DX VF-25 Renewal Series (Part III)

[close313]

So how does our ranking go?

CDJAPAN - Fair item prices and fair shipping prices. Actually limits to 1 per customer some rounds and has lengthy windows.

HLJ - Cheapest item and shipping price, but incompetent when it comes to putting up PO's. Random times. Random systems and naming. Short to long windows. May list more.

AA - Cheap item price, fairly expensive shipping price, inflexible. Micro windows. One and done.

Hobbysearch/Madeinjapan - Later random PO's but fairly good prices. No sure on their shipping? Short windows. One and done.

NY - Inflated item price after first run. Inflated shipping prices. Bad communication. Multiple runs of other peoples stock. Short windows. Eventually drops price at release.

Anything I miss? haha

I'm still confused about HLJ. The PO said limited to 1, but they didn't limit it to 1 in the actual form. They were expecting people to go on the honor system? They don't get most of the stock they are promised. Plus people created fake accounts to get even more?

Sorry, but this is their issue. They should know how to handle these kinds of orders by now and actually limit it to 1 if that's what they can handle.

Actually HS was the cheapest this time. It was Y11900 and it appeared a short while after 4pm. And did so for a few of the PO's I've taken part in (YF-25,29,30 and this) so i think they follow the time set but not as exact as amiami. Shipping cost at HS follows the standard like Amiami and HLJ.

In short it's just the same as Amiami with the super short window and just a little bit behind the pre sales time. Additionally for HS, once it's gone its probably gonna stay that way till release.

There's Anime Export but I have not had any experience with them before. They seem to sell out fast at 0% discount too even with the need to pay in advance like CDJ

[Gakken85]

I've heard mixed things about AE.

But yeah that sounds good about HS. I usually don't hang around to check on their POs.

Edited August 5, 2014 by Gakken85

[Kanedas Bike]

Hobby Search sometimes, granted rarely, re-opens orders. But you're both right, it may as well be that they don't since it happens so infrequently.

-b.

[chyll2]

HLJ - Cheapest item and shipping price, but incompetent when it comes to putting up PO's. Random times. Random systems and naming. Short to long windows. May list more.

if at all, HLJ style of listing can work in favor or against on both collector and scalper. So imo, they earn neutral scoring or rating for this aspect.

[Sandman]

So how does our ranking go?

CDJAPAN - Fair item prices and fair shipping prices. Actually limits to 1 per customer some rounds and has lengthy windows.

HLJ - Cheapest item and shipping price, but incompetent when it comes to putting up PO's. Random times. Random systems and naming. Short to long windows. May list more.

AA - Cheap item price, fairly expensive shipping price, inflexible. Micro windows. One and done.

Hobbysearch/Madeinjapan - Later random PO's but fairly good prices. No sure on their shipping? Short windows. One and done.

NY - Inflated item price after first run. Inflated shipping prices. Bad communication. Multiple runs of other peoples stock. Short windows. Eventually drops price at release.

Anything I miss? haha

I'm still confused about HLJ. The PO said limited to 1, but they didn't limit it to 1 in the actual form. They were expecting people to go on the honor system? They don't get most of the stock they are promised. Plus people created fake accounts to get even more?

Sorry, but this is their issue. They should know how to handle these kinds of orders by now and actually limit it to 1 if that's what they can handle.

CDJapan actually has higher than normal shipping. With a couple of valks i ordered from them, i was charged $60 EMS each.

[ULessa]

Soooooo we have to cancel any extra VF-25S on HLJ? Seems kinda harsh to just ban peoples account without putting out any actual notice to the buyers.

[Gakken85]

Hmm it might be based off location. Theirs and yours.

If you don't cancel them, they will - seems like.

I think they are more worried about getting 1 unit to more people than keeping people who ordered multiples happy.

Edited August 5, 2014 by Gakken85

[Kanedas Bike]

Hmm it might be based off location. Theirs and yours.

If you don't cancel them, they will - seems like.

I think they are more worried about getting 1 unit to more people than keeping people who ordered multiples happy.

And kudos to HLJ for that.

-b.

[no3Ljm]

Kudos as well. I believe HLJ kinda stopping the trend that people do everywhere esp scalpers that buying multiples and sell it above the MSRP price. I mean look at some of the major auction site in Japan. The 25S is just opened for PO recently and a lot of people already put it there for auction with marked-up prices. So putting 1 unit per buyer really helps a lot even though HLJ has mistake on not putting the 1 unit limit notice on the item page.

[Gakken85]

I think they put the notification... they just didn't force you to honor it like they should have it.

The cart should have prevented you from putting more than 1 in.

Thats why they shouldn't ban people off this.

If you don't lock your door people will steal haha.

Edited August 5, 2014 by Gakken85

[wmkjr]

That's strange. When it reopened for orders, I looked at the whole page prior to ordering to see if there was a limit but there was no indicators saying limit 1 per customer (actually it had a qty selection dropdown). Anyways, hopefully everything gets straightened out.

Edited August 5, 2014 by wmkjr

[wm cheng]

So how does our ranking go?

CDJAPAN - Fair item prices and fair shipping prices. Actually limits to 1 per customer some rounds and has lengthy windows.

HLJ - Cheapest item and shipping price, but incompetent when it comes to putting up PO's. Random times. Random systems and naming. Short to long windows. May list more.

AA - Cheap item price, fairly expensive shipping price, inflexible. Micro windows. One and done.

Hobbysearch/Madeinjapan - Later random PO's but fairly good prices. No sure on their shipping? Short windows. One and done.

NY - Inflated item price after first run. Inflated shipping prices. Bad communication. Multiple runs of other peoples stock. Short windows. Eventually drops price at release.

Anything I miss? haha

I'm still confused about HLJ. The PO said limited to 1, but they didn't limit it to 1 in the actual form. They were expecting people to go on the honor system? They don't get most of the stock they are promised. Plus people created fake accounts to get even more?

Sorry, but this is their issue. They should know how to handle these kinds of orders by now and actually limit it to 1 if that's what they can handle.

I wouldn't put NY at the bottom (IMHO) - for people who live in countries with high customs & duties, they are often the cheaper alternative (ie; Canadians). I often save $40-$50 per valk ordering from NY because they declare gift and a lower value on their packages. Also, often they are the only place I could order from that still had stock of the renewals even at a slightly inflated price. I've never had any luck getting renewals from any of the other places.

[Gakken85]

Fair enough. Their multiple runs are a + not a -... even though the price increase sucks, they have to buy that stock.

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

hobby search is at the top in terms of pricing shipping and customer service.

NY is at the BOTTOM. (no offense to wmcheng) they are trash... but i'll pre-order from them

Edited August 5, 2014 by davidwhangchoi

[Gakken85]

Updated!

CDJAPAN - Fair item prices and fair to mid shipping prices. Actually limits to 1 per customer some rounds and has lengthy windows.

Hobbysearch - Cheap item price, cheap shipping. Good customer service.One and done.

HLJ - Cheapest item and shipping price, but incompetent when it comes to putting up PO's. Random times. Random systems and naming. Short to long windows. May list more.

AA - Cheap item price, fairly expensive shipping price, inflexible. Micro windows. One and done.
Madeinjapan - Later random PO's but fairly good prices. No sure on their shipping? Short windows. One and done.

Anime Export - Collecting data.

NY - Inflated item price after first run. Inflated shipping prices. Bad communication. Multiple runs of other peoples stock. Short windows. Eventually drops price at release.

[neoexcaliber]

Hi MWers

More bad news for people who placed multiple orders from HLJ. It seems that they will indeed enforce 1 piece per account policy very soon. And people who don't cancel thier multiples may get their account banned.

This is the email I received from them today:

So....anyone believe me now? :0

I don't think it's fair to lock accounts that ordered more than 1 unit coz there were no limits mentioned or enforced this time. In the past, they locked accounts that made multiple orders when the limits were set to 1. As in if someone orders an item 3 times to bypass the limit. I'm all for reducing multiple units to a single unit for all orders, but I have no idea how they're gonna do it and inform the buyers. Worst case scenario; they cancel the order, you point out their mistake, they apologize but you still won't get that order back in even if you want just one.

[Valk-1S]

I don't think it's fair to lock accounts that ordered more than 1 unit coz there were no limits mentioned or enforced this time. In the past, they locked accounts that made multiple orders when the limits were set to 1. As in if someone orders an item 3 times to bypass the limit. I'm all for reducing multiple units to a single unit for all orders, but I have no idea how they're gonna do it and inform the buyers. Worst case scenario; they cancel the order, you point out their mistake, they apologize but you still won't get that order back in even if you want just one.

yup agree with you as what you said. They should just alter all orders to 1 piece and send an email to let those know.

However, just incase for those who have multiples I would edit the order to 1, just to make sure you don't lose that preorder or get banned.

[SaitouSad]

Hi MWers

More bad news for people who placed multiple orders from HLJ. It seems that they will indeed enforce 1 piece per account policy very soon. And people who don't cancel thier multiples may get their account banned.

This is the email I received from them today:

Quote

Thanks for writing. We're sorry to see that you placed extra orders for that item. The shopping cart limited that item to one per customer.

Our orders department will soon be canceling extra orders for this item. Accounts that placed extra orders may be locked. We recommend you cancel your extra orders as soon as possible.

Thank you for your understanding, and for shopping with us.

Best Regards,

Mark Kutsugi

HobbyLink Japan

http://www.hlj.com

Except the shopping cart did no such things. Some of us here were able to get multiples through. Unless what he meant to say was that the shopping cart was supposed to limit that item to one per customer.

Anyway, I guess it's best to be cautious about this all the same and remove the extras. Still I think it will be fair if they actually asked us to do it via email, even if it meant threatening with account closure

[Gakken85]

You've all been very bad collectors.

[neoexcaliber]

I got a reply to my second email, but it's pretty much what they've been telling everyone.

Edited August 6, 2014 by neoexcaliber

[CharlesXavier]

My friend who ordered 3 pieces two times received an email yesterday stating that they can only allow maximum 3 pieces for him.

In the first place he order two times as he did not receive the confirmation email and thought his order did not go through.

So he cancelled his order for 1 of the 3 piece orders and maintained 3 pieces for the other.

As for me, no emails notification or request to reduce my order of 2 pieces. So I am keeping still for now.

[SaitouSad]

^Oh man............ I wish I saw this sooner...

[erikos0311]

Dammit!! I just cancelled 3 of my 4 Ozma's and kept only 1.. . If I would've seen this post, I would've kept at least 2... O well, I'm good to go cause I just remembered I have one with NY.

[CharlesXavier]

I am not sure if different people received different replies but it will be good if fellow members can step out and let everyone know if they have received email from HLJ for their multiple orders.

Another friend just mentioned he received an email to reduce his order to 1. He ordered 5.

So it now seems pretty inconsistent. Perhaps HLJ is picking out those who ordered a lot.

I am hoping those who ordered 2-3 remain safe though.

It's not too much to get a little extra for this extremely hard to get item.

if HLJ opens the balance for another round of orders, I think it will only benefit resellers who easily have 10-20 accounts registered with different names or addresses

[neoexcaliber]

I am not sure if different people received different replies but it will be good if fellow members can step out and let everyone know if they have received email from HLJ for their multiple orders.

Another friend just mentioned he received an email to reduce his order to 1. He ordered 5.

So it now seems pretty inconsistent. Perhaps HLJ is picking out those who ordered a lot.

I am hoping those who ordered 2-3 remain safe though.

It's not too much to get a little extra for this extremely hard to get item.

if HLJ opens the balance for another round of orders, I think it will only benefit resellers who easily have 10-20 accounts registered with different names or addresses

To be fair, they should reduce it to 1 for everyone. No 2, no 3. Just one.

[technoblue]

I wouldn't go that far---saying that another round would only benefit resellers. Assuming that the lack of checkout limits was a configuration error on the server, then a second round of orders should go smoother because those checkout limits should be in place.

I find this turn of events positive. It emphasizes the message that HLJ representatives were sending out earlier, and it shows that they have a plan to get all customers at least one 25S. It is interesting that a few customers are getting to keep up to three, though.

Edited August 6, 2014 by technoblue

[CharlesXavier]

Well, let's see if my friend who has been asked to reduced to 3, gets another email.

for his benefit, I hope not, since he wasn't so lucky to score from different sites like some members here.

i guess those who have managed to get multiple orders must be saying their prayers hard now. lol

[brouken]

Got this email from HLJ today:

Thanks for writing.

It looks like we may receive very limited stock of this extremely popular item. Our hope is to be able to supply at least one per customer, but we won't know for sure until stock arrives later this month.

Thanks for your understanding, and for shopping with us!

Best Regards,

Mark Kutsugi

HobbyLink Japan
http://www.hlj.com

Bad news is that they may not have enough stock to meet even those who pre-ordered just one. Good news (?) is that they will receive stock later this month (??). Is HLJ getting the VF-25s a few months earlier?

[neoexcaliber]

Got this email from HLJ today:

Bad news is that they may not have enough stock to meet even those who pre-ordered just one. Good news (?) is that they will receive stock later this month (??). Is HLJ getting the VF-25s a few months earlier?

Another forum member pointed out that HLJ seems to be confusing the VF-25S with the VF-25F restock due this month. The restock did not have a quantity limit either.

[CharlesXavier]

I can imagine HLJ is flooded by emails asking for clarification on VF-25S orders and also emails of complaints for allowing multiple orders.

The customer service staff must be overwhelmed and maybe confused now.

[wmkjr]

That sucks that they might have been confused with the two different orders. Maybe they should've used the reference codes to verify. BAN971691 (Ozma) and BAN964807 (Alto).

Edited August 6, 2014 by wmkjr

[Gakken85]

Wow. What a royal frakk up.

I'm not sure what's up with HLJ. I assume they have a small staff that are paid fairly well and care about the company... but damn they seem so confused half the time.

1. They don't know names of PO's. I emailed them about a Godmars SOC and they had no idea what it was called, or even that it was currently listed.

2. They don't know shipping times or dates. They seem to be all over the place.

3. They can't handle a 1 per customer limit.

4. They don't know about restocks/reissues. I asked them about the King Grimlock re-issue and they had no clue it existed and kept talking about the old item.

Edited August 6, 2014 by Gakken85

[Kurisama]

Jeez, relax Gakken - you think the staff know every single item in the warehouse? No, I'm pretty sure they don't. Whenever I've had any issues (very rarely over the last 15+ years) I state the order number or product number and there is no issue sorting it out, at all.

They're human beings with a butt-tonne of logistical crap to wade through - give them a break.

[matic]

I'm gonna be piss if I don't get one because I stop looking assuming I was good to go.

[Gakken85]