Buying Anime Figures on eBay

[LightyKD]

Anyone know of any trustworthy eBay sellers that deal in anime figures (...and yes of the ecchi variety )? I made orders for six different figures and of the six, four sellers dropped off the face of the Earth. After reading around, I know some figure collectors are as fussy as Nintendo gamers and their first party controllers. There is a lot of talk about not buying from Chinese sellers and not wanting knockoffs. I'm just starting out and this isn't a serious hobby for me. I just want a small collection for my computer desk. Additionally, I don't mind knockoffs as long as they're good. My main issue is finding a reliable seller and it's driving me bonkers :/ Here's hoping that the last two sellers don't drop off and tomorrow is gonna be a lot of fun, calling eBay. Those guys have no idea what discretion mean. Seriously, you don't need the support person naming the item verbatim when you just handed the person the item number, LMAO! As always, I look forward to any advice

 

[Hells Malice]

All knockoffs are bad. That's why they're knockoffs.

Ebay will never be a good place to buy figures. Sites like Hobbysearch or Ami Ami are much better. Rightstuf also has a lot of figures and is based in America.

 

[Song of storms]

Have you tried searching for a local shop? Most of the time, they have good sources.

 

[LightyKD]

All knockoffs are bad. That's why they're knockoffs.

Ebay will never be a good place to buy figures. Sites like Hobbysearch or Ami Ami are much better. Rightstuf also has a lot of figures and is based in America.

All knockoffs aren't bad. You get some good copies like this Android 18...



Besides, we're on a site where we talk about emulation and backups all day we should know that sometimes knockoffs are as good as the real thing. After for my figures plight, I'm down to two sellers. So far they seem legit. One item claims to have made it to the States and the other one is being properly tracked by the post office. Time will tell but, if these sellers are legit, they can expect another purchase from me.

 

[Chary]

Honestly, there's a 80% chance you get a bootleg when buying off eBay, and then another 80% chance on top of it that the knockoff you get looks terrible. I used to buy bootleg figures for a bit. I stopped when I realized I'd rather spend the money to have 3 or 4 really nice figures on my shelf rather than a handful of bootlegs.

If you don't mind bootlegs, though, you're best off finding sellers with at least 1000 positive sales, and over 99.5% feedback. eBay sellers that I used to buy from apparently are all terminated accounts now, probably due to selling bootleg figures.

 

[Navonod]

The last time I bought a figure from eBay was a Vegeta with two right hands. The pictures looked fine but yeah. I was really upset. I don't remember what I did with it.

 

[shadowkillerdrag]

Yea it just depends on the figure honestly. I usually go for standard retailer websites just to avoid bootlegs, but if you don't have many real issues with bootlegs, they are and affordable way to get figures given defects on the figure.

I personally go for originals even if I have to pay extra for the markup, but some figures get quite expensive on the aftermarket if you aren't there to preorder.

 

[Saiyan Lusitano]

If you wanna buy "reverse-engineered" figures then buy it at Aliexpress. Cheaper and with free delivery.

 

[LightyKD]

The last time I bought a figure from eBay was a Vegeta with two right hands. The pictures looked fine but yeah. I was really upset. I don't remember what I did with it.

Sorry you got a Vegeta with two right hands. That said, did you at least get a good laugh after the initial disappointment? I dunno. That situation seems like one of those moments you revisit with a friend and say "do you remember when".

 

[The Catboy]

Whenever I do use eBay, I often just look for shops with external sites to buy from. This allows me to not only buy directly from them but also gives the opportunity to scope out more honest reviews. I never buy figures from any random person because I've been burned too many times doing that.

 

[LightyKD]

Got my first figure! She's a beauty. Since it's a tame figure I'll share some pics with everyone...

Spoiler

There's some weirdness with her left hand but overall she's 80% perfect. I hope my other clone figures turn out to be just as good or better than her!