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For various reasons, I’ve been trying to mostly avoid Amazon but it’s hard to know where else to go. So where do you go for things like books? Crafts? Toys (I collect way too many)? Other stuff, too. Thanks.
It's not hoarding if it's books!
Cat hair -- condiment and fashion accessory!Have you looked at AbeBooks for books? I find used books there.
https://www.abebooks.com/?cm_mmc=nl-_-nl-_-CPSLS02-ATM-promosAPTRADE-_-logo&abersp=1Of course, you can buy online from Barnes & Noble if you are looking for new books (and some used). Like Amazon, they offer free shipping if you buy a certain amount.
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/I shop at Alibris for books as well as AbeBooks. Sometimes I can get lucky with shopgoodwill or eBay also. Crafts I don’t know any special places, just Etsy and eBay, once again you never know what’ll pop up on shopgoodwill … toys guess it depends what kind you’re into. I collect some plastic figures, Happy Hen Toys is a good US vendor. Safari Ltd. sells direct to consumers in the US, as well as via retailers. If you don’t mind going international, MiniZoo is real good. But for more fashionable sorts of toys, I don’t know.
Hmm, if you have a contact in Japan, Yahoo Auctions Japan is great for gashapon and the like. AliExpress out of China can be good too. I’ve known some who had good luck with Taobao also.
I love Barnes & Noble for books. Craft stuff, if you mean craft supplies, I like DickBlick and Michael’s. Tandy Leather was also a favorite, but is doesn’t have the variety it used to have. If you can clarify ‘toys’ I could be maybe think of some places – depending on what you are looking for.
I know that I’ll be putting a topic thread up in the future for some ‘Janky’ plastic figurines I’ll be selling. They were designed by the guy who did ‘Kid Robot’ and I backed a couple of their ‘Janky’ Kickstarters the last two years. Unfortunately I’ll need to wait until my work opens up again, since I have quite a few there that I was going to photograph and post but didn’t get a chance to before COVID hit and shut down everyone.
IN SEARCH OF MY NEXT GRAILS:
Black Peacock & Butternut Adult Poads
Kickstarter 'Rainbow Tiger' Bantam Dragon*~*~*~* Ela_Hara: The DragonKeeper *~*~*~*
*** Come visit me on deviantArt at http://ela-hara.deviantart.comI was just thinking, if you’re looking for specific things i.e. the works of author Joe Blow and toys any Voltron esp. Megazord, why not put an ad up in the Non-Windstone Fleamarket? Doesn’t cost anything, and you never know. I’ve done so in the past, and folks here were quite helpful.
Books, DVDs, games, etc – Half Peice Books. If they don’t have it near you, they can get from elsewhere and mail it to you. Got great stuff including leatherbound signed favorite author for quarter price because multiple times a year they’ve coupons that go up to 50% off (works on online ordering or mailing in from another store too!). They’ve almost everything Alibris has.
Treasures, toys, unusual fun finds, and my dragon collection (which is not just Windstone) – thrift stores, rummage sales, flea markets, Facebook marketplace. Just go a lot, walk a lot, and good stuff catches a sharp eye.
Jewelry – great stuff at rummage sales and thrift stores, typically silver tho (gold and marked metals are usually quickly noted and gold is always overpriced, but dichroic glass and Eastern European silver (not marked) are overlooked a LOT).
I often have Christmas done early because I find people cool stuff during rummage sale and flea market season.
For toys and other collectibles, I shop at Mindzai, Strange cat toys, and My Plastic Heart. With the exception of Strangecattoys, you can get free shipping on orders over a certain amount. I usd to shop at Loot crate and Kidrobot, but they’re not ideal for Canadian consumers, but you wont see extra fees being in the US. Deep Discount has an incredible amount of inventory and great prices. PIAB has reasonable shipping fees, but orders take a long time to ship.
Wanted: "Dragon Fruit" Male Dragon ~ "Fire Berry", "Paradise", "Dragon Fruit", "Tie Dye" ~ The brighter, the better!
Whenever possible, I try to shop from the source/manufacturer/author/artist (etc). It is less convenient, but I think we tend to sacrifice a lot for convenience. I usually get better customer service this way too, and when it’s a small seller, they actually get all the money. For secondhand items, I try to find smaller, independent shops. Many now have online shops.
It’s impossible to do it for everything, but often I have good success. You can use Amazon to “window shop” then see if the item you want is available directly from the seller via an independent website.
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