On buying FansToys Abroad

We had a discussion about this topic in our WhatsApp group (link to join here: https://chat.whatsapp.com/KDkaaR2zanN7uDZnTBfLoN) and I though of expanding it here.

Recently, due to the increased international price of FT products, several fans are turning to buying on stores from abroad, in particular stores in China that caters to international audiences (such as Bombusbee, Show and Terry’s).

The thing is, for one particular consumer, most of the time it’s cheaper to buy a product if it’s from abroad, in particular if you can bypass the taxes in some way (which usually happen with products that do not cost hundreds of money, as they usually are under importing tax limits – but this is changing).

However, buying from abroad obviously has its downsides, like time and probably complications related to shipping.

When deciding if buying abroad is the right choice for you, people need to make some kind of decision related to what is most important to them,

For example, to me, my priorities are:

• Price as low as possible, but it does not need to be the lowest possible;
• I want to make sure that the product is the one I bought (this affects the above, as when I buy from China, I prefer to get pictures to check the product before sending to Brazil);
• I don’t have a problem in waiting time to get it;
• I also use the cheapest shipping possible, as long as it’s not a letter service;
• I don’t have a local store so it does not matter to me (even if I had, I am not the kind to care about it anyway). Please note that another important point of local stores is that they deliver the product, in principle, without all the hassles;
• Another important aspect in my case is that although I am deep involved with FT (I am usually deeply involved with everything I get on) TFs are not my main hobby – it’s boardgames. That’s part of the reason that I choose to collect FT only – I can build a controlled collection that fits my taste, without the need to get everything on the market, including knowing that I will spend a limit about per year on their output).

Anyway, it’s important to remember that it’s a personal decision based on personal values.