Fake figures......

hisoka sells counterfeits, alot of time it really doesn't matter how high their feedbacks is.
because they usually start off by selling several hundred pieces of cheap items like screen protectors for 1cents. to get the feedbacks way up because selling bootlegs, or counterfeits, or memory with fake capacity.

The price is always the best/first indicator of a fake. If a figure that normally sells for $90 is being sold for $20, it's probably a fake. The pictures that these sellers use on their eBay sites never resemble the actual product that they send you. I learned this the hard way back when I was first getting into figures.

The best bet is to just buy from reputable places like amiami, hobbylink japan or hobby search.

If you are looking for a figure that isn't produced anymore I would say try mandarake: http://ekizo.mandarake.co.jp/shop/en/

I am so happy that I managed to get an original version of her. :| There are more bootlegs of her on the market, than there are original ones. Such a shame, since it is one of the most elegant looking figures out there imo n.n;

aww that sucks that you had to go through all that ... =/
Shop at hobby link japan (hlj.com) =D Love that place hehe~

China is full of fakes, and so is eBay. One easy way to spot fakes on eBay is the description. They may put GSC in the title, but never in the description. It will say something like "Genuine PVC Figure" or something other than Goodsmile Company. To be safe though, Mandarake is your best friend.

mandarake/HS/HLJ allways sell real things, don't trust ebay

Join / Check figures on http://myfigurecollection.net/ as there is lots of info about bootlegs, dodgy shops, reputable ebay sellers etc.

Here is your Shiki figure, with details of the bootleg.
http://myfigurecollection.net/figure/3139_kara_no_kyoukai_ryougi_shiki

When buying off Ebay, I will never buy anything from Hong Kong or "Default" It's either Japan or America. Even then im wary of the figure and will request new pictures of the actual figure to be sold. When I deal with ordering off a site, It is basically Hobby Search or nothing as far as popular figures go with me, I know they are reputable, they deal in Yen which is nice, and they are fast.

Anybody on Ebay shipping from Hong Kong is suspect by me. My new Rider Maid came from Ebay but the seller was in the US so I took a chance. Got very lucky but Ebay is infamous for fakes.

I'm sorry to hear that, I like Ryougi Shiki and want to get my hand on that too. Ebay sure is full of fakes, but that doesn't mean every Ebayer from Hong Kong sell counterfeits. So far I've bought at least 5 figures from Hong Kong, and they are all authentic, you need to be extra extra careful and usually the price of the figure is a good hint. However to be safe enough, just as Nagi-San and Ridley said, try to buy from Mandarake instead of Ebay.

DUDE. NEVER buy from China. I mean, if Danny was to specifically endorse someone I might consider it but otherwise, this is what you get. eBay's a good place to find figures, but only get stuff from Top-Rated Sellers from the location of Japan... and READ FEEDBACK. Oh well, at least you got your money back! How much did this guy charge you anyway?

Sadly there are some sellers that offer a figure at a really cheap price and them push up the shipping, resulting you in making no saving at all.

I have never brought a complete figure from ebay before, so do not know what you went through, but i can only imagine your shock and horror on what you received.

Well done on getting your money back BTW.

I have bought a few figures from China and 3 turned out bootleg I am very cautious an not all sellers are bootleggers but I no longer buy from China ...I stick to amiami anime export Mandarake and biginjapan

this reminds me of this time i got a P.O.P. Nico Robin figure off of eBay. it looked fine until i noticed the name on her base said "Sanji".

there was also a gaping hole on her side. i was not happy ><

Loads of stuff from Hong Kong is legit, it's pretty easy to tell what's a bootleg. Anything that's too cheap for a start. They never say it's genuine either, they say factory ver or original or something like that.

90% of my figures are from hong kong, and every one of them is original. counterfeits can be found anywhere. and shenzhen (not a part of hong kong) is famous for counterfeits products (not just figures).

take it to a shooting range =p

The alibaba site is like a place where people advertise their wholesaling activities. That site is famous for China companies who made bootlegs of everything to advertise their supplying service. Gadgets, toys, collectibles, furnitures etc.

I'd advise against buying from sellers labelled from Hong Kong or China. Getting a refund or not is another matter, the hassle you have to go thru in reporting process is just not worth it. I've bought from eBay countless times for reasonable prices and have not received a bootleg product before. There are sellers who use Good smile/any japanese companies' official photos (except for a few sellers which i know them very well although they use official photos - they declare to sell originals only and i am a regular), but, for some cases, the lower price made me suspect. Some even sell fakes at original prices.

The price is suspiciously low, that's the most obvious clue, and I myself will not trust a seller who named itself a "Toy Model Design Co" and labeled itself as a Manufacturer. That's just too weird.

Manufacturers of genuine figures in China are only a manufacturers, they will and can not sell things directly. and as far as I know, most of the retailers in China who only deal with genuine goods only do business inside the border, So...

laughing...
you said that "I'm not buying any figure from china anymore unless it is approved by Danny Chou"..Almost all the pvc figure are made in china..you do not know?
you means that you will not buy pvc anymore?
maybe you can try to collect garage kit...GK is made in japan~
and..10 dollars+.how come you buy the authentic figure at this price?
I think you know that is a bootleg..you still choose to buy..then get back the refund.
then what are you complain about.

PS:God created the world, and the rest was made in China.
Almost everything is made in china.XD

For this specific figure of Ryougi Shiki, it's very easy to tell whether it's a real or fake based on the packaging on the box. The real ones will ALWAYS have a shiny hologram sticker on the back of the box to prove it is authentic as these are only put on the box once it passes the quality inspection when the finished batch is sent back to Japan from China after mass production, that's why the packaging of fake figures will always be missing these stickers as the bootleggers cannot obtain them. It's very similar to the packaging of other figures, real ones will usually have some sort of sticker on the box while fake ones will not, though not all companies do this but the majority do to combat bootlegs.

I've taken photos of my box packaging for this figure to show you what the stickers usually look like so next time you buy figures that have actual photos of the box and not the manufacturers official photos you'll know whether it's real or fake. The stickers are circled in red.

Front of the box
http://i1046.photobucket.com/albums/b470/masaru1911/DSCN1145.jpg

Back of the box
http://i1046.photobucket.com/albums/b470/masaru1911/DSCN1147.jpg

im a victim also :((