Volks Int resumes international orders, temporary switch to DHL (UPDATED)

Today the Japan post announced that it will not be shipping to certain countries and territories due to the covid-19 situation. Obviously this affects all hobby companies located in Japan, including Volks. I imagine that Obitsu, Smartdoll and other doll companies that ship from Japan may also make similar announcements about this, but here is Volks's.

https://www.volks.co.jp/cs/news/20200401_01.html

They will suspend shipping to these countries from today, temporarily, and don't know when things can resume. However, it is still possible to order from the web store and orders will be held in the warehouse and then shipped once it becomes possible to do so. Therefore no one will miss out on things they want, they will just have to wait longer to get them.

They link to the Japan post website where you can see the list of countries.
https://www.post.japanpost.jp/int/information/2020/0401_02_01_en.pdf
EDIT: I'm seeing confusion on twitter about this list as to whether it means mail to or from. I assumed it was both myself (by 'acceptance' I thought they meant as in acceptance by the JP postal service to ship overseas, not acceptance as in accepting into Japan)...but either way Volks isn't shipping to 'select countries' and linked to this page, so I assume those are the countries they mean.

Note this information is correct as of April 1st and its very possible that more countries will be added to that list. For those not on the list, expect delays all the same.

I'm glad they're still letting people buy things and I hope that Obitsu/Smartdoll will do the same, but smaller sellers and proxy buyers for things like yahoo auctions may not. 

EDIT: Now Volks are no longer shipping overseas at all for the time being.

EDIT 24/4: International shipping resumes with DHL from may 1st, no increase in price.

Edited April 24, 2020 by Monty

An off-topic comment - sorry about that. Smartdoll is also accepting orders normally, they are trying to find alternative courier service if Japan Post is unavailable. However, Danny Choo posted this update on social media: The guy from Japan Post came to pick up packages but said that Japan Post *was* accepting packages to the said regions in the PDF *but* that it would just take time.

I doubt that this bit of information affects Volks' strategy, but Smartdoll just might try to use Japan Post anyway.

This is the full post for those it concerns. I was thinking using other couriers was going to be pretty expensive, but he does say that he has no plans to increase the postage cost.

By 'takes time' I'm wondering if they meant that the packages would be held indefinitely at the post office or airport after being sent out.

The conversation around this news that I'm finding seems to be a bit inconsistent - I've seen people saying all mail isnt going to these countries and others saying its only EMS (which is what Volks/Smartdoll use anyway). I was also just thinking that Smartdoll may not have the necessary warehouse space to store too many unshipped orders, but hopefully there's a solution so that people don't have to miss out on anything they really want.

Not sure about obitsu/parabox yet, but I know amiami who typically carry Azone products is holding orders for people in the warehouse.

Edited April 1, 2020 by Monty

This caused a big kafuffle at my work today. From what we have been told:

- For the countries listed all Air shipments are suspended which includes EMS and Airmail. 
- Most countries still accept Seamail but there is a small group not accepting that method (such as New Zealand). 
- SAL shipping has been suspended to all countries, even if they are not on the list. 
- The list is expected to change without notice. 
 

Most doll places I know of use EMS so that list should be used as the point of reference. 
 

FedEx also ceased accepting shipments for Economy without warning but may reintroduce it with an extra fee from the 6th. 
 

So far our only courier unaffected is DHL, so for companies like Danny they may look at that option to get items out. For large, light items it will likely blow the budget though. 

The situation is now updated to suspending shipping to ALL foreign countries.

 

Since this is a big deal, I hope they make an English tweet about this as well.

This time, it says 'not accepting orders from overseas' rather than not shipping overseas. This new news post doesn't mention holding orders for us like the last one did (the one crossed out underneath). It's extremely disappointing, but I can understand that they would have less warehouse space for all overseas orders compared to warehouse space for overseas orders from select countries (especially when those select countries from before didn't include the US/UK).

They will however hold items that were ordered before today and have yet to be shipped, and mention that items that were already shipped before today may be delayed in the post.

If we really can't order anything for the next few months, what a huge damper for the upcoming Dolpa items. 😔

 

Edited April 2, 2020 by Monty

Well, when it happens, it sure does happen fast.

It's on the store website, in English, though you have to reset it with the lousy machine translator:

https://www.volks.co.jp/cs/news/20200401_01.html

It's just in the normal news on the front page though; there probably should be a more noticable banner.

I'm unhappy; last night I was thinking about needing to order but didn't do so.

I got in an order for the white dress shoes and one of the Dolpa 42 dresses a few days ago, but it had yet to ship. Guess it's going to be awhile.

The question is are postal services suspending mail delivery until they can work out ways to do it while practicing social distancing, or is this just another way that nations are closing their borders and hunkering down.

9 hours ago, Monty said:

If we really can't order anything for the next few months, what a huge damper for the upcoming Dolpa items. 

If Volks was planning any kind of outside of Japan participation in the online Dolpa, this will kill that idea, unless they delay the Dolpa.

OTOH, I would expect the After Event to be delayed until they can ship outside Japan again.

3 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

The question is are postal services suspending mail delivery until they can work out ways to do it while practicing social distancing, or is this just another way that nations are closing their borders and hunkering down.

The fact it started as a limited number of countries and then one day later became everywhere, suggests the latter, because still delivering to many places wouldn't seem to provide any way to accomplish the former.

4 hours ago, cfx said:

If Volks was planning any kind of outside of Japan participation in the online Dolpa, this will kill that idea, unless they delay the Dolpa.

OTOH, I would expect the After Event to be delayed until they can ship outside Japan again.

 

To be honest I dont mind being excluded from the online Dolpa because it's not like we were going to be included when it was an IRL Dolpa anyway. I don't expect they're going to delay it though, unless lockdown measures ramp up and Volks has to close temporarily, including shipping, like VolksUSA has.

I -do- mind about being excluded from the After Event and wonder if theres some workaround. This is extremely unfamiliar territory and all we can do is wait and find out. I dont want to sound pessimistic, but Volks Japan doesn't have any real obligation to put everything on hold for its comparatively small foreign fanbase...especially during what could fast become a global recession. I would be frustrated and upset, sure, but given circumstances I would find it hard to blame them. If this continues for longer than anticipated, it would definitely be nice if they were able to store orders after all, but depending on how long it does go for that could get difficult without being strict about it (item limits etc).

Since we also mentioned Choo here, he hasn't updated his stance but made another post about it so the content is more obvious from the photo.

Choo has said frequently in the past that most of his customers are outside Japan, so I understand completely that he's doing his best to keep that running. 

Still, I'm worried about what will happen to packages being sent right now. Even though it was a week before this announcement, a package I got from Hobbysearch hasnt updated shipping since it left their warehouse last friday, and its EMS. Normally it would have gotten to be my tuesday, but the tracking doesnt indicate its left the country at all, so I'm currently expecting it didnt make it past the 'no more EMS' thing even with its head start and is trapped with a million other packages ;-; A part of me is concerned it may easily get lost in such circumstances, and how long I would have to wait find out whether or not that happened.....and whether hobbysearch would refund if so. On the other hand the postal system is very irregular now so it makes sense the tracking would also not be normal.

Edited April 2, 2020 by Monty

Are we sure that this announcement applies to all countries? The list of countries whose mail service is suspended only lists 126 countries, and I am not seeing anything that indicates a full shutdown either on the US Postal Service side or the Japan side. The Japan post announcement refers to "various countries" and provides a link to the aforementioned list. 

That doesn't mean Volks isn't shutting down all international orders in response.

49 minutes ago, Monty said:

To be honest I dont mind being excluded from the online Dolpa because it's not like we were going to be included when it was an IRL Dolpa anyway.

Yeah I agree.

50 minutes ago, Monty said:

I -do- mind about being excluded from the After Event and wonder if theres some workaround. This is extremely unfamiliar territory and all we can do is wait and find out.

Right. I was thinking they would delay this, but the point you make with overseas being fairly irrelevant to Volks makes sense too. Here in the US there would still be another chance with a later US After Event assuming that still happens. That doesn't help you or anyone else that's somewhere besides Japan and the US of course, but it may also weigh into whatever decision Volks makes.

7 minutes ago, BeyondTime said:

Are we sure that this announcement applies to all countries? The list of countries whose mail service is suspended only lists 126 countries, and I am not seeing anything that indicates a full shutdown either on the US Postal Service side or the Japan side. The Japan post announcement refers to "various countries" and provides a link to the aforementioned list. 

I'm starting to wonder this as well. All I see on the Japan Post site is the information from yesterday, which isn't all countries and doesn't include the US:

https://www.post.japanpost.jp/int/information/index_en.html

Mandarake has a useful chart of current shipping status, which also matches that as far as I can tell:

https://earth.mandarake.co.jp/help/shipping_suspensions.html

Note on Buyee with similar information:

https://buyee.jp/information/public/list#info_772

9 minutes ago, BeyondTime said:

That doesn't mean Volks isn't shutting down all international orders in response.

This is what I'm thinking, because there doesn't seem to be any other informaton about all mail being stopped to all countries. Maybe Volks decided it wasn't worth the hassle of allowing only certain countries to order with the situation likely continuing to change..given all the various issues with their webstore I can imagine allowing/not allowing by country might be difficult. The other option is that they got some information that isn't otherwise public yet, I guess.

2 minutes ago, cfx said:

given all the various issues with their webstore I can imagine allowing/not allowing by country might be difficult.

That's what I was thinking, they may have decided that it's more practical to shut off deliveries outside of Japan than it is to store deliveries from countries that they cannot ship to, and in light of the Dolpa being online the latter might have been an onerous burden.

An order I placed shipped through SAL to the US was dropped off at the post office on March 20th and tracking hasn't moved since. A few friends have also had packages from Japan delayed like this; it's probably for the best that Volks is closing overseas orders.

21 minutes ago, scorps said:

An order I placed shipped through SAL to the US was dropped off at the post office on March 20th and tracking hasn't moved since. A few friends have also had packages from Japan delayed like this; it's probably for the best that Volks is closing overseas orders.

 

From Japan Post:

Countries and territories to which acceptance of mail is temporarily suspended because of the novel coronavirus pandemic

SAL mail ・All 86 countries and territories to which we provide SAL service.

https://www.post.japanpost.jp/int/information/2020/0401_02_01_en.pdf

Edited April 3, 2020 by BeyondTime

11 minutes ago, scorps said:

An order I placed shipped through SAL to the US was dropped off at the post office on March 20th and tracking hasn't moved since.

Which message is Japan Post showing? If it is "Posting/Collection" then it's in the system but nothing has happened. If it's at "Dispatch from outward office of exchange" then it's waiting for a plane, and given the reduced number of flights and that SAL is low priority, there's no surprise there. Sitting at that stage for 2 weeks or so isn't at all out of the ordinary at all in my experience, at any time.

Also from that message, the next tracking entry would be when it arrives in the US. While it's unlikely a package from March 20 is already here, if it is it may not have been scanned, as USPS scans since this whole mess has started have been really messed up for me.

Now, since they've halted accepting SAL packages, I don't know what that means for ones waiting in the system like that.

Mail may not be suspended for all countries but it’s held up and potentially disastrously. Volks probably don’t want to risk the possibility of international packages being lost in this hold-up because it’s bound to happen. Its a lot to be responsible for. 

Personally, whether they’re still shipping or not I’m going to hold off buying anything from overseas for the time being because it’s stressful enough wondering if my hobbysearch order (the one that hasn’t updated tracking since saying it left the warehouse a week ago)is safe somewhere or not. 

I heard it’s going both ways, too, which means I probably can’t send my friend the giant box of Easter chocolate I was planning to  Not right now, anyway.

edit: I really feel for the people in the remaining batches of the Nier preorder... I’m so sorry. This wait has not been kind to you.

Edited April 3, 2020 by Monty

5 minutes ago, Monty said:

Personally, whether they’re still shipping or not I’m going to hold off buying anything from overseas for the time being because it’s stressful enough wondering if my hobbysearch order (the one that hasn’t updated tracking since saying it left the warehouse a week ago)is safe somewhere or not. 

I'll probably do the same; I typically get things sent SAL anyway so that's out and I don't like paying for EMS for things like doll outfits from Mandarake.

However, I'm in the middle of getting a doll via Yahoo Japan, so I hope that can be completed before it completely shuts down if it does. Maybe it was a bad choice to do this now, but it's done.

1 hour ago, Monty said:

I really feel for the people in the remaining batches of the Nier preorder... I’m so sorry. This wait has not been kind to you.

I am hugging my Toobie right now, I'm so relieved I was in the first batch. I was actually in the middle of moving when our governor locked down the state. I am essentially living like a college student right now - air mattress and all - while I wait out this lockdown.

I haven't ordered anything from Volks Japan, YJ, or Manda for a few weeks because I didn't want them delivering to an old address.

I guess even those who ordered the Nier dolls via Volks USA will suffer since they still have to be shipped from Japan first.

I won't fret over the Dolpa 43 After Event until I know what is being offered since there might not be anything I want anyway.

4 hours ago, Monty said:

Mail may not be suspended for all countries but it’s held up and potentially disastrously. Volks probably don’t want to risk the possibility of international packages being lost in this hold-up because it’s bound to happen. Its a lot to be responsible for.

While not from Volks, I currently have three registered SAL packages sent by Mandarake in limbo. I have tracking numbers for them but they've been stuck at various Japanese post offices since before the mail suspension.

I also have one package from Hobby Search which doesn't have a tracking number yet. That one is EMS so AFAIK that service isn't suspended as of this writing.

 

4 hours ago, Monty said:

edit: I really feel for the people in the remaining batches of the Nier preorder... I’m so sorry. This wait has not been kind to you.

 

19 minutes ago, cfx said:

I guess even those who ordered the Nier dolls via Volks USA will suffer since they still have to be shipped from Japan first.

I stopped looking at the Nier: Automata thread because I get depressed looking at other people's photos of 2B and 9S.

I'm in the second batch of the Volks USA pre-order. I expected to wait a year. After last year's storm / flood, I then expected to wait 18 months. At this point, 2 years minimum is realistic. I'll consider myself lucky if I receive 2B within 3 years.

I'm actually happy for those who were in the first batch and received their 2B / 9S months ago. I hope I get to share in the happiness the Nier dolls have brought to their owners some time during this calendar year. I won't count on it.

 

2 hours ago, lardroom said:

I am hugging my Toobie right now, I'm so relieved I was in the first batch.

This is awesome because it's a great example of a doll being able to make someone's life better especially during challenging times.

Im from the last moment of the nier pre order, i have the e-mail payment, but i have until 12 may for made it, but whit this, are they going to cancel my order? or i only have to wait another year....

52 minutes ago, kalisha said:

whit this, are they going to cancel my order?

I doubt they will cancel your pre-order, but I would expect a variety of things are likely to cause delays at this point.

4 hours ago, kalisha said:

Im from the last moment of the nier pre order, i have the e-mail payment, but i have until 12 may for made it, but whit this, are they going to cancel my order? or i only have to wait another year....

They won't cancel. A note has been added to what they put up earlier on the store about the delays for the Nier dolls; it just says about the same thing as the other suspension message; shipping and payments will resume when they are able to start shipping overseas again.

Everyone will still get their dolls, it's just a question of when. I know it's frustrating but it will be fine in the end.

Edited April 3, 2020 by cfx

Slightly OT, but I was on Hobby Search because of their sale and I noticed something linked from their main page.

On 4/2/2020 at 6:43 PM, Monty said:

Still, I'm worried about what will happen to packages being sent right now. Even though it was a week before this announcement, a package I got from Hobbysearch hasnt updated shipping since it left their warehouse last friday, and its EMS. Normally it would have gotten to be my tuesday, but the tracking doesnt indicate its left the country at all, so I'm currently expecting it didnt make it past the 'no more EMS' thing even with its head start and is trapped with a million other packages ;-; A part of me is concerned it may easily get lost in such circumstances, and how long I would have to wait find out whether or not that happened.....and whether hobbysearch would refund if so. On the other hand the postal system is very irregular now so it makes sense the tracking would also not be normal.

In case you didn't see this, HS has this message in their updates, this one dated 03/27:

Quote

Amid outbreak of COVID-19, we are still shipping orders as usual.
However, please note that international shipments are delayed/restricted in some countries (especially great delay has been confirmed for shipments to USA and Australia.)

So hopefully your package is just late, not lost.

They also added on 04/01 that shipping is ended to the particular countries on that list from Japan Post, not everywhere, so that really does seem to just be a Volks thing.

Edited April 6, 2020 by cfx