Middlemen
Big in Jap (biginjap.com) - This webstore lists exclusives with a preset price in Yen (which includes the manufacturer's price plus a middleman commission). The upside of this style is it is super easy to search for, find and pre-order figures. The downside is it can sometimes take time for them to put them up for pre-order. If they don't list it, you can email them to act as a proxy service and buy it for you, with a commission, of course. You can pay when you pre-order, or when the item releases. Using as a proxy is slightly cheaper than Yokatta.
Yokatta Shopping Service (yokattaweb.com) - Yokatta is very simialr to Big in Jap, but requires payment for the figure upfront (fees and shipping when the figure releases). They also do not have a checkout system. They simply list their stock and if you want one (or an item they don't have listed), you email them and they get back to you with price and availability. They will even go to an event to pick up a figure for you. In my experience, they list less items than Big in Jap, but are faster to list figures. Yokatta is the only service I know that will bid for you on Japanese auction sites (for a fee, of course). They also offer a discount when proxying multiple items from one manufacturer. Between Big in Jap and Yokatta, I'd say a tie. Check both and go with the lower price.
Rider Proxy (riderproxy.com) - I have never used Rider Proxy, but I have heart okay things about them. They use a cart/checkout system and are also available to email with items not in their webstore. Prices seem similar to the above. Whenever I visit their site, it is very glitchy, which makes me feel uneasy about using them.
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