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

i've stopped collecting. additional dolls and consider myself done

 

I finally learned to do faceups.

it was time. I’ve been in the hobby since 2015, and only this year did a combination of factors lead to me realizing I couldn’t afford to ship my heads to any of the artists that I liked, nor could I afford to shuffle characters like I was doing if it meant new faceups. Not to mention, tons of artists prefer not to faceup dyed heads, which, I totally get. They’re not always even. If you have to remove some details, you might remove dye too, I get it. But I dye a lot of dolls.

Add to the equation, msc is $14 CAD at the local gundam shop. I had to get over myself and learn. My faceups aren’t perfect but they sure are mine, and I enjoy making them.

 

Instead of finding new sculpts to buy, I've just been repurposing heads I already had into new characters. I've also decided I'll be going with Resinsoul when it comes to bodies unless there's a specific height difference I need.

 

I find I'm spending a lot more on fabric, yarn and supplies to make accessories and props so thats stopped a lot. I kinda have to prioritize buying gas so I can make it to work, which is now a farther commute. I'm spending about 150 to 200 bucks a month on gas, just writing that makes me cringe. I definitely limit myself on doll things and other hobbies and use longer layaway options

 

It's not a favourable time for a newbie in this hobby. At the beggining of 2022 I was finally in a financially secure position and that's when I ordered my first doll. However cost of shipping [dolls and Etsy items] + customs I pay makes me mull over every purchase.

My country currency exchange rate to USD is also dropping week to week since late February, so a doll I ordered back in Feb is now 15% more just because of that...

I have ordered 3 dolls so far in 2022 and that will be probably it for this year +/- 1 doll or head, depending on mine/my partner's budget. I should probably focus on developing some crafting skills more, but it still requires initial funds input [fabrics, art supplies, sewing machine etc.], but I cannot justify paying for overseas shipping cost for doll clothes [it's bad enough for wigs and eyes].

 

It really hasn't changed anything. I was too stingy to buy anything before and I'm still too stingy to buy anything now.

 

I am someone who functions off a budget, the price increases has caused me to re-work my budget in some aspects. I put less in savings and even less towards hobbies/activities etc and more towards things like food, and gas etc. Which means as a result, it has taken me longer to save the money for a doll than what I expected. I've had to let some things go and rework the amount that I want to actually spend on a doll to something that is reasonable considering my current finances. In some aspects, it stinks. But in others, it has allowed me to not impulse buy and save for something that I truly want.

 

I definitely look more closely at the dollar exchange rate when ordering, and try more to wait for periods where doll companies have special offers.
Shipping increased priced is annoying, but even more so is the custom tax change in europe that happened during covid, meaning I am sure to pay taxes on absolutely everything I buy. Between that and shipping and exchange rate, dolls definitely cost more than they used to...
And for clothes, I'm now trying to mostly buy within europe to avoid those same import taxes... Or better yet I try to make my own more often, and I'm trying to dig into my piles of supplies (fabric and yern) to avoid buying too much new stuff

 

I would say so far it hasn't at all, partly thanks to the fact that there's only really one more character of mine I intend to shell (and I haven't even found the right doll for him yet), but mostly I haven't even been in the mood for BJDs much at all this year. Though, well, I did see a new "limited" doll from Dream Valley I really would have wanted a couple months back, but I wouldn't have been able to afford it soon enough even normally, so the only difference was that my reaction to it was slightly more towards "I might never own that doll" than "I might buy that doll in a year or two" than usual.

 

It's been tough. I've grown to become EXTREMELY picky in everything and anything I may buy, from the dolls themselves, to their clothes, to crafting supplies. It doesn't help that shipping and conversion rates from USD to CAD suck as a Canadian, bc now all prices I see will need an added $40-50 to guesstimate the actual cad pricing. Even though at the end of the day, it'll be the same price regardless if it's usd or not... But my brain hates it regardless. I'm considering layaway options and sales more often, which has helped my wallet hurt a little less.

On the plus side, at least I don't end up impulse-buying new dolls as much. I'm already used to window shopping/admiring from afar, so it's fine by me. But every now and then that Yearning will hit, and I have to fight myself to not hit the buy button right away. Ah, the pros and cons of being part of an expensive hobby..

 

Living in Australia, it's affecting me quite a bit - mostly to do with exchange rate. I have enough discretionary income to fund a doll hobby, but the exchange rate between USD and Australian dollar is the worst I've seen for a long time, and shipping costs, always high to Aus, have skyrocketed even more. I recently bought something off the DoA MP, and while I was still went through with the purchase, the shipping cost and exchange rate gave me real pause, and has prompted me to completely rethink how I spend money on dolls.

The BJD hobby base in Australia is tiny, it'll be hard to buy local. As much as I love the secondary market, I can't justify overseas shipping costs for small/few items, so the secondary market is off-limits except for resin. Which probably means buying new non-resin things from BJD stores, but less frequently, and more items in one shipment. I've always been picky about what I buy for my dolls, but still have to plan purchases for the long-term and watch the budget a lot closer now.

I'm also learning how to do faceups myself - about time I did anyway. If that goes well I might learn how to make props too.

 

The Canadian dollar has been disappointing on the exchange rate for years. It does fluctuate somewhat but it's been going down lately. Add in higher shipping costs to a sub-par performance of the CAN$ as well as the fact that I'm not working right now and I'm even more hesitant than usual to buy resin. That's not to say I don't look because I do. I've been eyeing a particular doll in the MP for literally months now but keep holding off because Responsible Adult says it's not a good idea to spend that much on something that is a luxury and Resin Addict very reluctantly agrees. The doll is a really good price but once shipping is added and exchange happens, it's just a little less than all my monthly bills (power, phones, internet and credit card payment) put together worth of cash.

For the things I make for my guys, I haven't really changed anything. I always used clothes that didn't fit me anymore as material for them (when I could). I've always visited a 2nd hand store and browsed their fabric section as well as fancy cloth napkins/placemats/sheets/pillow case areas for fabric to use. I'll go through the baby clothes section as well for thin, stretchy fabrics with small prints. The Dollar Store gets a look as well for ribbons, notions and thread. I'll also trade stuff I've made with friends for items they have or, with my fellow crafter friends who are into dolls, we'll swap fabric and notions

 

I started a full-time job around the same time that prices begun going up drastically, so I actually have more leisure money than before. However, as a European, the poor EUR-USD exchange rate holds me back from many purchases more than not being able to afford it per se. It's just the concept that I'm paying significantly more for the doll than someone else, say, an American person would, and that thought keeps me from buying. It's not a small difference either, on a very bad day a 600 usd doll can cost me almost 100 euros more to buy than it did two years ago even if the doll itself would cost the same in USD as it did two years ago. I've occasionally gone around this by asking that 2nd hand buyers pay me in USD if I know I want to buy something soon. Then I store that USD in my PayPal balance and it won't be affected by the exchange rate.

On a bright side, it's been very easy to purge my collection of extras thanks to the exchange rate. US people can get very good deals on dolls that are sold in euros.

 

Inflation hasn't changed much of anything for me, really. How could it? The only doll I really want at this point would require a great deal of additive and subtractive modification, of which I have no one to commission for; same goes for the last bit of work I want for my current collection. SartoriaJ hasn't refreshed their SD clothing line yet, and with the invasion of Ukraine removing every other seamstress I relied on as an option (seems like the only people that care about creating for 62-65cm outside of SJ and the odd Taobao crafter are all Slavic), there's not much to look forward to on that front, either.

Cost is kind of irrelevant when what you're looking for doesn't even exist, and there's a thousand other more important things going on in the world.

 

I started to declutter and sell things that are no longer needed in the house so I would be able to enjoy something new, as well as to take additional shifts as I’ve got a lot of hobbies that I want to enjoy and need additional money for that

 

I'm only in the hobby now because of a very generous long term doll pal online who sent me some MSD's once I got housed again after not being housed for nearly six years. I'm doing a lay-a-way for a head for the first time in years and plan on doing that SD sized boy and an SD sized girl down the road but that's likely it. Buying anything BJD related just isn't in my budget overall.

I fortunately still had some BJD clothes and other stuff that didn't get stolen out of my van when a lot of my other doll stuff did so my MSD dolls have outfits on their backs and wigs on their heads. But my 2 future SD dolls they will be getting stuff sewn by me because NO WAY can I afford to clothe them otherwise these days. Just looking at wigs and shoes used gives me sticker shock, seriously. Forget about buying new, ever. I still have some SD sized wigs fortunately that will work and some material to sew with but just buying two pairs of shoes that will fit them is definitely going to be painful for my budget.

"Stuff" for BJD dolls has gotten insanely expensive since I last owned resin dolls and the dolls themselves have risen to the point where it's tough to even rationalize even having them used. I'm pretty good at MacGyvering things otherwise I probably couldn't go there at all...

 

Prices and the general worry happening over the economy have nudged me into prioritizing and selling off one collection to have funds for new bjd, so the rule im using for myself is I can buy a new doll if I have enough funds coming in from sales to pay for them. I’ve also been a bit more open to trades from the mp than usual, and I’m pretty excited about one in the works. I’ve also been doing a lot of reflection on what types of dolls I enjoy and putting parameters on new purchases. I’m trying my best to limit new dolls to mature 1/6 or fairyland dolls Minifee or smaller because I know they will fit in with my existing crew. I made bigger purchases in my earlier years in the hobby and now I don’t think I could justify $500+ on a doll anymore..

 

I don't really have the same financial situation that I had when I first started this hobby, so I'm definitely spending less. Also due to shipping costs the possibility of buying dolls new is out of the picture. If I see a good deal secondhand I'll go for it but otherwise I'm trying to enjoy what I have, and to make clothes and accessories myself. Which... is actually fine. I'm feeling a bit more pride in my collection now that I'm putting more time and effort in.

 

Exact same here.
I have a few hobbies, and they're pricey (Warhammer, Gundam/Gunpla and figure collecting)
Dolls have taken a back seat as it's easier for me to find second hand/cheaper Warhammer and Gundam here, in comparison to local second hand dolls, which seem to be far rarer.

 

I've stopped buying dolls for the moment... sold and am selling several... (I'm also changing careers so that has also affected my budget), but I'm not leaving the hobby, it's just a bit on hold... and I still got a wishlist... heheeee