High Prices?

I have seen a discussion somewhere discussing how much you are personally willing to pay for bjds....
I thought they were very expensive too but once I started looking at everything, the hand sculpted originals, cost of resin, hand painted faces.. It starts to even out in my mind. Since Ive been shopping for the last 2 years Ive kind of worked out the prices in my mind, staying around 600-800 for sds, 300-500 for msd and under 450 for tinies. I know there are some that cost alot more but I am a college student too so I try to curb my spending. As far as faceups that completely different, I have seen artists on the boards do faceups for 100+ so a company faceup for 50-60 seems reasonable. I started doing my own faceups/sewing clothes/blushing for my dolls simply because I feel like the base price of a doll is plenty pricey enough for me already. But after doing it for a while you realize how much work it is!!! sewing tiny clothes is hard! so now most prices seem justified lol

 

In my experience, the dolls I've been able to interact with are perfectly priced for what they are. Both the higher end and lower end dolls I've handled are included in this statement. I will say not all dolls and not all prices are created equal between them all, but some really do seem perfectly priced for the pros and cons of each one.

For the type of doll I like, I can only imagine them to be overpriced if they were in the $XX,000 price range. For the type of doll I like, the $X,000 price range isn't too much because I have very high standards, I guess you could say. I would be willing to pay thousands if it meant all those standards were met or even exceeded, but not into the tens of thousands range. For anything less than my personal standards, I would only pay a certain amount of hundreds for.

As for the price of a reasonable face-up, that depends on what you, I and everyone else can call reasonable. For me, a reasonable face-up can easily be $150 if it meant all my standards were met, while that would be totally unreasonable for another person no matter what, even if it were the most perfect piece of art ever, that's how it is for me. But $150 for a face-up I wasn't totally thrilled with? Now that would be unreasonable for me.

My cut off for the price of a doll is probably around the $5,000 range. If it were perfect, I would absolutely pay that much for it. I've never done things for my dolls because they were too expensive to have done by someone else, but I have sewn for my dolls (and friends dolls) and made things for them simply because I wanted to before.

But slightly off the topic of reasonable and more on the side of ideal; I'd ideally like to pay no more than $500 for tinies, $800 for minis and $1,000 for large dolls. Of course I will when the case calls for it, but those are the high-end of prices I am most comfortable with and would in fact call bargains for the types of dolls I like.

 

Man, Rikka. I want your financial stability, to be able to pay those prices for a doll.

I generally won't go over the 500$ range for any doll. There are exceptions, but as a rule.. that's my cut-off.

 

I had to go with 'it depends'.

I tend to think that most companies price their dolls as reasonably as they possibly can. I don't think any of them are actually trying to fleece their customers in some form or another. The materials from which the dolls are made are generally not cheap materials, and there's a good bit of skilled labor involved in their production.

As far as things like the clothing and accessories? I studied costume and fashion design in college, and know a fair bit about garment construction. I know how much work it is to make the average garment I see, and can generally glean a decent idea of the fabric quality from images based on drape/etc. I know what I would ask someone to pay me to make a men's suit at doll scale with working welt pockets, and let me tell you -- it's less than Soom charged for the one I bought. It's certainly less than what I've seen most companies ask for similar items. To some extent, that is my yardstick for doll clothing at least: would it be worth $X for me to not have to make it myself? If the answer is a resounding yes -- welt pockets, I am still looking at you here -- I'll pay it.

When I look at the way items like that are priced -- and consider it reasonable for the work involved -- I can't help but think that it's rare for a company to be reasonable on one item and then gouge like crazy on another. There are sometimes exceptions to this, but pricing philosophies tend to be fairly even-handed across the board for any given company, I'd think. Sometimes price tags on things not done 'in house' may be slightly higher, but that's pretty standard, too, since there's an additional layer of markup involved.

 

Please don't misunderstand, I am far from what I'm sure you're imagining. It's not like I can drop that kind of money every day of the week or anything like that. It's only that I am perfectly okay saving up for 5-7 years to get a certain doll if it were one I truly loved. I have sadly yet to find such perfection in existence. So far, I have only found two dolls I love enough to buy and dolls are literally the only thing I spend money on in my life that isn't food or job related. It's the only luxury in my life and I live at home with the family still, so those are the only reasons it is even a possibility. If I were on my own or had other minor hobbies sucking money out the window, this certainly would not be the case.

 

At first I thought that Volks dolls were incredibly pricey! Mainly so their limiteds.
But when you factor in all of the things that the dolls come with(ie:eyes,faceup,shoes,clothes
accessories) they are just right in the price margin.

Now a company like DOD, whom is actually one of my favs is more on the pricey
side. Their base price starts at 520.00 excluding face-up,clothes and shoes. After
all of those your almost up to $700USD. So IMO I chose 'just right' since the majority
is normally okay, with the exception of a few.

I kinda see why they cost so much due to the labor, time,materials, and
the trade is more on the 'specialty' side. But when you're talking about
a 300.00 head, now then a gets a little bad...:/

 

It does get discussed periodically

What I am willing to pay for a doll doesn't always have to do with whether or not I feel they're overpriced. It's more related to my own personal finances. Most bjds I've seen seem reasonable to me. The most expensive dolls on the market are usually LEs, and with LEs, supply and demand come into play as well. Likewise, I don't have a set limit to what I'll spend, but it does fluctuate depending on what my situation is and how badly I want a particular doll.

 

Ah..... The price of dolls and what we are willing to pay for them. A dilemma we all have and will continue to have. I relate to Karighan. I too have a limit, with a few exceptions, you know.... For those Grail Dolls. I would imagine the BJD companies are like any other. They have and will continue to charge what the market will pay. These dolls are hand made, so I understand the cost, but I also feel that unless the manufactures keep the costs in line, many of us will be priced out of the hobby. This is why I applaud the lower priced companies getting into the game. As long as the quality is commensurate with the price, I don't have to have the most expensively priced doll out there to be passionate about her.

One thing I have noticed, especially on the MP, you can often find less expensive SDs out there than MSDs.

That being said, 350 for tinys 500 for minis and 750 for SD

 

When I first started looking at dolls I thought they were incredibly expensive. However, after being in the doll community for several years, seeing the differences in dolls, I'm going to say it depends. I do think at times the clothes are insanely priced, but then I *can* sew so that makes a difference to me.

 

I don't think I have a set limit on what I'd spend if I really wanted the doll - but I also don't just look at how much I like the sculpt or the jointing anymore when I decide whether or not a certain doll is worth the money.

The bar by which I measure all companies now is whether or not they offer seam sanding. I dislike seams and dislike removing them myself just as much. I've purchased dolls from a couple of Chinese companies (Angell-Studio and Loongsoul) who performed this service automatically and for free. Then there are popular companies like Soom or Dream of Doll who do not offer this service or do so at a hefty extra fee. (In the case of my Angell-Studio doll, they sanded a custom Gray resin doll - whereas Soom does not even offer a sanding option for their exotic colored dolls.)

In my mind, that extra effort on the company's part makes my $400 LoongSoul doll worth much more than any $700 Soom.

 

I'm a college student, and a theatre arts major at that. I would not sacrifice the doll I want just based on the price. I would save longer. As I see it, if I just settled with a different doll that I did not really want I would be unhappy and would end up spending more just to get the doll I originally wanted.

 

IT seems there is a lot going on in this post. First there is the topic of the price of the doll itself nude. Do I think they are ever over priced. Are you implying that some companies over charge as in for name recognition alone? There is so much that goes into the price of a doll. There is more to it than just Doll company A charges $500 and Doll company B charges $300 for the exact same doll. Production in different countries cost different amounts, the resin quality may be different, the sculpting may be different ect. I have never set a specific limit on the amount I would pay for the perfect doll. If it is the doll I just have to have for whatever reason then that is the doll I buy. But with that being said if I am shelling out the money the doll better be perfect for my needs. The perfect doll for me may not be the perfect doll for you or for my hubby (who is also a collector). Doesn't matter to me which company that doll comes from but there are certain things that appeal to me as far as aesthetic is concerned as well as posing abilities. I buy my dolls specifically to fit original characters I have in mind. There are companies that just fit my needs more than others.

Ok so now that is addressed we can address the topic of face ups. I do most of my own face ups and some of it is a matter of money. Face ups aren't cheap. I understand why they are as expensive as they are. Faceups are not easy to do. There is an amount of time that goes in to completing a face up as well as consumables (pastels, paints, sealants ect). But honestly that is not the only reason I choose to do my own face ups. I enjoy doing face ups for my dolls. The draw of this hobby is the customizing and originality. I want my dolls to be my own. Even if I didn't do them myself I would most likely not choose company face ups favoring individual artists instead. I don't think companies are gouging, but I want something different and unique.

As far as clothing goes I don't sew. My sewing machine and I have a love/hate relationship at best. Which means I buy all of my dolls' clothing. I would love to be able to sew for them not so much to save money as that I get really frustrated when I want something and just can not seem to find it anywhere in the correct size. Though admittedly with as many dolls as I own now it would be nice to save some money on everyone's clothes as well.

 

You may want to ask yourself this question: "Once I have my art degree, what's the hourly wage I want to be paid for offering my honed skills and knowledge to other people?"
It takes several hours to do a face-up and face-up artists have spend many more practising until they were able to offer quality face-ups. They expose themselves to harmful substances (sealers damage the lungs) and need to protect themselves with proper protection devices which are not cheap. The materials they work with are also not cheap. So I'd say that $60 for a professional face-up is a steal and if you want custom work, which means more work for the face-up artist, you have to pay more.

This does not mean $60 isn't a lot of money if you are on a budget. I've happily paid over thousand dollars for a limited doll and I say it was worth the money. At that time I had that kind of money. Now that I currently don't have that kind of money, I still say those kind of dolls are worth the money, but I won't buy them as they are outside the range of my current doll budget. It is okay to say that something is too expensive for you.
This has not much to do with whether a doll is worth its price. It's just too expensive for you to spend your money on.

 

This topic comes up pretty regularly, whether in its own threads or in others. I don't have set limits on price. Right now with my financial situation, no doll is inexpensive enough. That just means no new dolls for a while. I would say I have bid on auctions and never been able to cross about the $2,000 limit, so that might be my knee-jerk borderline. However, if I had the resources to do a Dream FCS at $5,000, I would do it. I do not think any companies are over-charging on BJDs, and I think most individual faceup artists are extremely reasonable from the prices I've heard bandied about.

Muisje and Kiyakotari have it right. There's a significant difference between out of reach for some individuals and actually over-pricing.

 

This is beautifully explained! There is no single part of this post I can point to as the best part; the whole thing is brilliantly put.

 

^ This. Like Muisje said, even if you sometimes can't afford to pay the prices asked, doesn't mean they are not worth it. My budget is tight at the moment, but I still think that the beautiful Little Monica Renonne is worth every penny.

And to answer the poll, I usually think that these dolls are under priced, considering the hours it takes to create one and the material cost. I once calculated that if I would sell a doll for $400 I'd only make $50 profit. That means I would not even make $1 an hour!

But, a realistic price and what people are willing to spend on a doll are two different things. Imagine that a company would suddenly release a standard (naked, no face-up, no wig and eyes) doll for $2000. Who'd buy it? Not many.
Even if you're a good face-up artist, or seamstress, you still have to deal with the current market. People are only willing to spend $300 on a face-up if you've established a name for yourself. (and even then, I think only a few popular artists can afford to ask such prices)