Rules For Buying On eBay: Part 2

Rule #4 - Check the feedback.
Most sellers will have a high reputation percentage, like 99% or above, which looks good but can be deceiving.  Usually the people who buy fakes don't know that the figures are fake, even after they receive them, so they don't post bad feedback.  Even if the figures are fake, you really can't post bad feedback because of that, unless they actually lied to you on the item page.  This is where the sellers get tricky, because listing an item as "Final Fantasy Dissidia Cloud Figure" does not mean that the item is official, simply that it's a figure of Cloud.  Also, the pictures posted will generally be pictures of the actual bootlegs, so you can't say they cheated you there either.  In the end, it's really your own fault for not doing your homework first.  So while you can't rely on feedback to tell you whether a seller is a bootlegger or not, you can use the feedback to check other things.  Ignore the high percentage, because it's probably loaded by fake or ignorant buyers, just scroll through the feedback and look at the negative or neutral ones.  These will tell you the real story.  If a few people complain that their products arrived broken, that should tip you off to be cautious.  Official figures tend to be packaged in a way that completely prevents any chance of breaking from normal care.  Fakes tend to break easily due to their cheap construction, and are generally not packaged to prevent this.

Rule #5 - Check the shipping.
Even if an item's price looks cheap, the sellers will often hide the item's true cost in the shipping fee.  It is indeed expensive to ship items from Asian countries, and you can typically expect delivery to take about 3 weeks, but you should never be paying more than $10-20 on the shipping cost of one gashapon set.  Most sellers will ship gashapon sets in bubble wrap-lined envelopes, and they don't cost that much to ship, even from China.  If you buy something bigger or more delicate that requires a box, you may be paying up to $20 for shipping, but you should never pay more than that for a simple figure or toy.  If the shipping is more than $20, you're getting ripped off, and if the seller refuses to combine shipping for the purchase of multiple items, you're getting ripped off even more.

Rule #6 - Get a tracking number.
Always make sure you get a tracking number for you shipment.  You may have to specifically request it with a message to the seller, and they may charge you a little extra for it (never pay more than $4 for this), but it's worth it.  I've ordered items that were said to arrive in a maximum of 21 days and have taken almost 2 months to arrive.  If you have a tracking number, you can at least tell where your item is, instead of having to constantly message the seller to make sure they actually shipped it.

Rule  #7 - Check the seller's location.
Is it China or Malaysia?  Better do your homework before you order.