Accidentally Buying a Copy: What Should They Do?

If it were me, I would still keep and adore the doll. First off, I'd have already purchased the doll and can't take that back and thats what people really get mad at: the paying for a ripoff. Secondly it's my doll and I can love her just the same as some others love a 'real' BJD. And I would still take pictures of her even though I'm not able to post them here.

Bottom Line: You've already done the deed, Why not enjoy your doll. Love him/her like you would if it were not a fake.

 

I'd keep her. Just because some people disapprove of the doll doesn't mean I can't adore her. I probably wouldn't post her on here, but maybe on other sites or on galleries. I'd find a way to share her, but I wouldn't get rid of her. It's not hurting anyone, and why should we try to impress people we'll never actually see?

I'd keep it.

 

Personally I don't see why she should get rid of it

I can understand the rules forbidding the posting of such dolls on DOA

However although I would not condone or encourage people to buy a copy at the end of the day if someone does mistakently buy one then the damage has been done, I don't see the need to destroy the doll unless its dangerous

 

Yeah, I'll go with the people who said just to stop posting the doll on DoA and continue to love it. One could still post photoshoots of it on DeviantArt or similar.

 

If it were me, I'd still continue to love it and post it on other sites. I would tell other people about the company and say not to buy from it though, so nobody else would make the same mistake.

Unless it was potentially a harm to their health, that is.

 

Well, the girl has the copy now, and she has formed an emotional attachment to it. There would be little sense in trying to get rid of it because it would make her have regrets, she couldn't possibly sell it in the Marketplace because of its nature, and you don't have to share pictures of your doll or have it be acceptable on this forum in order to enjoy the hobby.

I wouldn't be surprised if the girl left the forum after all the anger expressed to her about how "fake" her baby was.

If the girl were me, I would be suspicious of the lower price in the first place. Spending $600 on a doll is no joke, so plenty of research would eventually lead anyone to discover two dolls that look the same but have vastly different prices. Heck, I was extremely reluctant to buy my AoD girl at first because the lower price compared to Korean dolls was hard to believe, but I asked around and checked as many doll places as I could before I was convinced to bring her home.

 

Unfortunately, many of these 'knock-off' dolls have been banned from DOA. When the hypothetical owner posts them and is informed of her error, she would likely also be informed that her doll is not allowed in the galleries.

 

I'd keep it. Yes, copies are wrong, but if you had no clue you were buying a copy, or if you didn't even know that copies were something you had to look out for. Also, just because you're not allowed to post pictures of it on DoA doesn't mean it has to be locked up in a closet forever, never to see the light of day. I mean it would sort of be like she accidentally bought a Goodreau or something.

 

Of course I'd keep it! Just because I found out it was a knock-off BJD wouldn't lessen my love for it, or the bond that had grown between us. People buy and wear knock-off clothes and purses, I don't see why a doll should be any different. Of course, I wouldn't go out of my way to buy a knock-off doll on purprose, but if it were an accident, that's a different matter entirely. I wouldn't post any photos on the forum, but I would still take and possibly share them elsewhere.

Mostly, however, I'd feel hurt and betrayed by those people who judged and berated me for buying a knock-off, particularly since I didn't know. And also that a compay would take advantage of not only the buyers, but degrade the original sculpt's company by reproducing inferior copies of their dolls.

tl;dr version: Yes, I'd keep it. And I think most of up here would do the same.

 

It's not the dollie's fault that it was produced as a fake, so why should it be treated horrid? The deed is done and I'd say keep the dollie and love it to death, take pics and the whole nine yards.

Though, were it me, I'd probably post pics here anyways saying that it's whatever it was copied from (so say it were a CP El copied hypothetically, then i'd post pics of it calling it a CP El).

 

I've been thinking about this exact same scenario myself. As a complete and total newbie to the doll hobby (everything I know is what I've gleaned from reading DoA all weekend), I could have quite easily been tricked into buying a knockoff doll off ebay or somewhere else. I probably still could, seeing as how I know absolutely NOTHING about the different molds and companies (there so many! o.O)

I think someone who buys a copied doll in ignorance shouldn't be penalized for it. Honestly, if you didn't know brands and molds, how the heck could you know it was a "fake"? And I know research on expensive purchases is a good think, but if you know nothing about the hobby, where would you start? I didn't know what the term "BJD" meant until yesterday when I finally figured it out, and then I felt stupid.

I think as long as you say clearly that your doll is a copy when you post it's picture, then you should be allowed to share it. Ignorance can't be helped sometimes, even if you have the best of intentions, and you have to start somewhere.

 

If the doll has already been bought and you're attached to it then keep it, in the instance it was accidentally bought as mentioned.

However, in the opening post it is also mentioned that the girl looked for the original one with the intention to buy, but the price was to high for her. At this point it is seems that she is no longer comfortable with her former doll and a new one of the original mold would not feel the same anyway.

I would keep the doll while saving for a new, different, original one. Her old one makes her feel guilty, the original mold of the old one will not be the same. The best option seems to be to get something totally new and start over.

 

As someone said on another forum where we had a member who had exactly this problem occur.

'She is not at fault for buying the doll, it is the doll company's fault for fooling her with there fake doll. Don't punish the girl, punish the company.'

Sadly this is rarely the case. People blame the buyer as if they intentionally went out to support a fake doll company. They will jump on her for owning a fake doll. Even shun her at doll meetups (people shun dolls from various companies that aren't fakes). As the person above mentions, the girl then feels guilt and feels crappy about her doll because of the pressure of others. Which is not fair to the girl.

I can also see a girl's confusion because there are so many dolls that are not allowed on DoA because they are not 'asian esthetics' enough. There are also so many dolls out there, that one could assume DoA hasn't heard of the doll/company. She could have figured that it was one of those 'off-topic' dolls vs a 'fake/banned' doll, or that it's just simply a new company.

It's easy for others to point fingers and preach how they should have researched more as it's a large purchase or whatever. But remember it's not the girl's fault, it's the company that produced the dolls that is at fault.

(Now if someone buys a doll knowing it's a fake, because it's cheap. That's a totally different situation. You would also think they wouldn't post here, because they would already know the doll was banned).

-Anneke

 

I think she meant off DOA galleries.

 

This is the reason i am not buying from ebay and only looking at companies that other members around here have dolls from. ^^;

But yeah, if i haddn't done that and bought a doll that was a knock off i'd just keep it and love it as i would any other dolls. Its not the dolls fault or the owners, if they didn't know, and there is no reason to punish the doll or the owner. And besides, re-selling the doll wouldn't be good either. And trashing it would be a waste.

I'd keep up with my photoshoots and whatever else i wanted with the doll and just not mention it here. I have other sites i am on with people who would be happy to see pictures even if it was a ripoff.

Yeah, so thats what i'd do. ^^

 

While I don't think that a person should be ostracized from the hobby, or made to feel inadequate or whatever else, exceptions just can't be made on 'intent', as this is something absolutely impossible to determine. To do so would be to open a big can of rubber worms.

But definitely, the hypothetical person should keep the doll and enjoy it, and buy wonderful things for it, and if they wish to share pictures, they can do so on a private setting, like livejournal, and when/if they wish to sell it, they can use ebay. however it would be appropriate to represent the doll /correctly/ in reselling it. Making a mistake is one thing, but to pass that mistake on to someone else without clear representation of what the doll actually is, would be a horrible thing to do.

 

Oh yes, it would definitely be vitally important that the doll was represented utterly honestly should the owner decide to sell at a later date. That's the problem with the knock-offs I think, is that they are of lesser quality than the originals but people try to sell them for the same $$ amount. If I had a knockoff that I had bought unknowingly, or had been tricked into buying, if I ever sold it I would definitely make sure to write in bold letters that it's a copy.

 

Ooh, that's a nice one.

Given that situation:

Whether I knew that it was a fake or not --- I wouldn't get rid of the doll since there was a lot of emotional investment in it already. Second, I wouldn't disappear from the boards either, I'd still communicate with the friends that I've made.
Although, I'd be more cautious about mentioning the unwelcome doll-or not at all!

On the other hand, I wouldn't alienate the person who had purchased a fake doll, had loved it and was humble enough to acknowledge that they have done a dolly-sin.

I definately do not encourage these purchases and it sure would suck if I saw someone with a rip-off DoD prancing around as if it were the real thing and we all know that it wasn't.

Everyone has their own personal reason why they had to make such a purchase. And there really is no excuse - because proper research should have been done before making a purchase. But it wouldn't be right to turn our backs on them especially if they want to begin talking about the legit dolls.

 

If the girl already paid for the doll, then what's done is done and she should chalk it up to a learning experience. If she has the doll and has bonded to the doll, she might as well enjoy it (and there are ways to enjoy your dolls outside of places like DoA). If she got the doll off e-bay, then leaving negative feedback for the company is always an option and way to warn others from making the same mistake.