Is it rude to mention the price of your doll to others if they didn't ask?

Usually no. However, in the case of my housekeeper, who was truly curious and wanted to buy one, I was very frank about it. It worked perfectly - scared the crap out of her and she NEVER EVER goes near them.

 

If that is the situation, I will just say the rough estimate or just say that he/she/it is very expensive. I really wouldn't tell the price if there's no need for it.

 

So, is it appropriate for the protection of a doll to mention the price, or just uncalled for? Would it even work?
I don't think mentioning the price would keep someone from being grabby-handed or careless... A sensible person wouldn't grab someone's stuff, no matter if it was worth a dollar or hundreds of dollars... It's just rude to do that to another person's property! AND a person could be made nervous by the amount and throw the doll back, or drop it, or something equally stupid (well, being grabby-hands is stupid to begin with... so why would they suddenly behave sensibly???).

I think saying that something is "expensive" is enough to give someone an idea if they can't take a hint or have no social skills... And also, dropping prices without being asked seems a bit odd! I mean--WHY??? If someone really wants to know, they can ask and you can decide on what to tell them (I still don't like saying exact amounts--if they want to know--they can look it up themselves!!!). Discussing prices always seems a bit weird. For the person asking and the person answering. I'd just avoid it wherever possible!

 

I think it depends on the situation. I've been part of a doll meet where we met in a public place and people would let their children come up and didn't try and stop them from handling the dolls. When it is a two year old about to grab your doll and dad is standing calmly by, quite a number of people in the group were informing him of the doll's prices. Dad rather hurriedly grabbed kid and left. When it is other adults or older children who are polite and ask if they can handle the dolls, it doesn't come up unless they ask. Even then, we usually have a range of dolls and prices from customhouse to Volks so people get an idea of the different costs. Nowadays our doll meets are in a meeting room at a Library so the public doesn't have access to the dolls. Price only comes up if someone asks and most of the members are familiar with prices.

 

I don't typically tell anyone how much my dolls cost, but if someone I didn't know was interested in buying dolls in general I would be happy to give them a general price range...but I wouldn't be comfortable - especially if my dolls were there with me - saying "My Megu cost $xxx, my Kurt cost $xxx..." I believe that it presents a higher risk of theft if there is an exact price given for a doll. It gives those who have theft in mind a guide price for how much they can fence the doll for.

People in the hobby already know how much dolls typically cost or at least are aware of where they can find that information considering there are a wealth of internet resources dedicated to BJDs now, and people who are joining the hobby are better off being directed to those websites, where they will learn more about the hobby they want to participate in than just taking someone's word for it. There's more to dolls than what they cost, there's sourcing clothing, wigs, eyes, how to do face-ups and modification... the hobby doesn't just stop with the doll. I would be more than happy to give a business card with my DoA name on it or my email address/twitter name so that someone can get hold of me after the con or meet-up and I can email them some useful links and company websites. I think that's more educational than just telling someone how much something cost...or if you're going to an Expo event and are running a BJD table, pre-printed flyers with some recommended information websites and forums and some contact details will go a long way too. If people are genuinely interested in the hobby, these sorts of things are what will help them learn about the hobby the most.

As for telling someone to stop roughhousing with your doll because it cost $xxx...it's simple to stop people doing that without bringing expense into it. Don't let people you don't know touch your doll...or at the very least observe how they treat their own dolls or others' dolls before you let them loose on yours. If you don't like the suggestive poses they put their own dolls or others' dolls into or they have dark nail polish on that will easily transfer to your doll's WS resin or they haul their own dolls around by their leg, it's polite and easy to say "I'm sorry, I'm not comfortable letting anyone else hold my doll...I'm very attached to him/her." If someone objects to that, they're being rude, not you.

 

If it is a complete stranger I would feel slightly uncomfortable telling them about the price because you never know how they will react. Wanting to steel it etc.

I mention the price as a fact about the doll if I am already telling someone about bjds.
They come from this country, you order them here, they cost this much depending on if you get full set and so on.

But generally people get to see my dolls in places I feel safe, like when I brought one with me to art school. My class had a show that day and I brought one of my boys along with my paintings to show people his face up.
I told everyone basic facts about the dolls and price was just one of them. The only reactions I have ever had to the price has been "oh, yeah... I understand they are expensive since they seem so well made" or "wow, you are really patient saving up that much" since I am not a rich guy.

But other than that I don't get the stigma around money. I do not mind people talking about money and I have no problem talking about it either. But that is because money really doesn't mean anything to me. Not in that sense. It is just a necessity in today's society.

So for the most part no, I don't think it is rude, it is just a fact. It really depends on how you say it and why you say it though.

 

When people ask, I always let them guess before finally telling them. Or when someone is handling them very roughly or generally being disrespectful, I warn them that if anything happens to my dolls they'll compensate me with twice its cost, and when they ask what that cost is, I tell them, and they finally leave it alone. Maybe the latter situation is rude, maybe it isn't, but regardless I would very much like to keep my dolls safe from accidents. I never shove in peoples' faces that I can afford such dolls, though. I'm paranoid of people finding a way to steal and sell them.

 

When I first started collecting these dolls, my teenage sons kept posing them in rude ways and generally acting like annoying teenaged boys. In an effort to get them to quit touching the dolls, I told them that each doll cost about what the boys' X-box cost, and must, therefore, be treated with equal care. That, and the threat that if the dolls were broken, I'd sell the X-box to pay for replacement was enough to make them quit playing with 'em!

I have also given a vague, 'these are expensive art dolls' when going through airplane security, to give both an explanation for why I was carrying them on, and also an incentive (I hope!) for them not to handle them roughly. Like someone else said: I fear that if I said just how expensive these darn things are, they might be stolen.

My sister, who doesn't collect dolls, has asked, and I've given her vague 'Oh, it was on sale' or 'this one was pretty expensive' replies, but haven't given the dollar cost. It seems tacky to talk about how much luxury items cost.

The one situation where I did talk actual dollars was with my other mother, who is a doll collector too. But it's in the same context that other women talk about how much they paid for a super cute pair of shoes. :P Comiserating on high cost of beauty or congratulating one another for super great deals. :P

 

I don't like to mention price unless asked because I don't want people stealing them. I'm not sure the average person would assume that a doll was $500+ so the less they think it'z worth the less chance they will... I don't know- break into my house??

If people ask, at cons or what not I tell them. But most places my dolls go people already KNOW how much they cost and no one asks.

But if someone was manhandling my doll- for sure they I am going to let them know how much they will be paying me back if they break it!

 

I would find it a bit weird if someone showed off the price of these dolls as it was some kind of an absolute value. By this I mean that the person mentions the price before anyone even notices the doll. Of course it's not forbidden to talk about it: however, these dolls are still rather expensive, so some sort of conversation about their price might be even unavoidable.

After all, it depends on how the price is mentioned. It's different to shout "This doll costed $600!! What'd you say about that??" than to mention along the conversation: "well, I must admit that this doll was rather expensive..". So I'd say it depends.

 

I don't think it's rude to warn someone who's being rough that it's an expensive item that they don't want to have to pay to replace. However, there are times where sometimes it's better for people not to know that you're carrying an expensive item on you too, so I guess it just depends. I'll also mention price with doll people if I got a really good deal somewhere -- that's the kind of info that can be of help to someone else.

 

Hmmm... if it's someone who's not into BJDs and/or haven't heard of them before I started talking about them, I explain that these dolls are handmade and the process of making the doll is a dangerous job where you need to be cautious, and thus increases the prize on them so that it doesn't seem totally out of the blue this this "toy" costs a fortune.
If it's between BJD obsessed friends, it depends on the context and the way you say it, what tone of your voice you're using. If you say "Ugh, this doll ate my wallet, but hey, it's a limited edition, the doll's beautiful and I also really wanted that outfit, so it's no wonder it costed me XXX US dollars", I don't think anyone would see that statement of the prize as bragging or inappropriate. However, if you put it like "Oh, I just burned XXX US dollar on this LOVELY, UNIQUE doll with EXPENSIVE clothes that will leave other BJD fans green with envy" in a very cocky tone of your voice, you better get ready for people to growl at you for being such a show-off.

 

I'd say mine cost $1800 loser!! j/k! No I wouldn't!!

 

All my doll friends know how much they are and other people aren't interested in dolls and so I never discuss the cost or the dolls either, for that matter. If someone really wants to know, they can look it up on the internet, just as I did.

 

Out of curiosity, why would you feel the need to mention the price to anyone? Is there a specific instance(s) you have in mind?

For my own part, unless someone asks, I wouldn't mention the prices. Even then, I usuallly round down the number substantially, depending on who i'm talking to. I don't want people knowing how much money I have put into this hobby (not even my closest friends and especially not my family), and I also don't want anyone knowing what some of them are worth, especially since I've been burglarized twice in the past and the dolls were left untouched due to appearing worthless.

IMO, When people randomly mention the price of things it's for one of two reasons: they're bragging about some awesome deal they got; or they're bragging because they can afford to spend lots of money on a trinket. Either way, I am not a fan of people who randomly spill the prices of things I haven't asked about. It always comes off as them trying to prove they're better than me, and it's really annoying.

The only reason I would mention it is if someone asked to handle my dolls that I thought would be careless with them, as in incentive for them to be careful. Even then, it would only be something like "Please be careful, these dolls are rather pricey."

 

Absolutely for the protection of the doll you can tell the price, even without anyone asking. But if you go around telling people how you own an expensive doll, I would consider that to be quite rude, or at least odd. As if you were trying to show everyone how rich you are. But when explaining the hobbie itself I think it´s a good idea to say, that the dolls are quite expensive.

 

I prefer not to tell the value of my dolls to people I don't know that well yet. Guess I just don't trust people :p Who knows what their intentions might be when they know the value...
It can also be rude indeed, though I don't see the difference betwen telling a doll is worth 500$ and show your new iPhone every possible occasion, since their worth about the same ... The only difference is that everybody knows what the value of the phone is, so you don't need to tell... And guess what? Lot's of people get robbed (some even killed, brussels, few years back) for an iPod/expensive electronics...


Though at a con or a fair where dolls are the theme and people are interested, I think it's plain normal to tell the price of the doll since some people want to touch it etx. A few years back at a fair I saw some woman testing wether the faceup was permanent... by scratching over the face with her nail. She wouldn't have done that if she had only knew the value of the doll and the faceup :s
So yeh, I prefer not to let anyone, except the people I know well, touch my doll and deffo not hold it...

Guess I generally don't trust people xD (or at least strangers)

 

I don't find it particularly rude, but just a bit silly. In most cases I would probably see it as bragging, because I don't see why else they would tell the price. If you don't want people to touch your things, there's much easier ways, like actually telling them not to touch your stuff.
If anything, telling the price right away without asking could be an invite for thieves. People might overhear you and snatch the doll (or any other item).
Instead of telling the price, you could tell people they are fragile. People generally don't like to hold other people's fragile things and it comes across a lot less stupid than telling the price (and risking an off look from the other person).

 

I just want to say that different cultures have different rules on what can be considered rude
So, during meetups in public places we are asked rather often about cost of our dolls. People are curious, you know)) They also want to know where and how BJD can be purchased. I see no harm in such question, and I readily tell them the cost.
People also ask us: "Do you sell them?" It was very weird to me, so I asked my grandma why people feel like that. She told me that it was an usual practice in my city - a private person could bring his/her stuff and sell it in public places. So there are cultural differences, actually.

If someone tries to treat my doll roughly - and this can even happen if I hold the doll in my arms - I can tell the price to protect my possession.
Otherwise I see no need to mention the cost. My dolls are costly, but nothing extraordinary to throw it in the people's faces.