Does the fear of missing out influence your buying decisions in the hobby?

It usually affects my decisions on buying doll clothes not so much on dolls...

 

Not at all. I hate buying things so I'm prepared to miss out on anything and everything. Limited time sales are a great tactic that I don't want to work on me. Impulse buys lead to loss of money in most situations.

 

I am struggling with this so much right now - Dream Valley is discontinuing their dragon dolls. I have 3 of them, but now that I know they're going away I suddenly really want the 2 MSD ones I do not own (Cayes and Silina), even though they didn't interest me that much before because the ones I do own (Greyson and Collier) are my favorites out of my whole collection.

It is so hard to keep reminding myself that i didn't buy them already on purpose, but some how FOMO is hitting hard with them on the soon to be discontinued list. This really shouldn't be pushing me to spend more money but it sure is tough, so clearly it does impact my buying choices more than I realized.

 

Ughhh yesss so many times i wish i bought a limited release anime model from Volks, theyre so CUTE and i love their unique faceups/heads, and then second hand market has them for sale 4xs their worth and I regret not getting it when it was released ;u;

 

Yeah, it does for me.
When I just browse dolls, I find so many ones I definitely would have bought if I was in the hobby back then. But they're no longer available now and they're so hard to find in a decent shape, if at all, because the ones I like generally are not the ones the general public likes...
So, whenever I now see something that's right up my alley, I get the urge to immediately get it even though I'm already waiting for two to come home.
It's really hard to resist, but I just tell myself to look up the end of pre order period and completely remove myself from the hobby until a few days from the last order day. If I still feel as strongly about the doll, then I'll get it, but if I don't, then I know that I can live without that one.

 

It used to when I was younger but now it's such an obvious sells gimmick if I feel the urge I completely walk away from the hobby until I stop feeling that urge to be impulsive, because I don't want to have a "problem". As someone with some rare/now no longer made dolls, you really can have almost any doll if you are just super patient.

 

Since I'm more of a character oriented collector, I don't normally tend to deal with this issue. There have been a few must-have limited releases I have bought, but there was a character of mine that they embodied in some way— plus I tended to take a few days over the decision before deciding to hit that proverbial buy button. DV Moon was a case of this—it was love at first sight, but I'd also had this "winged cat-like creature" idea for an OC’s animal companion for sometime before Moon was released.

I guess the closest instance of this for me is the recent Lost Chronicles Allurial preorder. It'll be the last one for the SD release, so I didn't want to pass on the opportunity. I do have a pre-existing OC I was planning to shell before the preorder was announced that Allurial is perfect for, so it's really just icing on a pre-existing cake.

 

I hate the idea of buying out of a sense of FOMO, but the nature of dolls as a hobby make it really hard not to sometimes. It helps that I don't have that much disposable monthly income, so there's kind of a cap to how impulsive I can be, but when I see something I really REALLY like and I know it'll shoot up in price if I don't jump on it then and there, it's so stressful....

I'm trying to be very mindful about this though so I don't spend recklessly. It doesn't help that the one time I said "screw it" and let the fomo purchasing take over, I got a doll that ended up being one of my most treasured LOL! (not an on-topic doll, but it was a holiday Candy Ruru, and she is THE CUTEST...) Every time I look at her I think "thank goodness I got you when I could!" She's not helping my resolve.....

 

If it's a limited doll, and I want it. I will watch the counter closely while getting up the funds. I might borrow from my savings to get the doll if the counter on the doll begins to get too low for my comfort. I can always put the money back into savings, but I will not always be able to get that limited doll.

Also, if the doll I have been wanting suddenly turns up for sale and in stock, I have a big fear of missing out. I have tossed dolls on layaway for a week or two until I get up the rest of the money, just so I don't miss a great the sale of a doll I have been wanting.

If the doll is not in stock and not limited, I don't worry about it. I'll get it next time it goes on sale. I worry if it's being discontinued as well, I've missed a few of those. I'll try to get the doll if it's being discontinued and it's something I really wanted.

 

FOMO generally doesn’t bother me since most of my dolls are second hand anyways. If I miss their release I can eventually find it secondhand even if I have to wait

 

yes, sometimes, but usually it's just the fear that influences my purchases, so I sit on dolls for at least a month and see if i feel the same way after. Most times i wait a year before buying anything because I know that there will be a day where I'll find the doll again if it's a limited released order or i can always buy it if its in stock.

 

I suffer from doll FOMO a lot >.< I try not to impulse buy and I've gotten a lot better about not buying dolls just due to FOMO but I regret not getting a miadoll koi when he was released recently and now the FOMO is hitting me a little harder with other preorders >.<

 

When I first started the hobby (2006) before taking my hiatus (2011) yes. I was afraid of never being able to find what I wanted again so I would purchase as soon as I saw the doll that I wanted. This is also one of the things that burned me out from the hobby. Too many dolls, too fast, and couldn't bond or enjoy the one's already in my collection.

As of current? No. I came back to the hobby in 2021 and I am just now, in 2023, buying my first "re-entry" doll. I live by the motto that if it's meant to be it will be and I live by a stricter budget now. So if I have the funds I will purchase but if not, by the time I have the funds, the doll is not for sale, then it wasn't meant to be and I wasn't meant to have the doll in my collection.

 

I try not to let it influence me, but it does, sadly- especially with secondhand, where speed is sometimes key.
I took a long hiatus from dolls, sadly selling one I now miss terribly and rarely see secondhand, but thankfully I tend to be a little more accepting of missing out the higher the prices go.

 

Nope never has. I’ve never been one to follow fashion, if I buy something it’s because I like it, it ‘calls’ to me in some way. This can be said about anything I purchase in this hobby or in life in general. That doesn’t mean I haven’t made regrettable impulse buys, I’m as guilty of that as the next person, just that those buys weren’t influenced by FOMO.

 

Not at all these days, actually. I will usually only buy things and dolls that I actually genuinely like, and tend to be picky with these so I take my time considering before I make a purchase. I have definitely regretted not buying certain dolls that were limited or were discontinued before I made the decision, but think it ended up being for the best, since I wasn’t sure. I did buy on impulse before, especially clothes and items, and ended up regretting it later.

 

I actually get FOMO with buying doll accessories more so than the dolls themselves. I think I’m about to the point of being happy with my doll collection, but not so much with all the accessories. So I try to not let it bother me when I can’t get a wig or shoe or something, but at least with dolls, with any luck, you can find secondhand.
Accessories,on the other hand, well good luck finding exactly what you were looking at getting before!

For me, it’s the worst when I get a new doll and it needs JUST the right wig and oh no , they only have one or two left-! Same with anything else I plan on buying for that doll right away.

 

Not at all.
Fear of missing out doesn't affect me buying anything (other than some limited-edition bread flavors at the bakery).
With dolls there's always a chance to get that doll later, it might take more time/money but certainly not impossible.

 

FOMO motivates me pretty badly and it's becoming a problem

I've become somewhat of a revolving door collector, unfortunately, in the past two years because I've jumped for every cute doll that I've wanted only to realize later (when it was in-hand) that I wasn't actually all that taken by it.

I also have made a few impulsive purchases that were admittedly financially irresponsible, which I'm dealing with the consequences of slowly. I know it's nothing I can't handle, but boy, do I feel foolish