I’ve listed some links to shops that I’ve personally ordered from before and have received authentic San-X merchandise.
Rakuten
There’s 2 versions of Rakuten. One is for Japanese shoppers and the other is for English. You want to shop at their english site because the shops there are more likely to ship internationally. On occasion you will run into one or two that will only ship outside of Japan through a forwarding service, such as Tenso. (More info on Tenso below.)
Rakuten is a large Japanese shop database(?) similar to places like Amazon.
The search function is a bit wonky. If you type “Rilakkuma” you’ll be given page after page of Rilakkuma items. If you try to further define the search in english (such as “Rilakkuma earphones”) expect to be given unrelated search items mixed into the results.
*Be aware that shipping can be expensive when ordering from overseas (I usually pay around $15-20USD for shipping alone but it varies from order to order based on package weight and dimensions). Expect to pay more for shipping if using a forwarding service.
These are the three Rakuten shops that I frequent. (You can browse Rakuten for more shops like these.)
I would browse the different sites before deciding to purchase from one. Sometimes they have sales which can save you a LOT of money. Prices also vary from shop to shop. Sometimes it’s by a few cents, other times by half or more off than another shop. If you’re searching for plushes don’t expect a large selection. Also on new releases expect them to sell out on Rilakkuma fast. Check back frequently for new stock. The upside to purchasing from these shops is that you’ll find Rilakkuma merchandise that you can’t find even on the main San-X website (such as past release plushes, photo books, etc.)
Shipping is fairly fast from these shops. Usually after the order is processed and weighed they’ll send you a second confirmation e-mail, asking if you accept the shipping costs (shipping isn’t calculated at checkout). After agreeing to the shipping costs they usually ship the order out the next day or two. After that it’s about 3-5 days for the order to arrive at your doorstep if it’s EMS! Easy-peasy.
San-X Official Store
San-X accepts all major credit cards but doesn’t ship internationally. So you’ll need a forwarding service, such as Tenso. If you’re interested in pre-ordering limited edition items or hot-off-the-press items this would probably be your best bet, even after shipping is included.
HMV – Loppi
Are you a Loppi fan? Order recent release Rilakkuma Loppi items directly from here and skip the middleman! (Tenso is required iirc…)
Tenso
Tenso is free to sign up with. After the initial setup, they do an identification check (driver’s license, state ID, etc.) and your first order MUST be shipped to your house address (part of the identification check). After that you’re free to ship to other places. They have different shipping options and are usually pretty fast if you choose EMS (usually a week for United States at least. I can’t speak for other countries.)
After signing up with them they give you your own personal Tenso address. For sites that require a forwarding shipping service you would use this Tenso address in place of your real address.
Tenso provides a few examples on how to fill out a japanese address form. (Be sure to check it if you can’t read Japanese.) Make sure you use your OWN Tenso address that they give you and NOT Tenso’s main address.
If you don’t like dealing with foreign emails and forwarding services (or you don’t want to pay international shipping prices + transaction fees) there are a few other options:
Muse Shoppe (price listings are in SGD.)
Private recommended sellers:
mamakuma 