Search terms
Copy and paste terms to aid your nui search.
Plush related
- ぬいぐるみ - plush (nuigurumi)
- ぬい - nui
- マスコット- mascot (i.e. マスコットぬいぐるみ)
- ぬいボーン - nui bones (seria brand)
- トイスケルトン - toy skeleton (add with series name for the right fit)
Clothing, making, accessories
- 服 - clothes
- 作り方 - tutorial
- 型紙 - paper pattern
- センチ - centimeter
Sites
Where you buy your nui will depend entirely on the series and the type of plush.
Some nuis can be ordered through sites like animate or amiami during a specific period, but more often than not you'll be required to purchase one secondhand. This is a list of sites that nuis can be found on.
TBA
Proxies
If a site only ships within Japan, such as mercari, you'll need to use a proxy to purchase from them. A proxy is a service that buys the item for you, and then ships it to you after it arrives at their warehouse.
The standard proxy process is:
- Find item and submit buy request.
- Pay for your item once approved.
- Wait for item to arrive at warehouse.
- Submit packing request. (You can consoidate items at this stage.)
- Pay for shipping
- Receive package c:
Proxies can be cheaper than western anime good resellers if you're buying multiple items at once.
There are plenty of proxies out there, with buyee being integrated into many JP stores. I can't recommend this personally, as I have not used it. I see many people complain about the price and having issues with receiving their item, but I know people who use it without issue also. Use at your own risk!
Zenmarket charges a ¥500 fee per item, and offers free consolidation.
Neokyo charges ¥250 per item, and a ¥500 fee per package at the shipping stage.
Zenmarket is cheaper for a single item, whereas Neokyo is cheaper for multiple items.
Both services often run campaigns where they waive the service fee for certain sites, so I personally buy through whichever one is the cheapest at the time and place preorders through Zenmarket. Zenmarket also has a loyalty system where frequent users can buy on credit too.
I find Neokyo's search functions easier to use, so I search for items through Neokyo. They also have a community discord, so I find it the more beginner friendly to use.
I hope this explanation helps you make an informed decision as to which proxy to use!