The Quality of Play-Asia?

al138 · Post by **al138** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 12:39 am

I am extremely interested in ordering from Play-Asia, but I have never done so in the past. My "go to" has always been the The Rage, but they are not offering Under Defeat pre-orders at this time. I'm under the impression that Play-Asia is reputable (unlike [EDIT: Buy Rite]).

Are they safe? And how well do they ship to the US?

Thank you in advance for your suggestions and comments!

Ramus · Post by **Ramus** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 12:41 am

I've had only good experiences with them. If it says "available in 24 hours", I usually get it in 2 days. I am very pleased with them

Post by **Ghegs** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 12:43 am

Moved to off-topic.

iatneH · Post by **iatneH** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 12:54 am

play-asia's online service is very good. The shipping times are decent for me using the cheapest methods, although one time one of my packages was returned to them for no apparent reason, but the e-mails that I received from Customer Services were very professional and respectful and the issue was resolved smoothly.

I only tend to avoid ordering from them now because my orders are being declared at full value as merchandise on the customs form. This means that I end up having to pay an additional sum of around 25-30% of the value to Canadian customs, which really sucks for orders bigger than $200.

Personally I recommend yesasia, even if only because they mark down values on my customs declarations. Their free shipping takes REALLY long (up to a month or longer) to reach me for some reason, and one of my packages got lost but I've been given a refund. You should be safe using express shipping.

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 1:03 am

Play-Asia has always done good for me with a week for airmail although my last shipment took 2 weeks after shipping for me to receive some reason.

But if you found NCSX disreputable, I'm not sure what to tell you...

TalkingOctopus · Post by **TalkingOctopus** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 2:08 am

I think Play Asia is very good. I think they have good packaging and all of my stuff has also been in pristine condition. I always use the cheapest shipping and it always takes about 3 weeks to arrive. They always give me a videogame related sticker and a 5.00 off coupon.

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 4:35 am

I've only used Play-Asia once, but my order arrived fine; I've also used YesAsia twice (since it's been mentioned by others), and that worked well for me too.

Neo Rasa · Post by **Neo Rasa** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 5:39 am

I love NCSX. If you don't mind my asking, what happened? They never gave me any trouble (though I'm sure Buy-Rite had one or two people that never had any trouble with them too).

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 7:06 am

I usually get stuff within 5 days when I use the cheap shipping at play-asia. I only had one problem with them (they sent me a bootleg Beatmania GB in a real box with a real manual and inserts by accident), but it was resolved quickly and I got a refund.

I only used yesasia a couple times, but I had no problems so far, though it sometimes takes a while for stuff to ship out from there. However, the games arrived within days of being shipped out the last two times I ordered.

Ironically, it actually took longer for a game I ordered from BestBuy.com to arrive here than it does for a game from play-asia. I'm not sure if it was BestBuy's fault or the post office's, though. Probably the post office since they often deliver stuff to the wrong address or forget to deliver stuff.

IlMrm · Post by **IlMrm** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 8:07 am

I've ordered from Playasia many times, with no problems at all. I've used their EMS(super quick, around 2-3 days), and also their regular airmail(around 7-10 days). The packaging is nice, and they declared the items as "video games", and the actual value.

I've also ordered from Yesasia many times. Again never had a problem.

Both companies are very reliable and professional in my experience with them.

umi · Post by **umi** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 8:39 am

I use them exclusively, and they are always faultless. If I had to give an objective and definitive reason why you should use them though, it would definitely be their website. It is undoubtedly the best by far, out of all their competitors. It's pure class. Another reason would be their great range, including game music and a host of other japanese releases (music, movies, etc).

MovingTarget · Post by **MovingTarget** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 11:35 am

Ive had great dealings with playasia in the past, and would like to keep using them but I've had to switch to liksang. The reason is the website signs me out whenever I view an item, which is quite annoying, there seems to be no way around it. So its impossible to add anything to my shopping cart...

How have you found Liksang if you have used them?

2DGaming · Post by **2DGaming** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 11:58 am

I have been ordering from Play-Asia since 2004. Even ordered my JP-PS2 console off them. Great service and reasonable shipping time. Never actually had any problems with them. I order off Play-Asia most of the time. I also use Yesasia sometimes but Play-Asia is still my number one choice.

Skyline · Post by **Skyline** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 12:06 pm

More praise for Play-Asia.

Concerning refunds and exchanges, they're responses are prompt. Trizeal was sent to me damaged, and I recieved a new copy in about 2 weeks (airmailed it cause I was cheap..), along with the packed-in goodies which wasn't really necessary but YAY

I've had nothing but good experiences with Lik-Sang and NCSX as well. NCSX, for a while, was the cheapest place for me to get new IIDX controllers.

al138 · Post by **al138** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 2:35 pm

I'm sorry, I meant Buy Rite--not NCSX. I don't know what I was thinking last night.

As far as I know NCSX is fine. I didn't mean to step on any toes or unduely defame an importer. Buy Rite, on the other hand, was sickening in the way it handled orders. I guess it's gone now.

benstylus · Post by **benstylus** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 3:48 pm

al138 wrote:I'm sorry, I meant Buy Rite--not NCSX. I don't know what I was thinking last night.

As far as I know NCSX is fine. I didn't mean to step on any toes or unduely defame an importer. Buy Rite, on the other hand, was sickening in the way it handled orders. I guess it's gone now.

Yes, buy-rite is no more.

NCS isn't bad servicewise, but I've found their prices generally higher than the sellers in asia... and shipping is often more expensive too.

Once I discovered play-asia, I almost completely stopped using NCS. Cheaper shipping, cheaper prices, and $5 coupon codes with almost every order...

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 4:49 pm

YesAsia is generally the cheapest place for new games since most games are $5 less than at Play-Asia but you do chance their occasional "sourcing for supplier for a month" annoyance.

NCSX is just really fast if you're on the east coast. 2 days tops unless something goes wrong. Of course, the tradeoff is the shipping premium.

Thank goodness there aren't any popular online importers around that rip people off. Well, there's Toys n Joys, which has like 1/4 the stuff they claim they have, but that's hardly popular.

Post by **Icarus** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 4:53 pm

No problems with Play-Asia here, been buying from them for ages. Usually I get my stuff sent out via EMS, and it always reaches me within 2 days of notification. I don't mind customs fees, personally - and occasionally my stuff arrives without the fees - as long as I can get my hands on the latest stuff quickly ^_-

They get the thumbs up from me.

E. Randy Dupre · Post by **E. Randy Dupre** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 7:33 pm

I've heard a couple of complaints about Play-Asia from other people: orders requiring the payment of customs duty and packages going missing, both as a result of the way they package stuff (stickers and whatnot plastered all over the packaging, making it obvious what's contained for customs guys and robbing bastards).

Using them for the first time ever at the moment - got Sega Rally 2006 on the way. Hoping all goes smoothly - emailed them to request that they mark the package down, so we'll see how it goes.

NCSX, I've had no problems with at all. They're slightly more expensive on some items, but orders arrive at the speed of sound and it's dead easy to ask them to mark things down (which they're happy to do, and further than PA will).

I suppose a lot of it's going to come down to where it is you live. I've been using NCSX rather than PA because of the whole import tax thing here - not having to worry about getting lumbered with an additional cost when the items arrive makes up for the slightly higher prices at the checkout.

al138 · Post by **al138** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 8:47 pm

Thank you all for the suggestions. After a bit of consideration, I decided to give NCSX a try. I picked up pre-orders on Under Defeat and Rajirugi for $119 shipping included. I cheaped out and went with UPS Ground shipping. I figured that since I live just south of DC, it shouldn't take more than a few days to ship, anyway. I think that's a pretty good deal overall.

CIT · Post by **CIT** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 9:15 pm

Play Asia is okay. I had RE4 on preorder from them, but didn't get it until 2 weeks after release cuz they didn't have enough copies, that kind of bummed me. Also the packaging isn't too hot IMO, had a GBA game that got squished once. Generally they're pretty reliable though.

UnscathedFlyingObject · Sun Jan 08, 2006 9:54 pm

al138 wrote: I figured that since I live just south of DC, it shouldn't take more than a few days to ship, anyway. I think that's a pretty good deal overall.

It could still take a week or more to reach you. It sure took me a while to get my Hori RAP from them and I live in NYC (their HQ is in Queens if I remember correctly.)

* Queens is a borough of NYC.

Acid King · Post by **Acid King** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 9:14 am

Aside from the initial hiccup I had with them delaying my order for weeks, which, incidentally was my first order with them, I have had no problems with Play Asia. I've also ordered from VideoGameDepot and NCSX a number of times and never had a problem with either. I also ordered once through Estarland, which was a positive experience as well.

neorichieb1971 · Post by **neorichieb1971** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 9:46 am

Ive ordered 3 or 4 things from P-A, never had a problem at all. I don't even track the items because I know from experience they will get the job done nicely.

Bingo · Post by **Bingo** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 10:13 am

P-A have been extremely reliable for me as well. Transit times aren't that hot with standard shipping, you get what you pay for. Bit weird to read that some people have the lost packages and duties problem with them that I'm having with YesAsia. Both ship to me from HK and no YesAsia packages are getting through to me at all, they all vanish (still waiting on Homura), and then come with duties to be paid 2 months later. P-A on the other hand always comes through, never had to pay duties either on standard deliveries.

For the North American hemisphere, NCSX sounds mighty attractive. I think you're doing the right thing giving them a try. If nothing else, you'll have your stuff earlier.

al138 · Post by **al138** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 12:51 am

Bingo wrote:For the North American hemisphere, NCSX sounds mighty attractive. I think you're doing the right thing giving them a try. If nothing else, you'll have your stuff earlier.

That was my hope--that, and I like the idea of buying from a vendor that's a little closer to home. I'll still keep Play-Asia in mind should NCSX not pan out.

MovingTarget · Post by **MovingTarget** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 4:59 pm

I'm curious why none of you have anything to say about LikSang... I'm currently waiting for my first two orders from this site, the controller has been despatched within a day, although its taking them awhile to get mushi....

iatneH · Post by **iatneH** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 7:50 pm

Lik-sang was one of the first places I'd go to for import stuff years ago, but simply put, their prices aren't competitive enough. It's a shame too since they have great service both online and in-store.

MovingTarget · Post by **MovingTarget** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 9:12 pm

Thats cool, I'm more for service than competitive prices... Although I may have to look into the differences in prices, still cant stay logged in to play-asia when I look at an item.

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Wed Jan 11, 2006 1:50 am

Lik-Sang's fine but they don't have as comprehensive a game selection as Play-Asia nor the speed of NCSX. Given that much of their pricing is the same as Play-Asia, their free shipping is also inferior to Play-Asia's cheapest shipping (~$3.80 - $5 coupon).