Purchasing Pinky merchandise from Yahoo auctions is a more convoluted process than ordering from a mail order house. For those who have not yet used Yahoo, here is a two-part guide that hopefully will help you along the way. First, I will outline the peculiarities of Yahoo auctions, and then describe how to use the Crescent shop as an auction agent.

Darryl offers an excellent guide to Yahoo on the net, but since you are not doing the bidding yourself, and is only interested in Pinky stuff, it is not really necessary – http://www.ffmusic.info/yjtutorial.html

Click on the following link and you should get all the relevant auctions in your browser. You should see something like that in the first image below (irrelevant parts removed). My comments are in pink! The default display is a list, to see the pictures for the items click on the link labeled as 'pics.' Don't be afraid of trying the links, there is no risk of bidding on something by mistake. That takes a Yahoo ID and you don't have one!

http://search.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/search/auc?p=%a5%d4%a5%f3%a5%ad%a1%bc%a5%b9%a5%c8%a5%ea%a1%bc%a5%c8



The image above shows the list of items you get after searching for pinkiisutoriito (with Japanese characters) and selecting the option that shows an image for each item. The inset in the top right corner shows data from the list display. To get from the first page to the last one, click on the little arrow head button. New auctions are usually listed last, but those with a very short duration may be listed in between, I believe.

Click on one of the items and you should get something like that in the next pic. Not all offer a Buy-It-Now option though.



The important thing here is the end date; you don't want to be too late with your bid! This can be tricky to figure out when you live in a different part of the World. Fortunately, Yahoo offer a cute timer that counts down. Just click on the link to the right of the days left entry (requires Java).



Have a go at Yahoo, and then read about Crescent Shop below!

that's a good guide! well done!  

Wow :pwow: Thx Sork for all these info. That is good to know.

Here's finally some thoughts on how to use Crescent Shop for handling Yahoo auctions. There's another alternative, Rinkya, for handling auctions. I have not used them, but other members note that they are more expensive, only take cards, not PayPal, and charge S&H fees on every auction.
Crescent will combine S&H for as many auctions as you wish, and even for shopping orders outside auctions too. Yes, you can order Pinky stuff directly from Animate, for example, but the fees for that are higher than for the auctions (¥2-2,500 or 20-25%). See the information under Shopping Service.

http://www.crescent-shop.com/

Start by reading the page Auction Deputy Service. The important thing to know is that you have to make a deposit of at least $50 before bidding. That amount is good for ¥15,000, however, which would by you many Pinkys! Another important fact is that you can bid on as many auctions that you like (within the limit of your deposit – but you can make another deposit underways, if needed). The fees for auctions are ¥1,875 (for ¥15,000) or 12,5%.

If you have not done so already, Sign Up, and Login. The first thing you see is the form for entering auction data (it corresponds to Search & Order). Copy the URL of the item that you desire and past it into the form, name the auction so you know which item it is for, and enter your maximum bid.
However, before going that far (or further), you must consider the time frame. To be on the safe side, only send auction orders that can be handled during Japanese office hours, and maybe evenings. Those few auctions that end while most people over there are sleeping should be approached earlier, if you get my point. Use the timer mentioned above to establish when an auction ends in your time zone.
Use a service such as http://www.worldtimeserver.com/time.aspx?locationid=JP to find the current Tokyo time.

Check the progress of the auction under Ordering Status. This page should show that you have made a deposit, that a bid has been made, and ultimately, that you have won – or lost it.

When you are satisfied with your purchases, you send a shipping order, and receive an invoice for the balance with all costs specified by email. After paying, you will get a message when the package is on its way. Crescent shop uses EMS which is pricy but safe, similar to FedEx. The tracking number will be on the Shipping Status page.

That's it, please let me know if there is something you would like to add or change, and post your own experiences of Crescent shop and Rinkya.

How can you tell if they'll deliver worldwide or not? Is it just for JP?

I'm sorry, but I left the part out from the auction snaps to save space. Virtually all Yahoo auctions end in a note that says: Seller will not ship internationally. That's why most of us will have to use a Japanese agent.

*smacks head* after I had asked why they don't ship internationally, I saw the thing about the cresent place. Haha. DOH

A...err...japanese agent?

is that easy or hard to come by? (or exactly, how?)

Thinking 'bout getting me a super dollfie :D

Please see the post about Crescent shop above. Masamichisan will help you with Yahoo auctions but also with almost anything that can be bought in Japan. One exception is Volks SD for the simple reason that you can buy that directly from the Volks site! Crescent will help you with Volks products in Yahoo auctions, of course.

http://www.crescent-shop.com/
http://www.volks.co.jp/en/index.aspx

I'm currently using Anime Chaos. It's my first time and I've only just won the one item but I can let people know how it goes :D