Do you try to order within your own country?

I buy from the whole world, wherever they have what I'm looking for. Doll clothes are kind of limited, and it's not always easy to find what I am looking for. Here in Norway there are no shops selling doll related items. Sometimes I go to secondhand stores, to see if they have something I can use for my dolls, and I have found a couple of items to great prices. Usually I use eBay to look for doll accessories, and I also order directly from Korea and Japan, trough known doll shops.
I am patient, and don't mind waiting a month for something that is worth the time and the expences. I do look forward to get access to the Marketplace, and have hopes for getting items that I have been looking for a long time and an overall expanded variation of doll related items. I don't mind buying seconhand dolls or accessories, as long as it's in good condition, and has no damage at all - cause I am very strictly when it comes to details and quality.

 

For me it's a case by case kind of thing. For new dolls I buy directly from the company. I don't really see the point in having a middle-man especially with how easy it is to pay with paypal (my first dolls I had to buy through wire transfer ugh) But for second hand clothes, dolls, wigs, etc? I'd prefer to buy from someone in my country if possible, since the shipping cost and wait time can be so long.

Of course if someone from another country had the perfect thing I'd go for it anyway. Especially if it's something that I'd like to see owner pictures of first before buying.

 

I'm not too picky about where I order from. Usually I try to see if I can't go through DDE first, gotta support the local business! After that, all bets are off. As long as there isn't too much of a language barrier (or super expensive shipping prices) I am not bothered where my stuff comes from.

 

I try to order from my own country where possible - if only to save on shipping time and costs - but being in Australia the selection's quite slim! I'd love to order more from local vendors if I had the opportunity, though.

 

Yes, I try to order within Europe at least. One of the reasons is customs ... after years of focusing on a company that doesn't do dealers, I'm rather tired of the same stupid questions every time they make me open a doll box in the customs office. If that doesn't work, I try to join GOs. I know it's illegal, but marking stuff as gift combined with a sender that doesn't look like they could be a company really does help speed up the process and saves the hassle of extra paperwork, driving out to the office to pick up a parcel, and answering the same silly questions / dealing with the same weird looks every single time.

As far as supplies go, I have a few go-to shops that carry most of what I need (Think Pink being one, and I've just placed my first order via DollSquare; for hair the best I've found so far is Newmoor Barn, but I'd prefer a place within the € zone if I could find one) ... I make my dolls' clothes or order them along with a doll if it's something I don't have a hope of making myself, so that part doesn't apply.

 

I bought my first doll through a US seller and some of my doll clothes come from US sellers on Etsy (I like to support the artists), but there are clothes I have that have come from international sellers. I have no problem with ordering from an international seller. Yes, shipping can be expensive, but it's going to be expensive to ship a doll anyways.

 

When it comes to items for my dolls Etsy is my number one friend. There are so many amazing artists on there that I happily support. The selection over here in Norway is pretty slim so if I want something I usually have to import it, and that goes for most of my other hobbies as well. That being said I do try to support Norwegian shops instead of importing if said shops carry the items I need. That doesn't happen very often though unfortunately.

 

haha if I tried to buy only within my own country, I wouldn't be buying much. I like to buy from and sell to people all over the world.

 

if i tried to buy only within my country i would have no dolls at all! i tend to buy dolls and accessories from all over the world, and i've had very few problems other than long wait times. i prefer handmade goods for most of my doll clothes so i'll buy from anyone. i just look at the price included shipping to make sure it's reasonable for the item. it doesn't have to be cheap, just fit the amount of work that went into it. i love supporting other individual craftsmen.

 

Bjds are really uncommon in my country, so I almost alway buy them abroad

 

Like others, I buy whatever I can find from wherever I can find. My first BJD was actually secondhand from Canada!

 

I do try to buy from American dealers and Etsy sellers first in order to support their businesses, but I'm currently waiting for clothes from Poland and Portugal, and I just bought from Mandarake this morning.

So, I guess it's an ideal, but not one I'm firmly committed to. There's too much beautiful stuff out there made by a world full of creative people.

 

VERY well said.

 

I'll be ordering to Ireland, so there's not really many close options other than the UK. I think I'll just accept ordering from wherever the doll I want is, and deal with shipping/customs cost as part of the investment.

 

like almost everyone else, I try to buy in my own country first to avoid duty and high shipping charges. (Canada). It is pretty hard to find stuff. I do have a gripe with Ebay though. To make it easier for customs and duty, some sellers add on the duty and taxes and then have a company take care of the brokering for all items more than $20. Well, I don't buy from them. Some items, like used sewing machines, or parts, have 0 duty payable, but they charge you anyway. Other items are charged 0 duty but add the 13%HST. You are suppose to pay the HST on anything more than $20 coming from the US, however most times Canada Post doesn't bother, especially around Christmas when they are overloaded with deliveries.

 

I try, I'm in the UK and so posting times, and shipping can be insane (and having something go missing when it's coming from say China is such a pita, as companies tend to like you to wait out the estimated delivery date before you can say it's not arrived), but because I'm in the UK finding anyone that sells BJD stuff is pretty rare

 

For me it really depends on what I'm buying. I usually don't mind purchasing things from other countries. I have bought things from overseas many times and I never have had any issues. The only thing I dislike about ordering things from other countries is shipping costs and delivery times. If shipping ends up costing more than the item itself I'll just look for that item somewhere else. I don't mind buying BJDs from other countries because that's where most of them are sold. It is nice to buy things from my own country though. Shipping is cheaper and I don't have to wait ages to receive what I ordered!

 

I would lovvve to order within my own country if I found something that appealed to me within my own country. It'd definitely cut down on shipping costs/time.

 

Buying things only within my own country would be next to impossible! We are such a small country and the BJD hobby isn't that big here (that I know of at least).

I'd love to be able to support local shops etc by buying things here but when there literally is nothing to buy that makes it a bit hard haha.

 

I like to buy within US because shipping is ridiculous, and I'm impatient and waiting 2 weeks for something in the mail is a no from me.