I have always used EMS since you get zippy service and the tracking. And I know that w/ SAL it's slower and there is no tracking, but w/ the dollar to yen sucking as it does, SAL is tempting.
Anybody have bad SAL experiences or have good things to say?

I've only had one item shipped via SAL and I did get tracking with it. It essentially was an economized version of EMS but it took two weeks to arrive.

I recently received a package from Mandarake using SAL and it arrived just fine and a little faster than I thought.

It’s not necessarily slow or fast but is basically a “You’ll get it within the window we say, and if you get it faster all the better.” Kind of like how First Class and Media Mail works in the U.S. If you ship First Class it can take up to a week to get to the destination, but in my experience it can arrive as fast as Priority Mail in most cases.

I have been receiving stuff from Japan since the late 1980s and never had anything lost or damaged.

But be aware: Since it doesn’t require a signature, it all depends on where you are receiving it. If you have no problems with folks just dropping stuff off at your home, work or building all great! If you live in a neighborhood where packages go missing, your judgement on whether it's better to have someone sign for it.

I just had a huge package of stuff sent to me via SAL in the past month and never one problem.

basically repeating micromanzone

After my experiences with SAL, I would not hesitate using that service and saving some major $$. I've done it several times with mandarake. One time it took only a day or two longer than EMS and another time it took a couple weeks. However, with big ticket items where I'd lose my mind if it got lost... I still would rather use EMS for piece of mind. I wish SB did SAL... I'd use that for my orders in a heartbeat.

I've had dozens of packages shipped through SAL. A lot got here within a week. Faster than from the US. No issue whatsoever.

When Kaiju Taro was still around, I always went with SAL. I've also had people, not businesses, ship me stuff via SAL and I've had no problems. The way I see it, I really don't need a toy that soon, or supplies, so might as well save up where I can.

Thanks for the info. I was not concerned about the (almost) immediate gratification you get w/ EMS, I was more concerned about stuff getting lost. When the conversion rate was saner, using EMS was my choice since everything kinda washed out in the final cost. Don't think we will see those days returning any time soon.

Never had a package get lost. I have had to wait a couple of weeks once or twice.

I used SAL only once. My package took 3 months to get here. I thought it was lost but finally got it when all hope was lost. I thought that pretty much summed up how SAL worked so I forgot all about it. That was 6 years ago, now I'm reading most people have good experiences so I might as well give it a shot again.

To be 100% fair, I sell on eBay (based in the U.S. in N.Y.C.) and every time I have ever shipped to Italy, Mexico & Germany there is a solid 6 out of 10 chance that now matter how I ship there would be some ridiculous delay. People complain, then they get it. And it is usually the local post office in Italy, Mexico & Germany that screws up. Blame it on incompetence or local corruption. I still sell to those countries, but always say “Look, I shipped and I know it will get there and there’s nothing I can do if your local post office is screwy. Really sorry, but it is out of my hands.”

I've had a package take almost 2 months shipping to Hawaii. I've also had SAL packages severely damaged in transit to a former address in a sketchy part of Los Angeles (to the point where it hit the toy inside two boxes).

It really depends on your geographic location and the quality of the mail service in your area. I've had no problems using SAL in northern California for the past few years- packages arrive in 1-2 weeks, no damage.

Yes, I can see how local post offices can affect in delays and even getting packages lost. But unfortunately for SAL, I've had literally hundreds of boxes shipped to me and only two have taken a really long time and only one has been lost. I'm overall satisfied (or more than satisfied) with Mexpost and perhaps I should give SAL another try.
And then of course is the matter of who ships, because in that case, it had been JapanHobbyLink who shipped, so I was certain my box had been sent out but was unsure of in which part of the journey it could've gotten lost!

The fastest I've gotten a box mailed and shipped was from California, 3 days and the toy was already in my shelf! Bryce packed fast, USpost and Mexpost worked magic! Wish all boxes would arrive so fast!