How has the price of everything going up affected your collecting?

I only have one doll left that I intend to purchase, so while I expect paying a bit more than intended, I don't think it will affect me too much, since it's only one doll.

I am mainly a sewer, knitter and crochet-er (is-that a word?). So if my material stash dries up (ha!), I think that people would still donate clothes that I can cut up for materials. It would imply a bit more work than just buying some cotton at IKEA, but since dolls don't require as much materials, I am not overly worried about finding a cheaper source of materials.

But I will be a lot more selective when buying wigs, since I don't make them, and they may increase in price.

 

Some ways it is affecting me this year:
I mostly bought doll parts second hand if at all, but that's pretty normal for me. I'm avoiding dumping extra money into shipping, so I'm choosing sellers in my own country almost always if I buy anything.
For fabrics or sewing supplies I get new, I'm usually waiting for a sale, some notions I always get only at Walmart because they are much cheaper there. Knit fabrics are never a good price at JoAnn's in my opinion, so instead I buy shirts in good condition from goodwill and sew those into stretchy doll clothes. I look for other people's remnants on eBay and Etsy if I'm trying to build my stash more for a bargain, not that I bought any yet, but window shopping.
I am trying really hard to make as much use of what I have as possible. I'm altering old clothes if possible rather than make it new. I'm using trim and lace and findings I've had for 5+ years... if I think I need something I check all my drawers and make a very precise list do I don't get the wrong supply at the fabric store. I'm trying to really use up every fabric and be careful how much I get cut of it to begin with. I am able to cut and restyle wigs pretty well so unless what I'm tired of is actually somewhat valuable I will modify it into something a bit different. (The sellers market has been worse than ever for me and I'm adjusting). I regret to say it but even when I opted for a new wig for example, I'm not ordering it from my favorite bjd stores overseas, the shipping will crush me now. I look until I find exactly what I want at a low price used on eBay, on sale as a dead stock or from some shops on Amazon. I try to save money instead of redoing some faceups I want to change or have been damaged, by just painting new details over and that really adds up on costs avoided by not needing to spray a lot of sealant, the other materials are almost negligible.
My last thing is that when I end up with craft materials I really don't want anymore I'm going to try to trade them for something different via hobby swap groups on Facebook etc to save some money on new fabric or etc.
A lot of this is stuff I've always done to some extent as a lower income hobbyist.
My biggest effort is to not be hasty and if I already brought it home to try to use it rather than waste more time and money shipping and paying for shipped stuff.
I edited this post because in the last month it's gotten even more dire around here. my doll hobby is now focused on avoiding spending literally any money. But I hope my input might still offer good advice for low income hobbyists.

 

Pretty much spending more on groceries, less on dolls, while my income remains the same.

 

I have been using the second hand market a lot more. Passing up on a lot of new releases. Also, just buying doll heads and re-using bodies rather than getting full dolls.

 

I cut out second hand spending. At least i was doing that until 2 months ago. Now im considering aiming higher in life financiaĺly cuz these awful times reminded me im not living to my fullest potential and I dont want to sell my dolls

 

I’ve stopped collecting bjds and am not going to be buying any new clothes or wigs for my crew as the prices are just more than I’m willing to pay. Especially if the clothes or wig doesn’t fit or look right. I can’t afford any ‘mistakes’ and have a pile of un-usable doll items (I just got rid of the one I’ve had for years). I’m going to be working on my dolls with what I already have on hand. The economy has shown me I need to cut back and learn more self control and be more careful of what I buy.

 

Mmmm I guess I haven't noticed it because I always hem and haw over what I buy. What I do notice is shipping costing more, especially from over seas. I always try not to buy more.

 

I'm trying to spend less money on everything besides the essentials more carefully in general bc of inflation due to the war.
I'm treating myself to a doll but honestly idk if I'll be spending anything on things like clothing, shoes, wigs, and other accessories for a good while. I'm even cutting down on material like yarn and fabric for the clothes I make for dolls. Shipping has also been more expensive for some places and it got more expensive from Russia and Ukraine to the US after I think 2016 or something??
I'm not short on cash or anything but I'm saving in case the situation gets worse for my family in Ukraine soon and also bc I'm getting married and I'm in college working part time in research.

Looking forward to going to Ukraine this winter though!! I might be staying more than a couple weeks next time! I'll try and go to a doll meetup since there are a good amount of art doll collectors and doll clothing designers there, especially relatively close to the city my family lives in and in that oblast in general!

 

Yeah, this is me exactly. And I’ve ceased buying directly from overseas right now…too costly and too much worry. I have ordered a couple of YOSDs this year by using a dealer in my own country (let them deal with the shipping headaches for me.) And I bought them on long layaways to fit into my tight budget. But I resisted a lot of great doll events this year, which was certainly difficult. I usually add 3 larger sized dolls per year, so getting the two little ones is definitely my way of cutting down.

As for fabrics, I’ve cut down there too. I only buy from Etsy, only within my own country, and only when desperately needed for a special outfit. For anything else, I just use what I already have…and that includes thread even if it isn’t quite the perfect shade (close enough is good enough these days.) And if I buy fabric one month, it blows my doll budget, so I must wait until the next month to buy anything else doll related. Period! I have two special SD doll hats on hold for next month, which will mean absolutely no fabric purchases in September. That’s just the way it is.

 

I think it's more noticeable when you plan out a budget and realize there's more money being spent on the essentials and less going to your hobby. It's actually kind crazy how much I didn't notice. Like the prices of things I used to not look too much into the price of (like deodorant, laundry powder, cooking essentials) went up between 10-50 cents and it adds up pretty quickly when it's happening to so many items.

 

Aside from my two Soom guys and that unfortunate LB Chiwoo, I haven't really bought much that's doll-related for at least a year. It's not really a matter of inflation or expensive shipping (Though that has definitely been noticeable-) so much as just... not needing anything.

Given the economic situation, it's true that I am a lot less likely to just casually pick up interesting things that are fun, but not necessarily needed. I'm not likely to buy on a whim while that's all going on... But not needing anything has translated into not even looking at things, so even if I *were* inclined to buy, the opportunity isn't there.

At this point I have all of the eyes my gang will ever need. My favorite go-to wig company is out of business. I've been making new outfits for them rather than buying ready-made or making commission orders. I have enough of a fabric and notions stash to last me for years. There are only a couple of well-nigh-impossible-to-find dolls that I'm even still looking for...

So, yeah. I don't buy much these days. But it's as much a "lack of need" thing as it is economic anxiety.

 

I don’t know about other areas but where I live fabric and notions have gotten expensive enough so that buying certain clothes on a platform with free shipping or pickup would be cheaper than making them myself. I’ve been using a lot of fabric from the remnants bin at Joanne’s, it can come at a pretty steep discount (like 75%) because the cut up pieces are usually too small for human scale projects

 

Aaaaah see I am bad at making a budget and sticking to it. I have all my bills on autopay and I make enough that I can still put some of my paycheck into savings or towards credit cards. I really noticed it with the gas prices for my car or when I had to do my annual inspection/oil change. I guess for the hobby, I haven't noticed, but also some companies, like Luts, will notify you when they're changing prices.

 

So far, it hasn't touched by BJD hobbies much. I've already purchased the dolls I've been eyeing, and my crafting stash is already huge. As I've been chiding myself for years to buy less, I'm staying on course.

 

As far as the amount spent, it hasn't really changed. I have a set amount that I can spend per week on doll stuff, so I'm still spending that, and as of the beginning of the year, my husband and I are making more per hour than we ever have, so rising cost of living hasn't really hit us much yet.

However, the shipping increase in both time and money has affected some of my doll decisions. Most noticeably for me is shipping from many Korean shops. Many of the clothing shops I love are only shipping via EMS now, even for small items. There are some clothes that have been on my wishlist for a long time, but I can't justify $35 shipping on a $50 item. I've also noticed shipping on dolls has gone up astronomically--where I used to expect $40-60 for a 1/3 doll from Asia, I'm now looking at $60-120 on most, and that does make the secondhand market look much more appealing.

 

Right now I am trying to be more selective about what BJD I buy and create my own jewelry and other things. I am also looking over all my BJD clothes and accessories because I have bought items only to find I already owned it! I also plan the projects now before buying arbitrary items. I wound up not using things I bought or tossed them out. I think with prices and shipping increasing you have to plan out what you want to design for BJD projects or what dolls you want to set money aside. I haven't gotten to the point where I need to sell any of my BJDs or accessories. The fabric store near me is ok for what I need at the moment, but could be better.

 

Yes I think the same on shipping from Korea. EMS is just too high if you want one small item. In order to make it worthwhile you have to buy in bulk but then the overall cost is higher. Sigh!

 

Since I'm just starting to actually collect dolls, I've had to temper my impulses and do so real soul searching when it came to the ones I wanted first. I got one large purchase on a long layaway plan. Then I have two smaller ones on shorter plans. My lack of space has also put a hard limit on how many I can even own, so extra research goes into planning the look I want for them too.

 

I find myself really struggling between which of my hobbies I want to spend my money on which kind of stinks. Or selling things from one hobby to fuel purchases in another.