update took that away unfortunately and you have to fill a box and check chipping then redo it all if you start over.

 

how long does surface for for you japan to Australia? Just curious.

 

jeff

[katoftw]

Last surface shipment was 4-5 weeks. I think I got lucky. Cannot remember the others. But never anywhere near the 3 month.

[Tony Galiani]

Just received an e-mail that they are having a sale.  Noticed some items I might like including some of the Tomytec narrow gauge 1/80 scale items.  Hoping that if I send this note out, someone will buy them and  save me from myself .....

 

https://www.plazajapan.com/model-train/

 

Ciao,

Tony

 

[katoftw]

Did it say when the sale starts? I currently only see 4 railway items.

[Tony Galiani]

The e-mail was entitled Popular Products from Japan this week and I received it this morning and I clicked on the Train link.  A lot of the items have reduced prices but I was wondering if they were really sale items or just a regular discount?  Going back to take a look, some items have small reductions while others have bigger reductions.

 

I see a Kato Thunderbirds set with a US$50 discount and a Kato Swiss electric for US$20 off while other items are only a few dollars off.  I don't use Plaza Japan very often to know if this is typical or a real sale.

 

Tony

[katoftw]

Sounds like their regular weekly email.  Thanks for answering.

[katoftw]

On 1/4/2022 at 9:23 AM, cteno4 said:

how long does surface for for you japan to Australia? Just curious.

 

jeff

My January order arrived today.  Exactly 2 months.

Sent 25/01/2022

Arrived 25/03/2022

 

[Giugiaro]

Anyone is familiar with how out-of-stock items are dealt with in Plaza Japan?

 

I'm just missing the #4 Crossover Turnouts to get my next order, but I've never seem them in stock.

They replied to an e-mail enquiry of mine stating they don't do pre-orders of out-of-stock items, even if they are not discontinued.

 

I could pre-order the same turnouts from ModellbahnShop-Lippe, but they're asking 61€ per piece!

Edited June 5, 2022 by Giugiaro

[katoftw]

I have found Plaza Japan stock levels of track pieces lacking, and they dont seem to restock unless the item goes to pre-order again.  Buy it from another retailer, as you could be awaiting a long time.  Another Japanese retailer would be cheaper than the option you suggested.

[arkh]

It doesn't help this situation, but after placing a recent order, I noticed that they do seem to be getting in certain products sort of on request in the same way that HobbyLink Japan does. For example, all the Sankei kits have a disclaimer of shipping in 7 to 10 business days. When I emailed them about my order, they said it takes that long to get any Sankei products in, so I assume they are placing their own orders for them after customer orders come in.  I'm hoping they start doing this for other products like track pieces as I also have had to look elsewhere for specific ones since Plaza Japan seems to be eternally out of stock of some things. 

[Giugiaro]

2 hours ago, arkh said:

I'm hoping they start doing this for other products like track pieces as I also have had to look elsewhere for specific ones since Plaza Japan seems to be eternally out of stock of some things. 

 

I do hope so as well. ModellBahnShop-Lippe has a reservation system that keeps track of the items you want when out-of-stock. When the items arrive, you get an email with a special link that gives you priority to order such items for a limited amount of time, while they remain out-of-stock for other costumers until all reservations are fulfilled or expire.

 

I suppose they keep track of how many people are expecting a certain product through their e-mail notification service. But this service is not attached to the account and I lost track of what items I asked to be notified of stock availability. It also doesn't seem to give me priority when ordering them, so it's possible both 20-230 and 20-231 have already been in stock, only to be sold out in mere minutes.

 

Other track pieces and sets have gone out of stock at the end of May, but have gone back in stock last week.

 

(Hobby Link Japan lists the formerly mentioned turnouts as being discontinued... as well as the V11 set, and many other KATO track pieces amd sets, telling me HLJ doesn't want to sell these products anymore. I might point this out on the HLJ thread.) 

[cteno4]

Sadly HLJ has not been into trains much the last 5 years or so, it’s now down to just some odds and ends. The good thing is they do direct order/backorder sankei and give a decent discount on them (sankei does not give good margins to retailers I’ve heard).

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Tony Galiani]

Just placed a small order today for some Tomix DMUs and Kato items.  I was doing a search for a Hokkaido DMU which I thought was not available - except for very expensive eBay options - when one of the links showed it available at Plaza Japan.  Purchased it while also comparing prices with Hobbysearch and was surprised to see that the two DMUs were less expensive at Plaza Japan by something like US$12 or so each.  The smaller Kato Dio-Town items came in about US$3 less apiece.  Then at check out the shipping (DHL) was less and no tax charged.  Don't know if this is a fluke but it was certainly a pleasant surprise.  Of course, I just placed the order so it will be interesting to see how it works out.  I plan on doing an update post when I receive the items.  Overall the saving was something around US$40 which seems significant to me.

Ciao,

Tony

[katoftw]

PLaza Japan has always be cheaper than Hobby Search.  And AmiAmi is even cheaper again.  But both AmiAmi and Plaza Japan rarely restock items.  So its a balancing act between paying more versus out-of-stock.  Sometimes the stars just align in your favour, and you get a win like you did this time.

I only order the small spare parts from HS nowadays, as they aren't available elsewhere. Kato and Tomix ASSY parts etc.

Edited January 28, 2023 by katoftw

[Wolf]

I loved Plaza Japan a lot, they ship fast, and they are decent priced. However as @katoftw said, they tend to take forever to restock something and (to me the factor I stopped) they charge in advance for pre-orders.

 

Still, cant go wrong with available stock.

[Giugiaro]

Well, in my case I rather prefer to pay in advance for pre-orders.

I prefer to make the financial decision ahead of time and secure the order, instead of leaving the pay for later and run the risk of having the value unavailable.

This works both for me and for the shop's confidence.

 

The drawback is that, with Plaza Japan, once you place an order there is no way to change it.

Meaning that you can't add more stuff to the pre-order before shipping.

I've found RG-Rokko as a much nicer way to pre-order things along the the way, then send a bulk shipping when justified. Masaharu-san is a super-hero!

[Tony Galiani]

I had just gotten into the habit of ordering from Hobby Search since I don't really order all that much.  But it is probably a good idea to shop around a bit more, at least for readily available items.  Lesson learned.  I also like Model Trains Plus and plan to order via RG-Rokko in the future.

Ciao,

Tony

[Tony Galiani]

Just received an e-mail alert from Plaza Japan indicating they now ship via UPS as well as other options.  On their shipping chart they indicate that DHL, Fed Ex and UPS all have similar delivery times:  2 to 5 days.

No idea how the pricing stacks up but thinking additional shipping options are always a good thing.

Cheers,

Tony Galiani

[bill937ca]

I have noticed a subtle change on Plaza Japan's web site. Items you can order are listed as "Available" not as "In Stock".  Three out of my last four orders Plaza Japan failed to come through with a key item, usually a Greenmax kit. It ends with a message telling me they can't get the ordered item. I am waiting for a fifth order and expecting that I won't get the item.  You might have more luck with trains because they are usually available until they sellout.  Greenmax structure kits are always going out of stock, then being reissued many times with new reservations. It is a common pattern on Hobby Search where out of stocks, sold out, reservation and in stock status is clearer.

 

[1954G]

https://www.plazajapan.com/4949727685137/?setCurrencyId=1

 

If anyone wants a Kato Ouigo (prototype is a low-cost equivalent of TGV Duplex), they are on sale for 18K JPY . 

This is the lowest price I've ever seen on a new Kato TGV. If your layout is long enough, might be worth buying two and running them as a 20-car formation. 

[Tony Galiani]

Just got an e-mail from Plaza Japan as they are having a summer sale.  They also have coupon codes that could be used as well:

DISCOUNT5OO for orders over 5000 yen and DISCOUNT1200 for orders over 10000 yet - 500 yen and 1200 yen off respectively.

 

Ciao,

Tony

 

[N-Osoi]

Does Plaza Japan notify you when something is shipped? I made and paid for an order about two weeks ago now, shipping via Japan Post (Standard Air Registered) and have not heard anything since aside from the order confirmation. Looking at it online says it is 'preparing for shipment' but also when looking at the order in detail says 'items shipped to [address]' ...? I have asked them but just wondering if this is the usual experience, my first order.

Edited May 6 by N-Osoi

[katoftw]

I have had that before.  They didn't have the item in stock.  And took them 3 weeks to tell me they couldn't get it from one of their suppliers.

[N-Osoi]

Thanks. Look like some of the items are no longer in stock... I asked for 2 of some things so maybe there was only 1 left of them. Would be nice of them to tell me a bit sooner!

[RS18U]

Not too impressed with Plaza Japan at the moment.  I placed an order April 30 for 14 items, and all I saw in the order status was 'preparing to ship' just like @N-Osoi.  This time, after reading these last few posts, I clicked on the order only to find 3 are out of stock, and I had to re-order the rest.  Will see what happens now.  Pretty poor communications from what I thought was a reputable company.

 

See update below.

Edited May 8 by RS18U
Update.