J-Subculture

[Darkman]

Personally, I've been very disappointed with J-Subculture. I placed an order in early February. They still had not shipped the order when i sent them an inquiry after a week and a half. Then, in spite of their screw-up, they shipped via slow boat, and I'm still waiting for it to get to the states / customs. I've dealt with several asian sellers and this seems to be the least professional. I'm just hoping to (eventually) receive the product so I don't have to file a claim.

 

-DM

[OakIris]

Personally, I've been very disappointed with J-Subculture. I placed an order in early February. They still had not shipped the order when i sent them an inquiry after a week and a half. Then, in spite of their screw-up, they shipped via slow boat, and I'm still waiting for it to get to the states / customs. I've dealt with several asian sellers and this seems to be the least professional. I'm just hoping to (eventually) receive the product so I don't have to file a claim.

 

-DM

Ugh - not good. I ordered from them on 2/21 and received the shipping notice yesterday, but I paid for expedited shipping. Not sure when I will receive the shipment as the EMS tracking site doesn't seem to give estimated delivery date info, but so far I am happy. I hope you receive what you ordered before too long, Darkman....I would be worried too.

 

Holly

[2brothers]

To anyone who has bought pens from them, do the pilot pens come with convertors and if so, which converter? i known that engeika ships the higher tier pens (I am looking at a 912) with a Con-70.

Just got my order today and no, the vanishing point I ordered did not come with convertor, it came with some weird eye dropper/empty cartridge looking thing. I was a little disappointed it didn't come with a Con-20.

[OakIris]

Just got my order today and no, the vanishing point I ordered did not come with convertor, it came with some weird eye dropper/empty cartridge looking thing. I was a little disappointed it didn't come with a Con-20.

And I don't think they even sell the Con-20, at least all I could find on the site was the smaller capacity Con-50. (Of course, with their dodgy search engine, who knows!)

 

In addition to the Custom 92, I also ordered a Pilot Prera from them. The photos show the pens with a converter inside, and I believe the pens are sold here in the USA with a converter included, but I guess I will find out one way or the other when the pen arrives.

 

Holly

[bbycrts]

At first I had a feeling J-subculture was removing the converters and selling them separately, but I noticed Engeika makes a big deal that they include them - is it not customary to include them in the home market?

[Aramchek]

At first I had a feeling J-subculture was removing the converters and selling them separately, but I noticed Engeika makes a big deal that they include them - is it not customary to include them in the home market?

Engeika also makes a big deal of having the lowest prices, and of course most pens are limited edition... Oh, and did you know Wancher is the biggest, most high-tech manufacturer of pens, watches, and many other items on the planet?

[OakIris]

Engeika also makes a big deal of having the lowest prices, and of course most pens are limited edition... Oh, and did you know Wancher is the biggest, most high-tech manufacturer of pens, watches, and many other items on the planet?

lol - very true. But then, what company is going to advertise that they have the worst prices and products available?!? Kind of like the "world famous" food dish that local restaurants advertise about, when most of the restaurants probably aren't known to even exist in the next county over, let alone throughout the world.

 

I had originally planned to purchase from Engeika, having read generally positive things about the prices and service, but then I did a price comparison between Engeika, J-Subculture and Rakuten Global Market for the pens/ink I wanted. Including shipping - which was expedited on J-Subculture and standard slow boat on Engeika - I saved over $40 by going with J-Subculture. That made it worth it to me.

 

Edited to add: Rakuten's prices were pretty close to J-Subculture's, but they didn't offer expedited shipping so again, J-Subculture won out - their expedited shipping was about $1 more than Rakuten's standard shipping price.

 

Holly

Edited February 27, 2015 by OakIris

[OakIris]

Received my shipment from J-Subculture yesterday; everything I ordered was there and arrived intact in a well-packed box. Order placed on 2/21/2015, shipped on 2/24; the package then languished in Customs in Los Angeles for 3+ days, and arrived on 3/3/2015. Approximately 12 days from ordering to receiving; not bad, really!

 

The Prera I ordered did include the converter, and a cartridge of Pilot ink as well. It is too bad that the higher end Pilot pens don't seem to come with a converter; luckily, I don't need one with the Custom 92.

 

As much as I would have liked to have purchased from one of our US vendors, I saved a lot of money by buying directly from a seller in Japan. If I had purchased from Goulet Pens, for example, the same pens/ink would have cost me $304, not including the shipping. I paid $150+ less than that, including the cost of expedited shipping, by going with J-Subculture. Next time I am in the market for a Japanese-made pen or some more Iroshizuku ink, I will certainly be checking their site first!

 

Holly

 

[parnesh]

My package has been shipped so I will now in a few days. I have ordered a 912 and they specifically told me it came with a Con-70 so lets see. Also have a prera CM and some ink coming in as well. The prices are really good and service thus far has been great. Will update once I receive.

[OakIris]

Excellent, parnesh! Hope your pens arrive soon and all is well, Con-70 converter included.

 

I purchased a Prera with the CM nib, too; haven't had a chance to ink it up as yet but it is a nice looking pen, IMHO. I have, however filled my Custom 92 with the also just received Iroshizuku Shin-Kai ink and it writes very nicely indeed. I am very happy!

 

Holly

Edited March 4, 2015 by OakIris

[wc305]

I placed an order with j-subculture on 2/13 and didn't get a receipt until 2/16. I didn't hear back from there so I emailed them about my order on 2/23 regarding my order and send this response "We are sorry that the product was delayed by the supply of the supplier.
We would ship the product out today. Sorry for keep you waiting." They shipped it out immedately on 2/23 but it is 3/6 now and I still have not received it. Looking at the tracking, it looks like its stuck in NY. Is this normal?

[ailevin]

I placed an order with j-subculture on 2/13 and didn't get a receipt until 2/16. I didn't hear back from there so I emailed them about my order on 2/23 regarding my order and send this response "We are sorry that the product was delayed by the supply of the supplier.

We would ship the product out today. Sorry for keep you waiting." They shipped it out immedately on 2/23 but it is 3/6 now and I still have not received it. Looking at the tracking, it looks like its stuck in NY. Is this normal?

 

I ordered a Pilot 823 on a Sunday evening (Feb 15) and a Pilot 92 Tuesday evening (Feb 17), both Los Angeles local time. They shipped at different times according to their the first tracking entry, but that may just be when the mailing labels were made. They left the initial post office at the same time, hit US Customs at the same time and were delivered to me at the same time, on the following week on Monday (Feb23). I paid for expedited shipping, since the cheapest shipping was not insurable, and the mid level shipping was only $2 or so cheaper. The tracking system seemed to work well until it hits US Customs. There is also a switch in the way that the tracking time is registered between Japan time and US time confused me about just how long it is/was in customs. My tracking said it was still in customs at LAX on Monday morning, so I was resigned to waiting another day for it to be shipped to my local post office. I was pleasantly surprised when the mail woman knocked on the door in the afternoon with two packages.

 

Everything arrived as advertised, very well packed, and looking officially Pilotesque. I really didn't intend to buy two pens in such quick succession, but when I saw that the Custom Heritage 92 was available in smoke for $100 shipped, compared to my previously anticipated street price of $220 here, I couldn't let it get away.

Edited March 7, 2015 by ailevin

[jjlax10]

I am the unlucky one. My order was placed on 2/13, shipped 2/19. Based on tracking, I can't tell if the package ever left Japan. The frustrating thing is that I contacted j-subculture to say if they had any further info, but never heard anything.

[zchen]

whether the converter is included or not is depending on the maker. For example Sailor does not include converter on most of their pens unless stated otherwise.

[OakIris]

I am the unlucky one. My order was placed on 2/13, shipped 2/19. Based on tracking, I can't tell if the package ever left Japan. The frustrating thing is that I contacted j-subculture to say if they had any further info, but never heard anything.

It always seems worse when you are dealing with International companies who don't have a full grasp of your language, and when you in turn don't know theirs. The EMS tracking site has a link so you can send a question about your package directly to the Japanese postal service but you have to be able to read and write Japanese. You can also track your package via the US postal service, using the same number you received for EMS. Whether you will get more info there or not I do not know.

 

Almost every vendor has glitches in the shipping process, etc., whether self-inflicted by mistakes or problems beyond their control - with the shipping company, weather, etc., but it would be nice if they would communicate with you. It's frustrating to have to do so, but my advice would be to email them again and hope that your email gets to someone who will respond.

 

On the other hand: What type of shipping did you choose? If economy, their site shows it could take up to 4 weeks (28 days) to reach its destination and if it was sent standard it can take up to 20 days from the date of shipment. Your package shipped on 2/19 so you haven't reached the maximum limit for either of those methods.... So, really, no need to worry yet - unless you paid for expedited shipping.

 

Holly

Edited March 7, 2015 by OakIris

[bbycrts]

My Sailor has finally cleared customs in Los Angeles and has left the post office on its way to me in Oregon...

[jojinkho]

Is there such a cheap site for Pelikan pens?

[Ghost Plane]

Is there such a cheap site for Pelikan pens?

There are Pelikans on the site.

[parnesh]

My parcel arrived today, a few days late but given it was the weekend plus public holiday, I can't really say it was late. Everything was as advertised and packed well. I little paper crane inside as well. All the packing and labels were intact (sometimes you don't get this for example from engeika). Also I got a Con-70 with the 912 and Con-50 with the prera which was unexpected.

 

Overall, really happy with the goods and service. Now to sneak a 912 SFM past the big boss.

Edited March 10, 2015 by parnesh

[bbycrts]

My pen arrived today as well, securely packaged with a paper crane and a very nice handwritten note. Shipping took a long time, but that was the post offices taking their sweet time, not J-Subculture. Very happy - it's a beautiful pen (Sailor Profit ST) at a beautiful price!