This little piggy went to the anime market...

NameGoesHere · Post by **NameGoesHere** » Sun Jun 18, 2006 3:45 pm

I'm sure most of us have been there. There's this shiny new anime DVD that you really, really want. You find it for sale online at fifty different locations, some you've heard of, some you haven't. You find this one website that has it for half off... but are they trustworthy?

I want your anime purchasing experiences, your reviews of online anime sources. Help your fellow anime fans find what they need, while avoiding the nightmares. Do you have a go-to shop that always has what you want at a great price? Have you been screwed over by some big name store that promises great service?

[Did that sound enough like a commercial pitch? XD;]

I would rather keep this discussion focused on established stores, rather than auctions, such as those on eBay. There is already a topic for eBay located here. I got an okay from Tiff before posting this, so please stick to the rules. Links are alright, as long as it isn't an advertisement for your own work, or links to products that you are selling.

Kameko · Post by **Kameko** » Sun Jun 18, 2006 5:42 pm

Established on-line stores I go to:
Amazon
Right Stuf
Animenation

All sell legit stuff (except Amazon's marketplace). Right Stuf every once in a while gives out great deals: Weekly Specials, Deal of the Day and every couple weeks products from a certain company will be on sale.

For those who don't have the money to buy right away/are unsure of a certain series, thier is always renting(which for some reason, anime fans are clueless about):
Netflix
Rentanime.com

All it takes is common sense to spot the bootlegs:
Why is a DVD set from a non-english speaking country have the english dub and english subtitles on it?
Why are thier Chinese subtitles?
Why is it region free? (Thier are legit R0 DVDs but they are rare.)

Here is a nice bootleg FAQ to help you spot those bootlegs.

Post by **Tiff** » Sun Jun 18, 2006 5:48 pm

Kameko wrote:
Netflix
Rentanime.com

I've always wondered about Netflix. I don't know, but it makes me suspicious. I'm terrified that like..i'll mail my movies back and Netflix will never get them. >_>

Kameko · Post by **Kameko** » Sun Jun 18, 2006 5:55 pm

Have you tryed contacting them to find out what would happen/what you should do if such a situation occurs?

Cardcaptor Takato · Post by **Cardcaptor Takato** » Sun Jun 18, 2006 7:34 pm

The only online store I ever order DVDs from is CDUniverse.com. They always have cheap deals for anime and they've always been reliable to me in the past. Some of the cheapest deals I've had from them are I bought the Rayearth Economy boxsets both for $30, the Angelic Layer thinpack set for $30, and the Azumanga Daioh thinpack set for $50. It usually only takes about two weeks for the DVDs to be shipped. The longest has been about three weeks. I've only ordered from Amazon.com once when I ordered the Sailor Moon Supers movie subbed on VHS from them a few years back. I haven't ordered from them since because they goofed up on my order and sent me the S movie instead. I realize I'm probably just being paranoid about this but I just haven't been able to trust them since then, especially as it was my first order from them and they screwed it up.

artemis_is_my_dawg · Post by **artemis_is_my_dawg** » Sun Jun 18, 2006 9:26 pm

amazon.com:
good, but dont get the used and new stuff. even though sometimes its trustworthy, i've had a couple bad experiences.

animovies.com:
this site is great, and the prices are reasonable. you should check it out. not too much sailor moon stuff though

ebay.com:
BAD. cheap, but not really trustworthy. good cosplay items though

barnesandnoble.com:
may not sound like they have much, but they do. pricey, but definetly trustworthy.

discountanimedvd.com:
not any experience myself but had a friend who ordered from here. she was always happy, and the prices are cheap.

those are the places i know.

jupiter23 · Post by **jupiter23** » Sun Jun 18, 2006 9:34 pm

The few times I've ordered from Amazon I've had a good experience with. It took a bit of time for my stuff to actually ship out, but when it did I recieved it in a couple of days. And I haven't used the Amazon marketplace at all.

Usually when I buy my anime, though, I go to Sam Goody. Not the website, the actual store.

As far as ebay, the one time I was going to order something from them, they told me I had to have a user account in order to do so. That would not have been so much of a problem (Amazon requires the same thing) but they also required I give them a credit card number to put on the account. That didn't sound right to me, and some other people I talked to told me that they didn't have to have a credit card for their accounts. Needless to say, I haven't been back there.

DuoTheShinigami02 · Post by **DuoTheShinigami02** » Mon Jun 19, 2006 8:58 pm

I've been buying my anime from DeepDiscountDVD.com for the past four years, and, aside from the occasional damaged DVD case, I have no problems with them.

NameGoesHere · Post by **NameGoesHere** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 8:06 pm

Cardcaptor Takato wrote:I've only ordered from Amazon.com once when I ordered the Sailor Moon Supers movie subbed on VHS from them a few years back. I haven't ordered from them since because they goofed up on my order and sent me the S movie instead. I realize I'm probably just being paranoid about this but I just haven't been able to trust them since then, especially as it was my first order from them and they screwed it up.

jupiter23 wrote:The few times I've ordered from Amazon I've had a good experience with. It took a bit of time for my stuff to actually ship out, but when it did I recieved it in a couple of days. And I haven't used the Amazon marketplace at all.

Everything I've ordered from Amazon has shipped out quickly and arrived in good time and condition. I've had to buy a few manga through them, since my local Hastings can't special order anything to save their lives. I've also purchased all four of my Sailor Moon box sets through Amazon.

The only time there was a problem was when I ordered through the Marketplace and never received my book. I contacted the seller, and they never responded, but Amazon quickly got me a refund.

artemis_is_my_dawg · Post by **artemis_is_my_dawg** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 11:34 am

NameGoesHere wrote:
Cardcaptor Takato wrote:I've only ordered from Amazon.com once when I ordered the Sailor Moon Supers movie subbed on VHS from them a few years back. I haven't ordered from them since because they goofed up on my order and sent me the S movie instead. I realize I'm probably just being paranoid about this but I just haven't been able to trust them since then, especially as it was my first order from them and they screwed it up.

jupiter23 wrote:The few times I've ordered from Amazon I've had a good experience with. It took a bit of time for my stuff to actually ship out, but when it did I recieved it in a couple of days. And I haven't used the Amazon marketplace at all.
Everything I've ordered from Amazon has shipped out quickly and arrived in good time and condition. I've had to buy a few manga through them, since my local Hastings can't special order anything to save their lives. I've also purchased all four of my Sailor Moon box sets through Amazon.

The only time there was a problem was when I ordered through the Marketplace and never received my book. I contacted the seller, and they never responded, but Amazon quickly got me a refund.

oh, well i guess i'm the only one with a bad experience from there!

Post by **AnimeGuru0** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 11:48 am

No you're not Artemis_is_my_dawg.

I know what you're talking about. Actually ordering from amazon itself has always treated me right, but ordering from their "New and Used" (where you're buying from other amazon customers).

I was to buy the Resident Evil 2 movie, and the douchebag sent me the first resident evil movie. Didn't even refund my shipping costs. What a poop face.

Starscream · Post by **Starscream** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 12:02 pm

Another shout-out to DeepDiscountDVDs; I purchased the R boxset from them (back when they had that uber sale a few years back) and I haven't regretted the purchase. Just make sure you don't opt into their newsletter if the option is given to you ^^

Alexclow345 · Post by **Alexclow345** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 7:54 am

I bought the S boxset from Amazon and it was in the New and Used section. It was a bootleg but I've also trusted them since they usally give me what I want.

Jeff · Post by **Jeff** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 1:33 pm

I loathe Amazon. My Sailor Moon R movie DVD never came, and after several months of emails back and forth, they cancelled my order. O.o The same thing happened with a CD but the order was never cancelled.

I recommend Deep Discount DVD, because, well, they have deep discounts. Their stuff always comes quickly, too (much faster than Amazon).

I buy Japanese manga (like the Sailor Moon re-prints) from Sasuga's online store. They are very cheap and the speed of the shipment depends somewhat on their stock; the site is a little slow, but I have never had anything get lost.

Netflix is the greatest thing ever. They ship right out of Fort Lauderdale so I get my DVDs in a couple of days. I don't know how I could go back to life without it... I was so happy that I could watch Evangelion without paying for ridiculous boxset prices. The only downside to this site is that they don't upgrade their releases often, but as far as I can tell, they have every anime title released stateside.

NameGoesHere · Post by **NameGoesHere** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 5:17 pm

I just bought some DVD's from The Right Stuf, and I must say, I am impressed. I sent in an order-form by mail, and everything was shipped quickly. The item was extremely well packed, and it arrived sooner than I expected. Overall, I would definitely recommend them.