AnimUK - new UK retailer of Anime merchandise (and proud sponsor of AL!)

[AnimUK]

Hello all,
AnimUK is an online retailer providing Anime/Comic merchandise and clothing - you may have seen us on the AL home page, as we are Anime League's newest sponsor! We're looking forward to working with the friendly guys at AL to hopefully expand our customer base and also to hopefully provide some cool prizes for some competitions in the near future. We're fairly new (started in 2011) and hope to be attending several conventions toward the back end of this year/beginning of 2012. Our range of products is constantly expanding month on month and we pride ourselves on providing consistent and outstanding customer service.

As long time anime fans, we only sell officially licensed products at competitive prices (we know first hand how frustrating it is to buy something you believed to be genuine, only to find it's a cheap knock off).
Our shipping costs are also some of the cheapest out there (we only charge cost for shipping, there are no additional charges hidden within the shipping as you may see with other retailers). This means that while some of our items may appear more expensive, the total order amount is usually less than most competitors due to the shipping cost being lower. All orders are sent via 1st class post either same or next day, so our order turnaround is very fast. Any orders over £30 are sent via tracked courier for peace of mind, and any orders over £65 are free tracked shipping.

For the time being, we'd appreciate it if you check out our site (just click the image in the signature, or go direct to www.animuk.co.uk) - any comments are welcome and we're always open to customer feedback on ways the site could be improved to increase usability, or products you may wish to see in the future.

We also run promotions to tie in with certain events, new releases and more, so it's always worth following us on Twitter or checking our site for new products/deals and news of cons we're confirmed to be attending.

From time to time you may also see promotional codes appear here, or on other anime/comic related forums.

A 10% off code for all of you at Anime League to use is below, only valid for the next two weeks!

10%AL

We look forward to any and all feedback/questions and hope to meet some of you in person in the future!

AnimUK

[AnimUK]

Hi guys/girls,
Hope you're all keeping well. Just wanted to inform you all that AnimUK will be attending London Gaming Con (you may have seen our name banded around in a few other threads related to this). We look forward to seeing some of you there!

In recent weeks we've also added some new products so be sure to check those out on our site (just click the image in the sig to go there).

See you soon!

AnimUK

[Friend]

There doesn't seem to be much choice of products, only keyrings, T-shirts and plushies mainly. Will you ever stock other items such as figurines, gashapons and gunpla kits?
Also the pricing seems to be quite expensive, I know stuff like that is expensive anyway but seen the same T-shirts and plushies £3-4 cheaper elsewhere.

[AnimUK]

There doesn't seem to be much choice of products, only keyrings, T-shirts and plushies mainly. Will you ever stock other items such as figurines, gashapons and gunpla kits? Also the pricing seems to be quite expensive, I know stuff like that is expensive anyway but seen the same T-shirts and plushies £3-4 cheaper elsewhere.

Thanks for the questions - to answer each of them in turn:

We're a fairly new venture, so I agree, our product range is somewhat lacking to a certain extent. Rest assured though, we are working hard to expand it and you can expect to see some new products fairly soon. We do already have a limited stock of items like busts/models, and I can see us branching out to encompass figurines/gasaphons in our product range in future. To my knowledge there are no plans to stock gunpla kits, but we are open to the possibility. I do think however that it's important to establish a foothold and build our reputation as a retailer of quality products and enable ourselves to position ourselves correctly prior to stocking certain higher ticket items (such as some figurines).

With regards to pricing, I feel that our pricing is more than competitive with other websites offering the same products within the UK, and we frequently check our prices against other industry leading sites to ensure we stay competitive. While some of our shirts may seem expensive, the vast majority of these are imported from the US and the brands we stock are all well known for their quality. I know at first glance some of the prices may seem high, but from my own experience, quite a few other sites offering cheaper goods are not stocking officially licensed merchandise. If someone is offering the same product at a vastly discounted range, I would begin to question the authenticity of the goods on offer. Another point to make with regards to pricing is that it is always worth using the shipping cost estimator on the cart page - while the product itself may be more expensive than other sites, the postage is often a lot higher with other retailers. We only charge what it costs us to ship the product, and as a result beat a lot of other companies on price. Our T-Shirts are also free 1st class shipping.

Overall I don't believe our prices are that out of synch with the rest of the sites selling the same goods (in most cases, we are infact cheaper once postage prices are factored in, we simply don't hide postal charges within product prices). The key thing is that all of the items we stock are officially licensed and of excellent quality. You don't have to look very far to see other websites offering substandard, unofficial (and downright dodgy!) products for vastly inflated prices. If you have any other questions, let me know. I'll be happy to answer them.

[Friend]

Thanks for the detailed and thought out reply, I have to admit you have some good points there. Don't get me wrong, you are cheaper than a lot of places but I still know a few places that are even cheaper, while still offering official goods. Although I'd always pay more to get good service, those that take the time to help the customer are more deserving of the consumers money. So as long as you get that correct, your store should do fine. It's great that you are offering cheap and in some cases free shipping too.

I'll keep my eye on your site for models, figurines, statues and gashapons in the future. Good luck with the venture.

[Starcry]

Get some InuYasha stuff in and I'm all yours. <3

[LeDux]

i cant buy things online.only cash

[Starcry]

Well I am sure if you come to any of AnimeLeague conventions you'll be sure to see them and spend way then. And as far as I know any of these guys who come to the conventions come well stocked.

[AnimUK]

i cant buy things online.only cash

We're more than happy for people to pay by alternative methods (perhaps I've missed a trick not stating this somewhere on the site...). Postal orders are one of the methods you could use that we can accept, so there's always an alternative. If you can't pay by cash, just use the contact details on the site and we'd be able to arrange a method that suits you. Or, as Lilith states, we should be attending some of the AnimeLeague conventions through the coming year (starting with LGC less than a month away!), and you could always get your hands on some of our stuff there.

[AnimUK]

The sales are now upon us and over at AnimUK we've begun our January sales with up to 15% off all items! Simply add an item to your cart and check out the cart page to view available discounts on those items!

Also look out for us in this months NEO Magazine - we're offering you the chance to win over £100 worth of Naruto merchandise (on sale 29th December!).

We've recently added a lot of new items so there's now a wider selection of items for you to get your hands on, with yet more new items/ranges to be added in the new year! Happy holidays!

www.animuk.co.uk