#hetaliabuyguide

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Hetalia Buy Guide: List of Forwarders and Proxies (+ Proxy Review)

Sometimes you see something really awesome but the shop doesn’t offer international shipping. You have the funds, what to do?

To start off, let me define the difference between a forwarder and a proxy. A forwarder simply ships the product to you. Lets say that the shop in question accepts paypal but they do not ship overseas. A forwarder will give you a temporary address that you can send your package to and then the forwarder will charge you a storage fee + international shipping to send the package back to you.

A proxy on the other hand will buy the item on your behalf, accept the package for you and then ship it out to you. Using a proxy is more expensive BUT I highly recommend it for first time buyers (especially if you have anxiety or just nervous about online shopping in general). A proxy will charge you purchase fees + domestic shipping + international fees + any additional necessary fees.

To sum it up: A forwarder provides you an address to ship the package to, you pay for the item by yourself, and you pay the forwarder for international shipping costs and forwarding fees. A proxy will pay for your item on your behalf, accept your package, and ship it out for you.

There are many different forwarders and proxy services available, so here is a small list I found. Some businesses offer both proxy and forwarding service while others only do forwarding or proxy. I’ve only used 1 service (ZenMarket) so I cannot answer any questions/asks about other services on the list.

Tenso

ZenMarket

CDJapan (Using CDJapan proxy helps financially support this blog)

WhiteRabbit

Big In Japan

Samurai Buyer

Goody Japan: Note, highly recommended for Toranoana due to their flat 500 yen rate.

Fan Services: Note this is a proxy service that can purchase event exclusive goods that do not have an online shop. Very, very expensive, but it’s an option if there’s no other places available to purchase your goods.

Now, let me give a review of a proxy that I recently used: Zen Market. The review is under the cut

So today, I’m going to review ZenMarket. For me, I highly recommend using this service if this is your first time using these services since everything is in English and it’s easy to purchase goods.

When you sign up for a ZenMarket account, you get 300 yen in your account which can be used to pay your balance. you should see this pop up when you visit the website for the first time. (Put in your email and then it will ask for a password for your account creation).

To buy items, simply copy and paste the url of what you want and then you wait (no more than 12 hours) for ZenMarket to send you a quote (the quote includes the item cost, any domestic shipping costs, and the 300 yen per item fee). Once you see the quote, you load up your account with money (There are several ways to do so, either directly by PayPal, Credit, Card, etc.) to add money, simply click on the “Payments” tab to add money. You should see something like this. (direct image link in case it’s too small to see) [Ignore the 2,400 yen in the screenshot, it’s just my balance].

After paying for the items, that’s it! Now you just have to wait for your items to arrive. You can store your items for 45 days for free, after that you are charged 50 yen per day, up to an additional 45 days. After the 90th day, your items are thrown away with no compensation.

Advantages to using ZenMarket for Beginners

No service fees (some proxies charge an additional percentage fee on top of a purchasing fee.)

300 yen flat fee no matter the price of the item

Can combine packages from other stores (storage up to 45 days)

Able to get quotes quickly

Fluent English help and email support.

So that’s it for my review, if you have any questions about ZenMarket, please take a quick look at their Fees FAQ and then if you’re still confused, send an ask.

[hetaliabuyblog]

Hetalia Buy Guide: Doujin Shops

This guide is for unofficial merchandise created by artists for their love and support of Hetalia. Merchandise usually consists of prints, keychains, and the occasional mug that uses the artists own artwork. It’s a wonderful way to support local artists and fuel their (and your) love for Hetalia.

With that in mind, be sure to read this post thoroughly to find good results for merch. 

First of all: WATCH OUT FOR STOLEN/TRACED ART. Unfortunately, it’s common to find people tracing (or just straight up copy and pasting) popular fanart from Pixiv or Deviant Art and then slapping that traced/copied art on a phone case for a quick buck. If you see something with fanart that you’ve seen before, chances are high it’s stolen goods. (If it’s art from Himaruya, it’s NOT official and it is most likely a bootleg! Himaruya does not have an Etsy shop, that’s a red flag if you see a APH America phone case using his artwork from a blog entry dated a year ago.) If you are uncertain that the artwork is original for that phone-case/print that you’re eyeing, message the seller first before purchasing and use reverse search websites such as SauceNao, Google Images, or iqdb to find the artwork source.

Here’s a list of general online shops that may carry original designed Hetalia goods such as stickers, straps, posters, etc. Note: You may find more results by typing in a specific character’s name or use other search terms such as pairing names.

Storenvy

Society 6

RedBubble

Etsy

Japanese shops: (Some may require proxy/forwarding services). For best results, copy and paste the original name for search results, ex.     ヘタリア for Hetalia and アメリカ for APH America. This tag list will be especially useful for pairing names and finding goods based on pairs.

Pixiv Booth

Toranoana

Alice Books (Offers Overseas Shipping)

DLsite: Good for digital doujinshi

And finally, it’s time for my shameless plug: Are you looking for specific characters or creators when buying doujin merch? Do you want to support local artists and their creations? Look no further than this guide! If you want to be added to this guide, please read the linked post first and fill out the appropriate questionnaire and I will add you within a week. If I haven’t added you yet, feel free to message me as a reminder.

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Is there any way to buy Hetalia merch with USD?

TOM[x] has some merchandise such as artbooks and storyboards and accepts USD. I’ve written a very lengthy post recently on why new customers should try out that shop first.

RightStuf sells the manga with english translations and offers other GE branded merchandise.

Amazon JP has quite the inventory as well, though shipping can be pricey depending on what you’re getting.

I’ve answered this question quite a lot recently, so I highly recommend looking at previous answers for more links and info. Basically, if the online shop is based in the U.S, it will take USD. Additionally, if you buy from shops such as AmiAmi and use PayPal, it will charge your card in USD (but it will add a 3% foreign currency conversion fee).

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Do you know any websites that accept USD?

http://vocaloidbuyblog.tumblr.com/post/149045638011/vocaloid-buyguide-1-recommended-shops-updated

(I actually thought this was for my other blog, whoops. Link still applicable for this question though. I should probably make a Hetalia version sometime when I have some free time.)

Any U.S based webshop in that list plus TOM[x] and Amazon JP will take USD. 

Additionally, if you use Paypal with your debit card for purchases with foreign currency, PayPal will automatically convert the price to USD for you, with a 3% fee added. (ex. If your purchase is 1,000 yen and the currency rate is 100 yen to a dollar, Paypal will charge you with a currency rate of 97 yen to a dollar)

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How reliable are the sites that sell hetalia merch?

Which sites in particular are you asking about?

The ones I mention most frequently in my posts (Animate JP, AmiAmi, CDJapan, Amazon JP, RightStuf, and TOM) are all very reliable and do not sell bootlegs. AmiAmi and CDJapan are harder to buy from since those shops are direct Japanese companies and as such your credit card can be easily denied. However, both of those shops offer Paypal. TOM and RightStuf are American companies and take domestic credit cards easily along with Paypal. So I usually mention those 4 sites the most since they offer the most amount of Hetalia merch. I also recommend those shops to people first starting off with buying merch from Japan since all 4 stores offer English customer support.

Animate JP is where one can find pre-order exclusives but it is the hardest shop to purchase from since it will require a forwarding service (this shop does not ship overseas) and it is unknown whether they accept domestic credit cards so a proxy might be needed as well.

Amazon JP takes domestic cards and they offer international shipping as well but they only offer CDs, DVDs, and Books for shipment overseas. They also have a really helpful English customer support as well should you have any issues.

[hetaliabuyblog]

Can you make a list of all the english sites where official merch can be purchased? Also, would you consider setting up a donation box? I personally would love to help fund you for your tutorials if I could!

English sites where Hetalia Merch can be purchased(in USD):

CDJapan (good for CD’s,bad for books because shipping cost will kill your wallet) Offers points rewards system. Can be charged in yen or USD.

Amazon JP (good for heavy books and bulk buying, do your research since the shipping is based on per item and by box/shipment). CDs are sometimes on sale as well. [While technically not fully in english, prices are converted to USD and it’s pretty easy to navigate once you copy and paste the thing you’re looking for. Check CDJapan for the original product name in Japanese]

Tokyo Otaku Mode: Good for bundling merchandise, shipping can also kill you if you’re not careful [though the shipping prices are bit lower than before]. They take requests for stocking items. Has coupons and sales occasionally.

RightStuf: Distributor of GE merchandise (aka Studio Deen bracelets, PVC keychains, etc.) and carrier of Hetalia english manga. Also sells the DVD’s. Cheapest place to buy the manga by far.

Amazon- Good for DVDs, watch out for prices since Beautiful World is like $40 right now and that’s insane. Good for buying GE merchandise and the occasional Japan import if you use the right keywords (be warned that it will be pricey and “free shipping” means unregistered SAL, if it gets lost, you’re out of luck.)

Animate English shop- This shop actually exists but sadly it does not carry the same items as the regular Animate shop in Japan.  The only thing they have in stock is some weird checkers set.

I’ll do a small shout out to AmiAmi since they carry Japanese Hetalia mechandise, however they charge exclusively in Yen which can cause problems for some credit cards.

You can also find official merch at US stores such as Hot Topic and Anime Jungle as well. (but really all they sell is GE stuff and Jungle might import some animate exclusive merch but don’t hold your breath on it) Crunchyroll also has Hetalia stuff but it seems to be GE stuff (and the prices are quite marked up).

Alternatively you can ask your favorite Hetalia fanartist if they have a Redbubble or other site so that you can buy their artwork in the form of keychains or shirts. There are other sites where you can purchase doujin works (doujinshi, prints, etc.) but I need to write that up for another day since there are several sites and the majority of them are in Japanese.

As for the donation box, I’m flattered but I can’t take donations since I feel that I would be imposing a burden upon people. Plus I’m open for other people to send in their stories of buying from different online shops. If you know someone who’s bought from different online merchants that isn’t in my HetaliaBuyGuide, let me know! I will be happy to write up an article based on their experiences.

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CD Japan review: What you need to know when buying Hetalia merch from this site

Alright so I decided to do CDJapan since I’ve bought from them before and they are an interesting site to review. (I honestly prefer Amazon JP to them but I’ll explain more on that later...)

First of all CDJapan will give you a 500 yen coupon when you first sign up and a 300 yen coupon for your birthday. If you’re want the birthday coupon asap, sign up for the next coming month (aka if it’s August and you want the coupon asap, say your birthday is in September. Be warned though that you cannot change your birthday, so only do this if you feel confident enough to do so).

Advantages

They sell Hetalia good besides books and dvds- CDJapan offers preorders on Hetalia stationary from Gift brand. Be warned that preorders sell out quickly. If it’s sold out, you’re out of luck. But the option is available and I’ve even seen some of the stationary get a 5-10% discount.

Variety of shipping options- In my previous reviews, both TOM and Amazon JP had forced DHL and EMS for shipping. You can save on some shipping costs by buying lots of hetalia stationary and choosing Registered SAL. (Registered SAL takes between 2-6 weeks, and offers limited tracking and insurance up to 6000 yen in value. Would recommend for the cheapest shipping option since if you get regular SAL and your package get lost/damaged, you’re SOL.) You can also preview how much shipping can cost for one item by clicking “Shipping calculator”.

Points system- You’re not going to make a ton of points but they usually have occasional offers like “Get 10% points on purchases of CDs this week only”. So keep an eye out for that. You also get points based on how much you spend, 300 yen for an order over 5000 yen, 500 yen for an order over 10,000 yen, and so forth.

Disadvantages

Shipping will get expensive- I cannot emphasize this enough. If you only want to buy hetalia stationary, and one cd or dvd, you’ll be fine. If you’re planning on buying multiple dvds and cds, shipping can almost cost as much as the stuff you’re buying. Because CDJapan charges by the weight in grams, buying small items is a good idea. Books are heavy, DVDs can get hefty too if they come with bonuses. One cd and one dvd is okay (The cheapest shipping was $15 Registered SAL for having this and this in my cart since the total weight was 1060 grams)

Prepaid cards are not accepted- I tried paying for an order with a prepaid card and it wouldn’t go through. Tried emailing them about it and told me they couldn’t process the card. Here is their payment site and some FAQs about their options.

WORD OF CAUTION- CDJapan processes payments through a japanese processing system, meaning that if your credit card has any fraud protection or insurance against it, it WILL block the payment (since the bank can only see that your card is being charged by a foreign merchant). If that is the case, your card will be unusable and you will have to manually call the bank to unfreeze the card. Make sure to tell your bank to allow the transaction to go through if the purchases were from CDJapan. Ask them to name off the last purchase (that way your card is unlocked for that order and not for someone else to commit fraud).

Overall-  I’d give CDJapan a 7.5/10, they’re good to buy small items but I like to collect books and heavy merchandise so they really aren’t my favorite. (Mainly because I prefer to bulk buy rather than buy something one at a time).Freezing my card and then not warning me about that also deducted some points. I would only use CDJapan if you’re looking to buy some stationary and maybe a CD. If you want to bulk buy hetalia books and CDs, I highly, HIGHLY recommend Amazon JP (which you can read about here) because the shipping costs are so much cheaper. Bonus: Amazon JP discounts some cds and books so you might end up paying less compared to the full MSRP at CDJapan.

Other guides I’ve written up involve RightStuf and TOM. Feel free to take a look at those as well.