It’s been a while since I’ve highlighted a retailer, so let’s take a look at one this week: Robert’s Anime Corner Store.
Overview
According to their About Us page, Robert’s Anime Corner Store officially launched in 1999 by a husband and wife who were anime fans. The original Robert’s Anime Corner was a fansite that started two years earlier. Originally based in West Virginia, the current warehouse is in Virginia. They do not have any retail locations but are considering opening places in the Washington, DC metro area.
Merchandise
Robert’s Anime Corner Store proudly puts “No Bootlegs” on their ads and has an extensive list of pirate companies. The site sells anime and manga as well as typical merchandise like figures, plush, and shirts. They also sell more unusual items like candy and original anime cels, and there is also an adult section.
For Blu-ray/DVD and book releases, Robert’s Anime Corner store carries virtually all the North American releases. Other merchandise sections are more eclectic, so if there is a certain keychain or figure you are searching for, it may not be available here. Items are mostly available to preorder about three months in advance.
What is unusual for a site is that media items do not have individual product pages. Instead, most of the movies and books are located on one series page. This makes it easy to see all releases and add all volumes to your cart, but if you are looking for more information about a particular item, you’ll have to go elsewhere. This keeps the site simple and straightforward, but the black background and yellow/orange text does make it look like a bit outdated compared to some competitors’ sites.
Robert’s Anime Corner Store also sells on Amazon under the name Anime Corner (RACS).
Pricing
Everyday prices range from MSRP to average discounts of about 25% off. Their biggest sale of the year occurs in December with their Barrage of Bargains sale. In about a dozen batches, select items are marked down. Other coupons may be released throughout the year, but most of their major sales involve a select title or small amount of titles heavily discounted.
There also may be some pricing discrepancy between their store and Amazon. The limited edition of Princess Jellyfish is on their site for almost $95 before shipping while a copy is on Amazon from them is about $69 plus $4 shipping. It’s possible the copy on their webstore is in better condition, but then it would seem odd this wouldn’t be put first on the website. Although it’s not too surprising, as Right Stuf sometimes lists things for cheaper on Amazon as well.
Payments/Shipping
The site accepts most major debit/credit cards, US checks, and US money orders. They’ll also accept cash if you’re foolish enough to send it through the mail. They do not accept PayPal, although they did in the past. They do not accept phone orders but will accept mailed and faxed orders.
Robert’s Anime Corner Store also does not have a way to store credit card numbers. So while this may add some time to submitting an order, this also helps prevent hacking and stolen card numbers.
Shipping for US start at $4.99 while Canadian orders start at $14.99. Other international orders’ shipping is calculated at checkout through Airmail or EMS. While they don’t offer free shipping to Canada like Right Stuf does, shipping is cheaper through Robert’s Anime Corner Store. Our Northern neighbors can get $200 worth of merchandise shipped for $28; that gets about 3-4 pounds worth of stuff at Right Stuf.
US orders can get free shipping on $50 with coupon FREESHIP with two caveats: this can not be combined with other coupons or discounts, and preorders will not count toward the $50 minimum. However, shoppers can contact Robert’s Anime Corner Store and ask that the full order be shipped at one time to avoid split shipping fees. Sorry, fans in Alaska, Hawaii, and US territories: FREESHIP will get you discounted shipping, not free shipping. The fact that this free shipping isn’t automatic — let alone that preorders don’t count, unlike almost every other store – is a disappointment.
Exchanges & Returns
If an item is damaged in transit, the customer is to take the item to the post office (if it has insurance on it) or contact Robert’s Anime Corner Store for UPS/FedEx to inspect it. Otherwise, US customers have 10 days to contact the store to report any issues. Otherwise, returns are highly scrutinized and discouraged:
“We maintain a fairly strict returns policy with general (non-defective) credit returns allowed only in special cases (they are evaluated on a case by case basis).”
So returning because of a duplicate gift, buyer’s remorse, financial issues, or any other reason is likely not going to be approved. The store says this is to keep up the high level of customer service and low prices, but this is probably a huge deterrent for some buyers.
Trade-ins
What makes Robert’s Anime Corner Store stand out is the fact they accept trade ins. While places like Best Buy and Amazon accept some media, Robert’s Anime Corner will accept new and used anime, manga, games, CDs, and figures as well as new Region 1/A DVDs/Blu-rays. Most DVDs will receive $1 to $1.50 credit, Blu-rays $2 to $2.50, manga $1, $5 a PS4/Xbox One game, and $.75 a CD. Old individual anime singles are $.20 a disk. New copies of movies and music will receive more credit, and figures generally receive $4 to $20 a figure. Items must be in excellent to mint condition. No damaged cases or bent corners. Customers do not have to get a price quote; they can just send their contact information and will receive a coupon for their trade-in value in about 7 to 10 days.
Yes, in many cases, these values are significantly below eBay prices, but this also avoids problematic buyers and the wait to even find a buyer. This is probably best for older releases or series that are available in value packs like FUNimation’s S.A.V.E line.
Pre-owned products are available on the website, but most are limited to one item, so things can be added and removed at random times.
Final Thoughts
There aren’t a lot of legitimate anime stores, and Robert’s Anime Corner Store offers one of the few places where you can turn your old items into new merchandise. The fact that their free shipping offer takes up the coupon spot and doesn’t even help in a cart with preorders means they face some stiff competition with other stores — most notably Right Stuf. It’s the main reason I don’t order from them very often, especially since I have Amazon Prime and Barnes & Noble Membership.
Their upcoming releases doesn’t go very far out in advance, but it does provide a nice list in one page — you just need to scroll ahead several months to get to the current time period. However, it’s a great alternative for Canadian shoppers, although other countries will likely want to compare shipping quotes.