Check Out Strategy

SO I want some Kyoto 8 regular items from VolksUSA, once we can begin buying should I load up my cart with all 3 items I want and then go to check out? Or should I be more strategic and order an outfit I suspect will be more in demand first (ex: Adorable Maid) and check out with that one alone? Then get the other outfits on a separate order if I can still get them. Do the few seconds it takes to add more outfits to the cart make or break if you'll get certain items if you're there right at 11:00?

 

LOL I'm also wondering if I'm overthinking this too...

I think this is a great subject for the forum as I've been wondering the same thing.

 

I had planned on loading each item I want in a tab of my browser and as soon as it's ready I was going to refresh the page (the F5 key in most browsers does this as well) and then click to add it to the cart.

 

On the final page I'd then just start the check out process.

 

I also plan on having all my info, including the credit card info, written out so I can just copy/paste it into the browser to check out as fast as possible.

 

This is my first time trying to get something in a "first come first serve" process so I'd love to hear what more experienced people have to say.

SirNarwhal and I ended up getting quite a few things in the last US after-event, the trick is just to be very, very fast. OtakuDepot's suggestion of having them open in separate tabs is great, that way you don't have to click around a lot. I wouldn't recommend separate orders because of the shipping cost, since I doubt they will combine things together. Just work quickly, get the items into your cart and checkout as fast as possible.

 

It's also important to note that having an item in your cart, even if you are in the checkout proccess, does NOT guarantee you the item. The Pink Sugar Coat went to "out of stock" while we were checking out. ;~; However, that was because he put in his CC info wrong and had to go back and re-enter it. ^^; It's certainly a lot less fast than the international event, so as long as you have a good internet connection and speed through checkout you should be fine.

It's also important to note that having an item in your cart, even if you are in the checkout proccess, does NOT guarantee you the item. The Pink Sugar Coat went to "out of stock" while we were checking out. ;~; However, that was because he put in his CC info wrong and had to go back and re-enter it. ^^; It's certainly a lot less fast than the international event, so as long as you have a good internet connection and speed through checkout you should be fine.

I think this can slow down a number of people. Entering the credit card info as well as shipping info could really slow some others down, giving us the chance to win!!!!

 

I plan on keeping all my info typed out in notepad so I can just copy paste it right away into the checkout fields. If you don't use keyboard commands to copy and past it will slow you down a little.

 

Ctrl + C = copy

Ctrl + V = paste

 

Here's another tip since each few seconds help. Double clicking on a word or a credit card number in a text editor will usually highlight that word so you can copy it. It's much easier to copy that way as opposed to trying to click and drag around the info with your mouse.

 

Most important tip of all!!!!!! Mark the date on your calendar! I totally missed one of the previous events as I didn't remember till about 5 hours after it started..... haha

 

**James

 

Ok I'll do exactly what you guys suggested. I'll probably add a stand to my order ahead of time since I don't currently have one.

 

But here's a question, if something goes out of stock as you're checking out, does the system force you to pause, or can you just cut your losses and keep going full speed?

 

Ok I'll do exactly what you guys suggested. I'll probably add a stand to my order ahead of time since I don't currently have one.

 

But here's a question, if something goes out of stock as you're checking out, does the system force you to pause, or can you just cut your losses and keep going full speed?

 

You don't have to stop, they just tell you, take the item out of your cart and charge you for the rest of the stuff. While it sucks to lose something while checking out, it's nice that they automated it like that and you don't have to manually remove it yourself!

All this advice is very well and good. I just wanted to add that I've never had a problem with things going out of stock while buying and a lot of times there're things left over. It was tight the time I ordered Kaguya's head I suppose? The only time I've missed out on things is when I've forgotten and checked like... the next day and they were gone (surprise, surprise).

 

It's fun to get excited but I wouldn't worry too much. I think everyone will get exactly what they want/need without putting themselves through too much angst. ^^ The one thing you can absolutely be sure of is that the next round Volks releases (it's quarterly so you never have long to wait) there will be something else absolutely wonderful to buy that will make you forget on everything else that came before.

From personal experience...

 

Volks will bundle your separate orders together for you. Though I don't think they prefer to do it they did it for me on the lottery stuff when I goofed it up. So if you're REALLY concerned you can always try to check out twice!

 

 

I wish everyone luck in ordering! I'm still debating if I should order anything... ^^; I'm thinking just the bunny PJs for me!

I will tell you my "weird" experience during the previous after event when they sell the Yukata maid outfit.

 

During the initial release, the entire VOLKS international server jammed up and reloading takes years! So by the time when it load finish, everything was sold out orz

 

But then being a good saint nowadays they are, they have this "restocking" and it's like 3 hours later. Seeing how fast these things actually sold out, I knew I had to do something.

 

Therefore, after the initial sale, I was refreshing hoping to see that there's items left over. Suddenly there's this one time when I refresh, I saw there's leftover stock! Happily I click the "order" and found out it's sold out again.

 

Now the thing here is that, instead of closing the webpage and reopening/refresh again, I hit "backspace" to go back to the page just now where I can actually click to order. after that I just let the page idle there and wait until 2pm.

 

Now when the time has come, the moment I watch my computer time second hand hit 2 sharp, I click the "order" button and voila! It is in my cart!

 

However hearing some folks say that there's chance that the item in your cart could "disappear" so I have to complete my check out ASAP. The server is slow as usual, but I can still navigate to some pages at least. So I took this chance to purchase an "option hand" and after some refreshing work, I managed to check out and avoiding all the bidding hassle.

 

Happy man I am. First experience in dealing with after event haha. Hope this post isn't too tiring to read.

I've never had to go through this yet as the only things I've ordered directly from Volks have been lottery items.

 

Their website really is the worst though

I'm curious to see how things panned out for everybody. I did my plan of having all my info in Notepad (a text dobleepent) on my 2nd monitor.

 

I had all the products (2 different maid sets) already pulled up in separate tabs. Kept hitting the F5 key to refresh the page. As soon as the button showed up I clicked to add to cart and "immediately" went to the 2nd tab (didn't wait for the first one to finish loading) and hit F5 as well. Added to cart.

 

Saw both maid kimono's were there. Thankfully my browser's memory had the information already saved in the fields - just had to click once in the field to have it show my name, address, phone...

 

Copied and pasted my credit card info and checked out. Got the confirmation email from Volks in about 30 - 45 seconds after the button showed up on the site.

 

Hopefully everybody got what they wanted but it seems many things sold out quick. Hopefully this info will help for future events.

 

**James.

Well, it's interesting because it's just a game of numbers and the popularity of the items, yes? If you're going for really popular/limited items then it is best just to pick the 1 or 2 things you want and check out right away. Like many people have noticed, you are only confirmed for items once you pay so the longer you are adding items in your cart then you're giving other people- who only want 1 item- the time to pay and check out.

 

It's worth mentioning that in terms of popularity it's more difficult to buy clothing and shoes that go with DDs and SDs. You have a much larger amount of competition if you're ordering something that the resin people want too. Just something to think about when making your selection of items you're going to go for. ^^