Checked 20 October 2026. Sources tracked internally in research/guide-facts/.

Most doll stores show a wall of proof: certificate images, "official distributor" badges, a forum logo. Some of it is real and current. Some is expired, issued by someone other than the maker, or a different document altogether. You don't have to take any of it on the store's word, and most of it can be checked in a few minutes before you pay. Buying safely covers price, photos and payment. This guide covers the paperwork.

What each piece of proof tells you

A certificate image on the store's site. Usually a one-page letter from the maker's company naming the store, a start and end date, and sometimes a territory and a number. At best it shows the maker authorised that store for that period. It doesn't show that the letter is still valid, that it covers the website you're on, or that the maker issued it at all. Most run for a year, so they need renewing, and expired ones stay on display. None of the makers we checked offers a lookup for certificate numbers, so the number by itself proves nothing.

The maker's own seller list. The strongest check there is: the maker names the store, usually with a link to its domain. It tells you the maker listed that domain on the day you looked. It says nothing about service, and nothing about the store's other brands. Lists also go stale, and some still link domains that now belong to someone else.

The code in the box. Several makers pack a unique anti-counterfeit code with each doll and run a page where you check it. A valid result means the maker's database knows that code, and some systems also show which head and body it belongs to. You can only check it after delivery, and it says nothing about whether the store was authorised, since a genuine doll can be resold by anyone.

A forum vendor badge. The Doll Forum vets the stores in its vendor section and offers free, non-binding mediation when the doll came from a listed vendor and you joined the forum before delivery. That is useful, but it isn't authorisation for any brand: the forum's own notice says it presumes an agreement between vendor and maker without knowing its details.

All of it is per brand. One store can be on one maker's list, missing from another's, and named on a third maker's fake-seller page, all on the same day.

How to check a store before you pay

1. Read the certificate itself. Note who issued it, the store or domain it names, the dates and any territory. Compare the domain with your address bar, letter by letter.
2. Check the dates against today. An expired letter is stale evidence, not proof of fraud. Ask the store for the current one.
3. Find the maker's list yourself. Type the maker's address rather than following the store's link, open the vendor page, and look for the store's exact domain in the link, not only its name. Look-alike domains are common, often one letter or one "s" apart.
4. Not listed, or no list at all? Ask the maker. Email the address on the maker's own site with the store's domain and the certificate image. Irontech's authorisation page tells buyers to contact it about a vendor it doesn't list.
5. Keep a dated screenshot of the maker's list showing the store, and of the certificate, on the day you pay. Lists change from month to month.
6. On delivery, check the code yourself, and be the first to. Ask the store not to check it for you. Several systems register a code the first time it is entered, so "repeated" or "already registered" on your first try means contact the maker with your order details.

Which makers let you check

"Seller list" is a public page naming stores. "Code check" is a page where you enter the code from the box.

Eight of these 17 publish a usable list. For the other nine, asking the maker is the only check there is.

Red flags we found

All of these were on real store pages in October 2026. We describe the patterns rather than name the stores, because a stale certificate is not proof of bad faith.

• Every dated letter has expired. One store showed 15 documents: all seven with an end date had passed (2021 to 2023), and seven more had no end date.
• A letter the maker's own list contradicts. The store shows a maker's certificate, and that maker's seller list leaves the store out. Ask the maker which is current.
• A letter that names a company, not a website. Nothing then ties it to the site you're reading.
• The wrong document. Images captioned as authorisations turned out to be an OEM notice (permission to make the store's own-brand products), a product safety test certificate, and a letter from the store's own sister company.
• A territory that doesn't fit. Letters for the "EU market" on a store that ships from the UK.
• Numbers that look like dates, and the same number on letters from two different makers.
• "Official" for dozens of brands, with no letters. Some large stores really are on many lists, so breadth alone isn't the signal. A claim you can't match to any maker's list is still only a claim.
• A maker's list with the wrong link. Makers make mistakes too: on one large maker's page, two different store names link to the same third domain. Match the domain, not the name.
• A fake-seller notice covers one brand. A store named on one maker's warning page sat on five other makers' lists the same day.

When the code check says something odd

• "Repeated", "already registered" or "invalid" on your first check: contact the maker with the code, your order details and the store's name.
• A checker that doesn't load: WM's and YL's are gone right now. That proves nothing either way, so email the maker instead.
• No code in the box for a brand that ships them: ask the store, then the maker.

What the check mark on SekiList means

A check mark on a SekiList company means someone reviewed that listing. It isn't a claim that any maker authorised the store. For that, use the maker's own list as above.

Find sellers to check

• Browse verified companies →
• Browse manufacturers →
• Browse distributors →

Sources, limitations and corrections

Every maker page linked above was read on 20 October 2026. We didn't enter real codes in any checker or test whether makers answer buyers. Found a changed list or a dead checker? Suggest a correction with the page and the date you saw it.