Collecting Funko Pops: Great Places & Awful Places

This week I want to share some tips for collecting Funko Pops. In particular, some great places and an awful place where you can find Pops online. Living outside the US makes things spicy when you want to get your hands on some exclusives. I’ve changed countries a few times during the last five years. Having a list of places online where to find your Pops is paramount to be a happy collector. This is my list. (Unfortunately, there’s a place to avoid at all costs.)

1. Popcultcha

Popcultcha has been sending me Pops to three different countries. They’re my top choice to get my hands on difficult-to-get Pops and presents. They’re quite quick, their customer support is also nice, and they also have great deals. There’s only a catch: remember that they’re down there and that their customer service might be sleeping when you decide to phone them! There is a plus with these guys: they have a pennies program. You can collect the pennies and exchange them for discounts. If you collect lots, you might get free Pops!

2. Pop in a Box

Pop in a Box [affiliate link] sends you a Pop a month if you want to. (Or more than one, depending on your wishes.) You can create long wish lists and tell them to send you one Pop a month. It’s like celebrating Xmas every month.

3. Amazon

I tend to use Amazon only if I cannot find the Pop anywhere else, or if the deal is not bad. All the Pops I’ve bought on Amazon have arrived home without any issues. I like to browse Pops on Amazon just for fun. (Don’t do it, you might end up discovering one and clicking the buy button in no time.) I used to get lots of Pops on Amazon, but since I started to use Popcultcha, I use it less.

And now… the horror!

Zavvi has been a great disappointment. A friend of mine told me about Zavvi. I had no idea about their existence. She bought some stuff, and she got it without problems. So, I decided to pre-order the new Pops from Once Upon a Time. Five Pops! (I ordered two Dark Hooks.)

Around a week and a half ago I got the mail that the Pops were on their way (before the Pops appeared available to buy on the web.) I was thrilled! You know me, the idea to add a Dark Hook in my collection enchants me. However, when the box arrived, I was disappointed and pretty angry. Instead of finding two Dark Hooks, one Zelena, one Evil Queen and one Belle, I got a Flash and a Kung Fu Panda.

Wait what!?

I got the wrong Pops: instead of 5 Pops, I got 2 (and I paid 5!!) When I got them I didn’t know they came from Zavvi. Since I take part in many swaps with fellow bloggers, I had to figure out if someone had sent me something. Yup, in the box there was no paper whatsoever stating the sale. Every time I’ve bought anything online, I get a printed paper with all the details of the purchase. Even the smallest businesses have done it. Why can’t they? Plus, the box had no information and no logo whatsoever.

Companies use these papers also to double check shipments. During the packing process, they can make sure they’re sending the correct stuff to the right customer. Well, they don’t use any, so there’s a high possibility that you’ll get the wrong thing. Plus, there is no logo and no information about who sent you the parcel. You need to be Sherlock to get it right: a number on the box that is the same number of the shipment online.

Getting the wrong Pops is horrible, especially if this is the first time you buy something from them. I’ve contacted them already stating that they have sent the wrong Pops. The process to get my money back is complicated. I’ve been researching online, and it seems that it’ll take a long time. Plus, I can already forget all about the money it’ll take me to return the unwanted Pops.

I’m very unsatisfied with them. First order ever, and there’s a total mess. They might work when the purchase is made when the items are in stock. However, I have my doubts at this point. So, it’s obvious that I won’t recommend them at all. If you want something on time, you might have a huge problem. If they send you the wrong item, and if you want them to send to you the correct one, the process they have takes ages. This means that you will have to buy whatever it is elsewhere while you fix the problem. So, you’ve guessed it: I’m not planning to use Zavvi anytime soon. No more Pops from Zavvi.

I ended up re-ordering all the Pops from Popcultcha. [I should have done it with them since day one, but I also wanted to find new local venues.]

In short: A+ for Popcultcha, Pop in a Box and Amazon. Total failure for Zavvi (better avoid it like the plague.)