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Long Time Question I've had about Shipping
What's the gist of those Shipping terms like SAL and EMS?
Is it just like 2-Day Shipping Vs Standard Shipping on Amazon or more like Shot out of a cannon towards your general direction Vs Gently escorted to your doorstep by Angels form on High? |
SAL is advertised as up to 45 days. And it CAN take that long sometimes, but on average, it's about 2-3 weeks. Sometimes as soon as 10 days.
EMS is 3-5 days guaranteed. And while we're on the subject, DHL is stupid fast for places that offer it. I get stuff from DHL in 30-40 hours on average. Not like Amazon 2-day vs standard. Because I've gotten stuff shipped standard and would still take only 2 days. Amazon's 2 day is guaranteed though, so if it takes longer, you can complain and they'll offer you credit or something. If the difference in cost between SAL and EMS is 500 yen or less, go with EMS. Totally worth it. |
Most stores explain what these are in their shipping terms or FAQ.
First of all, Amazon's shipping methods are generalizations due to the fact that you don't select the service you use yourself, Amazon does, with delivery times ranging based on the comparable services the US Postal Service, FedEx and UPS offer. SAL and EMS are international shipping methods. In the context most often brought up here, that would be Japan Post, which means they're handed off to the destination country's postal carrier (USPS in our case). Other countries also offer SAL and EMS, including the US. SAL is Surface Air Lifted, a non-trackable moderately slow shipping method that can take around two weeks to be delivered, but sometimes longer. RSAL is Registered SAL. Same shipping speed, but at least you have a tracking number to watch precisely how slow your package ships to you! Airmail refers to a infrequently offered service with delivery speeds between that of SAL and EMS, limited to smaller packages. Its usefulness as an alternative is debatable, especially during peak mail seasons. EMS is Express Mail Service, a much faster shipping method, typically arriving within five days of shipping, and includes a tracking number by default. DHL is a term you usually only see brought up by Mandarake and some domestic stores. They are an express international mail service and are like UPS or FedEx in that they deliver to your door, not through postal carriers. DHL Express is notoriously fast, able to deliver packages in under 48 hours in some instances. They are amazing and worth looking into if offered as the difference from EMS is often minimal, so long as someone is there to answer the door. |
Always ask for a quote for DHL when possible. It comes incredibly fast and, quite amazingly, is always the same price or lower as EMS from Mandarake (at least for Australia). Its pretty awesome.
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SAL is hella slow. The estimates say it can take as little as 8 days, but I don't believe them. EMS is as fast as domestic shipping, ~5 days.
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There there's the FedEx option, usually shops in Japan use FedEx Express International as the faster alternative but at a bit of a higher price than EMS would be but the estimate is around the same amazing speed as DHL, I use DHL when I'm able to for ordering my Model Train stuff & by golly it's fast, FedEx, UPS, & DHL usually offer the faster but pricier shipping methods unless we're talking Manderake of course, but from sites like HLJ the parcel shipping options are usually a bit higher than the postal options.
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