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She thinks purchasing anime goods is a way to support “I have to package each item very nicely to avoid poten-
the creators. “The cost of a badge is a few cents, but its sell- tial damage when the goods are being transported to buy-
ing price is more than RMB ¥30. The creators make money ers. My workstation is like a recycling depot loaded with
from these products,” she says. cardboard boxes and bubble wrap,” she says.
Collectors in China seek help from buying groups which She does not make or lose any money from buying
are also anime goods collectors. They organise themselves group. For her, opening a buying group is just a way to get
to make orders through purchasing agents. Usually organ- anime goods.
isers collect money from other members via WeChat pay After preordering, collectors usually need to wait for
or Alipay in advance to preorder goods. several months to receive the goods. Liao says her mood
Liao started collecting anime goods in April 2020 and might has changed after such a long time. But still she
opened a buying group five months later. She is a clerk gains pleasure from her collection.
working in Shenzhen. When she decided to open a buying
group, she was not busy with her work.
Sub-edited by Savoki Zhang
She used about two days to find group members. It took Sub-edited by Savoki Zhang
her one or two hours every day to communicate with them
at the first few weeks.
Now she has to handle about 70 items in each group
buying activity.
After receiving all the goods shipped from Japan to
China, she has to open all boxes, label all items and pack-
age them for every buyer.

Badges are quite different in terms of size, shape and manufacturing process, which is an important
reason why some collectors prefer bagets to other kinds of goods.