Company vs. Dealer

Prior to actually being a dealer, I really wished there were dealers in my country who sold what I wanted, it would have been much easier knowing I wasn't facing the possibility of customs charges coming from them instead of the constant roulette of Canada Customs.

It really disappoints me to hear that any dealer would be selling recast bodies period, and even worse to hear they would be passing them off as legit casts. I think this is probably much more the exception than the rule though, especially over here. BJDs while growing in popularity aren't as well known and highly "consumed" as they are in asian countries so I imagine the risk to a dealer's reputation would faaaaar out weigh any profit they might make from doing so.

 

Dealer, for two reasons. A, they speak English and B, they take something besides Pay Pal. It's rather hard to order properly when the person on the other end doesn't understand you well. The couple of overseas doll companies I do like to deal with directly, they do have someone who can speak English fairly well and they can take credit cards directly. The two dealers that I use frequently they're easier with terms and their prices can actually be better than buying directly. I priced a doll directly from a doll company recently and she would have cost me more from the company directly than from the dealer and the dealer does basically any payment system I could want. They make it a heck of a lot easier for me to lay-a-way doll stuff than the doll companies usually do...

 

Well I have only ordered direct from the company thus far and unless I want to do a layaway option in the future I will probably continue to.
Just from being in the FL waiting room it seems like orders through dealers like DDE take quite a bit longer to ship out to the owners.
Patience is something I struggle with once I know the doll is getting close so that extra time would be murder on me.
I'd rather pay a bit extra if it means I get it sooner.
Plus I just don't really care for the whole idea of a "middle-man stage" between my order and me.

 

I have ordered from both a dealer and the company direct, and I'd say both ways are fine and have their advantages. Last fall/winter I ordered a Dallas Family H doll from Jeeryama on ebay. Her English was not perfect but she got my order perfect plus she had an event along with the company having an event. So I got a free wig from her (two do to an error unrelated to her) and free jointed hands from the company. If the company offers no English service I say dealers are good ways to go. As for company in like having a clear line of communication with them considering I had a switch up in my order. Both shipped fast approx 2 months just waiting on my doll to make it home

 

I prefer to buy from dealers, if they carry the doll I want of course. I just find that the ordering process tends to be more straightforward with dealers compared to the company sites, or at least the companies I have dolls from. Its usually as easy as a standard credit card transaction whereas dealing with the company site may require paypal sharing and emails and yada yada. But of course not all of the companies have dealers so than I have to buy from the sites.

 

I usually like to go through dealers because I use layaway a lot. Ease of communication is another part, but there are quite a few doll companies with wonderful English-speaking representatives. The only doll I've gotten direct so far is a DDdy body from Volks.

 

I prefer to order directly from the company - I don't care about high shipping costs, and I like being able to check on the order status and what not! I ordered my MNF Celine through DDE just because I didn't have all of the funds saved, and I liked the 4-payment layaway option they have...considering FL is taking about 4 months for production. Next MNF I'll be ordering directly from FL though!

Edit: And I totally did...that tan event tho.

 

Some companies are pretty difficult to order from, because they don't have dedicated employees who speak English, or their websites are poorly designed, so to order a doll from them, I would prefer to go through a dealer. Shipping costs aren't the deciding factor for me, the deciding factor is whether I can figure out how to use the company's website to place an order for the doll I want, and be able to ask them questions if I have any.

That said, some dealers are pretty dishonest. One recently talked to my mother, really liked the doll clothes mom makes, and offered to trade a doll I really wanted for some clothes to sell, and mom agreed. I spent the next two weeks floating in a bubble of joy, then when mom messaged the dealer to work out final details for what clothes did she want, the dealer said no, she wouldn't trade, but I could buy the doll from her. Yeah, no thanks, I'm not going to order through a dealer who pulled something like that. The whole experience left a bad taste in my mouth.

 

I personally prefer ordering through a dealer,my first doll was in stock at DDE and my second is currently on a layaway there,so far I have nothing but good to say about them.
Though I will be ordering a DZ Abby from Alice's next month and I might order a Minifee directly from FL next year since from what I've read their direct orders take priority over dealer orders,I could be wrong though.

 

I prefer to order direct when I can. I'll order through a dealer if I need layaway but usually doll orders direct get the doll to me faster and, frankly, the price difference isn't usually drastic enough for me to save more than a couple dollars ordering through a dealer!

I know Fairyland is switching their system and just sending out dolls as they're made to DDE rather than waiting for a full order to be completed which sometimes backed order arrivals up by a month or more! I was even avoiding layaway through DDE because of this but I'm glad to hear they're fixing it!

 

I prefer to order from a dealer if the doll is in stock & seldom have ordered directly from a company. Shipping is so much less domestically plus I call the order in & call if anything is wrong. But these days I find secondhand to be the best way for me to buy.

 

Definitely prefer ordering directly from the company.

 

I only use dealers if they have the dolls in stock, otherwise I buy directly from the company.

 

Dealers vs Direct from Company both have serious pros and cons. I like the idea of ordering directly from the company, since I really want to support them, but the wait times can be ever so long and overseas shipping can be a pain. Dealers tend to have a higher price when it comes to the dolls I love, but you just can't beat two day domestic USPS shipping. So far, the vast majority of my dolls have been bought from US dealers, but I also see the benefit of order from the company!

 

I've only ever ordered dolls directly from companies. So far it has been great. As I am currently only interested in dolls from the same one company, I don't think I'd consider buying through a dealer even if such one lived next door. I like the direct communication, and the company has this really nice lady in charge of communication

 

I definitely prefer ordering through the company directly. So far I've only had good experiences.
I did use DDE twice because it was the better offer. For a FL order I preferred DDE so I could have a 4 months layaway. And once they had a doll from Pipos in stock while my family happened to be in Denver, so I was able to pick it up in person.
Other than that I'd rather go directly. Less waiting time, definitely underdeclared package etc.

 

While my personal preference tends to be direct when possible, I decided this year that, for Christmas, I would like one of the dolls on my wish list. And aside from expecting my parents would be uncomfortable trying to order something expensive from overseas, and off the doll websites we've all become accustomed to at that, they're just no good at using their Paypal account. So in this case, I sent them to a domestic dealer to either purchase the doll, or a gift certificate I can use toward it. In some cases, dealer is definitely simpler, though I personally tend to take the pros of direct over them 99% of the time.

 

For me, there are some companies, Dearmine for example, from whom I would only ever buy directly..especially when they already have a great layaway payment system of their own. However, in the cases of companies that either don't offer layaway themselves (such as Fairyland) or have doll parts and items they otherwise don't normally sell internationally online then reseller agents and buying services can be extremely helpful and I am very grateful they exist.

 

So far I've always purchased my dolls directly from the company or artist. I haven't had the need to go through a middle man. Personally I don't like dealing with a middleman if I can do it myself. Only reason I might consider going through a dealer/distributor is if I wanted to purchase other doll related items/supplies/clothing at the same time and it's not sold by the company.

 

I'm not really sure. I've only ordered from a company before but with my next doll (Charles from doll chateau) I'm going to order it trough a dealer. I think I like ordering trough a dealer more since they answered all my questions so quickly and with great English which made it even easier. (I have contacted the dealer, I just haven't ordered from them yet)
I also think that if a doll that I want is in stock with a dealer I'm definitely going to buy it there, it's an amazing advantage!