Where To Buy REAL Magical Girl Merchandise (That Won’t Break The Bank)
We’re previously made post about why you should NEVER buy new merch on Amazon or Ebay, and we are, and will forever be, strongly opposed to anywhere the sells knockoffs. But many people seem to mistakenly think they have no other, affordable options - they couldn’t be more wrong.
Oh, and by the way? ALL OF THESE SHIP WORLDWIDE!*
Mandarake - Specialist chain store for second hand anime and pop culture goods in Japan. They ship worldwide and all their items are either verified legitimate by experts or manufacturers, or are explicitly marked as being a “fan-book”. They occasionally do pre-orders for popular series.
On average, Mandarake’s loose figures go for around half the price of their boxed ones, which are much cheaper than buying them new.
Personally, the author bought her Flower Echo Wand DX toy for $15USD - that’s $10 LESS than what the bootleg sells for!
AmiAmi - largely sells small collectibles and clothes, specializing in preorders, but also sells stocked and secondhand items. Their items are direct from the manufacturer so are guaranteed genuine.
Their preorders are some of the cheapest around, as they have very minimal fees added on. Generally, preorders are much cheaper than buying new. The Author’s Hugtto figurines cost $24 for a 4 set. Now, one figure sells for $20+ Plus, Amiami sells secondhand items for similar reductions to Mandarake.
HJL - short for HobbyLink Japan, HJL also largely sells small collectibles and clothes, specializing in preorders, but also sell stocked items. Their items are direct from the manufacturer so are genuine.
Like Amiami, their preorders are always cheaper than buying stocked. They are generally a little more expensive. They also have a warehousing program which allows you to store multiple items from different preorders and ship them together, which can save a ton of money. Their shipping tends to be higher cost because of this, so it’s less affordable when buying single pieces.
CDJapan - Mostly selling Japanese CDs, DVDs, Manga, and Books, this Japan-based retailer occasionally branches out into Anime figures and small collectibles. Most of their books are in Japanese rather than English, but they do have some non-Japanese options - just make sure to read the description and check the picures.
By design, CDs and Books are MUCH cheaper, both to buy, and to ship, than other merch options, making them a great option for collectors with less money to spend.
HobbySearch / 1999. - largely sell Preorder items, but occasionally stock secondhand and stocked items. It has the same advantages as all the above stores, though typically has more expensive shipping.
*due to covid, some shipping types are temporality suspended, but you can use the follow to order off of them and ship to a storage warehouse until shipping reopens.
ABOUT PROXY / SHIPPING SERVICES:
Using a proxy service, also known as a shipping service or shopping service, means paying a company or person to buy items in another country on your behalf.
All charge a fee, some charge storage costs if postage is delayed during lockdowns, and you have to pay both domestic Japanese and International shipping. But for many items it is still much cheaper, and gives access to many items that are incredibly difficult or even impossible to otherwise access outside of Japan.
Many are also willing to hold items until you have a decent number to ship, which can save money. Plenty are willing to hold onto them until Covid restrictions are relaxed as well.
Using a Proxy also means that you can order off ANY website, regardless of where you live, making the old “I live in x” excuse invalid.
Sites we recommend that need proxies to use:
Yahoo Japan - basically Ebay auctions but exclusively Japanese. Sometimes, official figures sell for as little as 100 JPY, or about 1 USD!
Rakuten - Also like Ebay for Japan. There is also an English version called Mandarake Global, but shipping costs are often much higher than just using a Proxy service and the Japanese site.
Taobao - Chinese wholesale site. Best for finding cosplays, Chinese magical girl series. However, much of their Japanese and Western merch items are knockoffs, so beware.
Although we have some listed in our SHOPPING tab (a massive list of place to shop,) most “local” sites and stores are much more expensive and less reliable than buying directly from Japan.
This is because of licensing, which makes foreign-produced goods much more expensive to make, plus the cost of importing pre-made Japanese goods on top of it makes buying official goods outside of Japan very expensive.
We’re talking Big Bad Toy Store, Mighty Ape, HotTopic, and similar stores here!
That doesn’t mean you should avoid buying from them - always support local if you can - but the convenience and visibility of them does lead to many people falsely believing that all merchandise is expensive, and bootlegs are easier and cheaper - which couldn’t be further from the truth.
