When I buy figures I usually use HLJ or buy from a local retailer, Tamarket. But I was after a particular figure and that was the Yujin SR DX Aika from ARIA. At the time of release I wasn’t that much of a fan but now I have to search across the various places on the Internet. Unsuccessful in my searches I turned to eBay. eBay is a last resort to buy anime related items due to various reasons.
- Cost of shipping from the US to Australia
- The amount of time it takes to arrive at my doorstep. Last item I bought from eBay took 4 weeks.
- Sometimes more expensive than buying from Yahoo Japan Auctions.
Well not having much choice I happen to have found the Aika figure but little did I realise what I was getting into. Looking at the auction the amount the seller had in stock was 15. Opted for the Buy It Now as it was reasonably priced at $24.95 AU ($19 US) with shipping at $13.95 US. This was on the 23rd July when I made the purchase and paid for it. It is now just under 5 weeks and the item still hasn’t arrived. Hence I sent an email to the eBay seller asking if they have sent the item yet and under what shipping. I received a reply just a few minutes ago and this is what it was:
“please check your paypal for full refund because we don’t know the release date”
This really irritates me. Having spent so much time waiting for it to arrive only to find out that they don’t even have it in stock. My view on eBay has just reached an all time low and I will most likely not use it to buy anime related items again IF possible. But all is not loss as I do have my money back, except for a few dollars becuase of currency conversion and I am once again searching for an Aika figure.
Do you want the full set? Akari, Aika and Alice.
Pretty much. But I already have Akari and Alice, just looking for Aika. I’ve found a few on YJA already so I’m hoping to get one from there.
That’s really crap. Hence why I too consider eBay an even later than last resort…
There are trusted ebay figurine sellers at ebay. I always buy from toysnext and rosarybox. Personally, I prefer my trusted list of US and HK sellers over HLJ due to shipping times and customs. I gt hit with customs on half of my HLJ purchases.
Saviour, are you in US. Cause I know my US friends got hit by customs. In Aust., lucky we dont get hit.
Personally i find HLJ price quite reasonable. Some ebay site they pass the 5% paypal fee onto the customer and some shippings are just ridiculour. There’s also hobby search but they go for EMS shipping only.
Nope, I live in Canada.