Shopping With a Purpose

Posted on: 24 March 2019

Funko Pops tend to sell out fast, and many models are eventually vaulted, another term for discontinued. While there is always the chance that the Pop will be put back into circulation, you can't rely on that happening. So if you really want a Pop that's been vaulted, you have to start looking at re-sellers, or third-party sellers. This can be a questionable task, however, because while some re-sellers do their best to sell only those Pops that are in good shape, other re-sellers may not always be above-board.

Fakes Abound

Third-party sellers can be problematic because some of them push fake Funko Pops. They know that there is demand for vaulted items, and the less-honest third-party sellers put together fraudulent Pops that could end up being defective. You would have wasted your money on a Pop that could start peeling paint soon. Granted, some of the fakes are pretty accurate knockoffs, and it's true that some buyers don't care about authenticity as long as they can complete their collection. But that's not the best way to go; if you're going to collect Funko Pops, you really want them to be from Funko.

Your Only Choice

For vaulted items, third-party sellers may be your only hope to find that rare Pop. So you don't want to discount third-party sellers completely. What you do need to do is vet the seller. Reviews should not give off "fake review red flags" like having several stellar reviews all posted within the same week, or all having similar formats. If you have friends or co-workers who have purchased from the seller before and who can verify that the Pops they got were authentic and in good shape, that's always the best option.

Haunting Certain Online Sellers

In the end, if you really want a vaulted item but haven't yet found a third-party seller whose quality and authenticity you can verify, you may want to haunt certain major online shopping sites. Someone may return a Pop, or a stash of unsold Pops might be located at a warehouse somewhere. If you can keep checking the major sales sites (and verify the manufacturer is Funko), then that may be your safest route to finally finding that vaulted Pop.

Again, some third-party sellers are honest and want to sell authentic Pops. If you can find one of these sellers, you're likely in great hands. But to be safe, if you can't truly tell if the seller is a good one, keep looking. Don't settle for a dodgy sales site. You want buying from the seller to be as good as buying straight from Funko. For more information, check out a company like PartyToyz today.