Do you try to order within your own country?

I would love for an artist to be making awesome BJD's here in New Zealand, so I can finally get some relief with shipping costs and Custom's duty.
I am lucky if I even find a second hand doll for sale here in NZ. Australia is closer but not too much for sale there either.

 

God, yes! I always try to find items within my own country or within the European Union. Not so much to support the local community but rather because custom and import fees are through the roof. I can't afford to buy ball-jointed dolls from their original companies because half the cost price of said doll would be added onto the total price tag. I'm lucky if I find an official EU dealer for ball-jointed dolls but they're scarce or unreliable. Same for any items, it is not just resin either.

Even on the second-hand market I have to scour for items nearby or else it's a no go. Anything above € 25,00 gets smacked with unholy fees. Even with a full-time job it is not bearable. I don't feel good asking sellers to mark their beautiful items below € 25,00 and to be honest the employees at the customs office aren't totally ignorant about the prices either. If they even suspect the price to be € 5,00 off they'll send an official letter demanding to see the original invoice. After paying fines, taxes and fees I get lucky if they release my items within a month.

They don't buy the façade of sending items as a 'gift' either. I've had so much trouble actually receiving a gift from someone that I wouldn't even dare asking someone to send a paid item as a gift.

I think my country really got the short end of the stick lately as far as importing items goes.

 

I don't care about country. I live in Korea and it is still pretty hard to purchase chinese BJD.

 

Yes, or at least I prefer ordering from inside the EU to get rid of the huge customs fees.

 

Personally I don't care from where I buy doll stuff or dolls. From my personal experience if I deal with second hand dolls I prefer to buy from US - despite I live quite far way from States, the shipping is always faster and better then from EU or non-EU European countries. Above all the customs in my country is very mild and I can get stuff without a problem - if I have to pay customs fees I pay 10$ at spot in the post office and get my item in a second (it is because in my country its the post office that keeps the package, not the customs office) and then pay the rest of customs fees within a month.

But I do have favorite countries I buy from/sell to. and it is US and Canada! XD

 

If I love the doll enough I will not be bothered if in my country or not. Coming from the States I have to factor in custom fees.
if I am buying brand new I like to go through Angelique. I have managed to buy a few second hand from UK

 

I wish I could! Australia is pretty isolated so I just tend to order direct from Japan or China. I'm pretty used to the exorbitant shipping costs by now.

 

There's very few interesting Sellers in my country.
For example - we just don't have wig sellers at all.
Eyes - no, thanks. I tried to purchase and the quality was very low.
Clothes - second hand market maybe? Not my choise really though. There are very good seamstresses, but I never used their help, because of the cost.
Miniature food - that's what I like to purchase at home. We have plenty to choose from and the quality is very high.
Dolls - my choise of dolls only depends on the sculpt. I have two dolls originated from Russia - Argonauticadoll and BlackCherry. And I'm very happy to say that they are very high quality.
Also producers were very sweet and professional while proceeding my order. I would absolutely order from them again.

I'm ok to wait for the package if needed. And I'm ok to pay worldwide, using paypal and other systems.
The only thing I'm not ok - is bad quality. Hearing about someone providing bad product or bad service will make me doubt, no matter the country))

 

Only for commissioning I source it locally. My country is small so I would meet the person face to face to know who actually handles the commissioning.

 

Certainly yes. That is quite easy and I always can order the ones I like. But sometimes I will miss the limited dolls because I don't get the news that the company will sell them.

 

It depends, for me. I like to order within my country for second hand dolls and things, mostly because shipping is faster and cheaper. If I'm ordering something custom-made, or a whole doll, I just want the best possible item no matter where it comes from or how long it takes. I do like the philosophy of shopping local and supporting small businesses, but there just aren't any doll shops near me.

 

I'd rather order within my own country just so I can avoid customs and long wait times. If it's for a faceup or other customization I don't mind as much, in that case I just want whoever is best at doing what I want to do it.

 

Very strange question for me. It's too difficult to find something suitable for beeing choosy with country.

 

Considering that I love VOLKS and now live in Japan the answer to that is "yes"!
But it really has nothing to do with shipping times/costs and more doll preferences, although the current situation is making buying things from overseas quite the impossible feat.

 

Yes I try very hard to buy things from within the country... Which means second hand dolls. I'm considering getting some new ones I really want but don't expect to see show up second hand... and to support the companies more, but the thought of spending hundreds on shipping and customs is upsetting.

As for accessories, wigs, eyes, clothes... I try to make everything as much as possible as there isn't a lot available here.

 

I never, look to buy in my country lol
There is no market for dolls or clothing
I search for the type of outfit or accessories I'm after and generally don't care where they are from.
I do look at the postage wait times and always go with tracking

 

I do try to order from VolksUSA when I can, in order to support them. However, when I have a large order, it is often cheaper to order from the Volks International site even factoring in shipping because living in Florida, there is no customs here fee here, and sales tax is minimal. Not only that, Volk's shipping using EMS or DHL has been pretty good to me and I get things quicker once shipped than I would when ordering things from VolksUSA in California.

So, if I just want small items that I don't mind waiting for, such as dream rescue or a spray, single outfit, or something tiny, I order from VolksUSA.

 

Not at all.
I think going through a local dealer might be a good idea, however, the only Canadian dealers I know of don't have the doll companies I am looking for. ACBJD has always been pretty good for me and their website is really complete and easy to navigate. I have also bought directly from the doll company before (when an English website was available).
Even on the second hand market I rarely find what I'm looking for or something I'm interested in locally.

 

For me it depends. A new doll would definetly need to come from abroad. There seems to be a second hand market in my country but not for my perferred size.
I am used to having to buy and have things shipped from other countries for my other hobby so it's nothing new for me.
But I am all about supporting independant businessess so I look first to see if I can find anything locally. If not I buy and have it shipped.
In regard to faceups I just want the best for my doll so I wouldn't not send it abroad if there was an artist I really wanted a faceup from.

 

I’m US-based and despite the current state of USPS, I generally tend to order from other countries for doll-related purchases. I order from Japan pretty regularly due to my other interests, and so far I’ve had excellent luck with ordering from South Korean-based dealers. I’d like to support US-based dealers but usually they don’t have what I’m looking for...