Do you try to order within your own country?

I just buy from wherever if they have what I'm looking for. I've been hit big time by a mighty need for elegant lacy layered YOSD dresses, and it's usually artisans from Korea and China that have what I'm looking for. Dollheart, Princess-Doll, and Amors-Doll are going to put big, fat holes in my wallet. Sadly, I also have not been able not find anything from U.S sellers that would suit what I like for dresses.

My boy, on the other hand, should be much easier to find clothes for, since his style is more casual.

 

I often try to buy in person, because that's when I can see if I like an item in person...but recently I placed an order on Taobao because the price is just right for most things ^^;

 

Little bit difficult to find anything here (UK.) The companies here who sell bjds do not stock or preorder from the companies I like so I've ordered from the U.S and directly from the company too. It would be nicer if I could order from here because VAT would be included and it'll be cheaper and quicker to ship in stock items.

 

There isn't much within my own country, I try to shop from european stores when I can.

 

I would also prefer to help out the local businesses but often times they don't have the right size or style I'm looking for. Sometimes, you get lucky when you got to local conventions and find second hand items though, plus it's always nice to be able to try them on. When buying from overseas, a lot harder to know fit/size and then shipping just takes that much longer, which sucks when you have to wait a month + for clothes/shoes!

 

I'm from the US, as well.
I prefer to order from here, but oftentimes the prices are sky high and I just don't have the funds. I've found that clothing made in China is generally cheaper and more affordable, even after I include shipping costs.
Ordering locally seems to be a luxury.

 

Not always. It depends upon how easy it is for me to order from wherever I order and how safe it is. Some companies like Mirodoll make it pretty easy for me. I can use a gift card or a credit card on their site and I don't have to have a Pay Pal account. But there are a lot of companies and people for which you do have to have one and that is difficult for me as my credit union really doesn't like dealing with Pay Pal and refuses to link main accounts to them or do verifications. They have had major problems with Pay Pal at some point and as result they don't want to work with them.

You can get around it by opening a special account that's just for that but it's royal pain and they make you sign a liability waver that severely limits any damages or losses they're responsible for if a transaction with Pay Pal goes awry. They really go out of their way to discourage their members from using online pay services like Pay Pal. I could go to another bank or credit union and just open another account, much easier, but I've been with this same credit union for most of my life and I just don't care to change banks or to open another account elsewhere. I'm sure it does come in handy but I don't really think I need a Pay Pal account and I don't particularly want one.

I like to shop online with gift cards actually. I think it's safer than giving up your banking info to some company online that you can't even hardly call if something goes wrong. Pay Pal is notorious for avoiding direct contact with their users except via email and I'm just not particularly comfortable with that. Getting through to them via phone is supposedly not easy at all though if you look around hard enough there is a CSR number. I don't like online banking except with my credit union and even then I do it strictly at home via my secure connection. About the only service like that I've ever used is Amazon Payments and that's because I've been on Amazon since the beginning and I am pretty comfortable with them. Their security is very tough to beat supposedly and I know I can always get someone on the phone with Amazon and likely get a swift resolution if there is a problem. I do buy from companies who use Pay Pal to process a credit card but I really do avoid companies that make you sign up for Pay Pal to buy from them. Companies that only do business via Pay Pal and that will only send an invoice to you if you have a Pay Pal account don't get any business from me.

I do prefer USA companies or people from the USA if I am going via the market here. It's just much easier for me since I don't use Pay Pal to work with companies and people who are in the USA. There are certain doll stores here, like Denver Doll, that I have a pretty good relationship with. I like to give them the business. Our economy needs it. That's not saying I won't shop outside the USA at all, but I usually only shop with companies that I know pretty well and that treat me well. In terms of BJD's and buying overseas that would mostly be Mirodoll. Anything else I can can probably get here at Denver Doll, The Doll Market, Mint On Card, or The Doll Peddlar and I don't ever need anything but a Visa/MC gift card or credit card to shop there. It's just much easier.

One of the reasons I don't shop much overseas is because it's just a bit of a hassle with money conversions and foreign post offices and all. I can send a postal MO here or use a gift card and it's no problem. In terms of the post office the likelihood is that I'm going to get what I ordered and be able to track it fine besides. I'm only on a couple of doll boards besides this one but I've heard some major horror stories about things getting "lost" coming from other countries. It's not always possible to track things from elsewhere and let's face it as crappy as the USPS can be sometimes it's not nearly as bad as postal services elsewhere. Some countries have a decent postal system, but some don't.

I have ordered via Amazon from China and Hong Kong and had items never arrive and I've also had knock off items sent to me as the real deal. So far my experience with that has been a real crap shoot. I waited months for these purse organizers I bought to arrive. They never showed up. I finally asked for a refund and the company fought issuing me one. Amazon stepped in and gave me back my $$$$. Ironically they finally showed up about six months after they were supposed to but by then I did not care. I offered to send them back if the seller would pay shipping but Amazon just told me to keep them and forget it. Last month I ordered something and got it only to find out that it was a cheap knock off that didn't even work. It was dead and damaged in the box even. I told Amazon. They not only refunded me when the seller would not but they also kicked them off Amazon for selling fake merchandise apparently. Again, the seller did not even want to refund me even though he sent me bogus goods but Amazon did.

Buying online from other countries can go well or it can be really iffy. There's no way to tell before you start unless you know the company has a very good rep and uses postal services that are fairly reliable. Usually I do prefer to do that via Amazon if I can. It's safer for me. I'm okay with Miro. I've ordered from them several times now and they treat me well. They're trustworthy, honest to a fault from what I've seen, and they go out of their way to take care of you because they really want your repeat business. I appreciate that a lot. They've been very nice to me every time I ordered. They even customized a bright color for me when I asked. I'm not so okay with ordering from places like Taobao where I can't even speak the language and the so called merchant reps change all the time and the foreign postal services are an unknown quantity to me.

Ditto buying from someone from elsewhere in the market. Most of the people there from elsewhere I'm sure are perfectly nice people, but it's harder for me sans Pay Pal to make a deal, the shipping can be a lot more, and frankly a lot of the bad apple cases I've seen mentioned here do seem to be from overseas. Not all but enough that I'm pretty leery of sending things off to where I can't track them. The farther I have to send money or goods off the more expensive, difficult, and dangerous it can be for me and I just don't really have the $$$ to risk really so I am very careful about what I buy and where...

 

I personally tend to look for domestic offers when shopping the marketplace here, simply because of how very expensive international shipping can get. If all I'm buying is a $10 shirt, I'm not too keen to spend another $5+ on the shipping (and waiting two weeks for it to get here and clear coastal customs offices). When I'm doing "new" purchases, though, I'm typically bundling them with a doll or buying on Taobao in a large enough quantity to offset shipping prices, so when there's multiple items involved, I'm less likely to stick within domestic options.

I'm not sure if you're in the US or not, but... Paypal's really incredibly easy to get in touch with. Their number's very easy to find, the wait times are short, and the CS agents have been friendly and helpful every time I've called them--which is plenty. I've had no experience at all of them "avoiding contact" with me, I've never had it be "not easy at all" to get through to them, and I've had quick resolutions to my problems when they're within the range of what Paypal can resolve, even on a Sunday in one case.

 

It depends on the item and shipping costs. But there are some things I just can't make or find domestically. And buying from Etsy, say, you're oftentimes buying from a an artist or very small shop anyway. I like being able to support artists all over the world, and I've found some beautiful things at wonderful prices. I have some absolutely adorable crocheted outfits from France, I'm waiting on some little Pukifee sweaters from Poland and the bookcase I have set up for the dolls has
some handcarved wooden birds from Hungary hanging on one of the rooms.

The only time I had to call Paypal was to get them to remove a credit card from my account that had been cancelled because the number was stolen. I had no problem getting though, either. So maybe it depends on where you are?

 

Even you purchased within your own country, the shipping still not cheep for dolls...

I don't think it makes any difference at all.. only if you drive there to pick up!!!!

Paypal is the best for online shopping~

 

Given the choice between paying more for international shipping/likely longer wait time/possible language barrier/possibly messing with currency conversion/dealing with customs and... well... not, I'm going to go with not. That said, if for some reason buying something from my own country is not possible or practical, it's not a big deal to me to order from elsewhere.

 

Is Pay Pal better now? Because they didn't used to be like that. My one boss used to have me running auctions on Ebay for his stuff and he used Pay Pal. He was always swearing because he could never get them to do anything via phone if he had a problem with a transaction. Still, I'm not too comfortable with using what basically amounts to an online bank. Supposedly they are secure but I'm old fashioned and I still want to be able to walk into a branch. I trust Amazon sort of, but that's only after years of dealing with them and even so I seldom use Amazon Payments unless I absolutely have to. :P

 

I've only been with Paypal for the last couple of years and I've had no worries with them. Though my general impression is the buyers tend to have the upper hand unless you've got a *lot*of documentation on your side as the seller if stuff goes wrong, especially since buyers now have 6 months to file a claim instead of 45 days!
I love supporting local business where I can, both for their sake and to avoid high shipping charges - though of course, being in Australia, we've got a relatively small population therefore fewer sellers. And it's a long way via international shipping from us to the rest of the world! So yes, definitely local when I can!

 

I prefer buying within Europe, only because I don't like paying exorbitant import tax and duties. I often buy direct from Asian companies like Dollmore and Dollheart and have had no problems at all.

 

It depends on the item, for me? If it's something I can get from a shop in my own country for around the same price, then that's what I'll do. (Because it always takes longer to ship things internationally and I get too excitable lol) But if it's something unique that I super duper want, the country doesn't matter at all.

 

I try to stay within the USA when possible for second hand things due to shipping and because my brain thinks there's less chance of the item dissappering into the void during transit.

 

If I'm buying from a well known company, especially if they offer free shipping, I'm perfectly fine buying from anywhere in the world. More often than not, the accessories I want are not available new in my country, or only pop up occasionally secondhand.

The only reason I'm hesitant to buy secondhand is that shipping is either very high or very slow. I'm a little uneasy waiting over a month on an item that's already made. I'm in the US, and currently still waiting on something I bought from Canada on November 1st of last year--Sunday will mark 4 months for me! My sister is having the same problem. I hate choosing between shipping I can afford but can't track and takes months OR shipping that is fast, tracked and insured but costs more than the item is worth.

 

In this global economy, I think it's OK to support small businesses in other countries too. Also some overseas doll companies are actually easier to deal with than domestic ones. The only drawback is the cost of shipping.

 

I'm crying... If I wanted to only buy within my country I'd have to purchase things from only the like, three other collectors there are. And even worse, only one of which has a store that even sells anything... So, uh... It's pretty impossible for me...