I have a question for you guys that have ordered from RobotKingdom. I generally deal with TFSource, but after the Credit Card issue, and the price differences from them and RK, i'm exploring other options.

 

1) What kind of s/h costs are normal from RK to VA, USA? I can't find anything on their site about calculating s/h.

 

2) Payments. Is paypal the only type of payment they accept?? I went to make a purchase, just to see if i could find the s/h and saw only paypal option.

 

3) Preorders - do you have to pay for preorders in advance only??

 

4) How valid is their website?? For example MP-03c - in the notes it says RELEASE JUNE 2010 -- but then says "IN STOCK" in the availability area. This makes me wonder if other items they show as in-stock really are. And if not, do they hold items until they all are to save on s/h??

 

5) Custom Service - how easy are they to deal with? How is their communication?

 

 

 

For Example: Ordering the new MP-03c Clear Star Scream. TFSource has it for $124.95 + 11.88 s/h (136.83 total). RobotKingdome has it listed for $98.90. Would the s/h likely be over $37.93??? If it's close, and it's only a few bucks - then i'd rather just keep dealing with TFSource. But if the s/h is not that bad, and a person can save money - well, business is business, as TFSource would say also.

RK's shipping usually bridges the gap between their pricing and say tfsources. I believe its because RK is actually based in japan like HLJ, so the shipping is higher due to it being a import.

 

I would have to say tfsource is fairly secure now, and to be honest it can happen to any online based company. TFsource has reworked their security to be better this time around, and if you really dont feel secure then just use paypal to handle the transfer.

RK's shipping and handling is on average higher, but even still on most import items the cost plus shipping is still lower then the BBTS/TFSource start price before shipping.

 

Everything is done through Paypal so your also protected should something go wrong (which has yet to happen to me). You'll also get the shipping estimate for your cart by entering the checkout prosess which is very very easy to back out of.

 

The one thing to keep in mind though is that they wont ship an order untill everything is ready to go. Be careful with that as a preorder can hold up something ready today. Preorders also have to be payed for up front. I actualy enjoy this as on more then several occasions BBTS zapped my bank account at a real bad time. I don't tend to put items on preorer that I don't want, so I like just paying and being done.

 

Otherwise, I've used them tons of times and have never had any problems. They're actualy my import store of choice.

RK's shipping and handling is on average higher, but even still on most import items the cost plus shipping is still lower then the BBTS/TFSource start price before shipping.

 

Everything is done through Paypal so your also protected should something go wrong (which has yet to happen to me). You'll also get the shipping estimate for your cart by entering the checkout prosess which is very very easy to back out of.

 

The one thing to keep in mind though is that they wont ship an order untill everything is ready to go. Be careful with that as a preorder can hold up something ready today. Preorders also have to be payed for up front. I actualy enjoy this as on more then several occasions BBTS zapped my bank account at a real bad time. I don't tend to put items on preorer that I don't want, so I like just paying and being done.

 

Otherwise, I've used them tons of times and have never had any problems. They're actualy my import store of choice.

 

Thanks.. i guess I stopped 1 screen short to find the s/h charges. I went a tad further and got the s/h price. The cost of the MP-03c Clear SS turns out to be about $13 cheaper - including the s/h than TFSource.

 

I like to support US businesses, especially when the cost is simliar. But as a self employeed person myself, I have very very little tolerance for lack of customer support or going the extra step. Get me on the phone and have someone mention "POLICY" to me, and watch me go off. My clients are important to me and I go the extra mile to make sure they are taken care of - I take everything on a case by case basis. And while I know a corporate person who has billions of transactions across the country cannot - they do delegate and have localized managers that have a degree of leeway to deal with things. When I hit the wall of "sorry, that's just our policy" - I'd rather go somewhere else, even if it cost me more. My money is my vote, and i vote for small businesses that care about quality and actcual service (not lip service). But i'm not afraid to go overseas for it also. I own two Honda's because Ford made crap.

 

I like TFSource, but a responce I got recently basically explained 'policy' to me. I've got $400 of preorders in with them, and they can't price match something from BTTS - which is about $19 less. Well, the reality is - i can save about $45 by ordering it ALL thru Robot Kingdom instead. So if business is business, and policy is policy -- I should save the $45 and order from RK, and the loss of these orders will cost TFSource more than the $19 he was trying to save.

 

/end rant

 

Anyways, I havn't made up my mind what i'm doing yet. I might be over reacting a bit. I could just order the 1 item from BTTS and keep the rest with TFSource, and I still might. But I wanted to know what my options were, so I wanted to see what RK was all about. If not for the wrinkle by TFSource, I wouldn't even be looking.

I agree about the dollar being the vote.

When it comes to regular domestic items, I just use retail(or a retail site if they have a good offer).

If it's a import item from say Fansprogect who dictates the price to the retailers, I may use BBTS if they have a good clearance sale going on.

 

90% of all my import items though do come from RobotKingdom. On imports and upgrades they are normaly the chepest. Hell they even had the Walmart Skywarp for $20 or so less then the domestic online stores.

 

As long as you take into account the things I mentioned, they are a good shop to work with :thumb

RK are awesome. i've used them a few ties and have been very happy each time

RobotKingdom does have decent prices for import figures. I wish i could say more about the service, but I'm still waiting on the new iterations of the Battle Rollar figure to come in. <_>