Plaza Japan - what it's really all about

[Jason1145 4683]

Make Japanese friends who visit Japan and bring stuff back for you, simple 🥳

[alvinlwh 7030]

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[alvinlwh 7030]

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[toyolien 5571]

11 minutes ago, alvinlwh said:

That is true but their postage is also proportional to weight, with no minimum postage. I had paid as little as <£1 for small light items. So just buy 1 or 2 items for a massive saving over PJ.

Can't argue with that. Their postage is great. If I was into scale crawlers or drifting, then I'd definitely use them a lot more.

[alvinlwh 7030]

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[alvinlwh 7030]

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[nockiboo 13]

Here is the response I got back from PJ.. FYI..

 

Thank you for contacting us.

We wish to sincerely apologize for the sudden increase of Tamiya RC pricing. 

Our prices are based on a number of factors, including the cost of items and the cost of operating our business, inventory stock, supply availability, and market demand. 

We have fund a way to minimize the price increasing while still souring from our suppliers for possibly competitive price.

Your understanding and support is greatly appreciated.


Best regards, 
PlazaJapan.com
E-mail: info@plazajapan.com

[toyolien 5571]

8 minutes ago, nockiboo said:

Here is the response I got back from PJ.. FYI..

 

Thank you for contacting us.

We wish to sincerely apologize for the sudden increase of Tamiya RC pricing. 

Our prices are based on a number of factors, including the cost of items and the cost of operating our business, inventory stock, supply availability, and market demand. 

We have fund a way to minimize the price increasing while still souring from our suppliers for possibly competitive price.

Your understanding and support is greatly appreciated.


Best regards, 
PlazaJapan.com
E-mail: info@plazajapan.com

Hnmm. Bit of a vague answer. Market demand may have some truth in it though. 

[Kpowell911 2164]

I now regret not buying every TRF Damper #42354. Although truth be told Ive not missed them on any of my RCs so Ive clearly being wasting money on Tamiya Blue goodness

[nowinaminute 3323]

On 6/16/2024 at 6:20 PM, alvinlwh said:

That is true but their postage is also proportional to weight, with no minimum postage. I had paid as little as <£1 for small light items. So just buy 1 or 2 items for a massive saving over PJ.

Yes they make a good option if they happen to have what you need.

With the effective demise of Plaza, it's one of the few genuinely cheap options left. RC mart having long become pointless for most things.

[alvinlwh 7030]

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[Shergar 141]

Atees randomly cancelled an order for me last week, full refund, no explanation???

[alvinlwh 7030]

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[Sogogi 3358]

I had 2 orders that have been made in 2 days. After a week or so, latest order gets shipped out while older order is still preparing for shipment.

I thought they fulfill orders in chronological order but i guess not.

[Raman36 1711]

On 6/14/2024 at 10:10 AM, Sogogi said:

I should have ordered stuff last week :facepalm

 

On 6/15/2024 at 9:19 PM, Sogogi said:

I wonder if Tamiya did not like the pricing… so they increased prices for tamiya products? (Because of what happened to banzai)

This has Tamiya HQ stink all over it. The regional Tamiya office in EU, US probably complained about their pricing and Tamiya cut them off like Banzai

[Pylon80 3414]

Looking on the bright side, with PJ's demise Amazon.com now looks pretty attractive! But the price are yoyo-ing so much you need the add-on that monitors the prices to know what you are looking at.

[Alex97 455]

They've really up their prices, all good things have to come to an end unfortunately. 

[Pylon80 3414]

I hadn't ordered from RC Mart in a while and I was pleased to find pretty low prices on most things as well as free shipping above 75$ (and only 5$ below). So for me, RC Mart will be the new PJ...

[Kowalski86 4073]

On 6/15/2024 at 9:19 PM, Sogogi said:

I wonder if Tamiya did not like the pricing… so they increased prices for tamiya products? (Because of what happened to banzai)

I would guess that it's either Tamiya or increased demand. Anytime that TCS starts up people buy hop ups like mad. Heck, I was able to sell a couple of used Tamiya springs when it started up last year, just some springs!

Ah well, more the reason to skip out on on-road stuff if cheap hop-ups are going the way of the dodo.

[alvinlwh 7030]

1 hour ago, Pylon80 said:

I hadn't ordered from RC Mart in a while and I was pleased to find pretty low prices on most things as well as free shipping above 75$ (and only 5$ below). So for me, RC Mart will be the new PJ...

Eh I think the $5 only applies to SSS items.

https://www.rcmart.com/smart-shipping-saver

If your basket includes any item(s) that is not SSS, postage will be higher. This include their so called 'free' items.

Also, the free postage only applies to SSS items. They will not post a kit for free. 

Finally RCM is not that good for UK as they too charge VAT on check out, even on "free" items and to make matter worse, they charge VAT pre discount. 

Having said that, their sticker price is indeed the lowest of the HK 3. They will be my first choice if I am to buy in person in HK.

[alvinlwh 7030]

52 minutes ago, Kowalski86 said:

I would guess that it's either Tamiya or increased demand. Anytime that TCS starts up people buy hop ups like mad. Heck, I was able to sell a couple of used Tamiya springs when it started up last year, just some springs!

Ah well, more the reason to skip out on on-road stuff if cheap hop-ups are going the way of the dodo.

There are still some cheap avenues if you know where to look. Alternatively, fly to HK/JP to buy in person. 😉

I used to do that and the savings is equal to my flights.

[nowinaminute 3323]

2 minutes ago, alvinlwh said:

Eh I think the $5 only applies to SSS items.

https://www.rcmart.com/smart-shipping-saver

If your basket includes any item(s) that is not SSS, postage will be higher. This include their so called 'free' items.

Also, the free postage only applies to SSS items. They will not post a kit for free. 

Finally RCM is not that good for UK as they too charge VAT on check out, even on "free" items and to make matter worse, they charge VAT pre discount. 

Having said that, their sticker price is indeed the lowest of the HK 3. They will be my first choice if I am to buy in person in HK.

It's a real shame. Before Brexit and when there was still a gift allowance, and they weren't profiteering off the postage, it was one of the best for UK customers. Could pretty much order a kit out of parts and save money!

The postage stings the most because I'm pretty sure Chinese business still get subsidised domestic postage and favourable rates here, because you can still buy something on Aliexpress for £3 with free postage when it would cost more than £3 in postage alone just to send to the next city within the UK!

I missed the golden age when Banzai was a thing.

Plaza was great but the postage went expensive not long after I started using them, and not long after it went back to normal, they started charging VAT and put their prices up 

[nowinaminute 3323]

2 minutes ago, alvinlwh said:

There are still some cheap avenues if you know where to look. Alternatively, fly to HK/JP to buy in person. 😉

I used to do that and the savings is equal to my flights.

If you have any tips, let me know!

Best I can see at the moment is Asiatees but seem to be a lot of stuff out of stock at the moment.

[nowinaminute 3323]

On 6/17/2024 at 10:37 PM, Shergar said:

Atees randomly cancelled an order for me last week, full refund, no explanation???

Finding they are OOS of a lot of stuff I've wanted recently, too.

Was after stuff like DT03 CVA set, CVA short sets, DF03 spring set etc. 

[Pylon80 3414]

1 hour ago, alvinlwh said:

Eh I think the $5 only applies to SSS items.

https://www.rcmart.com/smart-shipping-saver

If your basket includes any item(s) that is not SSS, postage will be higher. This include their so called 'free' items.

Also, the free postage only applies to SSS items. They will not post a kit for free. 

Finally RCM is not that good for UK as they too charge VAT on check out, even on "free" items and to make matter worse, they charge VAT pre discount. 

Having said that, their sticker price is indeed the lowest of the HK 3. They will be my first choice if I am to buy in person in HK.

I think I got lucky and all my items were SSS.

Kits are easy: Amazon.com have my back (and my money). You just have to watch them a lot because the prices will go up and down by 30$ over the course of the same day.

For motors and ESC's, RCM are terrible, at least for my Hobbywing stuff. But these are 15% off during black Friday on AMain... Every year like clockwork.