You'll never believe what happens if...

[war-ble]

I've pushed for and praised the use of linking to stores on mangadex for a while because I imagine, unlike me, most are unaware of how easy it is to do. I'm thus glad that the options are made known to users. I think to make it the absolute best; aside from more store links, some sort of tutorial for basic sign up and purchasing could help people who look at Japanese websites and just immediately give up, even though it's really easy to understand.

I agree with this @Swifft

As for me I've previously bought manga from the Mangadex Amazon/EBJ/CDJapan links since I have a tendency to hoard electronic and sometimes physical raws.

Did this question come up because of the suggestion to add licensed markers to series? If so, may I ask how you're planning to implement the combo of selected retail sites and available languages?

 

[ItsQuote]

Have you followed any of the links to Amazon, EBJ, CDJapan, etc and bought any copies of your favourite manga?

i have not for the time being - as i'm unemployed i have little in the way of disposable income for raw mango. however i made quarterly purchases off cdjapan in the past so i plan to continue when i'm back on someone's payroll, and will definitely make use of MD's links.

And if you are willing to share, how much have you spent?

dunno, a few hundred at least. had to make my purchases BEEG so i wouldn't get boned by shipping.

What do you actually do with your copies, if you can't read it?

i have a passing familiarity with Japanese and can usually infer dialog with context clues and what i remember from reading it in English. i used to debind back in my scanlator days but now i either read or put them on my bookshelf.

Would a list of upcoming releases for new volumes interest you if we had it the site?

definitely. i'm following a lot of series that i'd like to buy physical volumes of and an upcoming release list would make that a lot simpler to plan for.

 

[Chocolat]

If they offered a digital version? Yes. Physical only? No. I just don't find physical material to be as convenient to indulge in personally.

 

[Ada]

Still jobless so have not been able to buy manga since last year 😭 I am also not from the US so my options on buying digital copies are nearly 0 (seriously I have tried to open up links for the apple store and such on some mangas on their website, I only get the message that the item is not yet available in my country).

Amazon/kindle is not a site I would use- If you have a kindle there is a change Amazon might change its mind and you will loos all of your content- it has actually happened to a woman and she never got told why. Buying books on amazon is bullshit, every time I have ordered to Norway I have ended up paying shit load of tax and shipping- this is only what amazon charges. One mancabook went from being around 2, 00$ close to 15, 00$. Not happy.

When I had the money I could buy 2 of manga books a month - around 26-27 $ total (even manga books are expensive here).

 

[descending_angel87]

Have you followed any of the links to Amazon, EBJ, CDJapan, etc and bought any copies of your favourite manga?

Yes, I bought numerous volumes of my favourites off of EBJ, but I will probably be leary in the future since yahoo bought EBJ and now I can't access their new app from the country I reside in. If it's on a sight behind a paywall I will often pay to get early access to see right away the progression of stories.

How often?

Fairly often, if I find a series that is really enduring for me I will do it for sure to support the authors work.

And if you are willing to share, how much have you spent?

Easily a few hundred dollars at this point. Some digital, some in dead tree format.

What do you actually do with your copies, if you can't read it?

I can read a little Japanese (easily read hiragana and katakana, but I have trouble with kanji) and I will often self translate, if the series isn't being translated or I can't wait. It's usually pretty bad, but it at least gives me an idea of what's happening. Though even if the work is too advanced for me I will buy it anyways just to support the author.

Would a list of upcoming releases for new volumes interest you if we had it the site?

Yes, very much so.

 

[Swifft]

I'm confused by people who say "I can't read Japanese, so why buy it?"

To support your favorite authors? Perish the thought. It's not as if these days you need to ship things and pay crazy fees to get manga either; nearly everything is digitally available. If you do things like donate to MD, or a patreon, or anything, spending 3-6 bucks (as it usually costs) on a manga volume is a no-brainer.

 

[MoonTengu]

If only you can just donate to them. I don't want to store manga in my house.

 

[AshbyMuteki]

I follow the links to compare prices between places like amazon and bookwalker and then buy where its lower price at. I buy almost every time I go if not I make a list and then buy the stuff I want to read. I typically spent $100-250 a month on manga. I use them for learning and looking at the art. I probably wouldn't use and an upcoming section that often but it would be interesting.

 

[MekaBoy]

I jut recently bought a volume of a manga I was reading from the pixiv link in it's description. Also, I already use DLsite to buy things from authors I like. I do that occasionally, but I'm trying to do it more often, so I think more source options is a great idea!

 

[Hounder]

Admittedly, I am an extremely picky shopper, so the only times I buy anything is (in this case) would be if I rank the manga a 10, which is admittedly rare.

The official links are a good idea, so they should stay, since you never know when someone may want to add to their personal library.

 

[rsviesh]

Honestly I have only used the novel updates links. I do buy light novels and manga in English though.

 

[Roorem10]

I'll only follow the links if it leads to a print publication of the manga in English. In which it is then added to an Amazon wishlist (granted I like the manga), where I slowly buy the books...
in total I've spent well past $2,000 dollars USD.

 

[GroundDead]

Never bought from any of those links. Use BookDepository to buy manga and LNs (and "regular" books) that I like. Only English. Considering to buy Iris Zero in Japanese, though. Like it that much. Spent around 100ish€ so far but began buying them 3 months ago. If I didn't found out about Metallica and Vienna on 16th August, I'd have spent quite a lot more but hey, Metallica. And Ghost.

 

[RexNemorensis]

I have zero cash so I don't even bother clicking those links. Shameful, but true.
Hopefully I'm the exception.

 

[dantziel]

same as the guy above. i use bookdepository since it could ship to me on cheaper shipping fee. I think i've already spent about i don't know 1000$-ish if that converted to my country currency, but hey atleast it's far more cheaper than amazon tho

 

[corgihats]

Would be interesting if you could be a patreon of a manga artist directly through sites like these but thats a pipe dream.

 

[humbleoverlord]

never bought any manga at all, but I bought a lot of official merchandise

 

[yuu-oniichan]

I've followed links to novelupdates. Sometimes to online sites for manga raws (to read ahead).

So far, I've spent around $10 worth of credits on amazon, after I noticed that I can use the $1 ebook bonuses to stack for a free copy of a digital book. Otherwise, I might buy the next couple volumes off bookwalker if I'm really invested, but it's rare that I get that far. Usually easier to look for something new to read. For me to want to spend money on a book, it's probably super good, and usually finished (and thus most likely within 5-10 volumes). I hate the never ending stuff like onepiece or 20+volume things; last time I did that was Ranma 1/2 and I still have it sitting around but it's a pain to keep and I never look at the books anymore.

I'll buy Line stickers and wallscrolls, or figurines and popups, but it's rare that I can buy that sort of stuff directly from the artist/author. I'd rather use whiterabbit to do a giant purchase and have it shipped to me rather than buy at 200-500% markup from Jlist or whatever.

 

[mirewitch]

I use the links to buy the volumes a lot, and I really like that you have that as a feature. I have a pretty well paying job, so if I like a manga I almost always buy its volumes to support the artist. Same reason I donate to some of the translators and to mangadex itself - they all help me enjoy my hobby of reading manga. Also I read some japanese, even if I'm not very good, so I often use mangadex as a gateway; I'll read whatever is translated, then follow future chapters as they release from a japanese app like ganma or magazine walker directly. I'm not sure how much I spend, probably ~$20-30 per month?

Regarding what I do with the volumes - I occasionally order paper volumes if I really love a particular story, but usually I only order the online version. And I typically do nothing with it, since I was basically using it as a donation button. However I'll sometimes compare the original version to the translated one, since could be differences in language that the translation didn't communicate.

Regarding the list of upcoming releases, I'm not sure I would find it useful. Usually if I'm following an active manga I'm reading the magazine's app, not volumes.

 

[nuali]

I've used the links to the official translations and to the original versions. I like to support the authors/artists, so having the links is *really* helpful to me. I mostly find new manga to read through MangaDex, so having the links right there is very useful. It just makes it easier and I don't forget to look for the actual copy later myself with the links.

I recently have more disposable income than I have had for a long time, so I've spent about $400 on manga (official translations and in Japanese) that I've found by reading scanlations on MangaDex. And I'm budgeting about $50 a month towards manga pretty much from now on. As for what I do with the copies that are in Japanese, I'm slowing learning Japanese, so I'm using them as practice for reading.