Amazon

Amazon, founded in the United States in 1994, runs two businesses side by side: it sells its own stock like a vast online department store, and it opens its shelves to third-party sellers. Each country has its own store, from the United States (amazon.com) to Japan, Germany, Brazil and India, with its own catalogue, sellers and currency. It offers both new and used items, backed by returns and buyer-protection policies.

For collectors, Amazon is a way to track down limited editions, figures, trading cards, retro video games, model kits and hard-to-find books, often thanks to third-party sellers offering discontinued items. Because every store has its own catalogue, some editions only appear in one country. Not everything ships everywhere: availability, delivery costs and any import charges depend on the destination, and it is worth checking who sells and ships each item.