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BeyondTime
1 hour ago, CrazyDollPerson said:

I have never used Yahoo auctions, I am intimidated by it honestly 😬

The proxies make it easy, and you should have no issues with the major proxies. Win now for Buyout Price on Yahoo! Japan is little different from putting an item in your cart and checking out or doing Buy it Now on eBay. Competitive bidding is easy to setup on the proxy, but winning is going to pose the normal challenges of any auction. 

Don’t be afraid to use Mandarake, Yahoo! Japan, or Hobby Jungle to get used dolls. You save a lot, they’re reliable, and easy to use. You also don’t have to worry about shipping. The Japanese are really really good at packing things carefully for shipment. I buy CDs from Amazon Japan, they cross the Pacific Ocean intact every time. I buy CDs from Amazon in the US and half the time they can’t cross my own State without getting all scratched up, and it really boils down to the folks in Japanese shipping departments seem to actually give a damn about doing things right. 

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The difference between Dollfie Dreams and Heroin? Heroin is illegal, Dollfie Dreams probably should be.

“Empty wallets, full hearts.” That’s probably an apt description for the effects of DD addiction

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Tokimemofan
2 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

The proxies make it easy, and you should have no issues with the major proxies. Win now for Buyout Price on Yahoo! Japan is little different from putting an item in your cart and checking out or doing Buy it Now on eBay. Competitive bidding is easy to setup on the proxy, but winning is going to pose the normal challenges of any auction. 

Don’t be afraid to use Mandarake, Yahoo! Japan, or Hobby Jungle to get used dolls. You save a lot, they’re reliable, and easy to use. You also don’t have to worry about shipping. The Japanese are really really good at packing things carefully for shipment. I buy CDs from Amazon Japan, they cross the Pacific Ocean intact every time. I buy CDs from Amazon in the US and half the time they can’t cross my own State without getting all scratched up, and it really boils down to the folks in Japanese shipping departments seem to actually give a damn about doing things right. 

Having gotten 2 dolls from Mandarake I have to say I would rather buy from there than yahoo japan auctions, they tend to nitpick about minor details in their item descriptions so at least you know you are getting a complete description. They actually seem to pack better than Volks too

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finnleo
6 hours ago, DreamDollDesign said:

running from $750-$850

Without actually looking at yja, this is a 80-90k yen spread in listing starting price?

So after proxy fee's (varies a lot between proxies, I know), japanese side shipping, etc even the 80k low end is starting to creep up to the 90k buy it now from manda.

5 hours ago, CrazyDollPerson said:

I have never used Yahoo auctions, I am intimidated by it honestly

It sounds more exotic than it seems, but read up on auction proxies, and find one that suits what you are trying to buy, some proxies can be cheaper with low price knick-knacks, and others are better with high value items (they usually have a price bracket for what their fee structure is depending on the end cost of the auction).

otherwise its just typical auction stuff. Keep a level head, and keep a firm budget with the end fee's in mind so you dont end up in a situation where you might have gotten it cheaper from Manda, or Jungle osaka (keep forgetting they have the odd doll for sale apart from the usual media stuff I've gotten there .. but im still a bit miffed at them for screwing up my Futakoi Alternative DVD's for the normal Futakoi series one's..)

As already mentioned, Mandarake might not be the cheapest, but they are pedantic about their listings, and some items might have a value decrease for something silly. case in point, I got a Nanoha for 2/5ths of retail, and was quite presentable after a thorough cleanup of the parts and body (there maybe is a small yellow dot at the end of her nose...)

And with that, Manda's biggest selling point, that the price what you see, is the price what you pay, which on the auction side of things might cough up the occasional surprise depending on the japanese side shipping, etc.

Edited by finnleo
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DreamDollDesign
2 hours ago, finnleo said:

Without actually looking at yja, this is a 80-90k yen spread in listing starting price?

So after proxy fee's (varies a lot between proxies, I know), japanese side shipping, etc even the 80k low end is starting to creep up to the 90k buy it now from manda.

Yeah but depending on where OP is, Mandarake could possibly add another near $100 for shipping. That's what they did to me last year on an MDD, but I don't know if the shipping services restrictions have been lifted yet. Last I saw, your only option was DHL.

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finnleo
36 minutes ago, DreamDollDesign said:

Mandarake could possibly add another near $100 for shipping.

well... last year in august, which was peak pandemic time here at least, Nanoha plus five+six outfits was 8200yen with EMS that had just resumed service into nordic countries from japan. thats with current rates ~75 dollars, which is about the same as I've paid for ems for my volks dolls.

but true, milage may vary in this department, but you have the five day period you can cancel if the shipping seems unreasonable. but there I would assume the same shipping restrictions apply to proxies from japan, as retail sellers.

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CrazyDollPerson

Oh boy, thanks for all the info everyone! 

I have bought from Mandarake before, but never Yahoo auctions. I have used a proxy years ago many times to get tsum tsums that were available only in Japan, so I am somewhat familiar with how they work. I think what intimidated me was trying to figure out the website for the auctions and being afraid of anything I am not understanding and being slapped with a huge fee for something I missed kind of thing.

The biggest thing I worry about with delving into yahoo auctions is the fact that my bank account will suffer horrendously, so maybe subconciously I have avoided it to preserve my sanity 🤣

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Meowjima

..... uh.  I've been trying to unload via sell/trade my Kizuna for a while, as she's just sitting in her box.  I can't remember if I even listed her here.  I did list her on faebook--which removed the listin--and on various discords.

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BeyondTime
14 hours ago, finnleo said:

Jungle

For me they had the best price on my Miki Hoshi, she had a cracked shoulder joint but that was all of a whopping $20 to repair. 


The difference between Dollfie Dreams and Heroin? Heroin is illegal, Dollfie Dreams probably should be.

“Empty wallets, full hearts.” That’s probably an apt description for the effects of DD addiction

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Tokimemofan
20 hours ago, finnleo said:

well... last year in august, which was peak pandemic time here at least, Nanoha plus five+six outfits was 8200yen with EMS that had just resumed service into nordic countries from japan. thats with current rates ~75 dollars, which is about the same as I've paid for ems for my volks dolls.

but true, milage may vary in this department, but you have the five day period you can cancel if the shipping seems unreasonable. but there I would assume the same shipping restrictions apply to proxies from japan, as retail sellers.

On Mandarake $100 is about right for dhl shipping for a doll, dhl shipping tends to ramp up based on size rather quick

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Xiongmao

I've just bought some clothes and unrelated otaku stuff from Mandarake. Be aware that DHL is very fast but the Mandarake order cost estimation page is VERY inaccurate. I'm kind of annoyed I had to pay A LOT for insurance too.

Also Japan imports ALWAYS get seen by customs (at least in the UK), so that's another 20% + shipper's fee.

I was tempted by Kizuna last fall but ended up getting Towa instead. I don't think the vinyl Kizuna's outfit is made from stands the test of time awfully well, but if you store yours well then she's probably going to be really valuable one day. Also what I've done with Towa is hunt around for anime outfits online - I found the Beat Angel wig on eBay earlier this year and have just ordered the outfit to go with it. Now my Towa will be a cosplaying doll 🤩.

I'll report back about my second Mandarake order but the outfit I bought last year was exactly as pictured. With dolls they seem to know what they're doing and any heavily stained ones have photos showing the staining. I reckon they can be cleaned up as I had amazing results with acne cream, but I would be wary of dolls with staining on their faces. Stained body parts can be swapped out anyway (unless they have rarer custom parts).

As for Volks... their shipping was seriously slow earlier in the year so I've given up on them. Fortunately we have a UK Dollfie friend store that sells quite a lot of the regular outfits and parts.


Xiongmao-Signature-Vinyl-Dolls-December-2023.jpg.092aa55b9a3c11160633f60ad1610e7c.jpg 

My Dollfie doll family 😊.

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