List of shops
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Contents
[hide]Figures and most goods
Purchasing from Asia
Buyfag store digest - Payment and shipping details for the major shops, needs updated but it's still a worthwhile read.
MFC Shops Database - Subject to >opinions , take everything with a grain of salt.
Brand new figures, Paypal, EMS/SAL shipping. Amiami is often the cheapest.
★ - The store is able to undervalue or mark your item as a gift, which may help avoid extra fees. For more details check the undervalue section.
The “For sale in Japan only” disclaimer means jackshit. If it’s on the international site (except for things with batteries or alcohol), you can buy it. If the item is truly meant for domestic-only, AmiAmi does not even list the item on their international site. Charges domestic sales tax on most goods, which is hidden by the steep discounts. The main items that AmiAmi have at a higher price than other stores are Cospa brand goods, where they are unable to discount the items at all, so the sales tax is apparent. Updates at 13:00 JST. They rank their products from A-J, anything from A-B will be like new, Japanese are just autistic about this stuff. Their searching system can be quite bad, if you want to find a lewd figure or book, go into the mature section first or else they may not show up. You can see some images of the packaging here
Slightly poor quality control on verifying character and series names, can take some stock requests, discounts Cospa goods. They let you cancel up until you get the payment request. You can see some images of the packaging here
Usually slightly more expensive than HLJ and Amiami, but they often hold sales which have a limited stock which disappears quickly.
Low prices for some items (even lower than Amiami sometimes), limited/exclusive figures are sold, they accept upfront payments and have proxy and forwarding services. It will take a very long time to receive a response to an email, if they ever do. If you wish to have a package undervalued, then ask them to value to a specific amount in the comment section of the order.
Mandarake sells preowned items including figures, doujin goods, character goods and more. Their stock is updated several times every day which includes stores in several different locations. In most cases, they will list the condition of a figure in it's title. Due to Japanese autism, they will often list the item as "Box damaged" which usually means that it has been breathed on by someone. Check the pictures of the item, if there is any serious damage it will be listed there. Make sure to search with Japanese names for things, their translation software is pretty garbage. Mandarake is no longer guaranteed to undervalue for you, this picture gives a list of stores someone has made of stores that may be willing to undervalue for you.
Similar to Big in Japan, although they offer slightly lower prices on exclusives. This is balanced out by them estimating the shipping costs which usually results in you paying more. They automatically undervalue. Their packaging can be quite bad, sometimes putting a figure box in a box with no padding. They may also be several days late in sending out preorders. For those in Europe who do not wish to undervalue, then they offer a Transi-logistic service that will allow you to pay the tax through them, which should mean there is less of a delay since the package should not be held up in customs while you pay the fees.
- e2046 ★
Chinese shop, garage kits (recasts) and some exclusive pre-painted recasts. Quality varies. A lot of their newer recasts are recasts of recasts, if purchasing a garage kit then read the garage kit section below.
Usually the best place to buy GSC exclusives due to their flat 2000 JPY EMS rate. They will charge you automatically when your item is due to be released. If the charge fails, you will need to message them for an invoice. If you order multiple figures with different release dates at once then they will charge you when the first item ships, however they will only charge shipping once.
Much like GSC store, you can now pre-order Native products directly from them, sadly they don’t ship to as many countries as GSC store. As always be sure to read their help guide before you try to place an order.
Rarer, out-of-print merchandise is available, but it tends to very expensive. Their packaging is safe and secure. Be warned that some goods are pegged on Amazon JP pricing. Will occasionally send out %5 discount coupons after you purchase a figure. Their in site search feature is not accurate and the overall layout of the site is very dated. They have partnered with MFC and will advertise if they have an item available in the comments section.
- CD Japan ★
You can sometimes find stuff that are sold out at the other big sites here. Almost all shipping options out there are available. Also CDs, DVDs, and games. Does not include Japanese consumption tax. Cheapest site for smaller items if you abuse coupons and pick SAL. For some products, such as CDs then they are willing to mark the item as a gift which may allow you to avoid extra fees. You can see some images of the packaging here
Also CDs, DVDs, and Games. They are usually overpriced and items may be listed as available on their website which are actually out of stock.
- Jungle ★
Updates every day starting at 21:00 JST. Item quality is listen on the page, similar to Amiami's rating system. Prices can vary from being overpriced to under market prices depending on the figure.
Similar to Plamoya in that there is some rare merchandise to be found for high prices. Be aware that their new products have arrived with the figure damaged and in very bad condition. Their preowned products have also been very poor even with high ratings, there have been examples of figures rated 4.5 stars arriving covered in scratches or in disgusting condition. Their friendly invoice system allows you to value packages at what you want. There is a sales section on the front page that will update with new items around once a month. They have partnered with MFC and will advertise if they have an item available in the comments section.
Able to easily check out yourself (they take credit/debit cards and PayPal) and use a forwarding service. Used items are generally near perfect condition, but don’t be surprised if keychains come without their outermost packaging or batteries are missing from the clock. Actually used goods are marked Rank B (roughly equivalent to AmiAmi Rank C). Cheaper than their Rakuten storefront. Free domestic shipping starts at 1500 yen, constant time sales and combo sales (buy 5 items of same category to get 5% off, etc). They ship everything in huge boxes so take that into consideration. Here is a guide for using BiJ with Suruga-ya.
Recommended for heavier books since they have flat rate shipping. Any items that show up under the AmazonGlobal対象 option can be shipped overseas (non R-18 books/CD/BD/DVD/some figures); all other items will require using a proxy service. If you have a cheap and good proxy, Amazon JP has some of the most aggressive discount systems. Do not use a forwarder unless you know exactly what you’re doing. To see what items are available for overseas shipping, select AmazonGlobal対象 from the menu on the left after making a search. Note that Amazon.jp rarely add items to the AmazonGlobal対象 category. A selection of items are available at the AmazonGlobal OTAKU Store.
This will require a proxy or forwarder. If you are looking to purchase a figure that has already been released or character goods of some sort, then there is a good chance that someone will be selling it here. All goods are usually purchased from a person, rather than a store which means you are not able to guarantee the quality of the item you receive. You must check the feedback of the person you are purchasing from.
Most Japanese online stores like Animate or Movic now currently accept foreign credit cards for all items while offering domestic shipping, so you just need a forwarding service.
The following need updated, however they are not necessarily worse than the above. Those who update the guide simply do not have experience with them and so are not able to add information about them. If you do use them, please update with any information or post the information in the buyfag thread where it will hopefully be seen.
Purchasing from the US
Most US stores receive their stock 1-3 months after Japanese release date.
Higher than average figure prices but has free shipping on orders over $150. The only site with a decent points system stateside. They will issue bonus points on holiday orders and during summer sales. They will spam you with promo emails if you subscribe and their boxes are obnoxious. Better than average customer service. They have both Japanese and US based warehouses. They launched a scam "PREMIUM SERVICE" in 2017. The math was worked out and the only conceivable scenario where the membership saves you money is if you purchase multiple figures monthly.
One of the only stores in the US that sells preowned figures online. Their preowned prices are comparable to Mandarake's prices. Shipping is $5.99 per figure if you don't live in Alaska or Hawaii.
I know, I know, >CR, but the daily deals on statues and exclusives are generally good. Will sometimes run 20-25% off coupon specials. Premium+ Members get free shipping. You can snag Premium+ using a CR 2-day guest pass right before you order. They have a presence on MFC and will sometimes advertise if they have an item available in the comments section. The sites store search feature is buggy, there have been cases where figures were not accessible browsing but could be directly linked to via MFC.
Especially if you’re an American buying Kotobukiya figures. They seem to have very poor communication, especially if they haven't shipped a product which was supposed to be released.
Frequent sales, good place to get manga and anime if in the US.
Site looks like fucking shit, but it’s legit. Also have an Amazon storefront. If you sign up for their mailing list they send 10-15% off coupon codes often. Ignore their 5% off and wait for higher coupons.
Last resort. Ask buyf/a/gs if you’re unsure. Typically if the seller isn’t from China or somewhere similar, it’s safe. Be sure to stick with vendors that are “fulfilled by Amazon”.
If you want to start a bootleg collection. Absolute last resort: Only buy from Japanese and North American sellers without Chinese-sounding names. Avoid China/Taiwan/Hong Kong sellers. Ask buyf/a/gs if you’re unsure. Even then it’s not infallible if they’re posting stock photos.
CLOSED Free shipping within the USA (no minimum to spend) and free IMS shipping for international customers (on items under 4lbs), discounted IMS shipping (about half price of USPS) up to 10lbs international (see site for details). 3% Rewards all the time on all purchases, email sign-up for coupons and bonus reward promotions. Recommended to use primarily for Bluefin’s localized Bandai items such as figuarts, monsterarts & robot chogokin if sold out in Japan, as their preorders are cheaper than BigBadToyStore’s. International customers can request lower declared value via comment section when ordering.
CLOSED Animate’s US branch, has a lot of Animate-exclusive goods. Shipping is based more on volume than weight, so a very good deal on bigger orders or products (e.g. 1/1 scale Mami musket replica cost $11 Fedex shipping compared to $50+ from AmiAmi). Closed on the 29th of February.
CLOSED Usually has stock for sold out or out of print items if you missed ordering windows. Free shipping on orders $140 or more and can ship internationally. Taxes are non-existant/baked into the price with slight discount for pre-orders. The site is all one big scroll list and item organization is all over the place with a limited search function.
The following need updated, however they are not necessarily worse than the above. Those who update the guide simply do not have experience with them and so are not able to add information about them. If you do use them, please update with any information or post the information in the buyfag thread where it will hopefully be seen.
Purchasing from Europe
French Euro store. Ships worldwide. Well priced and sometimes sells limited editions.
UK based store. Prices are unsurprisingly more expensive than shipping from Japan, although they appear to be slightly lower than other UK stores. Ships to EU and limited non-EU countries.
UK based. Free tracked shipping within the UK. Pre-orders require a 10% deposit. Orders can be cancelled if they haven't shipped yet.
UK based. Free tracked shipping within the UK. Pre-orders require a 10% deposit. Orders can be cancelled if they haven't shipped yet. Has a trade-in program. Occasionally gives out small discount codes in their email newsletter.
The following need updated, however they are not necessarily worse than the above. Those who update the guide simply do not have experience with them and so are not able to add information about them. If you do use them, please update with any information or post the information in the buyfag thread where it will hopefully be seen.
Has a physical store in Croydon, UK. Has a trade-in program.
Has a physical store in Birmingham, UK. Normie-bait; often seen selling Pocky at conventions. Typically overpriced. Also sells their own brand of clothing/merchandise. Featured in that video about autism.
UK based. Mostly localised (USA/UK) DVDs/manga and Japanese magazines/artbooks but also stocks some figures.
Garage kits
You will most likely not be available to purchase these from the original seller, as the majority of them are event only. This means that your main options will be purchasing preowned or a recast.
Preowned
This will require a proxy or forwarder, you can sometimes buy preassembled and painted garage kits for a high price here in addition to kits.
This will require a proxy or forwarder Here is a guide for using BiJ with Suruga-ya.
Occasionally kits can pop up here.
Similar to Mandarake, do not expect to purchase very many from here.
Recasts
Sells recasts for decent prices.
It is claimed that they make recasts of GK-M's recasts, which means that you may be buying a lower quality product. They do offer the Gathering service however which allows you to buy a kit which is already assembled and painted.
Dakimakura
A more complete dakimakura guide is hosted at Dakimakura.buyfags.moe. The following information may be outdated/incorrect compared to it therefore it is recommended to read it.
Cover
Where to purchase:
Search for “pillow”.
Search for “dakimakura”.
Search for “huggable pillow cover”.
Only sells bootleg dakimakura.
Custom dakimakura, bootlegs.
Many artists on Twitter and Pixiv sell their covers here. You will need to use a Proxy service to order from here.
A webshop for a circle of six artists whom pump out new works monthly. They have instruction on how to order internationally. Go to their Q&A page, google translate it and scroll to the bottom.
A webshop based in Taiwan. Has exclusive works made by the site owner as well as selling those of other artists. Ships internationally.
Custom dakimakura:
eBay seller that offers custom covers.
Hobby Heart’s custom dakimakura.
Stuffing
Filthy bastards that only ship in Burgerland. Very cheap.
The DHR6000 is of the most premium of inner pillows. Search DHR6001 instead for a 150x50cm version. You may need to use a proxy service to order this but some users have been able to order without one.
Cheap Chinese pillow from a reputable seller. Free shipping.
We recommend that you try picking up a pillow from a local bedroom/household goods store (e.g. Bed Bath & Beyond), since you can squeeze and pick out a pillow with your preferred softness level in person. You wouldn’t need to pay a rape shipping price on a giant pillow from overseas. The pillow size should be the same size as your cover. If it’s too big or too small, the art will be stretched out or wrinkled. Always buy a white pillow. Remember, no one can see the pillow anymore once it’s inside the dakimakura case.
Media
CD/DVD/books
Amazon has the best CD and BD/DVD discounts and work out to be the cheapest generally when buying in bulk, although they don’t ship 18+ material internationally. When buying from others, just remember printed matter is generally very heavy. Also, different stores carry different kinds of products and have different shipping rate tables. For example, buying artbooks through Amazon JP or HLJ with Fedex shipping may be the best option when express shipping is desired. For the absolute cheapest ship rates, Honto offers sea shipping, but keep in mind that it is slow, not insured, and not trackable.
DHL only.
EMS only.
EMS, FedEx, SAL, Airmail, Sea. Registering and buying guide: 01 02 03.
EMS, FedEx, SAL, Airmail. International version of Neowing.
Markups obviously, but you can do special request orders and free shipping >$100.
Responds to requests. Slow to stock, however.
Manga & Light Novels (in English, German, etc.) with free shipping almost worldwide.
Great deals if you can ever visit their brick and mortar stores.
Recommended for licensed media.
Often have good deals on DVD’s and manga.
List of Japanese releases with English subs here.
Music CDs:
Sells J-Core CDs worldwide, you can e-mail mailorder@guhroovy.com if you want to buy something that’s not listed in the shop.
Ships J-Core and other Japanese EDM overseas.
Video games
Purchase localized games from whatever shop is near you or online. If you need a guide for this then you may be suffering from more important problems.
If you’re looking to import untranslated games there are deceptively few reliable options. Shipping is likely to be expensive regardless, but a few good places are:
Only for new preorders. If something is sold out it’s probably not going to restock.
An old favorite. Reliable, but slow to ship.
Preowned Media
It will often be cheaper to purchase media, especially BDs and DVDs, preowned.
Mandarake sells preowned items including figures, doujin goods, character goods and more. Their stock is updated several times every day which includes stores in several different locations. In most cases, they will list the condition of an item in it's title. Due to Japanese autism, they will often list the item as "Box damaged" which usually means that it has been breathed on by someone. Check the pictures of the item, if there is any serious damage it will be listed there. Make sure to search with Japanese names for things, their translation software is pretty garbage. Mandarake is no longer guaranteed to undervalue for you, this picture gives a list of stores someone has made of stores that may be willing to undervalue for you.
Doujin goods
The major doujin stores in Japan to surf:
Mandarake is a good place to get doujinshi (and merchandise in general) from, but their catalog is mostly limited to pre-owned items (opened or new and sealed). But don’t worry, they are picky enough to detect hotglue, stains and any sort of damage in the products they sell, so go ahead and buy. Must be paid for by your credit card if listed for adults. DHL is amazing for doujinshi because it can end up being cheaper than EMS and SAL and still be faster. Try asking for all shipping quotes in the comment section of your order.
Will ship to some forwarders and proxies. Your proxy will let you know if they can or cannot take orders from them.
Allows international credit cards to be used, but does not ship internationally. You must use a fowarder/proxy. They don’t ship to Big in Japan.
English options and ships overseas, official distributor but with limited selection.
Used and new books, with EMS shipping however using Paypal is no longer possible, they only accept credit cards now for oversea purchases.
Not much of a webstore, but nice for visiting in person.
Has many old, hard to find doujinshi and other doujin goods. Doesn’t state conditions, although most are passable. There is a barcode sticker on the doujinshi that can be peeled off without leaving any residue if done slowly. Paperback doujinshi come in plastic bags to prevent the sticker from damaging the doujinshi. Use a forwarding service. The checkout process is simple. Do NOT use their overseas Rakuten storefront. They handle orders done through it very slowly because it’s #3 in priority (main site then Japan-only Rakuten storefront), and with proxy fees the main store still ends up being cheaper than their Rakuten storefront because of the forced EMS and the markups. Here is a guide for using BiJ with Suruga-ya
This will require a proxy or forwarder. All goods will be second hand, with no guarantee of quality.
H-manga
For directly buying new h-manga from a store that ships overseas.
They offer SAL, but their catalogue has sudden omissions at times. With Honto you must search explicitly for adult items (本>アダルト), otherwise adult items will not be found by a search. Registering and buying guide: 01 02 03.
They have a wider selection, but you only have EMS at your disposal.
A second option is to use a forwarding service. If used correctly, it’s the cheapest way to import your h-manga, especially in combination with Amazon as they offer free shipping within Japan.
Since H-manga are towards the expensive end of the manga price range and a lot of older H-manga are out-of-print, it might be worth looking at second-hand options like those mentioned in the Doujin goods section.
Plastic model kits
Many kits can be found in the first section of this page, however several American stores are listed below:
Custom goods
There are a number of stores which allow you to print your own custom design on items, this is usually for posters with regards to buyfagging.
Posters
They accept copyrighted materials, always check their deals/discounts.
Accepts most file types, vector or raster. Same-day printing and blind shipping option.
For the Ausfags who don’t want to be charged insane shipping prices. They do canvas printing and stretching and photo printing and framing.
Don’t bother with Artscow unless it’s free, seriously.
You can get decent frames from Amazon, just be sure to read the reviews: 20x28 20x30, etc.
Miscellaneous goods
Operated by /k/, this is a list of their patch sites and other misc merchandise that they make. Some of which is /a/ related and obviously includes patches, wooden boards, stickers and other items.
Run by /o/, this is a list of their sticker sites. You can find their threads here.
Apparel
Rape prices but high-quality goods, especially for their cosplay line of goods.
For the /a/thletes into cycling, Amiami has their own spin-off brand of jerseys featuring characters from Anohana, Idolm@ster, Madoka, and Feudal Anime With Cute Girls #2432. Prices are around 12-14k and sizes go all the way up to 4XL. Be sure to check the sizing chart for measurements if you’re not sure about where you fit.
A webshop that sells streetwear-esque clothing and accessories. The items are designed by six artists/brands, one notably being Hayashida Q with her shop having items based off the Dorohedoro manga series. Princes can range from 2k all the way up to 40k.
Another site with a number of artists featured. While most of their items are iphone cases with Japanese artwork or photography there are a few shirts available, some featuring art from Osamu Tezuka, Suehiro Maruo and Shintaro Kago. Prices are rather low compared to other anime-apparel shops.
/fa/ approved clothing company, although they probably wouldn’t agree when it comes to graphic tees. They sell t-shirts based off of some Shounen Jump manga (particularly One Piece) and franchises like Neon Genesis Evangelion and Mobile Suit Gundam. You might notice after checking out their UK and US sites that these items are only released in their Japanese online shop and stores, although some have a tendency to appear on Ebay (As a warning I can’t confirm if these are imitations though).
For all you poorfags that can’t afford to buy any items from the shops previously listed, some faggot on /a/ made a store just for you. The t-shirts sold on this site are intentionally designed to be subtle to protect your power level. Prices start at $10, but might go up in the future.
Websites like Amiami, HLJ and Hobbylink also sell t-shirts for various anime when they’re airing. Most of them are pretty standard looking with official artwork and have first come, first serve pre-orders. Because of this they usually sell out or go on backorder immediately after their release.
Adult goods
The NEETs at /jp/ have created a guide for purchasing adult toys, take advantage of it.
Cards
There are several stores which sell boxes/booster packs of cards:
However, if you are looking for specific cards or if the stock has run out, then it will be necessary to use one of the following stores. Use one of the Special services to order from these:
