HobbyLink Japan Reviews 

Used to be my go to site. Now they are a last resort. Did the survey to get a discount on the horrendous shipping prices but they charged me the full amount any way.

Gundam and tools prices are ok, but other products are very quite high, and Shipping fees I suspect theyre making money off it as well since I used same courier(EMS) from same places and same weight yet its 30-50% higher than theyre charging , one time almost half of the box contained those thin plastic air cushioned wrap , and Im no stupid they have accounts on those couriers and have huge discounts so likely theyre making more possible maybe $30 everytime they charged me $65 for shipping fee.

I also shop in Amazon Japan , again same thing shipping fee are almost doubled compare to amazon , they use DHL , I buy in Amazon because sometimes their prices are way lower in HGs and way lower in shipping fees.

Fast shipping, great customer support service.

Awful. Don’t bother pre-ordering, they will not prioritise you.

I went to log on and review an order status (after first time ordering) to find that my account had been suspended.

I emailed customer services to ask why, and they stated that they couldn't accept payments from my provider (even though I have a pending card transaction from them) and that I wouldn't be able to complete this or any future transaction with them! They basically told me to take my business elsewhere, which I'm more than happy to! AVOID THIS SITE

i have bought from them numerous times. whether that is anime figure's(pre-ordered and not), model kits and other model supplies.
i have always gotten everything i ordered delivered to me on time and without damage. the shipping options they offer are pretty great, all having their pro's and con's. but being cheap in general, though you obviously have to take import costs into account, or you'll be suprised.

HLJ sent a shipment to me Via Air Small packet18th Jul 2023 .( And It is still missing
It is 19th August 2023 now.)And I’m located in South Korea.

Amiami sent shipment via Same Air small packet 25th Jul ,delivery completed at 1st August .
Japan post provide estimate delivery time to south Korea using AirSmall packet is 5-10days top on their Homepage.

I felt something went to wrong
So I contacted HLJ and South korean custom and Japan post all same time at 8th August 2023.

There was no recored of Labelled Shipment with Number what HLJ provided in custom office .And Japan post didn’t have the record either.

And What HLJ told is wait till 10th October ,and there is delay due to Covid.
(I’m not first time user of Air Small packet
And I know estimate delivery time too.)
(But I waited in trust of HLJ.)

And I waited another 10days which makes
Exactly 1month passed from shipping notification.
(In a mean time another shipment from Amazon ,HLJ , Amiami delivered with out any delay. )

With Same Delivery method Amiami completed the delivery in a week but one Shipment from HLJ is missing
Isn’t it obvious enough that shipment from HLJ went missing or stuck somewhere?

So I asked HLJ for start investigation
But HLJ keep telling me wait the fcuk up till 10th October there is nothing they can do about it.

They hope The shipment turns up miraculously praying at their desk.

(At least They answers me back but provide no actual help. )

I will update & add things up when the shipment turns up in future or went missing forever.

I've used HLJ few about 3 years now and have usually never had a problem with this site. However my latest item which was a large expensive figure was damaged thanks to FedEx. It wasn't too bad but I was still unhappy given FedEx charged about £50 for the delivery. Not to mention HLJ had properly packaged it with bubble wrap and air packets but so I don't know how FedEx caused such damage.
They were a complete joke and even tried to wrongfully close my complaint claiming I didn't send them proof.
After a long fight FedEx tells me to go to HLJ to fix it (don't know why they didn't say that at first 🙄). Less than 24 hours later hobby link Japan have given me a full refund (including the postage)without any fuss and profusely apologized. They even let me keep the figure and assured me they were going to take this up with FedEx. Honestly a great customer service on top of a great site.
It's great when a site rarely has things go wrong but it's even better to know when things do go wrong they actually care about fixing it.

Very good prices and shipping. I live in the uk and my parcel arrived in less than a week in perfect condition definitely recommend to those who want the sets at market value.

I honestly didn't know that the products I ordered from Hobby Link came from Japan. That's my fault but I will say that the amount of time it took to ship from their website and from eBay is ridiculous. Two weeks plus after payment was received for them to ship! And only after repeated emails asking when! I will never again buy from this company.

Hobbylink Japan is my go-to place for Japanese goods. Stuff ships fast, and private warehousing your purchases is a lifesaver. Good for someone like me who lives in Northern Europe. Everything is packaged perfectly as well, can't recommend enough.

There was a problem at every single step of the process. EVERY STEP.

I'm French, and I wanted to send a gift directly to a friend in Japan. The site kept automatically changing the destination to France with no explanation, and I had to email support to learn that they had to manually change my country's account to Japan to be able to ship there. So they did that, and I put my friend's address.

But that meant now the billing address also had to be in Japan, I couldn't set a billing address in France, or input my French phone number. So my friend is going to receive the bill for a birthday gift.

Then my payment method was refused. That's because I'm using a temporary virtual card, and apparently the payment process asked for the money some time after I gave my payment info, so the card had expired by then. I was given barely 12 hours of notice to solve the problem, and my order was almost cancelled because I was busy that day and couldn't check my email.

When I tried to log into my account to update my payment method, I was told my account was suspended for violation of the terms and services. I had to email support yet again to get it unblocked and maintain my order.

I was finally able to log into my account, change my payment method to PayPal, and get the order validated and sent.

And THEN they still managed to mess it up: the recipient on the address was changed from my friend's name to my name, at a step in the process where it's too late to change it.

I want to clarify that the support agent who assisted me did a great job, answered very quickly, and helped me at every step; and in the end the package was delivered in two days (I wasn't able to check the quality because it's in my friend's hands). But seriously, I shouldn't have had to resort to client support that much. There was a problem at EVERY SINGLE STEP of the process. Not ONE THING went well.

Great company to buy Japanese figures/statues from! They helped me out when my figure had a defected part and the issue is resolved. Their private warehouse option is also awesome to use.

Great service, easy to use with multiple shipping options to try and get a better one (also occasionally has offers/discounts to lower shipping, worth keeping an eye out), received my items in perfect condition. Very happy.

friendly and helpful customer service and very fast shipping definitely buying from here again

If they package it terribly, with little protection and the figure box gets mangled, they will not accept refunds/returns/replacements or anything. Terrible for people that want a figure box and not just the figure (though even if figure is damaged, far from guarantee it will be replaced when you look at their text). In terms of proving damage, they ridiculously expect you to drag delivery person in to record them witnessing you opening package to prove it arrived damaged. Even if you are willing to, there is no way to know this until you reach out to them to let them know it arrived damaged to begin with. Here is the exact phrasing:

' receive a damaged box from your mail carrier in person, if possible, take a photo of your mail carrier or delivery agent (driver) with the package. Ask your mail carrier to witness your opening the box, and get the carrier's name. Consult with the carrier at the time you receive the package to make sure they take note that the package was damaged before it was delivered.

Then, please take photos of the shipping box before opening it. Next, open your box and carefully inspect your merchandise. If only your product packaging has been damaged (such as a crushed corner or bent lid) and the actual product is undamaged, we will unfortunately not be able to offer compensation. HobbyLink Japan is unable to guarantee mint-condition product packaging on arrival.

If the actual product has been damaged, please take detailed photos of the damage and send them to us within 10 days of receiving the package. At our discretion, we may be able to accept a return of the merchandise, offer compensation, or replace the item. Please see Section 7 of our Terms and Conditions for details.'

Overall, for most people that order figures and want to box as well, rather than throwing away the box, never order from here.

Not the most recent, but overall experience I had with Hobby Link is stellar to say the least.

Fantastic prices and selection of anything and everything. Sure, last 2+ years were difficult for everyone, shipping prices jumped, and some shipping options became unavailable to certain regions, but that's primarily due to Japan Post.

Every single order I had with them was fulfilled in timely manner and with utmost care with packaging. Every item arrived in pristine condition, no damages or missing parts.

Private warehouse is one of the best features HobbyLink has to offer, and allows you to combine your orders however you like. And currently, one of the few online store in Japan where overseas customer can buy gunpla model kits.

I've neve had any issues with them, and I hope it will continue to be like that. 11/10

Bought 3 x Hasegawa kits for less than half the price you'd pay in the UK and even with shipping it still works out as a bargain, especially as two of the kits aren't readily available in the UK. Models arrived very well packed and less than a week after the order was placed. Ordered once before from HLJ and had the same hassle free experience. Will definitely use again.

Their prices are lower than many other sites. The price does go up after shipping, but HLJ allows you to see how much shipping will be before you place an order.
They shipped my items quickly despite my order being placed during the holiday season.

They are scammers. They never refund anything, they never notify you about any payment problem, but they charge you for the shipping cost and they go as far as claiming that your account was banned because you started a payment reclamation. Their replies are rude and unprofessional and to put it simply, they are also racist (replies stopped coming in after I confirmed I was from Mexico and they are unreachable now, they don't answer emails nor messages and still waiting for either a refund or an explanation of what happened)