SHIPPING COST GUIDE

All shipping options available by size, weight and cost.

You want order something and put the items inside your cart. First of all thank You very much for visit our store.
Let us introduce to You the shipping services available. 

We have 4 shipping options to most locations.

1. Surface mail (Sea Mail)
2. Airmail tracked
3. EMS
4. Yamato Global Express UPS

Let me break these down.

1. Surface mail. This is a great shipping option if you are not in a hurry and want to save some serious cash. It is slow. it takes 2-6 months. It doesn’t always take quite this long, sometime people get their boxes in 6 weeks, but it COULD (and sometimes does) take up to 6 months.

The other downside I that there is no tracking or insurance. So we put a fairly scary disclaimer: [no tracking, no refunds for lost packages] in the description. 

We dont use this service. If you want use it please contact us via mail for a quote and for complete the order (orders are not accepted from the store with surface mail).

It's impossible to know for sure what the odds are of lost packages, but we have been running this shop for about 12 years and so far we never had a lost package even if this service is rarely used.  To tell the truth they might not have even been lost, it is possible that someone stole them from people's doorsteps.  Since the sea mail packages don't need to be signed for and are not tracked we don't know where in the process they went missing. 

In general we think seamail is pretty safe.  We send packages to others shops around the world (who buy from us in bulk for reselling) using the service and have never had a problem.  
But the reality is, we are a very small shop  and a cannot afford to do refunds for things out of my control. That's why we added the disclaimer.  Also because people get really nervous when 2 weeks go by and they have not heard anything about their package, figure it when they need to wait up to 6 months...
We just want people to know what they are getting into.

2. Airmail tracked. This service is now available for almost all countries. its reliable, good cost,  decent fast (2/3 weeks) and is tracked online. Also a signature is requested when the package is delivered to You. The downside is the maximum size is 90cm (sum of the 3 sides) and max weight is 2kg (box and packing materials included).

3. EMS. This used to be a pretty good value for small packages. It’s fast (1~2 weeks from when we get it shipped out), tracked, insured and safe. It is also expensive. It starts at around 4000 yen and goes up from there. 

The pros of this service are:

a. You need to ship to a P.O. Box (Yamato/UPS will not ship to these)

b. You are buying a large, weird-shaped, but light object like a giant action figure or a videogame console.

c. You live in a country where UPS cannot be used.

d: Package is fully insured.

4. Yamato UPS. This is the fastest shipping option.

If You want buy a single game and chose Yamato the shipping cost is "OMG!!! 5000 yen For ONE game?! That’s crazy!" And yes, You are 100% right and i agree. it is 😥.

That is both the negative and positive side of Yamato shipping. 

Flat fees. 

What your 5000 shipping fee gets you is a 60cm box (the 3 dimensions add up to 60cm) that can hold up to 2kg of games (or an 80cm box that can hold up to 5kg of games for 8500 yen). And you can get a lot of stuff in that box! Look at these  examples below.

SIZE 60cm example:

COST: 5000 yen

18 single cd cases
8 double cd cases
4 SFC games
5 MD games
1 Neogeo AES game
1 Neogeo MVS kit
3 Neogeo MVS loose carts
10 PS2 / PS3 / PS4 / PS5 GAMES

-

SIZE 80cm example:

COST: 8500 yen

37 single cd cases
18 double cd cases
11 SFC games
5 Neogeo AES game
4 Neogeo MVS kit
7 Neogeo MVS loose carts
10 PS2 / PS3 / PS4 / PS5 GAMES

-

-

So yes, the cost is high when you are only buying 1 game (5000 yen per game). But it gets better when you are buying 18 single cd games (280 yen per game) and even better when you are buying 37 single cd games (230 yen per game). And so on for the others rates.

Still confused? I don't blame you. This is a lot. But if you send me an email, a message from the "contact us" page or a message from the big red button (available under the green button on every item page) with a list of what you want to buy, we can break down all your shipping options before you hit that “pay” button. 

Please refere to the new TERMS AND CONDITIONS page for more  informations about shipping.

Thank you.

The Emporium Staff.

IMPORTANT  NOTE:

ABOUT SHIPPING AND CUSTOMS IMPORT TAXES

Please Note: Import duties, taxes and charges are not included in the item price or shipping charges.
These charges are the buyer's responsibility.
Please check with your country's customs office to determine what these additional costs will be prior to bidding/buying.
These charges are normally collected by the delivering freight (shipping) company or when you pick the item up -　do not confuse them for additional shipping charges.
We do not mark merchandise values below value or mark items as "gifts" - US and International government regulations prohibit such behavior.

Import fees are commonly required by the customs service of a country that receives a package originating from another country (in this case, Japan).

Please note that we will not reimburse any customs clearance or import fees that may be charged by the customs service in the country that receives your item.

Import duties, taxes and charges are not included in the item price or shipping charges.
These charges are the buyer's responsibility.

Please check with your country's customs office to determine what these additional costs will be prior to bidding/buying.

These charges are normally collected by the delivering freight (shipping) company or when you pick the item up - do not confuse them for additional shipping charges.