Does your price limit keep going higher/lower with each doll?

I tend to bounce back and forth with the amount I spend on dolls. My most expensive is Volks Ruby ($1200) and my least expensive is a Lumedoll Koit ($300.)

I do make the effort to find the cheapest price for the doll that I want. Most of my dolls have been bought second hand to save some money.

 

I have noticed a mental shift in what prices seem reasonable to me. When I started in the hobby, $300 was way too much for a doll. Over time, though, that has changed. I don't know if it's because of the dolls I bought becoming more expensive as my acquiring went on or if it's just because I got used to higher prices upfront in this hobby.

I will say that my first doll cost around $200 and my latest doll was around $500. I did spend a bit more on my dream doll (around $650) and her sister, but they were special.

 

I jumped into the hobby with an DoT boy from Dream of Doll, which was considered a cheap company back then, but I still paid over $600 including shipping and some extras. I've bought dolls that were less or more expensive than my first. I don't notice a trend, although a few years ago I was willing to save up $3000 for a Volks limited that I then happened to snatch up for a good price. Right now I don't think I'll soon spend as much on a doll as I was willing to spend back then.

 

As part of my new year's doll wishlist reorganization and pruning, I've come to the point in my BJD interest that if I really want the doll I'm going to save up for it regardless of price. This also includes attempting to find the lowest price for the doll I want if it's possible they're in the second-hand market.

For example, I really want a paletan DS Saint. But all last year I told myself he was too expensive, that I shouldn't spend that much on a doll. ...Only I ended up spending that same amount of money on three other dolls over the course of the year. If I'd just saved up the funds instead of telling myself I couldn't/shouldn't/wouldn't have him because of his price, I'd already have him. Granted, I love the dolls I do have and would have got them eventually anyway, but Saint is my first BJD love.

So the short answer for me is: I used to be pretty steady with my limit being no more than around $500 (the price of my Loongsoul boy after shipping). My other dolls cost less than the LS but were purchased after him. But now my limit is more desire based than funds based, so it's definitely going to fluctuate XD

 

My first doll was very expensive, even for the doll it was. I paid about $800 for it (used) when it was only worth about $550-$600, it was an MSD. So then for my second doll I spent about $550 (also an MSD) and I really liked the mold and price, but the body didn't pose as well as I wanted and there weren't many things available in that size which I liked (clothes, wigs, shoes). Since then I have purposely looked for cheaper dolls and in that process found the perfect BJD for me, so that really wasn't a bad thing at all.

I've found over time my spending limit went down and down, but that may also partly be because of financial problems where I don't have as much money for the hobby as I used to. When I first got in the hobby I bid $2,200 on a BJD and actually got outbid lol. Once I lost that one I got that $800 one and the $550 one at the same time. After I sold both of those because they weren't truly what I wanted, I started buying dolls under $400 and this seems to be the price I am most comfortable with and also the size I am most comfortable with (YoSDs).

These days I have a limit for myself based on size that goes like this;
SD: $1,200 at most (I'm looking at you, Volks Harajuku girls! >_>)
MSD: $800 at most (Unoa~~~)
Yo-SD: $550 at most (*Makes grabby hands at Volks YoSD Lin*)

Where in the past my limit was more like this;
SD: $2,500 at most
MSD: $1,000 at most
Yo-SD: $650 at most

Though normally I will try and spend under my new limit by like $100. That is just the absolute highest I am willing to go anymore. I'm fine waiting around on the secondhand market three years later if it takes that long for me to find a price I like.

 

Higher! I hate it. I have become too comfortable with dropping large amounts of money on dolls. But will not pay what I am willing to pay for a doll outfit on my own clothes. My first doll was in the high 3's low 4's but now my most expensive doll was over $1200 which is just crazy considering I couldnt believe I had spent so much on the first doll. Now when I see something under $500 I consider that cheap. lol

 

Mine have actually dropped
My first two dolls were $740 and $750 each.(Cocori NS LE30 & Dk Cocori)
My third was essentially free(IH Ashanti) as I traded my DkCocori away for her, but she was only $650 straight from the company(although she was brand new and mine was 2yrs old).
The next two that I'm awaiting(DS Saint NS & Rosen PT), had 50% off, so they were around $320 and $380 each.
I wouldn't have been getting both if it werent for the promotion. Although I would have paid full price for Saint but not Rosen.
My next one on my list (IH Jessica) is $600, so going up again, But if I saw her for $500 I wouldn't hesitate.

I don't really have a limit as such.
I just wouldn't spend crazy amounts on a doll - As I couldn't pull $2000 out of nowhere[if only I could ]
$700 would probably be my cap now, unless it came with some awesome extras which bumps up the price a little ;D

 

I generally look for characters more than cost first, if a doll would fit the character in mind and is a high cost doll I'll think about saving up for him unless I find something better suited for cheaper. Lately I have only been getting on the 'cheaper' side of things, aside for the upcoming order for Dollmore (three dolls + extras) I haven't gone over $300 for a doll alone yet and the one after that is to be cheaper yet... but it's not the price that has my eye but the doll itself.

My purchases are limited by my paychecks, but I generally try to save up. Two bodies that are in the process of being bought is simply because of x-mas funds that I'd received, as well as an extra $100 that turned up for me.

 

Sadly, I've gone a lot higher than I'd ever imagined spending..

My first doll was a decent price at $220, but she was second hand and through a friend. For my next couple dolls, I tried to stay under $250 and impulse bought a lot. All of the impulse/cheap buys left the house here and caused me to impulse buy my first Volks MSD. I found Volks was my 'thing' and well.. All has gone downhill from here XD

For dream dolls, I'd be willing to spend any amount. My current highest is $1800, but I really hope not to go about $1200/$1500 again and hopefully never (again) over $800 for a MSD. For YoSD, I'd do about $500 for a nude doll, but more for a fullset I like.
I'm doing my best to get my grail dolls out of the way and bought, so from now on, hopefully purchases won't go as high for me -crosses fingers-

It's weird how when first entering the hobby, you say you'll never spend that much on a doll! (As I did many times with Volks) Somehow, though, they drag you in and empty out your wallet.. -.-

 

I spend random amounts these days, from a pricey EID LE doll I bought last summer to the inexpensive Christmas event 2 for 1 tiny Doll Leaves dolls I bought last month. I save and plan for the dolls I want, like most other people on this forum, and try not to make impulse buys.

 

Mine has definitely all over the place, but I would never spend over 500 again, as I like MSDs and tinies and just will not pay that much for them. Which is sad because I really wanted a Soom tiny centaur. I started out with an SD at 550 I think - Nobility Lie, then went to a AE Meijia for like 180 or something and a tiny BBB 80.00. Then I sold them and got a Minifee DES - 350, and my newest doll is a BBB Ariel/Yao at 160. I only have the two now and that is plenty! I cannot justify spending more than 500 when that is more than half my mortgage!

So:
550 -> 180 -> 80 -> 350 -> 160

 

Price limit? What price limit? :P I don't have a price limit really. I just save up for dolls that I like. I think loving the doll is most important! If I really want something, I'll get it eventually, even if it might take a while. After all, waiting is a big part of this hobby whether we want to or not!

 

Do you ever feel that after your first inexpensive even second hand knock down priced doll, that you start looking at dolls of higher prices? Since you get used to the feeling that it may not be so bad once you have spent the money? You start to think "Eh that's not so bad."

I do think that it gets easier (for me, anyway) to spend money on dolls the longer I'm in the hobby. However, there's a good reason for that -- at this point I know that I love abjds, I have a much better sense of what I want specifically in a doll, and I know that the enjoyment will be worth the price. Money was most worrisome to me when I was looking to buy my first doll.

If your first doll was pretty expensive, do you start looking inherently for dolls of more reasonable prices?

He was a mini, and at the time he wouldn't have been considered expensive. Buying minis was a way to keep the cost down. Now there are a lot more options under $300 which was about what I spent on him. What I paid for him didn't really have an effect on what I spent later -- it was having more doll experience that really did it.

Or do you just go back and forth with each purchase? Buy one expensive, one reasonable, then one expensive?

Sure, that happens all the time with me. Sometimes the doll I want isn't as expensive, or I happen to get a really good deal on a secondhand one, or I'm putting together a hybrid so I'm not spending the money for a full doll all at once. On the other hand, sometimes to get what I've wanted that meant being willing to shell out a little more. It just depends.

 

well kinda..I men my first doll was 350+ and my second was 500,but my 3rd was only 233 , my 4th 250 and my 5th 475...sp I kinda go back and forth...but I wouldn`t pay over 700 fpr a doll...

 

It depends on the doll.

When I first got into the hobby, I thought 'Who would EVER spend $500 on a doll?' ..and then I did.

I think it wasn't the doll prices so much that I had to get accustomed to, it was the prices of clothing and shoes and other accessories.

When I got my first doll, I spent such a sum on her, and then was unwilling to spend much on clothing, eyes, wigs, etc. And she just, never clicked with me. My second was a Volks YoSD. I never went through a phase where I thought "smaller doll should mean smaller prices". I spent about equal on them. The difference was, for my tiny, I was slowly getting accustomed to prices. Things weren't phasing me as much. So she got more "stuff".

But it wasn't until I found my niche that the price barriers broke (for the most part). My first SD boy..I didn't do any research to find out if the price was good, or reasonable, all I knew was...I needed him. So I bought him. I couldn't believe I spent over $300 for a head at first. And then I just...fell.

It took about a year or so before I crossed the barrier I never imagined crossing ($1000 for a doll). And afterwards, I realized I could have gotten that doll cheaper, I should have looked for a cheaper one. But he was a limited and I wanted. Even now, I love him, but I wish i hadn't paid as much. But I also have some that were the exact same price that I feel were worth every penny, and considered cheap.

To me, it isn't a conscious thing of "I can't spend over ____ for a doll". It's more, "Do I feel the price is reasonable?". I purchased another doll, KNOWING I could get it new, blank from the company for less, but I had adored this doll forever. Loved the faceup, loved the owner's pics, so I got him.

It's funny. I recently saw a doll in the MP that I loved, and really wanted, but I couldn't justify the price when the only thing unique about it was the faceup, and I knew I could get the same mold for less and use the money I saved for a custom faceup, and maybe eyes or a wig. But when I saw the HEAD of one of my grail dolls, for more than that other doll cost all together, there was almost no thinking, I had to have it.

So the main question for me is: is it a grail doll, or is it just unique? If it's just unique, how unique is it, what makes it unique, can I easily get the same doll and make it just as unique for less? Depending on the doll, the price I'm willing to pay fluctuates greatly.

 

Before bjds, I have never owned anything even remotely expensive (iPods and gaming consoles, which are pretty common toys for kids my age, never appealed to me much, so it was also personal preference), so when I choose my first doll, price was definitely a big consideration. However, so was aesthetics, and as I really didn't like her body, I chose a hybrid, $45+145=$190, which cost more than if I just bought her as a full doll. She was MSD-sized, but my next 3 dolls were all tinies under $100. They were mostly impulse buys , and I have sold all but one. I think that period can be aptly described as "the initial doll craze", as I bought 4 full dolls, in addition to various random resin parts (for dolls that I didn't even own), within 2-3 months.

My next purchase was a Supia Rosy, and priced at $541.70 after EMS shipping, she was a doll that I had considered and compared for half a year. After that purchase, I calmed down enough to re-evaluate my personal tastes, and thinned down my resin pieces. Simultaneously, I started to consider dolls that I haven't before due to price. I think now I'm where ZombChan is, which is to say "do I want ___ doll badly enough to spend $___ on it"?

Rosy is still my most expensive piece of resin, but price is no longer as strong a factor as it was with my initial purchases, and I find that I have less impulse buys just because there's a sudden sale (sales are still awesome, though! Since I still have my CH Uri from one of their first 50% off sales ). I now have dolls on my wishlist which are more expensive than Rosy, and the reason for my putting off on their acquisition is more space than money at this point.

 

lol im a little backwards apperantly.. my first doll was my biggest purchase- i was working and saving and wanted to go 'all out' for my first so I spent about $900 on my soom heliot. After that I started getting thrifty, and im to a point now where i feel like my wishlist is reaching a good stopping point. I still add a few and weed out some who i havent bonded with- but its nothing compared to my first year in the hobby. typically im willing to spend..
up to 700 for an sd
up to 500 for msd (mostly minifee)
and up to 400 for yo sd (darn addictive soom tinies!)
So from 900 most expensive and 140 being least expensive.. but i have broken my own rules for a dream doll from time to time I guess to answer the question though... my price limit has stayed the same because it never really existed to begin with >.>

 

This is a hard one because I like to look at the dolls before the prices, however, depending on the company, sometimes the dolls within your price range can be far from ideal, but sometimes I look at the prices first and choose one that is the best out of the lot

I am pretty safe in the fact my aesthetic for dolls is very specific and fussy, so if I don't see a doll I like, I close the webpage hehe :P

 

Lately it's gone down sad now... Mostly because money is tight and I just can't afford the dolls I want like my Volks Ran (sob!) and a Winnie Dee Afi (double sob). But with that said I've taken to trying to get the dolls I want when they first come out and not getting them second hand. So I've got dolls that are reasonable $300-$500 ish range and I am, for now, ignoring the $500+ range.

NOW, all that said since when is $300 an occasion to say "Wow! That's so reasonable! I'll put it on layaway!" Gah! But it is!!!