TOM Shop Service Alerts
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Shipping Delays From Japan Warehouse For Obon Holidays (8/11~8/16)
(7/25)
Due to observance of the Japanese Obon Holidays, shipments may be delayed from 8/11 through 8/16.
Due to a possible buildup in orders during this time, shipments might be delayed by an additional 2-5 business days when operations resume on August 16th, 2023 (JST). We deeply appreciate and are grateful for your support and understanding.
Shipping Delays and Email Response Times During Japanese New Year Holidays 12/30 - 1/4
(12/27)
Please note that during the Japanese New Year Holidays, shipments may be delayed from our Japanese warehouse for in-stock orders with available shipping methods.
Due to a possible buildup in orders during this time, shipments might be delayed by an additional 2-5 business days when operations resume on January 4th, 2023 (JST).
In addition, email response times for emails sent to our customer service email address, as well as through our inquiry form may see responses taking longer than usual during this period as our customer service team is working in a limited capacity.
The full team will be back after the holidays, and we'll do our best to work through any inquires that may have built up over the break. We will go through and respond to every email that we receive, so we kindly ask that you please be patient during this period.
Thank you for your patience and understanding during this past year and we look forward to helping you in 2023.
Caution for Delivery Delays During the Holiday Season
(2022/11/15)
With the holiday season approaching you may be considering purchasing gifts for a loved one (or yourself). If you're thinking of getting a gift we recommend choosing the fastest method available.
For items shipping from our Japan warehouse, this may be EMS or FedEx. We strongly do not recommend selecting Surface Mail or TOM Surface mail for gifts as these methods can take anywhere between 2-4 months to be delivered.
Please note that some shipping methods in cart may be suspended. Please click here to see what shipping methods from our Japan warehouse are available.
Delays in customs and by local delivery companies can also increase shipping time.
Tips for Holiday Ordering:
- Special Order/Pre-order items estimated to be shipped in November and December can still be subject to manufacturer delays, so we do not recommend ordering these for gifts.
- Select EMS or FedEx (when applicable) and ordering items already in-stock to help ensure that your package arrives as quickly as possible.
- Keep a close eye on the tracking information, or share your tracking info with your gift recipient. Local postal services are not always reliable about leaving delivery notices or attempting redelivery. Check your tracking information often and
contact your post office with any inquiries.
Shipping Delays and Email Response Times During Golden Week 4/28 - 5/6
(4/27)
Please note that during the Golden Week, shipments may be delayed from our Japanese warehouse for in-stock orders with available shipping methods.
Due to a possible buildup in orders during this time, shipments might be delayed by an additional 2-5 business days when operations resume.
In addition, email response times for emails sent to our customer service email address, as well as through our inquiry form may see responses taking longer than usual during this period as our customer service team is working in a limited capacity.
We will get to all inquiries as soon as we can, and we appreciate your understanding.
Current shipping restrictions on UA/BY/RU
(2022/3/17)
At this time we are unable to ship to Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. New purchases will not be possible, and if you have any pending shipments, we will hold on to your shipments in the meantime until a shipping method is available. We apologize for the inconvenience and we appreciate your understanding.
Resuming Shipping from our Japan Warehouse (Last Updated 2022/2/8)
(5/19)
Update: 2022/2/8
The information in this service alert is no longer being updated. Please refer to the following FAQs for more information:
Available Shipping Methods From Our Japan Warehouse During COVID-19
My shipment says "shipping method unavailable". What does this mean?
What is TOM Surface Mail?
My order says "Order Placed". What does this mean?
My shipment only says "Shipped" but doesn't have a tracking number. Has it shipped?
"I missed my shipping survey! What now?" and other questions about our shipping method surveys
Update: 2021/1/29
Surface mail and FedEx (for select countries only) have been added as regular shipping methods.
As a kind reminder, please note that you will only receive a survey for shipments with unavailable shipping methods (e.g. SAL SPR) for items that are already in-stock. Surveys will not be sent for pre-order items until they are stocked.
Update: 9/16
For shipments going out by our bulk method from our Japan warehouse to the US, please note that shipments are moving out at a steady pace. However, it may take a month or so for tracking updates to start appearing for your tracking number. This is normal due to how your shipments are being handled, as your tracking number is issued when your shipment departs Japan, but will not update while it crosses the ocean. If you have any questions please reach out to us directly and we’d be happy to answer your questions. Please do not contact our shipping partner as they will not have any useful information to share. Thank you for your understanding.
Update: 8/18
Many Japan Post shipping methods remain unavailable. To check which methods might be available to your country, please refer to the following FAQ: Available Shipping Methods From Our Japan Warehouse During COVID-19
Original Post:
Once again we would like to extend our deepest thanks for your patience during this uncertain time.
We highly recommend you to stay subscribed to our shop emails to ensure that you receive further communication from us and personalized information regarding your specific shipments.
We are sending surveys to those of you who have shipments already physically available & waiting in our Japan warehouse. The survey content will differ depending on where your shipment is going, and will reflect the most recent available shipping methods for your country at the time that it's sent.
I live outside the United States
The surveys will offer the following choices:
・Switch currently available shipments to trackable Surface Parcel (seamail)
・Switch currently available shipments to a higher-cost shipping method (Air SPR, EMS, or FedEx International Priority)
・Continue waiting for Japan Post to resume shipments of your originally chosen shipping method
Unfortunately, not all choices are available to all countries, but when sending the survey, we will try to be as clear as possible about which choices are available for your specific situation.
Trackable Surface Parcel (seamail)
Japan Post still offers Surface Parcel (seamail) to a number of countries for which it does not currently offer any way to ship packages via air. Surface Parcel generally takes 1-3 months to arrive.
There will be no cost to switch to the Surface Parcel option.
If you paid for shipping, and Surface Parcel turns out to cost less than what you paid, we will follow up by granting you the difference in TOM Points.
Higher-Cost Shipping Methods
Depending on your original selected shipping method and your destination country, there are some cases in which it may be possible to upgrade to Air SPR or EMS. If Air SPR / EMS are not available to your country, you may instead be able to ship via FedEx International Priority.
Due to the higher pricing of these shipping methods, we will charge any difference between what you originally paid for shipping and the additional cost of shipping via the alternate method. Note that this applies even if you originally made your purchase with free shipping.
Again, if you already have packages ready & waiting, and any of the above alternate shipment methods are available to your country, in about a week from now we’ll reach out with the survey for you to mark your preferences. Until then, we truly appreciate your continued understanding, and welcome you to contact us if you have any concerns or questions.
I live within the United States
Update: 8/18
We have started bulk shipments from our Japan warehouse to the US. Please note that due to limited container size, we are filling
containers in order, so all of your shipments may not fit into the the same container and may ship in later bulk shipments.
Please note that while you will be receiving a UPS tracking number when your shipment is loaded into a container, tracking updates will not
appear until your shipment arrives in the US is inducted into the UPS network. Please allow between 1-2 months after your shipment has left our warehouse before tracking updates appear.
Original Post:
Please note that FedEx shipping upgrades are currently processed manually, so we ask that you give us around 1-2 weeks to process your shipping upgrade. If you have any question concerning your upgrade charge
please feel free to contact us.
We will resume Japan-US shipments in two stages.
Stage 1: Starting in late May / early June
We will start by sending surveys to those of you who have shipments already physically available & waiting in our Japan warehouse. The surveys will offer the following choices:
・Wait for stage 2 (our recommendation)
・Switch currently available shipments to trackable Surface Parcel (seamail)
・Switch currently available shipments to FedEx International Priority
There will be no cost to switch to the Surface Parcel option. If you paid for shipping, and Surface Parcel turns out to cost less than what you paid, we will follow up by granting you the difference in TOM Points.
Due to the higher pricing of FedEx International Priority, we will charge the difference between what you paid for shipping and the cost of shipping via FedEx. If you select this option, it’s safe to assume that we will have to charge you extra before your package can be shipped. Note that this applies even if you originally made your purchase with free shipping.
Stage 2: Starting in July
From this point onward and until Japan Post shipping fully resumes, we’ll begin using the following method for all available & eligible Japan-US shipments. Although it involves some extra operational costs on our end, we believe this method offers the best possible balance between cost, the safety of your package, and delivery speed, and we will provide it at absolutely no extra charge to you.
We will engage a trusted partner company (Yamato Global) to start sending TOM packages to the US in bulk via ocean freighter. All packages will be carefully packed by TOM staff in our Japanese warehouse and safely arranged within 100% TOM-dedicated shipping containers. This will ensure that everything reaches the US in the best possible condition and in a timely manner, with an additional ocean transit time of just a few weeks (as opposed to 1-3 months for delivery of individual Surface Parcel packages).
Once in the continental US, the packages will be shipped & delivered as trackable UPS Ground shipments.
If your shipping address falls under any of the following categories, we are unfortunately unable to offer delivery by UPS Ground, and will instead continue offering you the options listed in Stage 1:
・Located in Alaska or Hawaii
・Located on a military base
・PO Box address
Please feel free to contact us if you wish to request a change of address.
What We Recommend
If you want to receive your package relatively quickly and do not mind paying extra, FedEx International Priority is the best choice right now.
If you do not mind waiting longer, and your shipping address is eligible for UPS Ground, we do recommend holding out for the launch of our bulk shipment operation. This won’t cost you anything, and actually has a decent chance of arriving around the same time or even before our first batch of individual Surface Parcel packages (even those sent out much earlier).
Again, if you already have packages ready & waiting, in about a week from now we’ll reach out with the survey for you to mark your preferences. Until then, we truly appreciate your continued understanding, and welcome you to contact us if you have any concerns or questions.
Important Change for US Domestic Shipments to Alaska and Hawaii
(5/1)
This is a notice specifically for those shopping from Hawaii or Alaska.
Starting in mid May we will be making changes to the available shipping methods from our US warehouse to Alaska and Hawaii. Unfortunately due to the extremely unsustainable cost of free shipping to Alaska and Hawaii, we will no longer be able to offer free shipping benefits for shipments that ship from our US warehouse. Rest assured you will still be able to take advantage of free shipping for shipments that originate from Japan, and you can enjoy discounted shipping from our US warehouse on orders that are a minimum of $150.00.
We know that this makes the selection of items from the US warehouse slightly less appealing, and in order to maintain the service level that you’ve come to expect we will be doing what we can to start shipping more products from our Japan warehouse in the near future.
We apologize for any inconvenience and we appreciate your understanding and support.
Important Notice about TOM Points
(2/3)
This is an advance notice that barring any unforeseen issues, starting February 6, 2020 (JST), we will add a percentage cap to the amount of TOM Points that can be used per individual order on the TOM Shop. This percentage cap does not affect the total dollar value of TOM Points you can use across multiple orders.
★★★ Please carefully read this full message for important details about exactly how the cap will work, as well as details of a special bonus we have planned for Premium members holding unused TOM Points. ★★★
Non-Premium members: 20% cap per order
Premium members: 50% cap per order.
This means that if you are a Premium member, for each future order you’ll be able to use TOM Points equivalent to up to 50% of the Product Subtotal shown on your checkout page. (This can be easily done by selecting the “max amount possible” option when applying TOM Points to an order.)
We’ve seen from past data that a small minority—hardly a tenth—of all Shop orders use greater than the equivalent of 50% TOM Points. So we’re setting the Premium cap at 50% per order in hopes of minimizing the overall impact.
That said, we understand that given a choice, it would of course be preferable to have no percentage cap at all. We spent a long time agonizing over this, but ultimately decided to implement the restriction for business reasons, as a necessary measure to ensure our ability to continue providing you with stable & sustainable service long into the future.
Premium Point Bonus
As our apology for any inconvenience caused to Premium members who have been saving up TOM Points, we will grant Premium members a 5% bonus on their remaining TOM Point balance, as follows:
Recipients:
Current Premium members as of 12:00 JST on February 17, 2020.
Bonus amount:
5% of total TOM Point balance, as measured at 12:00 JST on February 17, 2020.
For example, if you have a balance of $500 TOM Points on this date, your bonus will be $25 TOM Points.
Bonus granting date:
Bonuses will be granted within February 28, 2020 (JST).
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions about the details.
TOM Shop Policy Update Regarding Prize Figures
(1/31/2018)
One of our bigger distributors for lower priced crane prize figures will no longer provide replacements for minor paint imperfections or minor quality issues.
TOM will no longer be able to ask for replacements for such issues, and TOM does not offer full refund for minor paint issues for lower priced prize figures.
Please be aware that prize items under $40.00 are mass produced and held to a lower quality standard by manufacturers than most figures.
Depending on the specific quality, TOM will offer TOM points as compensation, please be aware this will be at the full discretion of TOM. Our Shop FAQ has been updated accordingly. Main manufacturers affected are Banpresto and lower priced TAITO figures.
My prize figure has paint imperfections, can I have a replacement?
My product arrived damaged/My product has an item defect. What should I do?