Expensive? Cheap?

For me, $500 or more is expensive, but I don't really see price as important. Instead of how much a doll costs, it's how hard a doll is to get. If I really wanted an expensive doll, I'd probably save up the money and get it. Even if I had an unlimited amount of money, I don't think I'd spend any more on dolls than I would without it, since for me, waiting and saving up for a doll is part of the fun.

 

I feel old when I think anything over $100 is expensive. When I think things are too expensive, it generally means I don’t want it as much as I thought I did before I saw the price. It really varies.

 

When I started, $200 were a big deal for me but now that I have paid around $500 for a limited fullset doll, I have set muy limit there.
Even with an unlimited quantity if money, I wouldn't have an army of dolls. I'm pretty picky when it comes to choose sculpts for my characters. I would rather spend it in more things for my current ones or other hobbies or, who knows, myself? XD

 

Oh gosh, there's a lot to take in here!

What is an "expensive" doll to you?
Most of them? I have gotten very few of mine at $100 or less, and $100 is definitely a lot of money for a luxury item!

When does it start getting ridiculous for you?
If I want a doll badly enough, I am willing to pay whatever the asking price is. Although I don't make much money, I practice saving and budgeting to get my dolls, with a lot of luck thrown in at finding the right doll at the right time at the right price secondhand.

Do you prefer expensive or cheap dolls overall?
Who wouldn't prefer spending less money?

What is the most you'd pay for a doll?
I don't know. I can tell you in the past, when my financial and personal situation was much different, I once paid 1k for a doll.

If money poured from your rear like a fountain, would you buy hundreds of dolls or still limit yourself to a set number?
Absolutely hundreds of dolls! Or rather, if money wasn't an issue, I'd fix up the ones I have and THEN buy hundreds of dolls.

How has your views on expensive versus cheap dolls changed since you first entered the hobby?
When I first entered the hobby, there really weren't any "cheap" dolls. So my view is that it's great that there are so many more options now!

 

I certainly prefer more expensive dolls these days, because I've handed over $600 twice to Volks for their MSDs this year alone. However, I wouldn't shame or belittle others for preferring cheaper dolls. That's an awful thing to do. Also, I'll be a realist here - if I had unlimited funds I certainly wouldn't spend it all on BJDs. I'd invest, make a rainy-day fund, etc. But for dolls, I'd still set myself a limit, because space is very tight.

These days, "expensive" for me is defined as $700 or more. Luckily, none of the dolls on my wishlist cost that much.

 

I thought $200 was a lot when I was starting out, but I was a jobless teenager with no money. I also don't think I realized the work that goes into making dolls. I'd say $500 is now where my price cap is for a blank doll and I'm glad that the more expensive ones have yet to catch my eye. Anything over that is too crazy for me.

 

I feel the same way. In my country, $300 is already equivalent to 17,000 Philippine Peso, and that is enough to pay half for college tuition fee for one semester out of two semesters a year. So if I can get a great BJD for only $300, I would be the happiest person

 

BJD is an expensive hobby!
I use to buy dolls around 400$ and I have to add custom fees and shipping so at the end they cost more than 500$.
I never buy full sets, I use to do all I can buy myself but anyway the supplies are also expensive.
The highest price I paid for a doll was 800$ for a secondhand Tobi Kaye Wigs, I really wanted her!

 

I would consider dolls over 400$ expensive. Especially if it's anything smaller than an SD. That having been said, many of the dolls on my wishlist are "expensive."

 

I think the interesting question for me is this one:

When does it start getting ridiculous for you?

Because I used to think that it's only ridiculous if a person is buying dolls that they can't afford, but I find that more and more I feel like my previous enthusiasm was excessive. So I would say that I purchased a ridiculous number of dolls even though they weren't technically out of my budget.

So now I tend to think of it in less purely financial terms. But maybe that's not exactly what the original question was meant to be. Because in purely financial terms, I've found that with very few (genuinely only one or two) exceptions, I've gotten what I've paid for at both ends of the price spectrum.

 

When I first discovered the hobby, I thought everything was expensive. And I mean EVERYTHING. Now, it depends on the size of the doll and how detailed it is. I'm planning on getting a Minifee (my first bjd!! eek!) and I'm expecting to pay around 500$ (including extra parts and stuff) which is a little expensive for me, but since It's my first doll, I'm okay with it. Plus, when you think about what they went through to sculpt the doll and make everything satisfactory, it makes me realize I would sell the doll for the same price.

 

I'm not sure how to answer this question. Some days it still blows my mind that I've paid over $100 for a doll, and then to think I've done so over and over again and again... The most I had spent on a doll before resin was about $80. But now it's a regular thing to spend a great deal of my spending money on dolls and doll things. Currently, my most expensive is about $800, and I don't think I'll ever spend more than that. I try to keep my purchases under $400.

 

If I had unlimited monies, I don't think I'd have unlimited dolls. I just don't like that many dolls enough to want to own one! I probably would have a few more dolls -- over $400 is my "uh... yeah no not now" threshold, and $300 is pushing it. I've been waffling over dolls between $290 – $325 for about a month now because while I can probably afford it without major consequences later... that's still a lot of money.

 

All Bjd are expensive to me, since I’m on a tight budget, working part time while going to school, paying most of my own bills. But comparatively, I’d say $700 is where I get to the “I’ll never be able to afford it, not at any point in my lifetime” level. I understand why they’re so expensive though, so I’m not even a little upset about how much they cost. My hybrid cost me $230, because I bought my dream head sculpt, and she’s a work of art, that is probably worth more than that, at least to me.But man if I could poop money I’d have a significant amount of dolls. Like maybe 10, which at this point in my life seems impossible.

 

I think around the €500+ is when I'd really need to be convinced that I want the doll. Also, I don't really like full sets, since I like the idea of creating my own character, so more than €500 for just a body would seem really expensive.

Also I mostly like tinies and MSDs, so if the price were to go above €500, I really don't think I could justify that to myself.

 

I completely understand what you mean.. Which is why I only aim to purchase only one BJD that I really really want so I don't have to waste my hard-earned money hehehe

 

Hmm... dollwise, I think for a naked doll (w/faceup) I consider $500 to be expensive--from some companies. For me, it depends on the company, really. Like, Volks, the cheapest doll is around $500, but somewhere like Bobobie, that`s on the higher end.
I don`t like to spend more than that on a doll if they come naked, but I will admit to having spent almost a thousand on a grail fullset. That`s the highest I go though. Those gorgeous dolls that are several thousand dollars? Lovely, but impractical at the level I make money...unless I want to skip rent, bills and food for a month or two!

 

What is an "expensive" doll to you?
Speaking entirely in SD to 70cm terms, naked, no faceup, no eyes, not limited $700/$800+ is expensive, $500/$600 is about average, anything less than $500 is a great deal.

When does it start getting ridiculous for you?
at $900 to $1000 but I've done it twice now and I still can't believe myself. Everyone talks about how hybrids are "a great way to save" but I buy purely based on what I like. And I am picky about both head AND body. If this means buying oh, say, a Dollshe head in honey skin cocoa tan + shipping and a Dollstown 17 also in honey cocoa tan + freaking shipping...apparently, I will do it. (I want it known for the record I felt sick after that purchase, but it was worth it, no regret, I love the hell out of that resin.)

Do you prefer expensive or cheap dolls overall?
I'm not a person who wants to show off, I'm likely to brag about cheap purchases and be rather embarrassed about expensive ones and am really only ok admitting to doll prices to doll people. I am an utterly cheap bastard who grew up poor and have worked my entire adult life in retail. So my idea of what I want to pay for anything is -the absolute least amount I can- however when it comes to dolls, more expensive ones (in my eyes) tend to have better musculature, better engineering, prettier hands, better head/body proportions.

What is the most you'd pay for a doll?
um...$1200? T_T I think is what I paid for my most recent irresponsible hybrid. (Impldoll Aries/Dollshe-with all the hands and shipping) I can't see going much higher than that though honestly. I don't think there will ever be a doll I love so much that I'm willing go there.

If money poured from your rear like a fountain, would you buy hundreds of dolls or still limit yourself to a set number?
... do I also have unlimited space and time to play with them? Because that has a profound effect on the answer. If I'm restricted to living in my current overstuffed one bedroom apartment with my husband, l would limit it.

How has your views on expensive versus cheap dolls changed since you first entered the hobby?
Dramatically. When I entered the hobby SDs didn't really come any cheaper than $500 and I thought that was horrible, why couldn't they be like $200 or less? And WTF, $60 for shipping??? I also thought I would only ever own ONE because that was way too much money. A large quantity of mostly still naked dolls later, I've realized cost is highly relative and if I can save up for it over time I can talk myself into all kinds of things. -_-'''

 

Both of my dolls were pretty reasonable. I paid $118 for Miro Lele and that included faceup and shipping. Of course the poor dear is rather homely, but I am fond of him. My Withdoll is second hand and she is beautiful and in very nice condition. I didn't pay that much less for her than I would have new; but she was in my house within a week and that was awesome. She also has a really pretty skin color that I don't think they have any more.

The more I learn the more my opinions of cheap are adjusting. I'd say $200 would be cheap if it included faceup. I have looked at some and by the time I added in everything I wanted the doll was $900, I think?( Iplehouse Peachgold Mari) So I just slunk right on out of there. I've also checked out some of those fantasy full sets with armor etc, and those are amazing, but too expensive for me.

I understand that they are art. But honestly, I think anything over $700-$800 is pretty expensive for a doll. I also wonder if I would even enjoy a doll I was afraid to touch.

However if I had unlimited money, I would probably have a dozen dolls, a warehouse workroom, and a talented seamstress employee to sew everything I think up much more skillfully than I can so far!! : ) I would also have many many many many pairs of doll shoes.

 

All of my dolls are 2nd hand except my dollfie dream cos i got her when i was in japan! She cost ard $700 with volks clothes and doll bag and i wont want to spent that kind of money on a single doll again! My cheapest 2nd hand 1/6 doll are less than $100 and he is still 1 of my fave! The rest of them are in between not exceeding $300.