π How to buy Japan-only merch π
AKA how to not be scammed by Ebay resellers
With P3RE around the corner there has been a boom of P3 merch and I often see people wondering how they can buy all the stuff releasing on Japan or getting scamed by western scalper prices, so I thought a merch guide would come in handy.
While I originally wrote this for Persona merch 100% of the info applies as well for any JP products you want to buy
I will talk about:
+ Kinds of merch & their usual prices
+ Figures: Kinds & prices
+ Shops with international shipping
+ Japan-only shops
+ Proxies & how to use them
Different proxies
If you have any more info or I'm mistaken in something, feel free to add to this!
π Merch & their pricing
These are the most common merch types & their usual retail price (in yen). There's lots of inflation going on lately though, so prices might be a liitle off.
Keep in mind that "character tax" is a thing and often merch for the most popular characters has insame price. It's up to you if you want to pay the scalpers or keep an eye to find a good deal.
- Acrylic Stands [γ’γ―γͺγ«γΉγΏγ³γ] - Image printed onto transparent plastic with a small base so you can display it on a surface. Price: 1.2k (Small) 1.9k (bigger ones)
- Acrylic keycharms [γ’γ―γͺγ«γγ£γΌγ ] - Same as acryic stands but with a strap, usually a lobster or metal chain one. Price: ~700
- Acrylic frames [γ’γ―γͺγ«γγ¬γΌγ ] - Frames meant hold inside photocards or acrylic chamrs/stands, kind of a mini mini ita bag or shirne. Price: Around 1.5k, 3k if they come with accesories to be put inside. They're sold via lottery often.
- Keycharms [γγ£γΌγ ] - Mini-figures with a strap meant to be hang from phones and such. Price: ~400, usually sold in gatchapon & blind boxes
- Can badges [γγγΈ]: I think we all had these. Price: 500-800
- Plushes [γ¬γγγγΏ] - Everyone knows what are these as well. Price: Depends on the size, 1.5-2k for small or keychains ones, over 4k for bigger ones.
- Nuigurumi [γγΉγ³γγ] - Usually called just "Nui". They're mascot plushes, but in the case of Persona, they're the 10cm chibi pushes of characters, often with a strap so you can hang them from your purse and such. The character plushes from the 25th anniversary are Nuis. Price: 1.5-3k
- Nui clothes [γ¬γγγγΏγγ³γγ§ - γγγγγγ³γγ§] - Ponchos and onesies to dress up your Nuis. I don't know if they have a catch-all name, but the 2 I mentioned are the most popular lines. Price: ~400 for gachapon ones, ~1.2k for the ones sold normally.
- Clearfile [γ―γͺγ’γγ‘γ€γ«] - An art print on a plastic sheet, often they're folders as well. Price: 300-700
- Tapestry [γΏγγΉγγͺγΌ] - Art printed onto fabric to be hang from a wall. Due to their size they're often expensive to import. Price: I'm not sure, sorry π Fom what I have seen, it depends a lot on the artist who drew the tapestry's ilustration.
- Character/ CD drama [γγ£γ©γ―γΏγΌCD - γγ©γCD] - Audio stories Price: 1-3k
- Artbook [γ’γΌγγγγ― - η»ι] - Collection of official art by one artist or series. Price: Depends on how many pages the book has, around 3-5k
- Guide - Guide for videogames. Sometimes they explain lore and such as well. Price: 2-4k
- Fanbook [γγ‘γ³γγγ―] - Book often focused on the series' lore, fun facts, answering fans' questions and such rather than art. Often they even share art made by fans for that fanbook. Price: 1-3k
- Novel - Light novels based on anime/manga/etc. Price: 1-3k
- Anthology - Collection of comics/novels made by fans (including mangakas!). Each artist draws/writes one chapter, and while they're not connected, they often share a theme. They're not official content per se, but they're licensed by the IP's owners to be sold in stores. Price: Around 800
- Doujinshi [εδΊΊθͺ] - Self-published works by independent artists. Most often when people say "[Series] doujin" they're refering to the comics made by said independent artist, sold in very small numbers (to avoid legal troubble) at events. If they're derivated from an IP, most often these comics are sold at production cost with barely (if any) any profic margin, again due to legal matters. Contrary to popular belief, there's actually lots of SFW doujin comics so you definetly should try checking some out!. Price: 200-500
There are tons of more merch (Pita Nui, Noseberi....) but these are the most common ones. I usually just type the series' name and browse everything there unless I'm looking for something not related to the game/series like Nui clothes.
π Figures
Figures need their own section since they're a trickier subject.
There are different kinds of figures, and their price changes depending on it. The main types are:
---- Scales
Pre-painted high quality figures, their name comes from the fact that most of the time the figures as sized in relation to the character's actual height (for example a 1/7 scale figure of Yukari would be 22-23cm tall, 1/7 of her height).
Due to the materials and all the work they require,
their price is expensive, usually 12-30k yen. I recomend buying them with their box unless the figure has very a static pose, due to the small details they can break during shipping.
---- Garage kits
Figures modelled and casted by independent artists and sold in very limited numbers at events via 1-day licenses (unless it's a GK of an OC, then some artists sell their kits online).
These figures come unpainted and unassembled, you have to finish them yourself. Since they aren't official the artist has some freedoom, so you can find some funny ones.
Their price can vary, current ones cost as much or more than scales, but older kits can be found for very cheap (1-3k yen) specially if the character or artist is unknown.
Remember you're paying the hours and hours a single artist put onto the figure, each piece had to be modelled and casted manually and resin is expensive, that's why the price is high despite being unpainted.
---- Prize & Noodle Stoppers
Pre-painted mss-producced figures made to be won via crane games and merch lottery, hence the name. Their quality and QC is way lower than scales, but you can still find some cute ones & their quality has improved lots in the recent years.
Their price is low, around 2-3k yen. Anything more than $40 is a scam, don't pay re-sellers that price.
Usually, you will find prize figures for $15-20, that's a fair price. Since they're made for crane games, they're very sturdy so you can take the plunge and buy them boxless for an even cheaper price ($5-10), they will arrive safely most of the time.
---- Semi Prizes
Lately companies have been jumping onto the "premium prize figure" trend. While not reaching the scale quality by a huge margin, they often have better casting and paint job than prize figures.
Some semi-prize lines are "Pop Up Parade" (quality varies between figures), "Tenitol" and "Artist MasterPiece+"
Their price is low/medium, around 3-5k yen. Still, just like prize figures, I recomend looking them for around $15-25, they're not worth more than $45.
---- Action
Pre-painted figures made to be posed and played with. Nendoroids and Figmas fall in this category. They're usually around 10-12cm tall, but there are some as big as 30cm.
Their retail price is around 5-12k yen depending on the brand. Action figures in scale or with actual clothing can fall in the 17-20k yen range
I personally wouldn't pay more than $60 for ones like Nendos and Figmas due to their size, but it's up to you.
"But how I differenciate between all of these?"
If while looking for merch you see a figure but are unsure if the price is fair, go to
MFC & write the name of the series/character on the seach bar (MFC uses [Surname - Name] as the entry name) and click on the result.
Scroll a bit and look for the "Figures" section. Click on the number at the corner to view all the figures (you will need an account to view NSFW figures)
Now simply look for the figure you're interested in and check its info to see important info about it. Below are examples of how each figure kind is categorized on MFC.
If you scroll down on the page, you can also see user coments & photos, which can give you an idea of how much people sell the figure for (not always a fair price tbh) and how the figure looks like in real life.
Open the images on a new tab to view them in full size
π Where to buy: international shops
You will use most of these sites to buy new merch and preoders.
I don't recoment places like Ebay since they often inflate the price of everything and even sell bootlegs. You can sometimes find good deals over Ebay/2nd hand sites though, so don't fully rule them out, just be ware of prices/bootlegs.
- CD Japan: Great selection and prices, customer service is wonderful as well. If you live in EU, you can pay your purchase's VAT thru them to avoid handling fees.
- Ami ami: Has lots of stuff, but some can only be shipped to US and a few eastern countries due to licensing issues. Has a great 2nd hand selection, but mostly for figures.
- Hobby Search: I haven't used this one myself, but they're legit as far I know.
- Hobby Genki: Mostly for figures. They let you undervalue your invoice (useful for EU VAT)
- Solaris Japan: For figures, they have a second-hand section as well (some are good deals, some are not). They let you undervalue.
- Mandarake: 2nd hand Japanese stores under the same wing. The prices are great, but depending on the store, shipping can be pricey (mostly for figures). It can be tricky to oder more than 1 thing as well, you need to make sure they're from the same store.
- Suruga-ya EN: 2nd hand Japanese store. The international website has less stuff than the JP one, their prices are a bit higher and their search system is weird but you can find great deals. Lately they have been running lots of free shipping campaigns, keep an eye on that.
π Where to buy: japanese shops
These are the shops where you can find good deals and any kind of merch. While in the international shops (except Mandarake and Suruga-ya) are only able to offer merch producced by the IP holders (ie Capcom, Atlus), these can sell collaboration merch as well.
You will need a proxy to buy from them. To search, just put the japanese name of the series (easily found on their ikipedia pages) and browse. If you want something specific, try the words I put on the merch type section.
- Suruga-ya JP: Same as its ENG counterpart but with way more stuff. Great to find single items at lower prices. This is one of the best places to buy doujin from as well.
- Mercari JP: Pretty much the Japanese Ebay. The best thing about it are the merch bundles (you can save lots) and "junk" items (figures with missing accesories and such, they can be dirt cheap). Since you have to contact the seller directly, some proxies charge extra fees for Mercari orders (and some sellers refuse to sell to proxies)
- Yahoo Auctions: Auction site, you can find great deals and obscure merch there. Some listing are a "ready to buy", so you dont have to bid. Yahoo Auctions is blocked in EU, so you will need a VPN to browse it (I use Opera's free in-browser VPN, its works for what you need it)
- Booth: Marketplace for japanese artists. You can find from prints and charms to 3D models and music. The national shipping price is always 750 yen.
π Proxies & how to use them
First off, a proxy is not a shop, but an intermediary. They sometimes have in-website shops so you don't have to change tabs to browse different shops, but all they do is to buy what you tell them to & then sent the item to you.
Each proxy has a user guide, but most of them work like this:
- You sent them the link of the item you want
- They sent you the invoce for said item
- You pay the item (+ proxy fees & national shipping, if any)
- They buy the item
- Once it arrives to their warehouse, they pack the item & sent you the international shipping invoice
- You pay the international shipping.
- They sent you the item.
- Pikachu is now on your house.
So what you will always have to pay is the item price & the shipping from Japan to your house, just like any other online purchase.
The optional payments are:shipping within Japan & proxy fees. And if you like in EU, the VAT of the item+shipping value (luckly, proxies almost never put the shipping price on the invoice)
It may sound complicated, but is very easy actually. All you have to do is sent them links and wait for "You need to pay" emails.
π Proxy examples
Pretty much any proxy will do the work, the big difference is often how expensive they are. This is something you will need to research yourself to see what option is better/cheaper to you, but these are the proxies I have used:
DeJapan
- Fees - None. 100yen/item if buying from more than 1 thing.
- Mercari Fee - 200 yen (handling fee)
- Customer service - Great
- Can bid on Yahoo Auctions? - Yes
- Can buy from physical stores? (not online ones) - Yes. 200y/oder fee
- Can buy NSFW items? - Yes
- Can undervalue? - No
- Boxes - Okay
- Good for - Buying in bulk, probably the cheapest proxy.
- Complains - Shipping options can be limited (For examply they donβt offer Small Packet to some countries when other proxies do). They can take a bit to buy and package orders.
Buyee
- Fees - Too many to count.
- Mercari Fee - 300y/order
- Customer service - Bad
- Can bid on Yahoo Auctions? - Yes
- Can buy from physical stores? (not online ones) - No
- Can buy NSFW items? - Sometimes
- Can undervalue? - No
- Boxes - You can use them as your new house
- Good for - Buying a single item, specially with discount coupons.
- Complains - Too many fees specially if you buy more than 1 thing. They throw the original shipping boxes onto a bigger box unless you contact them directly, so you will get an elephant-sized box with a elephant-sized shipping cost to match. Seriously, only use them for a single order with coupons.
Zen Market
- Fees - 500yen/item
- Mercari Fee - No
- Customer service - Good
- Can bid on Yahoo Auctions? - Yes
- Can buy from physical stores? (not online ones) - No
- Can buy NSFW items? - Yes
- Can undervalue? - No
- Boxes - Small, very sturdy. They weight quite a bit.
- Good for - Buying one item. Also you can pay EU VAT thru them.
- Complains - The new 500y/item fee piles up fast, not recomented to buy in bulk. They're slow to buy. You have to put money on the ZM wallet to pay.
Japan Rabbit
- Fees - Per-item fee (depends on shop), >10% of your order total (depends on how much you spent). Minimun fee is $9 regarless of what you spend.
- Mercari Fee - $3/item
- Customer service - Amazing
- Can bid on Yahoo Auctions? - Yes
- Can buy from physical stores? (not online ones) - Yes, but only in stores located in Tokyo and Yokohama.
- Can buy NSFW items? - Yes
- Can undervalue? - Yes (despite claiming otherwise, probably due to legal matters. You can undervalue after the items arrive to their warehouse)
- Boxes - Very small, they're masters at tetris
- Good for - If you want to undervalue, but I their 10% fee can cancel a good chunk of what you save in VAT. They're fast buying & packing.
- Complains - They got very expensive, specially now that they charge with USD instead of Yen. I dont know why would you use them now.
Neokyo
- Fees - 250y/item + 500y for packaging
- Mercari Fee - None
- Customer service - N/A
- Can bid on Yahoo Auctions? - Yes
- Can buy from physical stores? (not online ones) - Yes, 1k yen fee
- Can buy NSFW items? - Yes?
- Can undervalue? - No
- Boxes - Okay
- Good for - They buy very fast. Sugura partner, so some items are free of national shipping
- Complains - All payment options have a 3% fee. Orders take 3 weeks-a month to arrive to their warehouse
Other proxies are FromJapan, OneMap, Remamboo, etc etc.
There are also "forwarders", the difference with proxies is that you're the one who buys the item (instead of sending a proxy the link to it and letting them do the work). They are useful for time-sensitive purchases, but I have never used them so I can't guide you on that. The ones I know are
Black Ship (by Japan Rabbit) and
Tenso (by Buyee)
And thatβs all!
I hope you have fun buying, I started using proxies a few years ago and I got addicted lmao
Youβre the only one who gets to say what to do with your money, but I would use the retail prices I mentioned as a reference when buying to not get scammed with high prices.
Also if you want a specific merch, the key is patience! Check 2nd hand sites every 2 days or so until you find it.
If you have any problem or question, feel free to ask me!! (except for bidding, I have never used Yahoo auctions)