How To Shop Guide / Search Terms

This is a guide that will hopefully help you locate elusive items. It is divided into the following sections:

• General Tips
• Goodwill or Garage Sales
• Ebay
• Livejournal / Facebook
• Yahoo Japan, Rakuten, Amazon.co.jp, Mandarake, and others
• Deputy Services (aka Shopping on Toei, Bandai, ect.)
• Search Terms

GENERAL TIPS

• Always look at seller feedback.
• Avoid money orders / cash. Paypal or Amazon payments are safer. When using Paypal, only send as Gift if you know the person/dealt with them before.
• Know what you are looking for. Make sure you have all the details before a purchase and get actual pictures of the item for sale when possible. 
• Ask all questions prior to bidding.
• Keep shipping cost in mind when using Ebay or local sales.
• When buying through a deputy, keep commission and shipping and bank fees in mind.

GOODWILL / GARAGE SALES

• Not a lot to cover here, but if you're vigilant you may find something interesting! Make sure you research bootlegs and prices before haggling.

EBAY

• See: General Tips.
• When searching, make sure you use "quotes" to INCLUDE exact terms and "-" to exclude items. 
• Always put "Worldwide" ticked on so you can see what everyone is selling. 

LIVEJOURNAL / FACEBOOK

• These are helpful sites where you can buy/trade with other collectors. I highly prefer Facebook as it's less anonymous, but Livejournal may have a longer existing fanbase. General tips apply here. 
• On both sites you join a community and follow a set of rules. On Facebook, you usually need a seller photo. 

YAHOO! JAPAN, RAKUTEN, AMAZON.CO.JP, MANDARAKE, AND OTHERS

• Japanese sites can be tricky, so I'll try to cover in detail. 
• Yahoo! Japan is an auction site. Sellers will not ship outside of Japan, some sellers block deputy services, and everything is in Japanese! However, using a deputy service and the search terms, you won't have any problems. 
• Rakuten is an auction/shop site. I usually score doujinshi from here. 
• Mandarake is a US and Japanese site. You can find used toys, doujinshi, and DVD/CDs here. Use the search terms for better results. Make sure you try to order from the same store as much as possible to reduce shipping (aka Nagano VS Tokyo). Also, the items are used so check the description for damage/completeness.
• There are other sites like these (Mbok for example) but all have their advantage/disadvantages and what items are availible varies. Yahoo Japan has the most to offer, but I reccomend Rakuten or Mandarake for doujinshi since its usually cheaper.

DEPUTY SERVICE GUIDE (HOW TO ORDER FROM JAPAN, PREMIUM BANDAI, TOEI, ECT.)

• First, you need to decide on a deputy service. Most require a sign up and deposit.
• From Japan is by far the cheapest. They require a deposit and quick payments. You can then bid yourself using the deposit. They also allow "sniper bidding", which technically doesn't exist, as if you bid on Y!JP, the auction extends 5 minutes. They also have an amazing search engine that allows you to type in english / they translate or you can copy/paste Japanese directly. They have a Watch List feature, too.
• Celga is my preferred choice. They can get expensive but immediate payment isn't required unless it's a BIN / Buy It Now auction or webstore order. They require a 10% deposit upon bidding. You can track your orders/bids through their online system and emails.
• Many other deputies exist. Find one that works for you.
• Sign Up with site --> Deposit --> Search in their search box by copy/pasting search terms below --> Bid through their internal system --> wait for your items to arrive --> request shipping (combining lots of items helps) --> pay international shipping (EMS reccomended, registered SAL works in a pinch) --> get items!
• These sites/methods work for sites like Premium Bandai and Toei as well. Keep in mind that these sites have a "window of time to order" or "limited amount of x" or even "limited reservations per deputy service", so you must act quickly and check back often!

SEARCH TERMS
Here is a list of Japanese search terms I've discovered/used.
Digimon = デジモン
Digital Monster = デジタルモンスター
Digimon Adventure = デジモンアドベンチャー
Digimon Adventure Yamato = デジモンアドベンチャー ヤマト (A common search term I use.)
Digimon Adventure tri. = デジモンアドベンチャーtri.
DAF2015 or デジモンアドベンチャーFES. 2015 or デジフェス2015 = (DAF2015 stands for the Digimon Adventure Festival 2015)
☆ＰＯＰ or クリアPOP = Some brand of standees sold during DAF2015
Digimon Adventure Memorial = デジモンアドベンチャー  メモリアル (Used for finding Digimon Memorial goods like the swing keychains and digivice gashapon!)

Digimon Adventure Tri. (Comiket 89 Items) = C89 デジモンアドベンチャーtri

Yamato Ishida = 石田 ヤマト
Punimon = プニモン
Tsunomon = ツノモン
Gabumon = ガブモン
Garurumon = ガルルモン
WereGarurumon = ワーガルルモン
MetalGarurumon = メタルガルルモン
Doujinshi = 同人誌
Card = カード
Settei = 製作用資料 OR 設定資料
Cel (Note: Digimon did not have cels) = セル画
Poster = ポスター
Figure = 図
Keychain = ソフビ OR キーチェーン OR スイング
Game = ゲームソフト
Clothing = 服
Capsule Toy = カプセル
Badge = バッジ
Diorama =  ジオラマ
Toy = おもちゃ
Plush = ぬいぐるみ
UFO Catcher Plush = まんまる 
Digivice = デジヴァイス
Bandai = バンダイ
Toei (Animation Company) = 東映アニメーション株式会社
Toei (Company LTD.) = 東映株式会社 
Tag = タグ
Crest = 紋章
Crest of Friendship = 友情の紋章
Lot = セット
Limited = 限定
Lottery Prize = くじ
Movie Pamphlet = 映画パンフレット
Jump Festa =  ジャンプフェスタ


Here are some more from MFC:

• Order = 注文 (ちゅうもん; chuumon)
• Bill (total) = 会計 (かいけい; kaikei)
• Receipt = レシート (reshiito)/formal: 領収書 (りょうしゅうしょ; ryoushuusho)
• Change (like in money) = おつり (otsuri)

• Buy back = 買取/買取り (かいとり; kaitori)

• Popular product = 人気商品 (にんきしょうひん; ninki shoujin)
• Original (first) = 初代 (しょだい; shodai)
• Limited edition = 限定版 (げんていばん; genteiban)
• First time limited edition = 初回限定版 (しょかいげんていばん; shokai genteiban)

• Pre-order = 予約 (よやく; yoyaku)
• In stock = 在庫あり (ざいこあり; zaiko ari)
• Out of stock = 在庫なし (ざいこなし; zaiko nashi)
• Sold out = 完売 (かんばい; kanbai)/売切/売り切れ (うりきれ; urikire)
• Back-order = 取り寄せ (とりよせ; toriyose)
• Back-order = 取り寄せ (とりよせ; toriyose)
• Release date = 発売日 (はつばいび; hatsubaibi)

• New = 新品 (しんぴん; shinpin)
• Used = 中古 (ちゅうこ; chuuko)
• Sealed/unopened = 未開封 (みかいふう; mikaifuu)
• Unsealed/opened = 開封 (かいふう; kaifuu)
• Damaged = キズあり (kizu ari)
• Box slightly damaged = 箱少イタミ (ばこしょういたみ; bako shou itami)

• Add to cart = カートに入れる (カートにいれる; kaato ni ireru)
• Payment = お支払い (おしはらい; oshiharai)
• Credit card = クレジットカード (kurejitto kaado)
• COD = 代金引換 (だいきんひきかえ; daikin hikikae)/abbrev.: 代引/代引き (だいびき; daibiki)
• Bank transfer = 銀行振込 (ぎんこうふりこみ; ginkou furikomi)
• Postal transfer = 郵便振替 (ゆうびんふりかえ; yuubin furikae)
• Conbini payment = コンビニ決済 (コンビニけっさい; conbini kessai)

• Shipping = 送料 (そうりょう; souryou)
• Free shipping = 送料無料 (そうりょうむりょう; souryou muryou)