Specializing in dolls, games, statues, action figures, toys, vinyl figures, prop replicas, and clothing, Entertainment Earth is an online wholesaler and retailer of licensed collectibles. They have one of the largest collections available on the Internet. I have been picking up items from Entertainment Earth for a while now. They always seem to be one of the first places to get products when they come out.
Below is my honest appraisal of my experiences using Entertainment Earth.
About Entertainment Earth
Brothers Jason and Aaron Labowitz founded Entertainment Earth in 1995 in Los Angeles’s San Fernando Valley. Originally they aimed to attract collectors who were looking for rare and mint condition items that were difficult to find in stores. At first, they only offered Star Wars action figures. The company soon launched an ecommerce site, EntertainmentEarth.com, on April 1, 1996.
As the business developed, Entertainment Earth began to sell general interest toys and became one of the largest collectibles retailers online. They offer nearly 20,000 gift items, collectibles, toys, and other licensed products. They were listed as one of the 5000 fastest growing private retail companies in the United States by Inc.com from 2008 to 2011.
There are both wholesale and retail divisions at Entertainment Earth. Plus, on a quarterly basis, they produce a print catalog. In bulk, they sell to smaller distributors and retailers across the globe with its EE Distribution division. And, Bif Bang Pow! toys are exclusively distributed through them.
Top Features of Entertainment Earth
This review will focus on the major selling points of Entertainment Earth. To give you a good idea of the kinds of items available at Entertainment Earth, here are the current top ten bestselling items:
- Doctor Who Yellow Eternal Dalek Monitor Mate Bobble Head
- Transformers Age of Extinction Optimus Prime Pop! Vinyl
- Dexter Lt. Debra Morgan Bobble Head
- Battlestar Galactica Cylon Monitor Mate Bobble Head
- Doctor Who TARDIS Cookie Tin
- Yahtzee Game
- Game of Thrones Playing Cards
- Thor the Dark World Hammer Pewter Key Chain
- Doctor Who 500 Year Diary
- Game of Thrones Daenerys Targaryen Pop! Vinyl Figure
Entertainment Earth offers a 110 percent low price guarantee. On all of their items, they strive to always provide the lowest price. They put their money where their mouth is by offering this guarantee. They will give you 100 percent of the difference between the lower priced item and what you paid plus a ten percent bonus toward your next purchase.
This deal is only good if you find the lower price within two weeks of buying the item, and the low price is offered by an Internet retailer based in the United States. Plus, it only applies to mint items and cannot be combined with other promotions. However, this is still a great deal and shows Entertainment Earth’s commitment to low prices.
Entertainment Earth goes out of their way to do everything in their power to make certain purchases arrive in the best condition possible, since collectors want their items in mint condition. Before preparing items for delivery, they inspect them, and if they are damaged, they do not ship them.
They will also replace any items you have purchased if they are damaged between their warehouse and your house. In addition, there will not be any price stickers or hole punches on your items that could potential lower their values.
Navigating the site is incredibly simple. You can choose a variety of ways to shop. The top menu bar is broken down into Browse, Coming Soon, New Products, Great Deals & Not Mint, Just 1 Left, and Really Cool Expensive Stuff.
Each of these categories are broken into subcategories of Comic-Con, Bif Bang Pow!, Star Trek, Doctor Who, Star Wars, Movies, Television, Music, Sports, Comic Heroes, Pop Culture, Sci-Fi, Horror, Anime, Amazing Things, Bobble Heads, and EE Distribution. You can also shop by company, theme, or product type.
Once you choose a subcategory, you have the option of sorting by bestsellers, price, date received, or name of product. When you select an item, you are given details about the product, and there is even a comments section where you can read what others had to say about the item.
Entertainment Earth Prices
As mentioned above, Entertainment Earth has the best prices around due to their low price guarantee. I did a little research to see if there were any items I could purchase to take advantage of the 110 percent low price guarantee, and every site I visited either had the same price or charged more.
In addition to this low price offer, there is a 90 day return policy. Entertainment Earth allows you to return most unopened, unused, or defective items within 90 days of receiving your order. They will provide you with a full refund if a replacement item is not available. It is important to note that you must return items in mint condition if you received them in mint condition.
A hidden cost that people often forget about when ordering items online is shipping. Shipping prices vary a bit with Entertainment Earth. They occasionally, but not always, offer free shipping. They currently do not have free shipping on orders of any size, but you should keep an eye on their site, so you can know when free shipping is available.
Criticism of Entertainment Earth
My biggest issue with Entertainment Earth is that free shipping is not always available for larger orders. As a geek, I don’t want to have to wait for free shipping to be available to save a few bucks. I want my vinyl figures or statues the day they are available. It seems like when I drop a few hundred dollars on collectibles, they could at least foot the shipping, but I that is the price I pay for mint condition delivery.
Another complaint internet reviewers had regarding Entertainment Earth was that their customer support hours are fairly restrictive in that they are normal business hours on the Pacific Coast. On the bright side, though, the customer service is incredibly helpful. We will cover this more in the next section.
Customer Support
Entertainment Earth offers an extensive Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section that nine times out of ten will have the answers you need. Plus, the FAQ is searchable, so you can get your answers quickly. You can also contact them via toll free phone number, fax, email, and snail mail. Their business hours are Monday through Friday, 7:30am to 5pm Pacific Time.
As per my usual fashion, to really test out the customer service, I called late on a Friday, a time of the week when some businesses will shut down early or service reps will be in a hurry to get you off the phone so they can start their weekend. This was not the case with the person I talked to at Entertainment Earth. They provided me with comprehensive answers.
Final Thoughts
That is the thick and thin of Entertainment Earth. They have the lowest prices around guaranteed. Plus, they have the largest range of games and collectible toys you will find on the Internet. Entertainment Earth is the perfect one stop shopping experience for all of you self-described geeks out there, or if you want to find a rare item for the special geek in your life, you will want to shop here.
I know when the holidays come around, I will be filling my wish list (another feature they have) on Entertainment Earth and sending it to relatives and friends who want to know what they should get me! You should too!
