Accidentally Buying a Copy: What Should They Do?

If they were new and it was unintentional then I wouldn't fault them. Nor would I expect them to toss or destroy the doll. If it were me I'd probably just keep it and consider the money spent as cost for the materials, time, and work that went into making the doll and not for the creation of the mold. I have actually been in a similar situation and had accidentally bought copies of Gameboy Advanced games on eBay before and in the end decided to just keep them. I, of course, would not support knowingly buying a recast though and I no longer buy games on eBay.

 

It's too late. Destroying the doll won't change anything.
She should just keep her doll and be more cautious next time.

 

Ah, but it will -- aside from certain avenues requiring the counterfeit to be destroyed (I can't even call them dolls, because that implies they're as good as the legit ones I collect), disposing of the object in question will ensure that nobody else can be taken in by that recast. It's all well and good to say that you'll never sell something, but there comes a point where you can't guarantee that will happen anymore. It's a gesture made to protect the rest of the community.

 

I see no problem here what so ever. She bought the doll, thinking it was legit [and maybe unware that copies even existed in this hobby], loved and cared for the doll. She should continue to do so, but still abiding to the rules of DoA and not share photos. Doesn't mean she cant do so other places! Plus, it's her money. She can do whatever she pleases with it in the end. It's all up to her moral integrity on whether or not she thinks supporting [or continuing to do so] a replica store is okay in her mindset or wrong [even though it is wrong because it's stealing but that's my opinion].

 

I actually do know someone this happened to. She bought her first doll from a local, who had unknowingly purchased a recast from the MP. The new owner was reading about restringing and was confused when her doll did not match what was being described in the thread. So she asked and was told she had a recast. She was completely devastated. She contacted the person who sold it to her, and they tried to track down the original seller but were unsuccessful. So now she has this recast she had no idea about, no way to get rid of it, and all these awful feelings of guilt for accidentally supporting a recaster... I think in the end she decided to keep the doll, but does not post pictures or discuss it on DoA for obvious reasons. I don't fault her for it. Your first doll is special, regardless of where it came from. It sucks that it's a recast, but neither of the people involved had any idea in the first place. It's neither of their fault; they are both victims of a scam. It's just too bad that her first experience with her own doll is forever tainted with guilt.

 

If she didn't know it was a copy when she bought it, there is no moral high road.
She loves the doll.
That's the end of the story.

I would keep the doll and love it. Post it where I saw fit.

 

Honestly, I had never even heard of a recast until I came back to this forum after a few years away. I had owned an Angel of Dream Qian before that I had gotten from a friend, but had to sell her due to life. That was about 5 years ago or so. When I decided to get back into this hobby, I went right for the same doll. I ended up buying her from a seller on eBay who offered a free face up and wig with her purchase. I even emailed the seller and asked them for a specific color of eyes and they said yes. I was soo happy.

Then I remembered about this forum and came back. While reading posts and rules and such, I came across some threads about recasts. I contacted Angel of Dream immediately to see if the seller was really an authorized dealer. I was sweating that for about 4 days when they wrote me back and let me know that they were an authorized dealer and I had nothing to worry about. I still emailed them her certificate information when she came just to make sure she was legit. She is

Now, if I want to purchase a doll through an authorized dealer instead of the company, I double check with the actual company to make sure that I am dealing with someone legit...or look on here. I heard about Denver Doll Company through a friend but still checked it out on here before placing my order for my Doll Leaves Emily.

To answer the question- Having bonded with the doll and then finding out that it was a fake, I would have freaked out. I am not sure that I would get rid of it after shelling out the money for it, but my feelings for that doll definitely would change. I'd contact the person I received it from asking for my money back. If it was too late for that I'd probably use it to practice face ups on or something. If it was an individual who sold the doll to me, I would contact them and ask them if they knew it was a recast-afterall, it happened to me, so it would be possible they were duped as well. If it was a company, I would also contact the REAL company and let them know that 'said place' is selling knock offs of their doll and probably contact eBay to see what steps I needed to take to report the person for selling recasts.

I would NOT resell the doll nor give it to anyone else. The recast trail of that doll would end with me. I'd throw it away if I didn't want it.

And I agree with saving for a doll or if you cannot wait, maybe look for a lesser priced doll. I got an Angel of Dream Qian again because I loved the sculpt, but she was not all that much. I would LOVE to have an Iplehouse Jessica.. but I know she is about a bazillion dollars and I simply cannot afford her and probably will never be able to, however, I would NEVER buy a recast of her.

 

As stated before it wasn't intentional so there is no reason to get rid of it. They were just a newbie who didn't know so lashing out at them would only scare them from the hobby.
Just give them the right directions on where to go from there in finding legit dolls and if possible give them rights to finding the doll they have recast in legit form that way they can have the doll they love. They can then use the recast for experiments or something that they would fear using their legit doll for. But keep in mind it was an accident and not intentional. That is the key factor in this problem. I do not support intentionally buying recasts. The person did not know "too good to be true" dolls existed and will now do the proper research from here on. Lesson learned.

 

Welp, I'm offended now.

"It wasn't intentional so there's no reason to get rid of it"? "No moral high ground"? How utterly offensive and utterly obtuse. Putting aside the already mentioned ad-nauseam fact that in order to get one's money back a number of avenues require destruction of the object in question, keeping that piece of crap and posting it elsewhere like there's nothing wrong with it is endorsing the activities of recasters. They made money on you, and you aren't doing anything to stop them. You're saying it's perfectly all right to own a recast, that it's perfectly okay to endorse dishonesty because oh, look, it's okay, you didn't knooooooooow.

While I maintain that a buyer should do their research and should hold some responsibility for purchasing a too-good-to-be-true item, I wouldn't vilify them for inadvertently making the mistake of purchasing a recast. The moral question, for me, comes into play after the doll is discovered to be illegitimate. If you (general 'you' in effect throughout this post) keep it and post it elsewhere, you're stating you're okay with recasts, and that means I don't want anything to do with you. My collection is not tainted by recasts, and I refuse to have my dealings tainted by people who are okay with them.

I'm sure a lot of people think I'm being utterly unreasonable, and they're welcome to that opinion.

 

I would keep it, not ever sell it, and report the vendor to the actual company. But I would still love the doll and make things for it and take pictures to post on sites which would allow it. I don't think you are showing that you "agree" with recasts by enjoying the doll that you paid for and bonded with, rather I believe that it is more of a "making the best out of a bad situation" deal. The only reason for this hypothetical girl to get rid of the doll would be because she became self-conscience of what other people in the hobby were saying, and I really don't like that idea. I like to think that people should be open and accepting to newer people in the BJD hobby, but obviously that is not the case especially when dealing with this touchy subject. So yeah, she's new to the hobby and she made a mistake. No one is perfect, stuff just happens like that sometimes. She, hypothetically, would have learned her lesson and if she were to ask me for advice I would tell her to report the vendor and then continue loving the doll that she still paid a pretty substantial amount of money for and has spent a lot of time on customizing just to her liking. Overall, I would just try not to scare her away from the hobby. I think there are enough people out there who think that BJD lovers are a bunch of crazies without us being negative and isolative towards newer members.

 

In my humble opinion, the only serious problem with illegal dolls is that it may try to sell as legitimate in the secondary market. And ask for it a lot more money than an illegal copy. And here is the fault of the seller, as a fraud. And the wines of the manufacturer, which can not properly protect the buyer. Certificates which are provided by their dolls are not a sufficient guarantee of the legality of the doll. As it is very easy to forge. A people who does not know the intricacies of the differences will not be able to distinguish legitimate from a fake doll.
At the expense of the copyright on the doll - sometimes I start to think that the companies sell their dolls matrix to companies engaged in counterfeiting. How can we explain the emergence of copies before the arrival of the first legal dolls their customers?
In the end - if a person buys a illegal doll considering it legal, on dolls arrival realizes that it is a fake and not satisfied with something. He/She can try to return the money. But this practice applies to any purchase. In this situation, he/she can only worry about the spent money and unmet desires, rather than about public opinion.
If a person knows that buying a fake and it suits him. And not going to resell it as a legal doll. I do not see anything wrong with that. Who knows what causes pushed his / her purchase.
I'd have wanted to see a fake. I wonder how they are made, what with material used. As far as close to the original copy. And I understand that for the sake of this I am ready to buy. But not in any way not for resale.

And people who knowingly engaged in selling fakes as legal dolls. We must not only ban, but send their contacts to the police. Since it is - a fraud.

 

I completely disagree with you, Rias, on every single point you make. It IS wrong to buy recasts - and even more so when you KNOWINGLY buy a recast. You're supporting those frauds who're selling fake dolls. Companies selling doll matrixes to recast companies? Nah, I don't think so. Seriously. *shakes head in amazement* The one right way to deal with a recaster is to report him (to the doll company he's recasting and if he's selling via eBay to eBay telling them he's selling counterfeit goods).

Murphys94 - A person who knows wrong from right knows they ought to have that recast destroyed, even if they bought it by accident. Also, as Tez pointed out (and the more answers I read on this thread the more I'm starting to take her very rigid anti-recast stance cos, really ...) some procedures to get your money back require for the doll to be destroyed. So in that case they won't be able to keep it anyways. It's also kind of a mystery to me how someone's bonding with a doll can NOT be tainted by finding out it's a recast. Me, I couldn't keep it, not even if it were my most favourite doll. I just couldn't look at it anymore. Because I know it's a recast and I abhor recasts.

Is it just me or does it really seem like the "acceptance" of recasts is higher with newer/younger people in this hobby? If so - why's that?

 

I do not believe to be true to tell people what they can not do. We can not know for what reason, a person buys a fake. Such purchases are the sole responsibility of the buyer.
In my case - I'm curious to touch fake, to understand what and how. Just for that I am ready to buy it, since none of my friends do not have fakes. I do not want to be in a situation when I buy a fake as the original. But I pity to waste money on such an experiment =)

Maybe I'm wrong and then the whole thing in my paranoia. And how can you explain the appearance of fakes before the originals? And why companies selling fakes are still working, despite all the reports?
And once again, that I am totally against selling fakes as originals!


Forgive me if my judgment caused you backlash. I did not mean to hurt or offend. But it is my humble opinion.

 

Sometimes doll companies have a third party company cast their dolls, and sometimes unscrupulous employees of that third party company will make illegal copies, which is how sometimes (this is not at all common) recasts are being sold before the legitimate doll is available.

And the doll companies ARE actively seeking out recast companies to shut them down. The problem is when the recasters are located in countries that protect them, and these are small companies that can't afford to have a dedicated team to watch for and report recasts on ebay.

Also, any recast you want to buy is one more sale to encourage the recasters. You shouldn't want to buy one for any reason because every sale a recaster makes gives them money to steal more dolls.

 

I am thinking that younger people want the "Instant gratification" that comes with bringing home a BJD, weather it's a fake doesn't matter to them, because they what that dream dolly NOW.

Also I have been reading up on stories on how new people are denied BJDs because their parents think it's too expensive and they seek out cheaper alternatives and thus find recasts.

...which is complete BS, because all this stems from entitlement issues, the "But I can't/don't want to get a job" excuse is just stupid.

Edit: Yes, my mental image of this types buyers of recast are mostly younger people, who are spoiled self entitled brats who haven't worked a day in their lives and whine/cry to their parents for everything.
I blame the parents for either spoiling such children and/or never teaching them morals.

 

I hope that you are right and all that I wrote about the sale of matrices - my sick imagination! =)


I would be very glad if forgery completely disappeared from the market, or sold exclusively as a forgery. And I would love to see that companies are thinking about the possibility of clear and easy identification of legality. While this does not happen, there is a chance to pay for a fake decent money. What I do not want to do.
I hardly buy myself a fake, because, as I wrote - I do not want to waste your money on a dubious experiment.
But how can I, an ordinary buyer, to be sure, is that I buy a legal product?

 

Buy directly from a legit company.

 

This is the case when the doll is still produced.
And if I like limit doll, and I can only buy it on the secondary market?

Edit: I do not chase for a low price, and if I like the doll that still sold by the manufacturer, I'll buy it there. I even thought there was that I could buy it somewhere else = (

 

Do your research, and ask the seller for more photos of details of the doll, trust your gut instinct rather then that little voice that's screaming inside your head; "PRETTY DOLLY! WANT NOW!!"

....you know this all stuff that most BJD hobbyist already know and are the most repeated to newcomers?

Generally, Doa's MP is a safe place to buy legitimate second hand Dolls, as DoA's stance on fakeBJDs are pretty strict. I haven't heard of any word of a fakeBJD being sold on the MP.

 

Very easy - as it's been said already, ask the seller for lots of information. If the doll's legit, they'll be able to give it to you. And if you're not 100% sure it's not a recast - don't buy it, no matter how much you want it.

Elysion gear - you and I seem to have the exact same mental image of recast buyers cos that's the first thing that springs to my mind, too, when I hear all those "arguments" in favour of recasts.