Manga
July 06, 2024
Buying Manga in Australia Guide [2024 Updated]
Outline of the topics this guide will cover:
Where to buy Manga in Australia in a Cost-Effective Manner?
How to Track Prices and Discounts?
Other Tips To Make Buying Manga Easier
Where to buy Manga in Australia (for a Good Price)?
All of these sites I listed offer the lowest prices I could ever find as
an Australian buyer. I tried to add some state-specific ones that offer
good prices (but not the lowest) if you want to support a local seller
that embraces competition. The good old BookDepository was one of my most frequented stores to buy manga but unfortunately that era had come to an end a while back.
Keep in mind these are NEW volumes if I didn't specifically say it is
second-hand. Stores I have personally purchased from will be labelled with an asterisk (*). I am not affliated with any of these stores and all links are general links for ease of access.
TLDR:
Lowest Prices: Amazon
Best Promotions: MangaMate (1st place), Shumi Shop (2nd place)
Local Physical Stores: ShinTokyo (SA only), Shumi Shop (WA only)
Amazon Australia* [Website]
Dispatch Time: 1-2 business days
Delivery Time: 3-5 business days (Domestic Metro Standard)/ 7-10 business days (International Standard) [Note that there are many other delivery options, but I don't feel that it's worth the premium]
Delivery Time: 3-5 business days (Domestic Metro Standard)/ 7-10 business days (International Standard) [Note that there are many other delivery options, but I don't feel that it's worth the premium]
Amazon Australia used to be bare bones when it first launched in Australia (and it was a shitshow), but it has now fixed its teething issues. It has also expanded its range by allowing customers to buy from the Amazon Global Store (from US, JP, UK, DE), but I still find this international range relatively limited. There used to be an amazing add-on called Keepa that was super to track prices for you, but unfortunately they have stopped supporting the add-on.
There are two sites that I use to monitor manga prices (Booko and CamelCamel). CamelCamel is an Amazon-specific price tracking website that you can subscribe to get price updates, whereas Booko is a general price tracking website for books. Both of these give you a trend and tells you of the lowest and highest prices that the books has been advertised for.
Generally, the prices offered by Amazon Australia is better than local prices especially when considering free shipping with no minimum spend [Amazon Prime] or $59 [non Amazon Prime]. This holds true for purchases from Amazon US/UK etc an an Australian. I generally find the Amazon Australia prices are lower than the other international Amazon sellers, but I have encountered lower prices here and there before from Amazon US, albeit rare.
The dispatch and delivery time are superb (they usually arrive before the estimated date), but please be mindful that Amazon has now switched to couriers (used to AusPost a while back) and some of these couriers sometimes rush with their deliveries and this leads to parcels not being left in a safe place. There was one instance where I coincidentally checked on my parcel update to notice that it has been delivered. I went outside my house and it was on my door, but the parcel could have easily been taken by someone walking by. There has also been cases where they do not deliver to Parcel Lockers anymore and instead leave it at the postal office. This was particularly inconvenient for me since I was working full-time and the parcel lockers were a convenient way for me to collect my parcel after business hours.
Amazon also offers pre-orders for manga volumes. If you pre-order a
product sold by Amazon Australia, there's a pre-order price guarantee,
where you will always get the lowest price before it is officially
released. However, products sold by other Amazon international sellers (Amazon US, UK, etc.) has no price guarantee,
which is a bit disappointing.
MangaMate [Website]
Dispatch Time: 1 business day
Delivery Time: 3-5 business days (Parcel Post Standard)
Delivery Time: 3-5 business days (Parcel Post Standard)
One of the relatively new guys that offer very good prices (especially during sales). Some of these sales makes the manga prices even lower than Amazon Australia (which is a rarity nowadays), and these sales are for popular series like Viz series (picture below). Whilst I haven't purchased from them before, their sale prices are good. They also sell figures and merchandise, which are also frequently on sale albeit a relatively small range since they focus on manga. Their only downside is their shipping costs, which are quite hefty for a domestic company. Looking at their "About Us" page, they are currently an online-only store, but they are thinking of a physical store in Brisbane (I am excited!).
MangaExpress [Website]
MangaExpress seems like a relatively new online-only store selling predominantly manga (with some figures as well). Their prices are decent compared to other companies ($14.99 for standard VIZ series like Spy x Family), but it looks like they are still trying to fix teething issues commonly associated with new companies (like slow dispatch times according to Google reviews). Looking at their responses on Google reviews to these critical reviews, they seem to take the criticism on board and hopefully they will grow as a result of that.
Shumi Shop [Website]
Dispatch Time: 2 business days
Delivery Time: 3-5 business days (Parcel Post Standard)
Delivery Time: 3-5 business days (Parcel Post Standard)
A general manga/anime shop rather than a manga-speciality store. Their prices are not normally the best, but they have frequent good discounts on their range. They also offer free shipping if you spend $100+. They have a relatively wide range of manga and figures, and they also have physical stores in Western Australia as well (which is a plus).
MangaBooks [Website]
Subsidiary of QBD Books that specialises only in manga. Prices are normally RRP, but sales can reduce prices down to competitive prices (30% off RRP). Otherwise, nothing special.
eBay* (ONLY WHEN THERE ARE COUPONS)
Dispatch Time: Varies depending on seller (usually 1-2 business days)
Delivery Time: Varies depending on seller
Delivery Time: Varies depending on seller
eBay occasionally offers $5 or $10 coupons with no minimum
spending, so if you are looking to get a big discount, just sign up for
an eBay account and wait for these coupons. Usually they send a $5 or $10 coupon every year if you haven't used eBay to buy anything for a
while to entice you to come back. Otherwise, nothing special here for
new manga volumes during non-sale periods unless you are looking for
people who are trying to sell off old volumes. Furthermore, if you are
buying from an overseas seller, there's 10% GST that you need to factor
into the price as well, and the coupons do not cover this cost. Buying
from local sellers will not incur this 10% GST, but local sellers jack
their prices up for new volumes so I rarely buy from local sellers on
eBay. However, I have had good experiences buying second-hand manga
collections from eBay, and it's less risky compared to Gumtree/Facebook
Marketplace, since there's protection by eBay and further protection by Paypal if you pay through Paypal.
ShinTokyo [Facebook] (If you are South Australian)
Angus & Robertson [Website]
Dispatch Time: Unclear (Seems like it is combined with delivery time)
Delivery Time: Specified on product (More Info)
Prices are all over the place, even for a specific series or publisher.
However, prices are usually not the lowest that you can find, but prices
are one of the lowest offered by Australian companies. If you want to
save on time, it's most of the few options to use. Amazon AU prices are
usually better and the shipping time is relatively the same (if not
faster than Angus & Robertson). Extra sales on top of what they
usually offer are almost non-existent so you don't need to heavily
monitor the site for big discounts.
There is a a minimum spend of $99 to get free shipping, else it is $9.99 (ridiculous pricing for a relatively large book seller). There are free shipping promotions and $5 off with minimum spend requirements here and there, but these are not enough incentives to purchase from them, especially when there is Amazon Australia.
BookTopia [Website] (Currently in voluntary administration as of 4/7/24)
Dispatch Time: Unclear (Seems like it is combined with delivery time)
Delivery Time: Depends on where you live (More Info)
Delivery Time: Depends on where you live (More Info)
Same as Angus & Robertson, but the only way to get free shipping is promotions.
Crunchyroll Australia (Formerly Madman) (ONLY IF MAJOR SALE)
Dispatch Time: Up to 3 business days
Delivery Time: Up to 5 business days (VIC)/ Up to 10 business days (Interstate)
Delivery Time: Up to 5 business days (VIC)/ Up to 10 business days (Interstate)
(5 business days to get to Brisbane including dispatch time)
However, the shipping and delivery time used to take a long time (back
when it was Madman), especially
for a domestic order.
When there were Madman, their packaging was not the best. Their boxes
were quite thin, and their protection to prevent books from moving
around were some air cushions/bags. This means that I had a slight chip
on the corner of one of my books. I rather they wrap my
books in some paper protection than some plastic protection that only
protects the top and bottom. Otherwise, they need to somehow find a way
to make the book not move as much inside a box.
Gumtree*, Facebook Marketplace* (SECOND-HAND)
I have had bad experiences with buying manga from these sites, either
with lazy sellers who do not want to negotiate when their offer allows
for negotiation or sellers who don't show up at all. Nevertheless, I have bought some complete sets of off-print series, especially when you find people who just
want to get rid of their collection ASAP, so negotiating with these
people are easier. Negotiating prices are also easier because the sellers do not need to pay seller fees like on eBay (and the seller fees are quite hefty). You can also find old series/out-of-print series on
here if you are that kind of collector. I have also tried selling manga on Gumtree and people can sometimes ghost you or give you a ridiculous low-ball offer, which is frustrating BUT that is life (you are always going to have bad seller and bad buyers).
How to Track Prices or Discounts for Manga?
Booko [Website]
 |
| More prices from other stores not shown in picture. |
Super easy to use (don't need to register for an account) and also
allows you to check the price trend for a product sold in Australia by
all the main stores. The stores that Booko tracks are the important ones
and the ones that will offer the lowest price if it does occur. Keep in
mind that Booko's tracking for Amazon is a bit weird. If you register
with an account, you can also set notifications if a product drops below
a specific price that you have set (e.g. you set it to notify it at
$11, and it will notify you via email if any of the stores that it
tracks sells at lower than $11).
However, the price trend only is recorded if someone actually searches
for that product and Booko records that price. If no one bothered to
check for the product, there will be no price trend. Let's be honest
though, that's how it should work. Nevertheless, it's still the best
resource to monitor prices as it allows you to compare the prices
easily, rather than individually going to each site.
Honey (Finding discount coupons, not Tracking Prices) [Website]
I'm sure everyone knows about the Honey add-on due to how many Youtubers
have affiliates with them. I found this add-on ok as you can
see coupons that people have used on the site, and before checkout, the
Honey add-on will prompt you to allow it to apply known coupons to see
whether it works. I see no harm in trying since the worst thing is just
having no active coupons. I usually disable the add-on if I'm not buying manga. There's also cashback functionalities (1%
cashback), but I never used this before.
CamelCamel (Amazon specific) [Website]
A relatively good site/addon to have when browsing Amazon AU products to see the price trend and whether the current price is the lowest price or whether you should wait. Perfect tool to save money on Amazon.
Other Tips To Make Buying Manga Easier
Parcel Lockers from Australia Post (For Receiving Deliveries) [More Info]
Australia Post's Parcel Lockers are a godsend as you don't have to worry
whether your order has arrived or not. It's perfect for people who work
and are not always at home. You will need to sign up for a parcel
locker address online on Australia Post and you need to provide
identification online (Drivers' License) and it's as easy as that.
Really straightforward and best of all, this service is free.
How it Works
When a parcel arrives and placed into Parcel Lockers, you will get a
notification that it has arrived, and you have two working days to
collect the parcel, else you will need to collect it at a post office
near it (an email will specify where to pick it up). I love using parcel
lockers because I don't have to wait for a postie and I don't have to
deal with anyone to get my parcel. Furthermore it's 24/7 access so you
can access parcel lockers and get your parcel outside of business hours.
They generally accept most parcels (especially if the orders are just
manga) and there's not going to be a problem unless you order a whole
bookshelf worth's of manga.
I recommend downloading the Australia Post app if you are thinking of
using Parcel Lockers and Parcel Collect as it's just easier to use, and
it's easy to add extra parcel locker address through the app.
Parcel Collect from Australia Post (For Receiving Deliveries) [More Info]
This is just an alternative for Parcel Lockers if there are no parcel
lockers near you, but you have a post office near you. Just like Parcel
Lockers, this service is good if you are not often at home. Personally,
Parcel Lockers are much better, but this is the next best thing if you
want peace of mind.
How it Works
When the parcel arrives at the parcel collect, a notification will be
sent to you via text message and email to notify that your parcel is
ready to be collected. From there, you go into the post office and just
tell them you are collecting a parcel from Parcel Collect and you are
good to go. Unfortunately, you will have to deal with people in this
process, but if you are a working person, I rather deal with people and
get my package safely, rather than risk a lazy postie that may leave
your parcel outside your house. Just like Parcel Lockers, I recommend
downloading the Australia Post app as there are some post offices that
cannot be added normally, but can be added if you physically search
through the map in the app.
Using Paypal, rather than bank card
I always use Paypal as the transaction service when purchasing online.
It provides protection for both buyer and seller, and allows you to
apply for a refund if a parcel goes missing or if you want to cancel
orders, etc. Using a bank card is ok too, but I don't see why you
wouldn't use Paypal instead. There's no fee incurred by the buyer. All
you have to do is just link your card to your Paypal card and then you
are ready to go.
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