SAL Shipping

[Robert46]

Has there recently been a hefty increase in the price of Registered SAL?I had often used it when I wanted some assurance / insurance, but was in no rush for the order.I know Jeff says he has no problems with regular SAL, but perhaps I'm less of a risk taker.I ordered something at L1H and was shocked at what David wanted for Registered SAL.Then tonight I placed an order with Bandai and was amazed to see that EMS was actually listed as a bit cheaper than Registered SAL.Until this I had the impression that Registered SAL was roughly half the cost of EMS.

Yes I had a same thought with you. Seems SAL is getting more expensive and the difference was not significant. Which means you can go for EMS at 4000yen rather than using SAL at 3800yen for a parcel well over 2 kg or less than 2,5 kg. Reading some comments above. DHL rates is getting more competitive, Can someone here share the table of detail rates for DHL , just like EMS & SAL table on Hobby search.. Thanks.

[cteno4]

Most places dont use regular SAL but SAL small packets which has a package size limit of 90cm for L x W x H and max longest length of 60cm and max weight of 2kg. I dont think these have gone up much in the last few years like EMS has. Usually unless you are ordering a huge pile they are shipped small packets if you choose SAL. you can add registration to it for 410yen most places now and get tracking and 6000 yen insurance. This is how i get the vast majority of my orders as i rarely order large boxes full of stuff. When i have gotten to a big order ive broken it into 2 smaller orders to fit in small packet SAL and its half the cost of one EMS or SAL parcel. BTW this is something really nice about Hobby link japan's private warehouse where you can buy stuff and hold it there and then pack your boxes with what you want and see shipping rates. 

 

SAL Parcel economy airmail is for larger parcels and has larger limits than small packets. its prices have gone up it seems, although i rarely use the full SAL as its prices at times were close to EMS and only a deal in odd ranges as the old rates had it going on this odd curve having a couple of sweet spots in weight compared to EMS. Now for shipping to the us it just starts at 2700 yen for the first kg and then adds 1150 yen for each additional kg, so for items less than a kg its cheaper to go ems than SAL Parcel. After that SAL Parcel is a little cheaper than EMS but not by much... It really is not a very good option anymore as it offers half the insurance of EMS and savings is minimal (like 25% or less).

 

HS has a good description of all this and a good chart for shipping costs

 

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/ems

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/faq/104#shpsm

 

DHL seems to be a odder mix of size and weight plus you then negotiate a discount with them depending on your volume and regular type of shipping so i dont think there are clear tables on it. Might ask Nariichi as he is just getting into all this with DHL to see what the options are with him. I think the big key like all the private shippers is the volume the shop does with each private shipper and the deal they can cut. HLJ has a good deal with fedex economy that comes close to ems when ive done it, but their DHL is way more than EMS, so they dont seem to have a good deal with DHL.

 

It use to be great as i could use my wife's corporate fedex for private stuff (perk they had) and it was sometimes a quarter of the walk up price!

 

jeff

[Robert46]

Thanks Jeff. With my place, I do have all options whether it be EMS, SAL, small packet or even DHL. And yes the small packet has advantage with parcel dimensions but only limited for 2 kg weight.

 

Definitely small packet is my best option, but when it comes to a shipment over 2kg such as a parcel of 2 bookcases of train sets I was faced with dilemma. Haha. And with my case, I also need to consider the shipping options I chose will have impact on import tax. So the higher the shipping, the higher the import tax will be. Splitting the parcel into two using small packet is not really effective because the price of the two is just almost the same with SAL.

 

With DHL, I only ever used it (with tracker) when ordered item from Germany and it was fast in my opinion, less than 2 weeks. Therefore if DHL offers good shipping rate from Japan, I may consider to use them in the future.

[bill937ca]

Hobby Search order shipped March 21 arrived April 10, about three weeks which is better than it has been in the past.

[bill937ca]

A DVD shipped March 11 by Plaza Japan arrives May 17th.  Too late for eBay feedback.

[katoftw]

Dont you have 90 days to leave ebay feedback?

[bill937ca]

Dont you have 90 days to leave ebay feedback?

It looks like 60 days. There is a last  60 days display and anything listed on that you leave feedback. The other option is all of 2017 which where I found this parcel.  Feedback for anything coming from Asia is getting to be an issue.

 

I had a small parcel shipped February 25 with tracking by a Hong Kong vendor.  In March I got a notice the tracking had ended and the parcel showed in my mailbox in late May.

Edited May 17, 2017 by bill937ca

[cteno4]

Yes this is a problem these days as the 60 day limit is hard, but it will get extended if to the outside date of the seller's estimated receipt window. Never was a problem until last year when things cheap 99 cent things from asia started taking over two months at times to arrive. I've noticed many now put the estimated receipt date window at min 1 month and max 2 months (and a few a bit more). Average chinaposf has gone from like 10 days last year to 3 weeks now. I think the luster of all these small packages in china post has worn off for the gov and now not getting fast shipping and processing. The ones that do have tracking usually show once they hit the us port of entry they are usually here in 2-5 days, that part has not changed a lot.

 

I try to stay on top of the feedback list to see what is getting closer to 60 days and will contact the seller to see what is up. Many will refund at that point. A couple of have showed up at 3 months, but most that go past 60 days are now lost forever. Up thru last year maybe 2 little dollar packages went poop out of many many, but it's gone up in the last 6-9 months. But it's still like 98% success rate and if it does go poof it's a buck or less and usually it can get refunded if you want to push it.

 

But they do seem to come in waves in the mail box (makes the post person laugh) so at some point in the shipping path things seem to build up and come in small floods. Where that is I don't know.

 

Jeff

[bill937ca]

From the Hobby Search web site   http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/infodetails

 

2017/12/19

 

Regarding the use of SAL shipments, Japan Post has announced that as of 18th December,
they will not be accepting SAL related packages addressed to the following countries,
for undefined period.

- France
- Netherlands
- Spain
- Ukraine
- Gibraltar
- Algeria

We recommend use of EMS for delivery if you live in any of the above countries, 
as we do not know when they will resume acceptance of SAL shipments, 
and there is likely to be further delays after packages are accepted again.

Please note that for currently pending orders and future orders with SAL shipping selected,
addressed to the countries above, we will be holding these until they resume acceptance of these packages.

Japan Post has also announced great delays of packages addressed to the following countries.

- Greece
- Czech Republic
- Brazil
- Peru
- Bahrain
- Kenia

If you live in any of the countries above, we also recommend you to use EMS shipping.

[Pashina12]

I suppose I can understand all of those except France, Holland, Spain, and Gibraltar...

[Kiha66]

Interesting, I wonder what the reason is for the change. 

[bill937ca]

This may be a clue to the reason why. But this dates back to August 2017. Many of the affected countries are on this list.

 

Notification

Delay of Airmail delivery to the Netherlands and other countries
August 31, 2017

AIR FRANCE CARGO and KLM CARGO informed us on August 30 that airmail items bound for the Netherlands and other countries have experienced delay in processing owing to sorting machine trouble at their facility at the Amsterdam airport in the Netherlands.

According to their information, it will take about two weeks for recovery. Delivery is also expected to take more than two weeks.

In this regard, it would be appreciated if you could refrain from sending Airmail to the following countries for the time being.

Thank you for your kind understanding of this situation and cooperation.

 

http://www.post.japanpost.jp/notification/productinformation/2017/0831_01_en.html

[nah00]

1 hour ago, Pashina12 said:

I suppose I can understand all of those except France, Holland, Spain, and Gibraltar...

 

For France it may be something to do with security concerns as well (just a guess, same could apply to the other countries).

[katoftw]

Probably the countries with constant missing or delayed parcels.  Some of those countries are quite poor with state run postal services.

[splifdfx]

Here's the official Japan Post news : http://www.post.japanpost.jp/int/information/2017/1215_01_en.html

 

This is bad news :(
SAL was pretty cheap and convenient.
EMS in France is almost automatically heavily charged with duty taxes, vat and whatnot "record fees".

Edited December 21, 2017 by splifdfx

[Densha]

Are you kidding me?! SAL was the only cheap option left to ship to the Netherlands... all other options get heavily charged with all possible fees. Hopefully they'll get this sorted out soon.

[westfalen]

Could be just over the busy Christmas period? See what happens after New Year.

[splifdfx]

More information from this news @HLJ : https://support.hlj.com/hc/en-us/articles/115004487314-12-18-2017-NOTICE-SAL-Shipments-Temporarily-Stopped-to-France-Spain-Netherlands-Ukraine-Algeria-and-Gibraltar

 

The SAL service is currently discontinued due to the apparent incompetence of AirFrance+KLM Cargo services at the airports...
I'd laugh if this wasn't making me angry.

Edited December 21, 2017 by splifdfx

[Densha]

That was to be expected since Bill pointed out that this has been going on already since August.

 

PostNL already does a bad job at the delivery from the airport to my local address, and now the other Dutch company in the chain messes up as well... way to go.

[Michel]

Any news? ,whas planning on buying a few gundams today but thats not happening :( .

[bill937ca]

26 minutes ago, Michel said:

Any news? ,whas planning on buying a few gundams today but thats not happening :( .

 

Its New Years everything in Japan is shutdown.

[railsquid]

Not these days...

[miyakoji]

21 minutes ago, railsquid said:

Not these days...

Out in the inaka are ATMs and grocery stores open January 1st to 3rd?

[railsquid]

I should clarify: "These days not everything in Japan is shut down over the New Year holiday". Obviously the further away from the major centres you go,  and/or the smaller the store, the more shut down stuff will be.

[Michel]

Alright got it !, thanks for the fast replies.
I hope sal will be up and running soon again ,my hands are getting itchy! 
I cant find any information about this on dutch websites so im not sure how to stay up to date about this matter .