How often do you regret your purchases?

I regretted things a LOT when first starting in the hobby. Resold a lot of dolls. Some lessons can only be learned the hard way. Chipping away and refining your tastes is a lot of trial and error. Plus, my tastes have changed a lot since starting the hobby nearly 20 years ago as a young teen.

Now a days my regrets are usually over not buying something. Wait a little too long and pre-orders close due to order volume. Thinking certain molds will get re-released eventually and they don't. I find selling something I no longer want is a lot easier than desperately trying to track down something I missed.

Also seconding the pleather woes. A moment of silence for the previously stunning bike jackets I collected that blessedly got stored away from everything else so when they turned into a wad of tacky tar gum they didn't ruin anything

 

I used to buy dolls in a compulsive way so I regret a couple of purchases. In fact I tried to sell them because I don't feel a bond with them even if I liked them at that moment. So what I do now i's wait like 6 months when I want to buy a doll. If I still like it as the 1st time i saw it, I buy it. If I don't feel the same it's because that doll is not for me.

 

I'm still really new so I haven't made a lot of doll-related purchases, but I'll echo others saying clothes and wigs. Finding a high quality wig was somehow quite difficult (because I wanted a certain style and color), which surprised me. As for clothes, it's always a fit issue. I have a DDS and even things that will supposedly fit her just don't; everything is so large.

 

Some regrets for buying male dolls (thankfully I have all sold them at a good price so there was no huge loss of money). But most regrets are the gaps between what looks good and what goes well in my home. Not only the non honest sellers but sometimes I think too less what will go well with my dolls and what kind of complexity of orgnising well these items I can handle.

Not to blame anyone, but I do regret less when I have better knowledge of my own capacity.

 

I don't regret things much in general, and that includes doll related purchases. Personally though regret is something I've only really felt for things that were avoidable, like something that I should have been able to foresee with the knowledge I had prior to the thing.

There has been some disappointments for sure, unfortunately for my wallet typically with the dolls themselves rather than something cheaper, but at least at the moment I can't say I would really regret any since each time I did learn something important about my own likes and dislikes that I wouldn't have learned without getting them, meaning, unless I would completely stop getting more dolls chances are I would have had those "lessons" eventually.

I do hope most of that trial-and-error is behind me by now though, since now that I know that I don't like shorter than 50cm dolls I've basically guaranteed that if there is still something I really don't like in a doll that I don't know yet, it's going to be another one of those more expensive lessons for me...

 

I also usually regret buying floating heads.
Not because I don't know which body I want to buy for them or need to find a resin match, but because it annoys me when I have to prioritize buying a body for a floating head over a full doll I really want later on.
I've learned from my mistakes, though!

 

I regret being impulsive and bought so many that I don't touch as much. Most of them don't have faceup and clothing. I feel so bad for them. They're just in their box. I probably put them out on the market soon so they can go to someone who will care and love them. I try doing my own faceup but I'm no good either so lesson learn, if you're newbie buy ones you really like and buy one with faceup. If you want to practice faceup buy one on sale.

 

There was one doll I brought that always had a problem wanting to cross her legs when you try to do anything with her legs. I thought there was something wrong with her so I reached out to the artist who made her. She exclaimed this was one of the first dolls she made prior to 3D printing and testing them prior to making them in resin. They explained a lot for me and I appreciated her being open and honest because I brought the doll second hand and was unaware. The doll will stand and she has the loveliest facial sculpt and resin color that I wouldn’t dare part with her because I love her now. Sometimes it takes some research and understanding to love a doll that is outside your views of perfection.

 

I've only regretted one doll purchase and that's because at the time I had zero understanding of my personal aesthetic regarding dolls. I much prefer realism to stylised and she was much more stylised. My second doll, who arrived first, made the difference just immensely clear. So my first doll has been languishing in her box and I really need to get around to selling her or donating her or something.

 

I bought a doll here on the marketplace about 14 years ago and just a few years ago discovered he has undisclosed face mods. Luckily, it's pretty subtle so he still looks like his sculpt. She had disclosed it on deviantArt (she did the mod) and much further down in the thread in between bumps (a professional did the mod). I wouldn't have ever seen it if I hadn't printed the page to PDF. I didn't bother to stalk every post on her accounts until I needed to find his (also undisclosed) resin tone. I regret not doing my research because I would have waited for an unmodded doll instead if I had known. Or maybe someone who was consistent in what their story was. Not everyone is your friend.

 

Lets put it this way. I have purchased probably over 600 dolls in my 17 years in this hobby. I bought more then half more then once because I wanted them to work. In the end I have found it's best if I stick with 3-4 companies and avoid no matter how cute any others. My bank account has thanked me and keeping with these specific dolls I can enjoy the hobby more and spend money on clothes, shoes, better wigs and eyes. If I had been smart I would have tried to stick with what worked for me, instead of trying over and over what didn't work the first time. I am at 16 now with most by Dollstown. My favorite company to buy from and the one I should have always stuck with. So my only advice is if you love it and you can see more then one similar in size and from same company, stick with it.

 

I have a 1/4 Juliet by SartoriaJ that I've never even unboxed.