Sites you reccomend for DD shopping?

Now, I'm fully aware that DD can cost around 1k at best (and 2k at worst...at least for me), but if I just buy the body base, then I can slowly but surely get the complete version. For example, I can just buy the base body of Sakura Miku, then buy her set at a latter date.

 

I know you can buy base bodies on volks USA (and volks JPN too. I do live in the states though), abiet the normal ones and not what I provide as an example. Is there any other sites I can buy the base bodies of collab DD? I checked Mericari and found a body of Sakura Miku 2.0 and it cost around 500 dollars, but not a lot of limited dd base bodies of collab characters are on there unless I didn't look hard enough.

 

Ebay, on the other hand, while has the outfit set at an cheaper price, has an higher risk of me acidently buying an recast and I'm positive that buying an bootleg of Sakura Miku will hurt me as much as accidently buying an recast.

 

There's facebook and dd groups on there, but I don't use facebook that much. I'm prob missing some good deals on there though...

Licensed dolls' value comes from their head and clothing, not their body. Almost all licensed DDs use the same kind of body as the one you can buy from Volks, with a couple rare exceptions that use a harder to find (or unique) shade of tan skin. The only difference between Sakura Miku's body and a regular flesh DD body is a bit of paint on the nails, which you can DIY, and an SS bust, which you can buy from Volks when you get the body. If you want Sakura Miku, start with the clothes, then the head, because bodies are easy to get.

 

That said...because the head and clothes are the valuable part, they're also going to be harder to find. Vinyl communities typically don't recommend Ebay because of scalpers, not because of recasts. Unlike resin, vinyl is not typically bootlegged due to the high production cost of vinyl casting - it's just not worth it to recast these dolls. The only fake DDs out there are Snow Miku and Saber, and they're both easy to identify as fake and hard to run into these days. But you still wanna stay away from Ebay because a lot of vinyl sellers on there are selling dolls that are listed publicly on Japanese sites for massively inflated prices compared to the JP ones. 

If you want to have a specific doll, you have a few options:

- Join DD groups on Facebook and/or vinyl focused servers on Discord and post WTB posts on there

- Keep an eye on Mercari. I've seen some vinyl dolls on there sold by actual collectors, not scalpers, so it's a decent marketplace. Just make sure you're looking at listings from the US - listings from the Japanese version of Mercari get sprinkled in too, and those tend to be cheaper to buy directly from Mercari JP because our Mercari's currency conversion rates are not great (see next bullet) 

- Learn how to browse and buy from Japanese sites: Mandarake and Dollyteria are easy to buy from in the US and are a good first step, and proxy buyer sites like Buyee offer guides on how to use them and grant you access to Japan-specific sites like the Japanese version of Mercari and Yahoo Japan Auctions. You pay in Yen on those sites, so the sticker price will be much cheaper than buying the same doll in USD, but shipping fees (plus the tariff in placed on international orders) will be expensive. 

- Make a custom one! Tons of people have made custom Miku dolls using the DDH-07 head, and I know there's a couple clothing sellers that offer Miku outfits specifically. This is probably the most cost-effective, but it'll be extra work, and she obviously won't be an exact match to the official one. For some people, that's part of the appeal...for others, it's a drawback. 

Depending on your patience, I'll also add that Miku gets re-releases pretty frequently. She'll always be cheapest direct from Volks. 

Sakura Miku was literally just re-released, so keep an eye out for people looking to offload her for a reasonable price. There are always people looking to sell immediately after release for whatever reason, and that’s usually when you can find them for the best price, before they become rare and go up in value.

Adding to Oculae's suggestion of Mandarake-I've purchased both non-doll toys and printed material from them, and been thrilled. The key things to remember are that there are multiple Mandarake stores, so if you're buying items from several of their stores, you'll pay shipping for each (so best to buy all from the same store if you can) and that there's always the risk that an in-person shopper may snag an item before you. Hasn't happened to me yet, but there is the possibility.

39 minutes ago, ragnamuffin said:

Sakura Miku was literally just re-released, so keep an eye out for people looking to offload her for a reasonable price. There are always people looking to sell immediately after release for whatever reason, and that’s usually when you can find them for the best price, before they become rare and go up in value.

I see! Also, I was able to find the cheapest one on buyee around 600 dollars. Idk if it's still there by the time I have enough, but I do want to double check to see if it's legit or scam. https://buyee.jp/paypayfleamarket/item/z554612234

49 minutes ago, Xabby said:

I see! Also, I was able to find the cheapest one on buyee around 600 dollars. Idk if it's still there by the time I have enough, but I do want to double check to see if it's legit or scam. https://buyee.jp/paypayfleamarket/item/z554612234

If it’s a link from a Japanese auction site or flea market, it’s usually legit. The only thing you have to be careful of is whether the doll is complete or missing stuff. This particular listing is new and unused, so it will come with everything.