Mandarake question?

Approx how long do they take to ship 

It depends on a store to store basis, simply because some are bigger than others and may have lots of shipments to prepare and process or just quicker. But normally if you place your payment early in the morning chances are that it'll go out the same day.  I've had some that took up to three days but this is not the norm.

Agreed it depends on the store. Usually between 1-3 days after paying. I don't think they've ever taken longer than that for me.

for me from Complex, Nakano, and Grandchaos, its been about a day turn around from order, shipping cost confirmation, and another day from confirmation to shipping. (again time zone can be a factor, for me japan is almost half a day ahead).

Complex which is probably the biggest one has taken a few days for shipping calculations a few times.

the oddball being Sahra (maybe other stores also?) that calculates shipping when you order, so it can be just a day or two.

also if you are ordering from multiple sites at the same time the results might vary.

Edited July 16, 2022 by finnleo

They've never taken longer than 3 days for me either. I've bought a lot of stuff from them, so if you've never purchased from them before and are worried about it, you can trust them. 

Have used their stores many times over the past decade mainly for figures and now a doll. Always 1-3 days turn around on putting and order in and getting the shipping quote and about 1-2 on shipping once paid in some cases. Sahra however auto gives you the shipping quote when logged in and charges you that exact price when checking out. Which cuts down on the 1-3 day by a day or two. Just make sure when ordering multiple items they are from the same store to avoid extra shipping costs. Each store is a separate place and doesn't combine their shipping together. Found that out the hard way many many years ago when product pricing was higher.

 

Good luck on your order!

I have order a lot from them over the past few years. First they have to check if the item is in stock. It takes about 2 days. Then it has always take 3 days for them to shipped the items I ordered after paying. It has never take longer. If you choose DHL you will get the package in about two days

Once I order a brand new Angelphilia that was in stock. They didn’t have to check the store and gave me the shipping quote when I paid for her during checkout. She was shipped the next business day

Just to clarify, Sahra tends to be faster because it’s a warehouse exclusively for online sales, not a storefront, so they never have to check to see if the item is still in stock.

That said, they seem to have started using a really efficient online inventory system (much like Dollyteria) that instantaneously marks the item as sold when checked out online or when the barcode is scanned in-store, so I’m not sure they still have to check stock at storefronts either.

I’m convinced the real reason is because their stores horde everything like packrats, so they have to search every nook and cranny just to find your item 😂

On 7/16/2022 at 7:43 AM, ragnamuffin said:

I’m convinced the real reason is because their stores horde everything like packrats,

So in other words they're your standard anime / video game fans?

On 7/16/2022 at 7:43 AM, ragnamuffin said:

I’m convinced the real reason is because their stores horde everything like packrats, so they have to search every nook and cranny just to find your item 😂

I wonder at times how Manda and Dollyteria store all their goods. It's such a wide variety of things, many which will be in a particular state (rather than normal retail packaged stuff) that it seems like it'd be a challenge to keep it all organized.

5 hours ago, chef_mai said:

I wonder at times how Manda and Dollyteria store all their goods. It's such a wide variety of things, many which will be in a particular state (rather than normal retail packaged stuff) that it seems like it'd be a challenge to keep it all organized.

I don’t know how they manage to keep everything organized, but they do seem to have a system. I guess it goes something like type of product (Doll) -> size (1/3 scale) -> brand (Volks) -> specific product line (Dollfie Dream) -> accessories relevant to product line placed nearby (1/3 scale outfits), but the exact system seems to vary by store and also by popularity of the series.

For example, at the Mandarake in Nakano, there’s one room dedicated to BJDs (including vinyl) of all brands, another with 1/6 and 1/12 scale dolls, and an entire room dedicated just to Licca/Jenny/Barbie. I’m pretty sure there’s a room full of everything Sailor Moon (including but not limited to dolls) too, whereas there are dolls of all sizes haphazardly stuffed into one room at the Mandarake at Akihabara and Grand Chaos in Osaka, and in one small corner of the Mandarakes in Ikebukuro and Shibuya (but these stores with seemingly less stock also have stuff squirreled away in a backroom).

You can get an idea of how it looks here:

https://chichicho.blogspot.com/2015/07/mandarake-and-amerikamura-america.html

They also have boxes full of, say, clothes or shoes or accessories (usually one of each type), and everything inside the box is a jumbled mess. I remember asking the cashier at Dollyteria for something specific and she knew exactly which area of the store it was in, but had to sift through a couple of boxes to find it.

That said, Dollyteria is better organized for the consumer imo. You can usually find stuff by yourself quite easily. Their storefront looks similar to Mandarake, but less chaotic:

https://www.closet-child.com/shop/yk2/

I miss the Torrance shop

24 minutes ago, Mega Negi said:

I miss the Torrance shop

I never got the chance to visit! 

Along with other long gone stores such as Animate on Melrose and Gamers. Way ahead of their time. 😔

Utsunomiya and Fukuoka were lightning fast when I last ordered from them. I'm currently awaiting on an order at Umeda. UPS is pretty quick and they usually set up customs payments while my goods are en route.

I visited Mandarake in Shibuya, Akihabara and maybe Nakano Broadway back in 2007-10. The Shibuya one in particular was absolutely packed with amazing stuff. I ended up getting some figures and books from the Akiba one. I'll have to check my photos and see if I took any inside their stores (not sure ur allowed to lol).

For online ordering I tend to order my main item from a specific store then see what else they have in stock. For Dollfies I'll pick up any interesting outfits, but I've also been getting into Azones and anime phonecards from the golden era.

Edited August 9, 2022 by Xiongmao

Oh epic!! I didn't realise Manadrake was so fast! I'm considering ordering an AP from them as their prices are much better than Faithz direct 

1 hour ago, Kazthenoodle said:

Oh epic!! I didn't realise Manadrake was so fast! I'm considering ordering an AP from them as their prices are much better than Faithz direct 

Just make sure to check the condition of the item. Broken shoulder joints are very common with used dolls that have the Obitsu frame. It's not a big issue - you can get a replacement part pretty cheaply from Parabox - just something to be aware of (and might be why the price is lower). 

1 hour ago, Tira said:

Just make sure to check the condition of the item. Broken shoulder joints are very common with used dolls that have the Obitsu frame. It's not a big issue - you can get a replacement part pretty cheaply from Parabox - just something to be aware of (and might be why the price is lower). 

Thank you so much for this, I really appreciate that ❤️