Due to upcoming Japan Post price hikes, as well as the increasing cost of international logistics over the course of the pandemic, we’re implementing some changes to how shipping discounts work on the TOM Shop.
However, please rest assured that this does not affect any of your past orders!
All of the following changes will take place on or after March 25, 2021 (JST).
Japan Post has announced that they will raise prices for Air SPR and SAL SPR next month.
Since most items purchased from the TOM Shop are pre-orders, we will roll out the higher prices on our end before the end of March 2021.
That said, TOM will NOT charge people with existing orders anything extra to use these shipping methods. That applies even if you buy a pre-order item (releasing after April 2021) with one of these methods right before we adjust our fee table.
Prior to the pandemic, SAL SPR was the only shipping method that we offered for free from our Japan warehouse (for purchases over a specific dollar limit). Last year, due to SAL SPR being totally stopped by the pandemic, we began temporarily offering Air SPR as a substitute free shipping method.
Now, with Japan Post’s upcoming price hike, we unfortunately can’t continue offering 100% off either of these shipping methods. Their max discount rate will be changed to 50% off instead.
Meanwhile, Surface Parcel has been added as a new free option for shipments over $150 (to countries where Japan Post currently offers this shipping method). Within March 2021, TOM Surface Mail will also be added as a new free option at checkout for some shipments over $150 going to the contiguous United States.
Eligibility for big shipping discounts (including 100% free shipping) on the TOM Shop has traditionally been based on the dollar amount of your entire order. We’re changing this so that individual shipments within an order will now independently qualify for shipping discounts.
BEFORE | Orders over $150 qualify for free or discounted shipping |
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AFTER | Shipments over $150 qualify for free or discounted shipping |
For example, this means that if you buy three $50 Nendoroids with separate release months, they will all go into different shipments, and none of those shipments will qualify for free or discounted shipping.
However, if you buy three $50 Nendoroids with the same release month, and let them stay combined in the same shipment when you place your purchase, that shipment will still qualify for free or discounted shipping.
Not eligible for shipping discounts when bought together
Eligible for free or discounted shipping when bought together
The reason for this change is simply because, to be honest, we tend to take quite a loss on orders with multiple lower-price items shipping separately for free. Implementing this change will make it much more sustainable for us to continue offering free & discounted shipping options for years to come.
The below table shows shipping methods from our Japan warehouse, and the discount rate we’ll offer for each of them on shipments over $150.
This table does not include the 20% off shipping discounts that continue to remain available to renewed Premium members for shipments under $150, and that apply to all shipping methods (including FedEx).
Japan Warehouse | Discount for Shipments Over $150 |
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FedEx International Priority | 20% off (*Premium members only) |
EMS | 50% off |
Air SPR | 50% off |
SAL SPR (*currently unavailable) | 50% off |
Surface Parcel | 100% off |
TOM Surface Mail (*contiguous US only) | 100% off |
Reminder: Japan Post has paused shipments via some of these methods to select countries.
More info here.
As always, some TOM Shop items may not be eligible for Air SPR, SAL SPR, or Surface Parcel due to size and/or weight restrictions. (Surface Parcel can accommodate much larger shipments than SPR shipping methods, but extremely big items may exceed its size limits.)