Aestheticism
Description: A major retailer, run out of California, and one of the
more well-known sites for doujinshi purchasing.
Pros: Good communication, very reasonable prices.
Cons: The website does not provide a solid description of the doujinshi
up for sale, so you either have to know what you're looking for or be willing
to take a risk. Also, they tend to stock primarily commonplace couples, so finding
odd pairings is difficult.
Aloha
Anime
Description: I don't use this service very often, but they're
decent. It looks to be two doujinshi dealers running a private enterprise out
of California.
Pros: Good communication, relatively steady restocking, at least last time I checked.
Cons: Prices are a little steep. Also, their selection of series available on their page isn't very large. They seem to reserve the more popular series (like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings) for auctions, where they can make more money.
DokiDoki Station
Description: Run from Japan, this site stocks most popular
series and also holds a lot of auctions.
Pros: Excellent to do business with. Swift shipping.
Cons: A little on the pricey side, but not too bad. Also, those who established the site have a tremendous list of 'rules' and procedures to read through and follow. It's either to make it easier for them to communicate with native English speakers or to avoid non-payers or other related problems.
Chibishop
Description: Direct retailer for doujinshi, run out of Sweden. I've never
used them, but I've heard good things.
Pros: They cater to the European market, so it's cheaper to buy from them
if you're over in Europe. While they don't provide a tremendous description
of their doujinshi, they give you enough essentials so you know what you're
getting into.
Cons: They cater to the European market, so shipping costs are a little
on the pricey side if you live in the U.S. or elsewhere. And their website is
a pain to navigate for those who, like myself, have low bandwidth connections.
eBay
Description: Auction site. When I'm hunting for Gundam Wing doujinshi,
I usually tend to type in the pilot's name and search through whatever doujinshi
pops up from there.
Pros: You can control, to a degree, the amount you're willing to pay
and who you're willing to buy from. And it's just damn fun.
Cons: The usual cons associated with any auction. There's the chance
of not winning, or coming across a deadbeat seller. If you lose, you might not
see what you want for some time again.
Happy Hentai Home
Description: Run by the absolutely adorable Toshi-san, the Happy Hentai
Home hosts over 1,000 Gundam Wing doujinshi, in addition to a slew of other
anime fanworks.
Pros: Toshi-san has wicked fast shipping! I don't know who he goes through,
but I've received doujinshi within a week of sending out my payment. His prices
are also rather reasonable, and he's a very sweet person to deal with. Everything
I've ordered from him has come back with a little hand-drawn picture and a letter.
Cons: Toshi-san does not update his site on a regular basis. However,
when he does update, it's usually a considerable amount at a time. He also doesn't
seem to restock if an item is sold out, nor does he remove the item from the
web site. If it's out of stock, you're out of luck, although I hear Toshi-san
has made arrangements in the past to attempt to find unstocked doujinshi.
Japan Manga
Bookmart
Description: I've never used this service, so I don't know
what their business is like. They're a doujinshi retailer run out of Japan,
apparently a popular site used in the past prior to a brief shutdown and reorganization.
Pros: It looks like they stock a lot of popular series and circles.
Cons: They don't appear to restock often. Also, while they accept PayPal and ship overseas, it is designed to cater to a Japanese market. Prices are in yen, not U.S. dollars.
JPQueen
Description: This site is a direct retailer of various doujinshi and
manga, run from Japan. They specialize in giving Americans in particular very
easy access to doujinshi, providing a translated site and a very simple means
of ordering. You just choose what you want, and they do all the work.
Pros: This site offers very smooth transactions at a reasonable price. In the emails, they walk you through every step of the way, which allows for those of us with exceedingly limited Japanese skills to order easily from a direct Japanese retailer. Highly recommended! This has got to be one of my favorite doujinshi suppliers to work with -- easy instructions, super-fast shipping, and mostly reasonable prices.
Cons: If you use a credit card, their service through Kagi.com is very
confusing. Luckily, they've recently permitted the use of PayPal, which makes
transactions a hell of a lot easier. Also, if an item is particularly popular,
the price on the item could be higher than one might wish to pay.
Mandarake
Description: This is the U.S. branch of the very popular Mandarake
doujinshi shop in Japan. I've never bought directly from their site, but I have
won an auction of theirs. They seem reliable.
Pros: Prices seem reasonable, and the Mandarake reputation is pretty solid.
Cons: The auction I won only offered EMS shipping, which can get a little costly. Also, their selection of series is not very large.
Shoujo
Paradise
Description: I think this site is run out of Japan, although
its webmistresses are American. Met 'em at Shoujocon, unfortunately on the second
day of the convention when they'd sold out of all the cool doujinshi...
Pros: Lots of doujinshi to choose from, friendly service and all-around cool people. Easy to understand, as the webmistresses are American.
Cons: They tend to sell out of stock very quickly. Also, I've had a bit of a wait on shipping from time to time.
Yahoo Auctions
Description: Another auction site.
Pros: Not as popular for doujinshi sales as eBay, so
there's less competition and an easier chance of winning.
Cons: Because it's not as popular, there are often very
few doujinshi actually to be found. I tend not to even search
Yahoo auctions anymore, although I have come across some doujinshi
from time to time.