Red-Flag Sellers: Where NOT to Buy OP Merch

Ichnob

So most of us have been there before: our love for One Piece (or any other anime/manga series) compels us to show our fandom by buying merchandise. Whether it's a figure, plushie, wall scroll, or whatever, you can't find it locally at a brick & mortar store. What do you do? Try searching online. There, you find it. Whether it's at a sale, average, or over priced, you still want it and commit to buy it. Days, weeks, or shudder months pass until your item finally arrives. Yet lo and behold, what arrived wasn't what you wanted, but instead it's a fake or the wrong order.

This thread is to help prevent that from happening to you and someone else. If you've ever ordered something from someone/somewhere and had it be a bootleg, the wrong item to arrive, or never arrived at all without some sort of compensation, this is the thread to rant about it and to red-flag that seller. Make sure no one else gets victimized again. Please list the seller's name, what kind of seller (eBay & international eBay, online website, Amazon marketplace, etc.), and what you failed to get/took forever to arrive.

Oh, and because we have a Marketplace thread, any forum poster who scams a fellow APer will be listed as well. You've been warned.

eBay Seller
dericalost, leonahappy, didofinal (sells bootlegs at low prices but posts stock POP photos; pretty sure they're the same person)
kakalolo12 & toy_cardseller (same seller; mix of bootleg & official; YMMV)
mangasandmore (bootlegs)
mondiversi (ebay.de // bad bootlegs)
salegame (bootleg seller)
sweetieseal (only sells OP bootlegs)
totalgamesandtoys (ebay.uk // SM cds, which are unofficial reproductions)

Online Retailer
www.salesmanb2b.com (complete bootlegs, misplaced shipments)
www.toysnjoys.com (doesn't always carry items in stock, bad customer service, hard to get refunds)

Forum Name
Gunbunny (making sale posts and accepting payments without actually sending items)

Other

FOR RELIABLE PLACES FOR ONE PIECE MERCHANDISE, PLEASE SEE POST 2

Ichnob

Tips to avoid getting scammed on eBay and other online sites
-If the price is too good to be true, it most likely is.
-Try not to trust the stock photos too much, but if it's a photo of the actual product, that's safer
-If it's a stock photo, ask to be sent a picture of the actual product, and look for the tags/stickers
-PM the seller in advance if you're unsure about anything, and check to see the seller included the official maker of the figures in the description (Banpresto, Bandai, etc) and writes the words "official, authentic"; if anything goes wrong, you have evidence against them when filing under Ebay's Buyer Protection, and if you paid with it, Paypal.

Trusted online retailers
AmiAmi (English) (BEST)
Hobby Search (BEST)
Hobby Link Japan (BEST)
Animeha
Animaxis
Anime Jungle
Archonia
Book Depository (OP Volumes published by Viz)
Hachioji
Kinokuniya (find a store near you and call to order; hard to order books online)
National Console Support (NCSX)
Otacute
Play-Asia
Power Anime

Trustworthy eBay Stores
anime-export-com
fununiverse
hysys
jungle_japan (new seller, but the first two items BobLoblaw ordered were legit. Might want to hold off though)
lacitedesnuages
onezoa
rosarybox
satta
wonderonlinestore

Dictionary to use when shopping on Yahoo! Japan Auctions

! ワンピース　One Piece
P.O.P/POP/ポートレートオブパイレーツ　Portrait of Pirates
アニメヒーローズ Anime Heroes (mini big head Winter Island/Grand Line)
アニキャラヒーローズ Anichara Heroes (mini big head Alabstasta/Skypiea)
アラバスタ Alabasta
冬島編 Winter Island
ワンピースグランドライン Grand Line
空島編 Skypiea
パンソン Panson
ソフビ　soft vinyl
マスコット　mascot
フィギュア　figure
インブリスター in blister pack
ワンピースワールドコレクタブルフィギュア World Collectible Figure
０巻　Volume 0
ワンピースコレクション One Piece Collection
シャボンディ　Shabondy
グランドパイレーツ Grand Pirates
ストロングワールド　Strong World
インペルダウン　Impel Down
七武海 Shichibukai
ポスター poster
シークレット secret figure
ワンピーベリーマッチW Belli Match cards (W)
ワンピーベリーマッチ Belli Match (first series)
ボビングヘッド　bobble head
(for cards but レア rare can apply to figures or books etc too)
レア rare
ノーマル normal
スーパーレア super rare
グランドレア grand rare
キャンペーン campaign
DeQue DeQue
キーホルダー key holder
ストラップ strap (for cell phone)
海賊旗　pirate flag
THE GRANDLINE MEN grandline men figure
セット　set
いろいろ　various items
カレンダー calendar
カード card
一番くじ　 ichiban kuji
ティーシャツ T-shirt
ぬいぐるみ plush toy
ローソン　Lawson
カードガム card gum (trading cards)
ジグソーパズル　jigsaw puzzle
白ひげ　 Whitebeard
ミラクルバトルカードダス Miracle Battle Carddass
砂時計 hourglass
コースター coaster
フレキシブルアクション flexible action figure
ネガテイブ　negative (for negative hollow sanji, franky, zoro ichiban kuji)
ナイトメアルフィ Ichiban Kuji Nightmare Luffy
オーズ Ichiban Kuji Ohz

Shichibukai

ebay seller name: mondiversi

This guy sells bootlegs: http://cgi.ebay.de/One-Piece-SOGEKING-P-O-P-Portrait-of-Pirates-USOP-Rufy_W0QQitemZ110443660111QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAction_Figures_e_Statiche?hash=item19b6f4834f you can obviously tell from the picture he posted and the discount price.

sensui

ebay sellers inx_station and kakalolo12. kakalolo12 is a mixed bag, he sells both authentic mixed with bootlegs. I had no trouble with him on GLM Luffy/Ace and some other merchandise non-OP related. But the latest transaction (and most likely my last) was a bootleg.

PirateBeck

Actually, believe it or not, I have one of these in mind for a thread like this. There's an E-bay Seller in the UK who sells anime/videogame soundtracks for very low prices by the name of totalgamesandtoys Do not buy his stuff, as they are fake. While the re-production quality of their CDs are very high (even re-producing booklets), I noticed this after purchasing serveal CDs that they were all produced under the same publisher which I knew could not be true (One Piece, YYH and Kingdom Hearts). At this point, I owned one of the Japanese One Piece CDs and noticed a lack of avex on the box. Once checked, I realised they were fakes. So please, even with these prices, do not buy from this user.

I remember a shop in Tarragonna (Spain) had SonMay CDs on sale too. Can't remember the name of the shop though.

Shichibukai

Ichnob i have an idea wouldn't it be good if we make 2 lists? First the red list like you said and second a list of good trustable ebay sellers etc. so that other people would see where they could buy without worrying about overpriced shipping, bad service or bootlegs.

Ichnob

I'll think about the "good list" for a bit, but most people generally check feedback from eBay sellers to see if they get good ones. Oh, and think I should add toyslogic to the Online Sellers listl They sell legit stuff, but service can take forever a lot of times, and a few forumers here have even not received refunds for their non-existant items.

Shichibukai

e-bay seller: dericalost

http://cgi.ebay.com/ONE-PIECE-ANIME-1-POP-FRANKY-ACTION-MANGA-FIGURES-AA872_W0QQitemZ300408620081QQihZ020QQcategoryZ1345QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp3286.m7QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D3%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D9027301933336037051

He sells bootleg POPs for absurdly low prices but has pictures of the real POP's instead of the bootlegs he sells! Sellers who do this are the most dangerous imo because what you see is not what you get!

Shichibukai

@Ichnob:

I'll think about the "good list" for a bit, but most people generally check feedback from eBay sellers to see if they get good ones. Oh, and think I should add toyslogic to the Online Sellers listl They sell legit stuff, but service can take forever a lot of times, and a few forumers here have even not received refunds for their non-existant items.

Hmm this made me think about this list again. Wouldn't it be good if we also list a short reason why this seller or shop is on the list? For some people bad service or long shipping times might not be as bad as selling bootlegs.

EDIT:
@Ichnob:

eBay Seller
dericalost (sells bootlegs at low prices but posts stock POP photos)

Lol yeah exactly like this, you had the same thought as me!

sephirona

Besides kakalolo12, remember that toy_cardseller is the same user. They use the same descriptions and stupid shipping policies as well.

Thanks for making the thread, Ichnob.

Ichnob

Thinking of adding something on the OP on how to look our for bootlegs, which is kind of difficult to do online since you can't actually see the physical item.

sephirona

You could mention something about avoiding stock photos with abnormally low prices, and observing the luster and position of the plastic if there are real photos since fakes are usually somewhat bent looking. Sometimes you can tell.

Also, always PM the seller in advance if you're unsure about anything, and check to see the seller included the official maker of the figures in the description (Banpresto, Bandai, etc) and writes the words "official, authentic". If anything goes wrong, you have evidence against them when filing under Ebay's Buyer Protection, at least.

Sanjii

great threat, and a long time coming, hope this will help others in the future

Ichnob

So besides eBay seller dericalost, there's also two other sellers that pretty much list the same item in the same layout, etc.–

leonahappy and didofinal

I'm 99.99% certain they're the same person. If not, then they're at least run by the same eBay bootleg overlord. If you see any other listings that are similar to any of the other eBay sellers I've listed, let me know so I can lump them all together.

Vepe

Does this mean you don't like Drake?

icel

The ebay seller Sweetieseal only sells OP bootlegs, it's quite obvious from the item pictures.

Shichibukai

So what do you think now about the list of good / trustable sellers / sites i think it would be just as helpful as the red flag list. In the collectiable topic BobbyLaw made a good start and i think we should continue it:

@BobLoblaw:

I can give you a quick list since I've bought 10-12 authentic OP items off of ebay in the last couple of months (even though you requested it 8 hours ago :D).

wonderonlinestore

fununiverse

rosarybox

anime-export-com

jungle_japan (new seller, but the first two items I ordered were legit. Might want to hold off though)

I continue this list with the good and trustable ebay sellers i bought from:

RoboBlue

In general it's a bad idea to buy anything, especially video games, from China and Hong Kong. They're always very cheap but almost always bootlegs or knockoffs; Also the infamous HKDVDs come from there.

Ichnob

Thanks for the sticky, RoboBlue, along with adding some good advice others should follow when buying from eBay.

Local-chan

wow. Kakalo is bad?

After buying numerous POPs, FCs, WCFs, Banprestos and much more I've NEVER had a problem with them.

Ichnob

@Local-chan:

wow. Kakalo is bad?

After buying numerous POPs, FCs, WCFs, Banprestos and much more I've NEVER had a problem with them.

Well, like sensui said, YMMV. He's gotten plenty of official merchandise before. It was only recently that he got a bootleg item. Of course, it could also be that the seller just happened to get a bootleg shipment of said items.

Either way, if someone tries them out and doesn't get burned, that could be a valid enough reason to remove them from the list.

Ms-Ashri714

This thread is great :) I know ebay is a place I try to stay away from when it comes to buying OP Goodies…all of the sellers I've seen who sell POP's on there use the general stock images, OR they have some POP figures up for sale that haven't been released yet! Like the Strong World Franky and Robin. Perhaps a list of great/good sites and sellers would be awesome too :)

Shichibukai

@Ms-Ashri714:

This thread is great :) I know ebay is a place I try to stay away from when it comes to buying OP Goodies…all of the sellers I've seen who sell POP's on there use the general stock images, OR they have some POP figures up for sale that haven't been released yet! Like the Strong World Franky and Robin. Perhaps a list of great/good sites and sellers would be awesome too :)

You might search for this:

@Ichnob:

Trustworthy eBay Stores
anime-export-com
fununiverse
hysys
jungle_japan (new seller, but the first two items BobLoblaw ordered were legit. Might want to hold off though)
lacitedesnuages
rosarybox
satta
wonderonlinestore

This post is reserved in case the OP gets too big.

Strawhat Shanks

ebay seller Onezoa sells legit stuff. Shows actual photos and very descriptive.
http://myworld.ebay.com/onezoa/

Ms-Ashri714

@Shichibukai:

You might search for this:

Haha sorry I didn't see that until right AFTER I had posted that;;; Thanks <3 This thread rocks…using it now to shop as we speak :)

Arei

@Local-chan:

wow. Kakalo is bad?

After buying numerous POPs, FCs, WCFs, Banprestos and much more I've NEVER had a problem with them.

I have used them, and their alternative account, multiple times and only got official products, but since bootlegs have been reported it's best to be cautious. Though in their case they are mostly legit, they are just overpriced and sometimes play crappy price games on people, like if someone asks about an item, they may raise the items price because they think people are interested in it and will pay more.

Warlord90

May I recommend a website ? (only for volumes)
www.bookdepository.com

Discounts
Free Shipping
Ships all over the world
Euro Prices.
Have bought 12 volumes from Greece and they came in about a week.

konohaJounin

Online Retailer
http://www.toysnjoys.com/
Everyone please stay far away from these crooks! I ordered a Ace figure from them on february 2 2010 and it said in stock on the site but I got a email from them 2WEEKS LATER saying that my item is on back order and that it will take 2 weeks to ship, so I decided to wait the alleged 2 weeks and that turned into a month and a half and my figure was still not shipped even after I called and spoke with a sales rep and hearing the guy bold face lie to me and tell me that my item will ship in a day or two. So I said forget it and cancelled my order so I could get my money back and that was on march 10 and today is april 18 and they never sent me a refund or the figure. I reported them to the BBB and after a quick google search I found a whole page of bad reviews and stories about how these guys have scammed people. I guess I'm also to blame because I trusted a company that I knew nothing about and didn't research them like I should have done..so sorry for the long rant everyone (I'm still pissed off about this ) but hopefully this helps someone so they dont make the same mistake I did.

Shichibukai

ebay seller
mangasandmore
He sells bootlegs.

Ichnob

@konohaJounin: That sucks about Toys N Joys. For a second, I thought Toys Logic was the only bad site for importing with "toys" in its name. I completely forgot about Toys N Joys as well, for I also was scammed by them for a wall scroll. So thanks for bringing them up, but I'm sorry for what you had to go through.

@Warlord90: I'm not sure if OP books are actually bootlegged. With their site currently down due to volcanic activity, I can't actually check if they sell more than just OP books. However, books are indeed merchandise so it would count. Let me know if they sell Color Walks, Data Books, or Log Books as well, and I'd definitely list them. I should also list Kinokuniya.

Shichibukai

Yeah my order from a site and a ebay auction are also delayed because of the volcanic dust cloud but i wouldn't red-flag them as noone can do anything about that and it's not their fault.

Local-chan

Yeah the Volcanic Ash is gonna play murder with most shipping for the next week or so at least :(

bran-chan

@konohaJounin:

Online Retailer
http://www.toysnjoys.com/
Everyone please stay far away from these crooks! I ordered a Ace figure from them on february 2 2010 and it said in stock on the site but I got a email from them 2WEEKS LATER saying that my item is on back order and that it will take 2 weeks to ship, so I decided to wait the alleged 2 weeks and that turned into a month and a half and my figure was still not shipped even after I called and spoke with a sales rep and hearing the guy bold face lie to me and tell me that my item will ship in a day or two. So I said forget it and cancelled my order so I could get my money back and that was on march 10 and today is april 18 and they never sent me a refund or the figure. I reported them to the BBB and after a quick google search I found a whole page of bad reviews and stories about how these guys have scammed people. I guess I'm also to blame because I trusted a company that I knew nothing about and didn't research them like I should have done..so sorry for the long rant everyone (I'm still pissed off about this ) but hopefully this helps someone so they dont make the same mistake I did.

Great I just placed an order with them on Saturday. Guess I'll call and cancel and then make a trip to the bank to make sure I get my money back.

OneManCollectiblez

ReDDragon on AP forums is Awesome & trustworthy

Ms-Ashri714

Thanks for the warning about ToysnJoys…I almost placed an order with them the other day...but now that I've seen your warning I'll think twice about purchasing through them.

Also, Otacute.com is a great place...I've personally ordered from them before and had no problems with them. Shipping is similar to HLJ...some items are a bit cheaper than HLJ and some aren't...but the Report Time mini POP Robin figure I ordered came in perfect condition...and non-bootleg quality :) <3

http://www.otacute.com/

Shichibukai

Here 2 shops which are great especially for european people, i have ordered multiple times from both and both have fast shipping and good customer service:

Alternatives to HLJ and AmiAmi

http://www.archonia.com/
http://animeha.com/

sephirona

Bootleg seller. Look at all the low prices. Some feedback also mentions things like "I know why they were so cheap now…" and stuff. There are pictures of the FC sets he's selling, too, and all of them are hideous.

ebay seller
salegame

Arei

Ah another one for the good site list:

Hachioji: http://www.hachioji.com.hk/toy/index.php

Great customer service, and products are legit. (though if you are very particular about stickers, I've only gotten silver sticker products from them (since it is HK, it's not surprising), they're all legit and good quality, just not gold sticker'ed). They've also at times gotten a hold of older merchandise and sold it for good prices.

TräshCät

@Arei:

Ah another one for the good site list:

Hachioji: http://www.hachioji.com.hk/toy/index.php

Great customer service, and products are legit. (though if you are very particular about stickers, I've only gotten silver sticker products from them (since it is HK, it's not surprising), they're all legit and good quality, just not gold sticker'ed). They've also at times gotten a hold of older merchandise and sold it for good prices.

seconded, i've never had any problems with them. quality is good and delivery is fast. they also sell ichiban kuji prizes.

Fuwa Kitty

Oh dear, it seems as if I already pre-ordered Luffy and Nami Meghouse SW figures from Toyslogic.

Is it common for them to screw up the order, or just having to wait a long time?

Ichnob

I would say it is as uncommon as the 360 RROD. There's a lot of people that it's happened to, but more that it didn't.

If you do happen to get your figure from them, you can at least know that it shouldn't be a bootleg.

Fuwa Kitty

@Ichnob:

I would say it is as uncommon as the 360 RROD. There's a lot of people that it's happened to, but more that it didn't.

If you do happen to get your figure from them, you can at least know that it shouldn't be a bootleg.

360 RROD?

Well at least that's good, I've had past issues with bootlegs.

Ichnob

@Fuwa:

360 RROD?

Well at least that's good, I've had past issues with bootlegs.

Xbox 360 "Red Ring of Death" problem that plagued the first few years of its life.

Local-chan

@Ichnob:

Xbox 360 "Red Ring of Death" problem that plagued the first few years of its life.

First…..? My brother's X-box that he's had less than a year recently came down with it XD It's still on-going as far as I'm aware. (Elites may not have it.)

Ichnob

Heh…it's probably a good idea to apply it to all Xbox 360s. Any 360 you get (that isn't an elite) has a chance to RROD the first few years.

Fuwa Kitty

@Ichnob:

I would say it is as uncommon as the 360 RROD. There's a lot of people that it's happened to, but more that it didn't.

If you do happen to get your figure from them, you can at least know that it shouldn't be a bootleg.

I did run into a problem with the figures actually.

I got Nami and Zoro instead of Nami and Luffy.

My friend is going to try and get Luffy and complain enough to let me keep Zoro too.

(I won't know if that would work though)

Melot

Online Retailer:
http://www.salesmanb2b.com

Doesn't have all items in stock, trying to take extra shipment money, and you're really lucky if you get all the items in your order. Last time I ordered I only got half of the items I paid for.

Ichnob

@Melot:

Online Retailer:
http://www.salesmanb2b.com

Doesn't have all items in stock, trying to take extra shipment money, and you're really lucky if you get all the items in your order. Last time I ordered I only got half of the items I paid for.

Dude…not only that, almost everything listed under "One Piece" is a bootleg. What a terrible store. :getlost:

Dixxy Mouri

(I did not know this thread was here but I highly approve of it!)

I've used both Play-Asia (listed) and YesAsia (not listed) for One Piece CDs before. I forget which I ordered from which store but I think both are legit.

This might help with import media, especially CDs:

http://www.animecornerstore.com/faq.html#1-5 Though the store occasionally has One Piece merchandise it doesn't have a great selection. There's a list of bootleg DVD companies, legit CD companies, and a (very) short list of bootleg CD companies. It also gives you a general rule of thumb to use to check CD jewel case spines to tell whether or not a CD is legit. I've used the list to ID fake a CD set at a con before, which is another place to be careful when buying OP merchandise. Just because they got a spot in the dealer's room doesn't mean they are a legit dealer.

enel16

hey is angolz trustworthy?