Importance of doll certificate?

EXTREMELY important, not just for buying and selling online but just as valid proof you have the real deal. Authenticity matters.

 

The COA I have was named after the third party

 

I bought all my dolls 2nd hand and all my volks yosd are without coa, my crobidoll got a photo copy of it cos the previous owner name are on it! Well as long as i know they r legit, i dont quite mind.

I love customhouse! I got 3 of them and lucky for me all comes wif coa.

 

The certificate is the important thing for me. It's like guarantee.

 

Since this thread is active again, I want to bring up that in the past few days, a known recaster, Luo, is trying to replicate fullset outfits and company faceups to some extent, as well as head plates with brand logos.

Please everyone be extra careful when you make purchases from now on, especially if you are new to the hobby.
right now, it is relatively easy to avoid these if you avoid ebay, random taobao pages and aliexpress, however I am very worried about what will happen when these more believable recasts start seeping into the second hand market.

 

Rolling the boulder up the hill once again . . . not all BJDs were issued with certificates in the first place.

As @Wabbie-chan and others said earlier, knowing the details about a doll or company you're interested in is crucial.

Ignorance is the real danger -- it's what recasters rely on.

 

The certificates are not important for me but I keep them preciously with their boxes in case I would resell my dolls.
I wouldn't like to low the price only because a missing piece of paper.
It's a pity that because of the recasters, honest people have to justify themselves.

 

Of the three secondhand doll heads I've bought, only one did not come with a CoA and that's my Dreaming Abadon. But he came from a well-known user here on DoA, and he still had his official Luts faceup. I also bought him at a time when fakes weren't as much of a problem.

Now, however, if the doll I am looking for secondhand is supposed to have a CoA if bought new, I expect to have it with the doll or I will not buy. I also keep all my doll CoAs in a fire and waterproof lock box for safe keeping. While I doubt I will ever want to sell any of my dolls, I will still keep their certs and their original boxes.

 

Most of my dolls do not have COAs. However, majority of my dolls are 10+ years old. They didn't use to be important.
I have bought two of them on Ebay, but I have traced all but one back to DOA. The one I didn't trace back is beauty green and I stripped him down and made sure he matched everything from a doll I knew was legit.
With all of that said, I rarely buy from anywhere but here now and most of my dolls have gone from used to new.

I personally don't care too much about COAs, but I understand where they have become more and more important. Thankfully my dolls are considerably old, I have to use my best judgment and common sense to determine whether or not the seller is reputable and if the doll "looks" it's age. If someone's claiming a doll is 15+ years old and it looks like it just came fresh from the factory, I'm going to take a hard pass on that one.

 

I've been in the hobby since 2007 and honestly have no idea where a lot of my COAs are. They were just pieces of paper back in the day. To me anyway. I couldn't ever see a time where I was going to resell my dolls. Now, I feel like I can't ever sell them because I don't know where the COAs are :/ I would either lose money or not get them sold. I did buy most of them directly from the website so I could provide proof there, but otherwise... It's just unfortunate.

To me, as long as the seller has feedback on here and it's positive, I'm good. I know some people will try to scam no matter the platform, but I generally feel safe on DoA. I won't buy dolls through Ebay.

 

I like having the certificates when the doll in question did have on at some point. Otherwise? Eh, if it can be proved as legitimate that's all that matters. I do have a doll who doesn't have any paperwork and it hasn't bothered me yet, but I also have other dolls from that company so there's no question about her legitimacy either.

 

I would prefer to have a certificate of authenticity but in this day and age, it's not difficult to forge such documents. I guess the only way to be sure is to inspect it with an educated eye. However, that's not possible most of the time since buyer and seller are often not in the same location.

 

I really like when companies do provide a COA, but a lot of the dolls I have did not. A lot of my dolls are hybrids, and even when bought right from the company most of the heads haven't come with COA. Fortunately, none of the dolls or doll components in my collection have ever been recast to date, so I'm not concerned about any of my crew, even those I've purchased second-hand. Going forward, I have one doll on the way to me that IS on the recast list, an Iplehouse Audrey. I bought her direct from Iple, and for her, knowing that she HAS been recasted, I would not have bought her secondhand without a COA. But if I am looking at a doll or doll part in the secondhand market, I'm not particularly worried about COA if the doll in question isn't on any recast lists/known to be recasted.

 

I’ve only bought one head second hand without a CoA, and the seller provided receipts etc (I later contacted Migidoll and they sent a certificate out, on the basis of the receipt and serial number in the head). If I know a company did CoAs at that time and one isn’t included, I’d be very suspicious.

 

If it's higher end brands that I know have been recasted? Absolutely they'd better have a COA, preferably a COA AND a box. I'm usually just not willing to take that chance.

BUT if it's a brand like Doll Leaves or 5stardoll... it's not as necessary. But I'd still only buy them with the understanding that I probably couldn't resell them for any kind of real money.

For me the COA is an indication not just of the authenticity of the doll, but of the responsibility of the doll owner. No offense, I know shit happens, but to me the certificate is like... half the value of the doll. To lose or damage something like that at least gives me pause.

 

Is there a known recast doll list?

 

I will say I try to buy with the intent of never selling. And the dolls I buy, Dream of Doll, never had coas. Since coas can’t be provided, I usually play detective and find out the buy history of a doll if possible, tracing it back to the buyer who originally bought it directly from the company.

 

I'm in the hobby for about one year now, and I started right in the middle of this recast war, my dream dolls are DIM girls hybrids and for my frustration the both bodies I purchased for my heads have no CoA, DC Kid from Dolks and a Spirit Doll directly from the company, the Spirit body have a cross plaque hided in a leg socket but from DC I only have the box/pillow and order paperwork.
As far I know DZ also does not give CoA for bodies.
So if you planning your hybrids be aware of it.
My Loong soul SD boy body has CoA.
I was a little annoyed... but well...

 

Depends if the company offers CoA (because some don't), it's pretty important for legitimacy and a cool thing to have.
Though some old and discontinued sculpts don't have it.
Just always make enough and thorough research.

 

I would definitely want a COA. If the seller did not have one and was reputable, then I might be tempted to forego getting a COA.

I would look for other ways to be sure the doll was legitimate.