Online TF shopping - where is the best place to spend your bucks?

[Paulbot]

Mandarake came up in the awards as a favourite online store but I'd not heard of it before. I checked out their site and they have some items I want, but it's not apparent how you work out postage? There's a page of postage estimates based on weight, but the indivdual items' pages don't tell you their weight. It looks like you have to order and pay and then they give you a postage quote. Bit reluctant to try this without hearing from others first.

[Hursticon]

I've not had any issues with RobotKingdom myself, always great service with exceptionally reasonable postage prices & always well packed.

My next ports of call are often Hobby Link Japan & AmiAmi as they are also great stores that offer superb service, very reasonable postage price (Again) and also quite often offer 'Early Bird Special' on upcoming & preorder purchases - They also have regular sales too.

I then look to the US stores which I try to leave to last choice unless that choice is unavoidable on certain items; Postage from the US is always a killer (Unless you're Amazon, who baffle me with how they're able to offer such amazing postage prices) but TFsource I've found to have truly definitive customer service & superb packing - I can't speak for BBTS though as I'm yet to actually purchase anything from them.

Ebay has sadly become the playground of the amateur 'know-it-all' & false-collector (Scalper central too!), with many Sellers being absolute pains in the ass to deal with along with completely baffling prices attached to mediocre conditioned items - It's not the place it used to be which was quite enjoyable & whilst the odd bargain & decent seller can be found, it has increasingly become hit or miss.

[Waxpython]

i've noticed that too with the Australian eBay.

I guess it could just bad luck

[KalEl]

I've not had any issues with RobotKingdom myself, always great service with exceptionally reasonable postage prices & always well packed.

My next ports of call are often Hobby Link Japan & AmiAmi as they are also great stores that offer superb service, very reasonable postage price (Again) and also quite often offer 'Early Bird Special' on upcoming & preorder purchases - They also have regular sales too.

I then look to the US stores which I try to leave to last choice unless that choice is unavoidable on certain items; Postage from the US is always a killer (Unless you're Amazon, who baffle me with how they're able to offer such amazing postage prices) but TFsource I've found to have truly definitive customer service & superb packing - I can't speak for BBTS though as I'm yet to actually purchase anything from them.

Ebay has sadly become the playground of the amateur 'know-it-all' & false-collector (Scalper central too!), with many Sellers being absolute pains in the ass to deal with along with completely baffling prices attached to mediocre conditioned items - It's not the place it used to be which was quite enjoyable & whilst the odd bargain & decent seller can be found, it has increasingly become hit or miss.

I can agree with Hursti, Generally never had a problem with RK, in fact they tend to be cheapest and great with communication in most instances.
Bbts if my preferred source as there no commitment preorders and pile of loot make up for their more expensive postage.

I also buy from sideshow collectors but that's a different story.

I use ebay generally when something is out of stock else where and just take my time and do my research.

[Bidoofdude]

I go with RK mostly, seeing as they are the cheapest. I don't really care for the POL on bbts that much, seeing as I don't do that many online purchases in close time proximity.

[Robzy]

Seems like Robot Kingdom is the leader now, and with good reason! I love them!! I've been buying from them for years and their service/items/delivery has always been exemplary! My items always arrive very quickly (mostly after only 3-4 days, and that's generally because they are stuck in Aus Customs for 2 days ).

I would never recommend HLJ to anyone. Quite the opposit in fact - I would deliberately try to turn people AWAY from them! After a very poor experience with them several years ago, I can say they are very deceptive and have ZERO customer service competence. I would also have to agree with many others that, sadly, ebay has gone downhill in a major way! For years, it used to be my Number 1 source for TFs. But these days it's filled with scalpers or people who have no appreciation of the worth of individual figures. Stuff is generally either over-priced, or fake/scams.

[Omega Metro]

I have never bought from Robot Kingdom. Just something about it that I don't like. BBTS is my favourite then ebay.

[Tober]

Mandarake came up in the awards as a favourite online store but I'd not heard of it before. I checked out their site and they have some items I want, but it's not apparent how you work out postage? There's a page of postage estimates based on weight, but the indivdual items' pages don't tell you their weight. It looks like you have to order and pay and then they give you a postage quote. Bit reluctant to try this without hearing from others first.

Mandrake are a second-hand store. A lot of their stock in in unopened condition, otherwise MIB. I've bought from them many times with no problems. Once you place an order they send you the postage cost and whether you want to go with SAL or EMS. If you don't like the shipping charge you can cancel.

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I'm a big fan of anime-export.com and 1999.co.jp/eng/ (Hobbysearch). Their pre-order prices can sometimes be better than amiami.com (whose English storefront is amiami.com, as opposed to their Japanese storefront amiami.jp )

[crankcase76]

I personally have found TFsource to be reasonably priced as i check between the 3, BBTS,RK,TFsource. I find that the packaged items i receive to be done extremely well. and as a last resort i will check on eBay. I have pre-orders with TFsource but use the pay later system which if the price goes down i am charged at that price.I have also used BBTS and they are not that bad either. when it comes to online ordering postage is sometimes expensive, but when we get figures that are not available to us here in OZ it seems to be the advantage of this system.

[i_amtrunks]

Mandarake came up in the awards as a favourite online store but I'd not heard of it before. I checked out their site and they have some items I want, but it's not apparent how you work out postage? There's a page of postage estimates based on weight, but the indivdual items' pages don't tell you their weight. It looks like you have to order and pay and then they give you a postage quote. Bit reluctant to try this without hearing from others first.

Tober got everything 100% correct concerning Madarake.

I've used them a couple of times, mostly for Dragonball figures. They have great customer service and do their best to answer any questions in english. The one thing to look out for is they are a collection of shops, so ship different items from different stores, meaning if you get two items from two different stores, you'll have to pay two lots of shipping.

Shipping has always been fairly reasonable, I think it normally ends up about $15 for most bulkier items. They sometimes also charge a 500 yen handling fee.