Is it 'wrong' to buy dolls to customise for resale?

im doing this right now, and im trying very hard not to name him as i fear i will also become attached ...

 

I don't think its wrong. Its kind of like foster care for dolls. You get the doll and take good care of it. Nurture it and then pass it on to a good home when one comes up. Smooth out the bumps and lumps from life and turn the doll into a beauty.My aunt does foster care so this is the best analogy I could think of. Some of the kids my aunt gets have lots of baggage poor things and she helps them with it. To me my aunt is a hero. Echem....sorry got on a soap box. <.< But she still is...

 

I havnt done it with BJD but blythe i do,not so much to make a profit,just because i see a stock doll or one that isnt in the best state and think oh she could be so much more,i love making things pretty and dont have the room for lots of doll,so i get pleasure from them for the short while they are with me and then they move on to their new home.I mainly work on commissions now but i still do buy the odd one to custom and sell.

 

Nowai. Like 90% of Volks Limiteds need a good repaint to look good. In fact, if people don't buy the dolls, customize them, and put them up again for sale, I'd never have wanted half of the volks dolls I covet. I depend on customizers to bring out the real beauty in sculpts that are sometimes lost in mass-produced company face-ups.

 

I personally don't see anything wrong with this, it's a great idea - buying standard, unlimited sculpts and making them more unique is cool! I would buy such a doll because I'm 100% sure I wouldn't be able to do any skilled moderations myself.
If you were to do this with LEs I could see some people getting anal, myself included to some extent if I had just missed out on an LE and someone had bought one of the few copies purely to modify and resell. That would kind of take away the point of him being an LE.

 

I agree! I would love to see some Dollfies modified and think it's far fairer to resell these for a profit [big or small] than to just buy LEs and resell them for more because the demand is high. But I also agree that the modified ones shouldn't be LEs - I (& my friend) know the heartbreak of the sold out sign and I'd hate to think it was so someone could sell them on in any form.

 

I don't think it's 'wrong'. It's selling a piece of art.

And I do this with floating heads (not limiteds). Have a lot of them. When I feel like it I face-up one of them and sell it. Yes, I charge a price for a face-up no one asked for. Eventually there will be someone who likes it and want to buy it. I just need a lot of patience.

 

I personally think it's a good idea. It's really nice to have a one of a kind doll. More so if you know how hard the person has worked on it. It's very personal.

 

I think that it's a great idea. In it's own way it's like you're getting an LE because even if it's a common sculpt the customiser probably isn't going to design that exact same face up ever again. You'd be supporting an artist and getting a great unique doll.

 

I don't see any wrong in it. It is a way of exploiding creativity, and helps improve skills related to BJD. And as some have said, these modified or re-painted dolls normally help deciding if one likes or dislikes the headsculpt ^^

 

I totally get this ^ when I buy a doll I buy the doll - not the artwork or outfit because like a lot of people I like it to have my "stamp" not someone elses, unless I specifically commission someone to do it for me...

However to answer the OP - No, I have no problem - limited or not > If there is someone out there with a creative mind that is willing to put their 'art and soul into a doll to sell it for profit a then I say awesome - someone will love it.

For those of us that see a sculpt we want with a lot of art added that we know we dont want or need... then move on, I'd never get annoyed at someone elses expressions of creativity

personally though I do sometimes get a flash of annoyance at grossly inflated prices though for a dodgy splash of colour here and there.....

 

I view it as good business.

At least they don't just buy a limited or hard to find doll and sell at a higher price like those ticket geezers. Customising to sell them at a higher price makes it like they are selling their own work in my eyes. Its caj.

 

Just to throw some spice into this after all it is a debate....

I do this... I take boring old sleeping face-plates and heads and open the eyes and sell it for more than what I paid for the original face/head, sometimes I will paint it up nicely though its only to help define the mods I have done... do you think you could explain further why you might think this is wrong?

Each of the "inexpensive" heads that I have modified have taken a great deal of my time and a considerable amount of though and care to finish to a quality standard... wouldn't that mean that the profit I may make on reselling it should reflect the time I have spent on it...

Another example is the spectacularly talented artist Lisa Jameson (Pepstar) who from time to time will re-paint an otherwise unapetising looking Bobobie and sell it on e-bay... I think this and my scenario are one and the same.... MY art is in the cutting of resin HER art is in the painting.

SO my question is.... If someone is willing to put the time and effort into re-creating something and making it that little bit more unique and special - why shouldnt that person be able to enjoy the profit made from their hard-work however big or small?

 

I think as long as you still refer the making company/brand of the doll...and add like face up and body blushing by you...i think it's ok...
not all people want to purchase a blank doll, though.

 

OH, and i liked a doll that is cusomized by a brand once...i read the description and it describes what company that produce the body, etc...
the doll was like hundreds hundreds USD but it's totally adorable. If i'm rich, i don't mind to purchase that (^o^)'...
perhaps, the good lesson I see from this brand is that it does not just customize the doll. It creates a 'character' or realizing a 'character'. not like unique make up but really has character...it's other dolls are awesome, too...

 

This is a very good point. One is dealing with a very picky crowd at all times and there is the current economy to consider. I just realized there are quite a few dolls, resin and otherwise, which have been on the secondary market for months on end.
I wonder why these right or wrong type of questions comes up about dolls so often
As for modifying, even a limited doll is not out of bounds as far as I am concerned, once someone owns it. As a rule, I wouldn't buy a doll which has been modified.

 

I saw a very beautiful customises. I with pleasure would buy some. I consider that customise it is good. Only let it will be qualitative and beautiful customise.

 

There's nothing wrong with buying a blank doll, customizing it, then selling it.

I've seen some dolls up for auction that I actually thought were worth the higher price tag for that face up.(Pepstar comes to mind)

Heck, if you become good enough you could make some decent income from it.

 

Hehe.. It depends on what you see BJDs as I guess.

If it is just an item that you can use to profit from then of course it's not wrong. What you did was just business... To buy something at a low cost, add value to it and sell for a higher cost... No problems at all...

If it is more than a doll to you, that is, if you see it as a real person then of course it would be wrong. You don't buy real people, teach them something or dress them up then sell them to others...

 

I feel a bit bad for saying it, since so many people don't see a problem with it, but I sort of do... I think my standards make it really up to the motives of the original buyer, however.
I see nothing wrong with say, buying a terribly beat up/nearly 'ruined' doll and fixing it up, then reselling it to a lovely home again.
I also don't really see anything wrong with, say, the original poster's situation! Buying the dolls simply because you'd like some customization practice, or to do a certain project, then reselling the dolls.

I don't really like the idea of buying dolls at a lower price that are perfectly fine, buying & remaking them, then reselling them... I feel like it's not fair to someone who may have bought the doll to keep and love as it was! Or just to keep, for that matter.

I guess I'm saying that if you buy the doll on purely business motives, I don't really like it--I wouldn't want to buy from you! However, if you bought the doll for some other reason, I think it's probably okay.
I don't really think of dolls in terms of a businessman, however; I prefer to think of dolls in terms of an adoption agency. >.>"