How do you buy dolls?

That's a big complicated question :P

Given the choice I prefer to buy new, but I don't have a problem scouting out the second hand markets if I really want something that's no longer being made. My go-to second hand markets are the facebook groups, but I'll search around on DoA and on ebay if I'm really determined.

 

My whole crew is pre-owned, except for 1 body. I bought a new full set from Fairyland a few years ago and was seriously disappointed in the quality. With pre-owned, I know exactly what I'm getting.

 

I buy new, and as much as possible direct from the company. I have 1 pre owned mnf Siean head and 1 pre owned head + parts set from Soom, and in both cases I am beyond nervous that they are recasts (as neither came with a certificate). Dolls are supposed to be a fun hobby. If Im always worrying, it's no fun at all.

 

I always get new dolls, usually directly from the company unless is a brand like DZ where I have to go to a dealer or if I want to buy more than one brand at same time (that way is only one shipping). I even already used shopping service to buy and it was very smooth, my favorite thing is look official shops on taobao and dealers there.

I already had problems buying from a dealer and sometimes I like to look DoA marketplace but I find new dolls to be less headache, I know what I'm getting and from who.

 

It depends. I generally search secondhand first on the DOA MP, and if I find the sculpt I want looking for a new home, I send the seller a PM then (hopefully) arrive at a deal.

But---and this is a big but---a lot of sculpts on my wishlist are either new or from lesser known companies, so more times than not I have to buy direct (or from an authorized dealer).

 

I buy new when I can, I've ordered both directly through the company and through a dealer, and both options have gone really well. I suppose I always prefer to order through Alice's Collections, since they have incredible customer service and when I order a doll I usually want to pick up a few things for it at the same time, plus it's so easy to spend over $100 in accessories and Alice's offers free shipping when you order that much!

I have purchased a few heads on the MP as well, I really enjoy browsing the MP because I'll often come across sculpts I never knew existed and end up really liking.

 

Half of the doll I've owned were new and half pre-owned I found it fascinating to see the difference between them I had 2 zaolls (one new and one pre-owned and they were sanded completely different for example)

I prefer new because then i know its authentic, safe and have a little bit more warranty than a pre-owned. The ones I have pre-owned 2 were rescues and 1 isn't made anymore and was my grail doll, but it had been pretty much untouched for 10 years so I was fine with it, you could smell that nobody had opened that box for a while, haha.

When i look for pre-owned doll stuff I always go for DoA or Japanese auction sites or secondhand shops.
I don't feel safe buying on FB with the amount of recasts i see and I've sold and bought non-doll things on FB and I rarely find the experience... pleasurable
I stay completely clear of ebay especially for doll purchases.
I will consider local sales but if its a doll purchase I want to look at it beforehand. (I bought a doll this way for a friend)

 

I actually prefer to buy secondhand, personally. Wait times are often less, and I'm just not one that worries so much about yellowing or smells etc. You can almost always salvage a doll, in my experience. I've used Y!J shopping services like Noppin, the Marketplace here on DoA, Facebook groups, Flickr groups, and even eBay with complete satisfaction! I will buy my ultimate grail, a Volks F-16/old F-28, new and will of course be excited for the arrival! I am a very impatient person though, so secondhand is more to my tastes. I really enjoy taking a doll and transforming it into my own vision! So long as you're smart using secondhand services, especially eBay, you can almost always be lucky and find hard to find things with ease; in addition, you can almost always ask as many questions as you like and request as many pictures as you so desire! Secondhand for me, all the way! ^_^

 

Most of my dolls are pre-owned, and most are hybrids where I find a head I like and a body I like and create the doll I want. Out of 25 dolls, I currently have 5 that were ordered new from the company (2 of which were birthday gifts), and a further 4 whose heads were ordered new from the company but whose bodies are pre-owned. I prefer pre-owned because then I don't have to worry about customs fees and the potential for breakage with long-distance shipping.

 

Mine is basically wherever I can get hold of them. I prefer not to deal direct with companies whose first language isn't English if there is another option (so much easier to explain problems if you don't have to deal with a language barrier!), but have done now on numerous occasions so that worry is fading.

If I'm buying second hand I prefer to buy form someone in my own country if possible simply to avoid the Customs issues, but that's seldom possible so I've bough from abroad a lot.

Buying from America is a pain because their postage costs have risen so much in recent years that buying something elsewhere at a higher price (but lower, or free, shipping) often works out cheaper than buying from the US at a lower price (but with horrible US shipping costs).

Teddy

 

I actually really love buying second-hand from people. I've done a lot of both second-hand and from-company (and twice via a dealer) and I really enjoy the experience of messaging people and talking to them and buying from them. It feels very small and cosy and comfortable, rather than the cart-and-checkout shopping experience of dealers and companies.

With second-hand markets, I like to buy within the EU if I can, but now that my embarrassing country has opted to leave the EU, I suppose I have only a few months left of blissful customs-free doll-buying before it all goes the way of buying anything in from outside the EU, where I must pay through the nose for the privilege of having someone rumple around with my treasures...

 

I buy wherever the doll I'm after is available. Sometimes that's direct from the company/artist or a dealer and sometimes the 2nd hand market is my only option for dolls that are no longer available (limited, company gone, etc.). I've had good experiences buying for the most part. Oddly, my very first buy had a mix up by the company that literally took months to resolve even though the error was on their end (and I had the screen shots to prove it). That didn't sour me on purchasing from a company although, for that particular company, I'd use a dealer for any future purchases just because they were so difficult in getting the problem resolved and I'd rather not have to struggle through something like that again.

I do like the speed of 2nd hand purchases since the doll is already made and I'm not waiting months for it. But who doesn't like getting something sooner rather than later?

 

I ordered from Denver Doll Emporium and it was amazing! Because my doll was in stock she shipped right away and showed up really quickly
Plus they have a great selection of wigs and eyes!

 

I buy both directly from the company and also second hand. Sometimes you don't have a choice...like if a doll is limited and the ordering time is past. If I were starting out today I'd buy from the company....until I was familiar enough with bjds to steer clear of the numerous recasts on sites like ebay now.

Usually buying directly from a company you can get exactly what you want...which is nice....but the wait times can be a drag.
Second hand dolls are more immediate as you can get them faster....but you also have to be careful who you are ordering from. If you order from someone make sure you check out their feedback thread.

 

Most of my dolls are secondhand from the MP here, but several are also new, some from the company directly and others through a dealer. I usually prefer new if the doll is easy to get and the wait times aren't too bad, but often the sculpts I want are limited, discontinued or the company is known for extremely long wait times or poor service. In those cases, I'll buy secondhand. How I bought the doll doesn't make a lot of difference in how much I love it.

 

Yes.
I've bought new direct from the company and through dealers, and secondhand from the DoA MP and other sites. It's been a while since I bought a doll from eBay. I haven't had any particularly awful buying experiences. I've had some great ones though!

 

I prefer to buy new, but if the doll that I want to buy is not available anymore I would buy it second hand (preferably within my country though, because of the high custom taxes ^^')

 

Mine is another one of those "some of each"-collections. I've bought new from the company, from the Marketplace here, from Mandarake and Closet Child, from several different multi-company dealers and via proxy from Y!J. I've had perfect transactions and more difficult ones from all of those in pretty much equal measure... No one method has been more troublesome than any other... so I consider all of them potential avenues for getting the doll I'm after.

It's fun to get a brand new doll, fresh from the company... But I also think its fun to unpack an older doll who might have been through many different hands and adventures before they came to me.

 

I have brought secondhand first and then brand new.