Do dolls hold their worth? Reselling value concerns

I've seen people in situations like this get more and more frustrated and keep lowering their asking price until it's ludicrously low just to encourage a sale, and then they usually regret that. Price your doll for what it's worth, and wait for the right buyer. Not everyone likes every doll, so it's just a matter of patience.

 

I don't think that any doll would be worthless. Maybe not worth as much as you originally paid, but there's value in every single one.

 

As others have said, no doll is worthless... If you haven't found a buyer yet, that just means that either you've priced it too high (A second-hand doll is rarely worth as much as its first owner paid for it-) or, more likely, that the right person simply hasn't come along and seen your listing yet. With the current market conditions, even a very fairly priced doll can take awhile to move.

 

The market IS slow. I hate having something listed for ages and I usually do drop and drop until it sells. I have regretted dropping too low, but usually by the time I'm ready to sell, I just want it GONE. Out of here! Go away! lol So....I guess my impatience overrides my logic most of the time.

I don't think the items are worthless, just need to be a price that pleases both buyer and seller.

 

No, no the baby I'm trying to sell is NOT worthless ;___; Every doll that comes to me is precious in one way or another, I love this little guy but my attention always goes to the others more...he's been up for quite some time and the sculpt is not very popular so I really don't think he's going to sell so i already have plans for him if he doesn't sell and I will just keep him with me and create a new personality because the one he has right now is not working (hence the reason he's for sale) and due to this I have not bonded with him.

 

At the moment I know a few people in cluding myself and my partner who have been trying to sell our dolls for months now, I have never had a doll this long on the marketplace and Ive tried everything, changing its look, lowering the price etc.
I came up with the idea that maybe because its summer people are out in the sunshine and spending their money and cant afford or are looking to buy this time of year, just my theory to make myself feel better
In no way are the dolls we are selling useless, no doll is, I bought a pretty wrecked doll for very cheap and I bought it because I wanted a project and a cheap doll.
To see the inspiring story of the person whose house burnt down and she completely restored her burnt doll and documented it here on the forum just goes to show, no doll will ever be worthless. These dolls are hardy things!

 

I don't see the doll as worthless, just not what people are looking for, maybe the doll's aesthetic is no longer appealing or people want the new lastest greatest sculpts. I have 2 dolls that I paid a little over $1200 each for in the marketplace, one wont even sell for $500 and the other won't sell for $350

There are so many different factors going on I don't let it bother me, the marketplace is over saturated, people don't have the extra money to fling around, there are new dolls coming out new body types within companies coming out, people have changing tastes in dolls as well which I have seen in myself. I've become more picky since I now know exactly what I like so I am less likely to randomly splurge and buy dolls on the marketplace that are not on my wishlist... not to mention I no longer have the money to buy new dolls.

 

I just put up my first doll in the market place. of course I like her or i wouldn't have her, but yeah, now I'm worried about this exact thing.

 

Well.. It feels kinda bad to loose that much money.. ( I just did) thinking you could buy another one instead.. But no dools are worthless C:

 

Yeah, I've got this problem exactly, down to the last minute detail. There's one doll I bought for $600 and lately I think he might not even get $200 resale, he's so common. Another of my boys isn't even on the market, but I doubt I could scrounge up even $700 for him anyway. It's a matter of not wanting to take a monetary loss in the end. I know people do it every day, but I don't like doing it if I don't have to.

 

That's one reason I hope I never have to sell one of my dolls. They're worth a lot of money to me,but someone else might not want to pay even $100 for them.

 

It happens.
In fact, I just sold a doll that had been on the market for about 6 months, if not longer. And of course, was sold for a much, much lower price than what I paid to begin with.
But you know, I would rather sell a doll for a bit less (this was an extreme case, so it was rather upsetting and frustrating), than have them sit around collecting dust.
I went into this hobby, knowing that only very few dolls can be seen as an investment, if you even want to look at it that way. I knew that if I were to sell a doll, I wouldn't get my purchase price, unless it was some super limited doll or something.
It also has to do with how badly the market is overflowing right now. No one has money, so they are trying to sell their dolls, but because no one has money, they don't get bought (very roughly speaking).
I saw three people selling the same limited head at some point, and as the weeks went by, they were battling each other in the prices.
It's incredibly saddening, but this is a hobby that loses value after purchase, instead of gaining it, which you see with mint in box barbies for instance.

It has made me a bit more hesitant, especially because two years ago I could put a doll up for sale and they'd be gone in a week pretty much. So now I have to overthink it more, give the doll another chance and another look. But sometimes it's not meant to be or the need for money is great, so I settle for less.

 

It's mostly the ailing economy that does it. Luxury goods like dolls are not likely to move quickly as more people have been unemployed or tight with their money for longer and longer, particularly in places with national economic trouble as well.

 

I would almost guarantee you that there is someone out there looking for what you have. It may not happen right away, but it will eventually happen. And you can always take the sales post down then put it back up a few weeks later.

 

Not always. Sometimes it takes a year. or longer. Not to be a downer but it happens.

 

I think this might also have to do with "waves" of whats popular or in demand. I was trying to sell a FL hamster faceplate for months on the mp, and when i finally gave up on bumping the thread i forgot about it. a few months later I found a wtb thread for one and got a fair price, maybe even more than i paid. I do however have this feeling with some dolls. I purchased a unoa 2.0 for $400, and lately ive been watching them struggle to sell for 300... i cant tell if its from the economy or from the hobby growing and people almost "flooding the market"

 

Unless you (generic you) have a limited or a doll with amazing mods or a face-up by a famous artist, the sad, blunt truth of the matter is that you are going to lose money if you sell. Even the values of mods and faceups are so subjective. Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder, and what a seller may consider a flawless work or art, a buyer may think of as an amateur attempt, at best. And even with a limited, profit can be iffy. Lots of companies have gone under, so their dolls will NEVER be available again, yet their sculpts sit stagnant on the MP or sell at very low prices.

There are, unfortunately, very few chances to break even on the secondhand market with a non-limited doll. Yes, the economy sucks right now. But even if it didn't and we were all drowning in doll money, why would someone want to pay retail prices for an older, possibly yellowed, possibly damaged doll when they can buy a brand-spanking-new one from the company for the same price or close to it? There is a *huge* stigma attached to yellowing these days, despite it being a naturally occurring process in every resin doll ever made. In my experience a lot of newer members avoid any mention of dolls that have yellowed because they interpret yellowing as damage. So that's one more mark against an older doll, one more hit to its second-hand value.

Then you factor in shipping fees, insurance, etc, and the odds that a seller is asking for Paypal fees (which is against Paypal's ToS and which, by the way, no doll company I have ever bought from has ever asked me as a buyer to cover so really, MP, WTF? But that's a discussion for another thread, and I'm sure there are plenty of them), and you come up with a buying cost for a secondhand doll that may be only marginally lower than the cost of buying new. In this case, the only real advantage to secondhand buying of a non-limited is faster shipping (and perhaps a lovely customized faceup), but that is certainly not incentive enough for everyone. People want a good deal, and paying at or close to retail for a secondhand item is not a good deal.

Taking that financial hit is one of the dangers of falling out of love. No matter how much you may love your doll, strangers aren't going to pay extra because of your emotional attachment. Especially when someone else on the MP may be listing the same doll for $50-$100 less. If you absolutely cannot bear to part with your doll below (insert dollar amount here) because you feel you're getting cheated, you may be in for a very, very long wait until it sells. Maybe 6 months. Maybe a year. Maybe more. It happens.

Potential resale loss is now one of the things I really, really take into consideration when considering a resin purchase. Is this something I want because I have seen others do fantastic things with it, but, in reality, it is a doll I would rather look at in photos than own? Or is this something that will stay with me for long enough to make any financial loss I may take when reselling worthwhile? Sometimes, that is a very, very hard question to answer.

 

If you already have the dolls and no longer want them, I really don't see how it could hurt to try to sell them. You can list them for whatever price would satisfy you, and if no one wants them for that price, you've really only lost a bit of time making the sales post. Most items I've sold have either sold almost right away or taken at least 6 months. The only problem I see is that if you set the initial price too high, the value of the doll might drop before you can sell it. Example: You buy a brand new $600 doll and list it for $575. After 6 months, you drop the price to $500 and it sells. However, if you'd listed it at $550 right away, someone might have bought it. You never really know what "might have" happened though, so there's little reason to worry about it. I don't get upset if a doll takes a long time to sell because I plan to use the money I get for other hobby stuff (as opposed to rent/medical bills, etc). Of course, we'd all prefer to sell them right away, but it isn't as though bumping a sales post is that much of a hassle.

Also, I don't think selling at a loss is such a horrible thing. If you think about it, most things we buy depreciate more rapidly than dolls. Few people would expect to buy a car and then resell it a year later without losing money. Though, one difference with cars/electronics/clothes/many other items that depreciate, is that you get some use from them before reselling. If you get a doll you don't like at all, you can't rationalize the loss as easily. I think that if you have enjoyed the doll for many years and then sell at a loss, it shouldn't be as upsetting. This is just a guess, but perhaps some people would feel bad when their doll doesn't sell because it makes them have a lower opinion of their doll. Lack of response to the sales thread could be interpreted as others not liking the doll. Kind of like how some people feel sad if no one comments on their posts in the gallery.

On the other hand, resale value is something that I consider before buying a new doll, and I definitely worry that I won't be able to sell the doll if I don't like it. I think the attitude of "Well, if I don't like it, I can always sell it later" is extremely risky. Knowing that I'll almost certainly lose money overall keeps me from buying too many new dolls. But, if the doll is already in your possession, you can't go back in time and not buy it, so there's little risk in attempting to sell it - just be sure not to set the price so low that you'll regret it.

 

Unfortunately, all the concerns you listed are just part of selling a doll these days.

Granted, there are some posts I see in the MP and I can totally see why they haven't moved (i.e. unrealistic, overinflated pricing for what they're trying to sell) but then I've also seen dolls that have been sitting there for months now at a fair price and it's... well, it's discouraging, to say the least.

 

The good old saw of "You can always get back what you paid for a doll" was only really true when getting a new doll from a company somewhere in Asia was a massively time-consuming and expensive process.

For the past few years, you've basically had to expect a doll to sit in the marketplace for months, and then you just have to take basically whatever offer you get given. I've got an old Bobobie Sprite who I've not really looked at in years, but she's literally not worth selling - The effort of taking her to the post office, wrapping her, bumping a sales thread every day etc is worth more to me than how much she'd sell for.