Minimalism in the BJD hobby?

1° Do you bother to look for the doll you want on the secondhand market or do you go straight to the company? Why?
Yes I check to see if there's a second hand one available, how much it would cost and such. If it's the same price, very close or even more than buying it from the company, then I just buy it new.

2° Do you immediatly order sleeping faces and extra hands for your doll through the company? If so, do you do this for every doll you purchase?
Depends on how they look and if I think I have a use. I'm not someone who buys everything there is, but if I know I'd want it later anyways, I'd rather save on the shipping. I prefer just ordering from a company once, and not once for the doll, and then 3 months later pay EMS again just for some hands or so.

3° If you have dolls with sleeping faces and extra hands: do you actually use them enough to justify the purchase? If not, do you regret getting them? If you don't have the above, do you regret not getting them?
I'm not sure, but I know I'm sort of greedy so I think I'd regret not getting things when I had the chance, IF the need for them ever arose, like if I thought to myself "man, I wish I had those other hands right now..."

4° Have you ever found yourself looking for extra items to throw in your shopping cart just so you could reach the necessary minimum amount to qualify for an event or free shipping? Do you realize this is a merchandising trick? If so, do you mind being seduced by this?
I try to get an overview over such things before considering ordering, like if I know I have to get to 100$ worth to get free shipping, I check the store for the things I wanted anyways, put them into my card and then see how much it is. If it's close, I'd probably buy things that can always be used, in the BJD department something like ... string, or eyelashes.
I know it's tempted me to buy more than I needed but really, why buy things worth 80$ + 20$ shipping if you can order for 100 and not pay shipping haha.

5° Did the cost of a doll ever stop you from actually purchasing it when you had the necessary amount of money? Have you ever thought, "This doll is too expensive, I'll pass".
Yes many times. I try to think things over, especially now that I already own more than 1 doll.

6° If for some reason you had to sell your whole collection except for one doll, would you be able to do it? Would you know who to pick? Why choose that one?
Yes I'd be able to. I'd probably be like selling my favorite clothes - it would suck but it would be possible.
I'd take all my dolls and spend time with them, then decide whom I am most attached to.

7° Do you think you could be happy with just one doll? Why?
I regret it a bit to have bought and collected so many dolls. It's hard to describe, I adore them but it is a lot of money and I sometimes worry about having made the wrong decision.

8° Do you dislike purchasing popular sculpts? Do you prefer limited and rare dolls above others? If so, why? If not, are you bothered by people with this attitude?
It doesn't matter to me. I buy the dolls that I think look good.
I understand wanting to have the rare things, it's just human nature and applies to everything in life. But that doesn't mean that someone cannot be just as happy and satisfied with owning just one very cheap or even faulty doll as someone who own a huge collection of rare ones.

9° If you had unlimited resources which doll would you purchase? How much does he/she/it cost?
If I had unlimited money, I'd just buy more of the dolls I already enjoy! Right now I'm not thinking that I would buy only rares or something.

10° Do you keep track of how much you spent on the hobby so far? Why (not)? Does anyone else ever comment on the financial side of your hobby?
I have kept track for the most part and it's not pretty. But I had the funds and no other current use for them (who knows what the future brings).
My family comments on the dolls and their price and of course nobody understands, not even one bit haha. But then again they never understood any of my hobbies.

 

1° Do you bother to look for the doll you want on the secondhand market or do you go straight to the company? Why?
yep! I check for price and if it's just about the same I'll go ahead and get it from the company.

2° Do you immediatly order sleeping faces and extra hands for your doll through the company? If so, do you do this for every doll you purchase?
I never have and I don't see myself doing it... that's another head to paint and I don't think I'd ever bother changing up the faceplate.

3° If you have dolls with sleeping faces and extra hands: do you actually use them enough to justify the purchase? If not, do you regret getting them? If you don't have the above, do you regret not getting them?
n/a

4° Have you ever found yourself looking for extra items to throw in your shopping cart just so you could reach the necessary minimum amount to qualify for an event or free shipping? Do you realize this is a merchandising trick? If so, do you mind being seduced by this?
I did this with my last Alice's Collection order; it ended up being about $50 extra (since shipping would have been $50, but I did get $50 worth of clothes for free essentially... I do realize it's a marketing ploy but if I take it then it's because I don't mind

5° Did the cost of a doll ever stop you from actually purchasing it when you had the necessary amount of money? Have you ever thought, "This doll is too expensive, I'll pass".
all the time... unless I specifically put money aside for that doll I won't get it if it's too expensive :y

6° If for some reason you had to sell your whole collection except for one doll, would you be able to do it? Would you know who to pick? Why choose that one?
mmm depends? assuming I would gain back the amount of money (or close to it) that I put into the collection then I think I would. not sure which doll I'd keep tho

7° Do you think you could be happy with just one doll? Why?
I could, but I'd be happier with more ehehe... with one I could save a ton of money and just keep customizing that one instead of having to divide my attention with a bunch.

8° Do you dislike purchasing popular sculpts? Do you prefer limited and rare dolls above others? If so, why? If not, are you bothered by people with this attitude?
not at all I think? popular sculpts tend to be a bit more expensive for me personally, and I tend to lean towards cheaper sculpts anyway? and honestly you can customize any doll so much that I don't see a point in disliking popular sculpts for the sole fact that they are popular.

9° If you had unlimited resources which doll would you purchase? How much does he/she/it cost?
I'd get SD sized sculpts similar to my MSD ones, but I'd also buy maybe a crobidoll lance!!

10° Do you keep track of how much you spent on the hobby so far? Why (not)? Does anyone else ever comment on the financial side of your hobby?
nope!!! not a good idea to do!!!
no one ever comments on it because I never specifically say "whoo!! just spent $500 on a doll!!" just "hey new doll!!"

 

I never thought too much about a few of these things, so it's been interesting filling this out and reading other people's opinions.

1° Do you bother to look for the doll you want on the secondhand market or do you go straight to the company? Why?

I don’t have marketplace access because I’m a new user and I didn't really come here for that, specifically. I stay away from places like eBay for actual dolls, but I might look here if the doll was discontinued or difficult to acquire, it was in decent shape, and there was a good-faith reason to believe it was legit (like being sold here by a user with good feedback, I took a look at the form for marketplace access and since it requires other accounts in good standing I feel like there's enough transparency.) There's always a chance for something messed up to happen with any transaction but it's nice to have the risk of certain mishaps reduced. I'd prefer to get the doll from the company (or better yet, from a dealer located in my country) if it was an option.

2° Do you immediately order sleeping faces and extra hands for your doll through the company? If so, do you do this for every doll you purchase?

No, this hasn’t been a thing for most of the dolls I’ve ordered and I'd really rather put that kind of money toward eyes and a wig and a simple outfit which is enough to factor in. Extra faces would have been cool if they were available, as it would mean I’d get to do more faceups, though, so that would be fun.

I did order extra hands with my first doll and they sat in the box for years, apart from being a good comparison for how much he yellowed (not as much as one would expect, actually) they weren’t all that useful. I’d be more inclined if the hands were in a specific position that I really liked or if they were jointed and there was a reason that particular doll could use jointed hands, but not really just for the sake of it, though it is always fun to have extra stuff to paint.

3° If you have dolls with sleeping faces and extra hands: do you actually use them enough to justify the purchase? If not, do you regret getting them? If you don't have the above, do you regret not getting them?

They were only like $20 at the time and they were useful for the yellowing experiment I didn’t realize I was even doing, so I’d say yes. I guess it’s nice to have them around in case a finger breaks or something, and the pose the spare ones are in makes it easier to get shirts on, which I never knew because I never used them. Oops.

4° Have you ever found yourself looking for extra items to throw in your shopping cart just so you could reach the necessary minimum amount to qualify for an event or free shipping? Do you realize this is a merchandising trick? If so, do you mind being seduced by this?

I don’t mind being seduced by it if I’m already going to spend $100 on EMS shipping and spending $25 more on merchandise will make that “free,” so not particularly! It’s not something I do unless I’m already really close to the amount needed for the free shipping and it would be less than just paying the shipping costs, the items are actually things I want (I can always find more crap I want) or I can give them to someone who will want them.

For an event I wouldn’t bother unless I really really loved the event item and had the money, neither of which are usually the case. This all sounds like rationalization so I'll say that I fall for plenty of marketing gimmicks, it doesn’t offend me too much. Few businesses ever actually truly do anything that is intended to save the customer money in the long run, everything is a come-on and I have an uneasy peace with that.

5° Did the cost of a doll ever stop you from actually purchasing it when you had the necessary amount of money? Have you ever thought, "This doll is too expensive, I'll pass".

Oh yeah, all the time.

6° If for some reason you had to sell your whole collection except for one doll, would you be able to do it? Would you know who to pick? Why choose that one?

If I had to, yeah. I didn’t get them to sell (although things do change with time, so who knows) and some of them have been gifts, so I would be very very reluctant to sell those for any reason. I’m not sure who I would keep, it would be hard to choose, especially since some folks have not arrived yet, though I am positive I’ll love them.

7° Do you think you could be happy with just one doll? Why?

I had just one for a good while, I think I’d be fine.

8° Do you dislike purchasing popular sculpts? Do you prefer limited and rare dolls above others? If so, why? If not, are you bothered by people with this attitude?

It doesn’t matter to me how popular or unpopular a thing is and other people can buy whatever they want for whatever reason they want, I personally just get stuff that I like because it has qualities that appeal to me visually or on some arty or emotional level and the level of quality is satisfactory to me, much like people-clothes or anything else one would spend money on. For some people the rarity is the property that appeals to them.

It’s not always possible to know why someone did something, making assumptions about people’s motivations isn’t my bag, and why someone spent money is really not my business. Having cool rare stuff is a pretty widespread geek king-of-the-mountain thing and it’s not much different from someone being proud of a nice animation cel or a screen-used movie prop which is pretty old hat in my life. If somebody’s point of pride in The Hobby is their thirty Volks LEs that cost two grand apiece and have $200 faceups painted by actual cherubs with gossamer wings, that’s their deal.

I do admit that scalping bothers me (in all cases, certainly not just dolls), but that’s a different thing.

9° If you had unlimited resources which doll would you purchase? How much does he/she/it cost?

Oh man, I dunno. I’d like a really big one like one of the 90cm AoD dudes (wouldn’t buy just for the size, I am very fond of Yue and his prodigious schnoz), but I have heads awaiting bodies so I’d probably get those first, it’s enough that it will take me ages to save up for it as it is.

10° Do you keep track of how much you spent on the hobby so far? Why (not)? Does anyone else ever comment on the financial side of your hobby?

Yes, but I do that kind of bookkeeping for lots of things. I just find it a useful thing to know. There hasn’t been a lot of backlash because I don’t go into it that much, and for the most part the people who know don’t care what I do with my money. The fact that it’s an art thing helps, just about everyone I know is either an artist as well so they understand why art is costly, or they’re too polite to tell me I’m a jerk.

 

1° Do you bother to look for the doll you want on the secondhand market or do you go straight to the company? Why?

I DO bother, but I still mostly buy straight from the company.
It's partly because I like having new dolls but often the dolls I want are simply not for sale second-hand anyway.
This is especially true when I want the doll in a darker skintone, you often find the NS or WS ones for sale, but tan?
I also don't want to pay for extras I don't need, like a face-up since I always buy dolls blank anyway.

2° Do you immediatly order sleeping faces and extra hands for your doll through the company? If so, do you do this for every doll you purchase?

In my current crew there is not even one doll where a sleeping head was even an option
I still think though that, except when it fits the character, I would not add an extra head. I had a doll once that had both and the sleeping FP was never used, yet alone painted, in all the years.
In case of hands it's difficult, itself I would love to have more options but in the end I don't change them anyway because it's too much of a hassle. .
I get the feeling the questions are partly very aimed at Fairyland owners, because they are the ones with easily swapped hands and faceplates

Skipping 3 here, see 2.


4° Have you ever found yourself looking for extra items to throw in your shopping cart just so you could reach the necessary minimum amount to qualify for an event or free shipping? Do you realize this is a merchandising trick? If so, do you mind being seduced by this?

This again sounds very Fairyland-ish (or Doll Chateau/Doll-Zone) to me.
I usually don't buy from companies where this is a thing, but if I'd be very close to getting some extra resin part (or bigger gift) I would probably do that.
Because in the end I could sell the extra thing and probably earn some money that way, if not I would ask a friend whether they are interested in the gift and ask them to add something to the order and pay me a small fee.

5° Did the cost of a doll ever stop you from actually purchasing it when you had the necessary amount of money? Have you ever thought, "This doll is too expensive, I'll pass".

Uuuh, not when I had the money, as far as I remember.
I usually said that when I had no money anyway and getting it would have been possible but too much of a risk and hassle in the end.
I DO have of course a few dolls that are too expensive no matter if I had the money or not, but they are way out of my range anyway (like some tan Bermann ).

6° If for some reason you had to sell your whole collection except for one doll, would you be able to do it? Would you know who to pick? Why choose that one?

If I absolutely have to there is no question whether I'm able to do so or not
Anyway, this is actually a pretty difficult question.
A lot of my dolls only work "together", as soon as their partner or group is removed they are still pretty dolls but they are less interesting to me.
Some work well in their role but the doll itself is annoying (bad posing body that sadly fits the character very well, hard to dress and shop for etc.).
So I would need to pick a doll that I like aesthetically, is interesting to customize and pleasant to own as "only doll".
I would probably keep either my Granado Uranus or my Soom Heliot, since they are both molds I like very much and could see styled differently. Both give me a lot of options to customize and can wear a wide range of clothes too.

7° Do you think you could be happy with just one doll? Why?

Only if I could change it for a different one once in a while.
Constantly selling would be a hassle though and it also would make things pretty annoying.
I think I would need at least two to be somewhat happy (one male, one female), but I doubt that would work.
There are just too many ideas and looks I like, not to mention different sizes, and I like the interaction between dolls and characters.
I also prefer my dolls/characters to have a partner of some sort (sibling, friend, enemy, lover, whatever).

8° Do you dislike purchasing popular sculpts? Do you prefer limited and rare dolls above others? If so, why? If not, are you bothered by people with this attitude?

I honestly don't care much about these things. If I like the mold and if it fits my vision I will gladly get it, no matter if one or one hundred people already own it.
A good bunch of my dolls are limited or otherwise hard to get though, again because I like tan skin and that is often limited by default or because I like certain styles
I dislike both sides of people though, the ones that are all "uuuuh I only want limiteds" and the ones that are strictly against it due to whatever reason, same for the ones that only buy art dolls because it makes them special or whatnot.
Buy what you like and don't worry, also don't bother people with your attitude because nobody cares anyway.

9° If you had unlimited resources which doll would you purchase? How much does he/she/it cost?

Uff, good question.
I guess it would be an SA Bermann in tan, mint, with everything included (box, certificates etc.).
I think we easily look at 4000$ or more here, if such a doll would even show up.

10° Do you keep track of how much you spent on the hobby so far? Why (not)? Does anyone else ever comment on the financial side of your hobby?

Yes and no.
I roughly know what I spent on the dolls, clothes and other things I own and have owned, but I don't keep a list nor do I care much.
These things cost what they cost, and I either pay it or don't.
I didn't get much comments yet, my girlfriend collects BJDs too and my father knows the prices but also knows I make money with commissions, so it's okay for him as long as I don't harm my well-being.
Else I keep the prices (and hobby) mostly to myself and the majority of my friends are collectors too.

 

1° Do you bother to look for the doll you want on the secondhand market or do you go straight to the company? Why?
Company. 1. As a good portion of the dolls I buy would be more expensive second hand and 2. For personal health reasons I try and buy new as much as possible. It's a pain sometimes...

2° Do you immediately order sleeping faces and extra hands for your doll through the company? If so, do you do this for every doll you purchase?
Their aren't many companies that offer sleeping faces like Fairyland and if I did have the option I wouldn't be interested. I also have so many other things I want for my dolls and not enough money to throw at them that I would rather buy that very same doll more things that he could/would use. QAQ

I CAN say that hands are a plus as I did want a Volks doll body for years because they were one of the only companies for a while that offered a good range of extra hands for boys.

3° If you have dolls with sleeping faces and extra hands: do you actually use them enough to justify the purchase? If not, do you regret getting them? If you don't have the above, do you regret not getting them?
Haven't used them as much I as wanted but I don't regret getting them and I want more. I don't really like jointed hands so they're a nice alternative.

4° Have you ever found yourself looking for extra items to throw in your shopping cart just so you could reach the necessary minimum amount to qualify for an event or free shipping? Do you realize this is a merchandising trick? If so, do you mind being seduced by this?
Never had this applied to my situation but I would never do that as I plan to buy what I went in for and usually that's all. I also haven't found any 'event' items or discounts truly appealing enough to make me scramble to get it and if you look at the MP there are usually loads of them cropping up afterward once people have changed their mind if push came to shove and I missed out on an event item I did want.

5° Did the cost of a doll ever stop you from actually purchasing it when you had the necessary amount of money? Have you ever thought, "This doll is too expensive, I'll pass".
Yep a few times. I want so many dolls and doll things I'm at least juggling two to three things I want to get at the same time always. I can then, put that money into those or hunt for a better deal.

6° If for some reason you had to sell your whole collection except for one doll, would you be able to do it? Would you know who to pick? Why choose that one?
If left with no other choice and my family or dearest friends needed the money then I would never let material win over necessity. But as my dolls mean so much to me and bring so much joy in my life things would have to be dire. Which doll? Can I cheat and do 1 and half?? Like one body and two heads? Ooo siamese twins! Hey, you said one...

7° Do you think you could be happy with just one doll? Why?
No, that's why I'm trying to cheat~ Because I like too many dolls and have too many ideas

8° Do you dislike purchasing popular sculpts? Do you prefer limited and rare dolls above others? If so, why? If not, are you bothered by people with this attitude?
I seem to have a mixture of both types of sculpts on my WL. Like most people have said I buy because I like it, and I buy it because I see potential to make it my own. I've seen some of the most popular sculpts look like carbon copies of each other and then some that stood out, showing me that vision is key, not always the medium~

9° If you had unlimited resources which doll would you purchase? How much does he/she/it cost?
I would try to find a Glorydoll Louis and pay the sellers price. In stock and not rare and discontinued dolls on my radar would be a chance to go nuts during a Soom FCE for Idealians. Seriously I want like four...And they're at least $600...

10° Do you keep track of how much you spent on the hobby so far? Why (not)? Does anyone else ever comment on the financial side of your hobby?
I know what I've spent this year as I calculated recently and I have an estimate of my collection as a whole but honestly I looked over my list and felt extremely fortunate and grateful that I got what I did. I have struggled a lot in my life in many areas and I have learned to never be ashamed of the things I buy myself because "Comparison is the thief of joy" as they say and if I looked at all of the things I could have gotten, it would diminish the joy from the things I did. I don't buy things to feel shame, I do it because It makes me happy, and you should only feel shame if you do something wrong or hurtful, not when you make yourself happy. My family knows, at least my sister does. And my mom didn't care. She was happy for me and so is my sister. I'm happy and that's all I need as no one else is affected by it.

 

1° Do you bother to look for the doll you want on the secondhand market or do you go straight to the company? Why?
If I want a doll more quickly I will usually look on the secondhand market (meaning I don't have to wait for the company to make and then ship the doll to me), but if I'm not in a hurry or really want it to be new I'll buy direct from the company.

2° Do you immediatly order sleeping faces and extra hands for your doll through the company? If so, do you do this for every doll you purchase?
No, I'm not into buying extra heads for my doll, but sometimes I'll get extras hands. Only for dolls I know I'll want to be holding different items (i.e. swords, small items, etc).

3° If you have dolls with sleeping faces and extra hands: do you actually use them enough to justify the purchase? If not, do you regret getting them? If you don't have the above, do you regret not getting them?
I like to change the hands on my dolls at least every month, or when I'm needing them to hold a particular item for a photoshoot, so yes I can justify it.

4° Have you ever found yourself looking for extra items to throw in your shopping cart just so you could reach the necessary minimum amount to qualify for an event or free shipping? Do you realize this is a merchandising trick? If so, do you mind being seduced by this?
Not usually, it would have to be only a smaller amount more than I'm already willing to pay for things I want, if the extra amount of the item would be as much or more than the free shipping/event item I wont because in a way I've already paid for it. Yes I do, I used to work in retail and knew all about those kind of tricks so I'm normally not fooled/taken-in by them. Not really, companies gatta make their money and it's not like their forcing people to spend more.

5° Did the cost of a doll ever stop you from actually purchasing it when you had the necessary amount of money? Have you ever thought, "This doll is too expensive, I'll pass".
Yes, when Volks Yukinojo came out I actually had the money to get him, but since it would have taken allot out of my savings I just forwent the purchase.

6° If for some reason you had to sell your whole collection except for one doll, would you be able to do it? Would you know who to pick? Why choose that one?
Well I couldn't sell ALL of them, there are 4 that I simply could not part with, but if need-be I could sell all my other dolls and their clothes/wigs/eyes/accessories. I would choose Farera, Ogden, Candy and Blade because they are either, hard to find, too expensive to replace, no longer available anywhere (that includes the secondhand market) or their just too dear for me to part with.

7° Do you think you could be happy with just one doll? Why?
Possibly, I think Farera would be my best option if I had to go with just one, since he/she's androgynous it would be like having a boy and a girl.

8° Do you dislike purchasing popular sculpts? Do you prefer limited and rare dolls above others? If so, why? If not, are you bothered by people with this attitude?
No, if a sculpt I like happens to be popular I'll buy it simply for that reason. Again no, if one is limited or rare and I like it, I'll buy it. No, people can spend their money how they want, if they only like popular or limited/rare dolls then that's their biz.

9° If you had unlimited resources which doll would you purchase? How much does he/she/it cost?
Dollzone's Sawarieda, she costs over $1000, but dang is she beautiful! ♥

10° Do you keep track of how much you spent on the hobby so far? Why (not)? Does anyone else ever comment on the financial side of your hobby?
Sometimes I keep track of how much I've spent on one doll, but I haven't gotten around to summing it all up. I guess laziness? (I also don't like math). My family sometimes, mainly my parents, but it's only ever things like, "Why do you keep buying clothes for a thing that can never out-grow them?"

 

1° Do you bother to look for the doll you want on the secondhand market or do you go straight to the company? Why?
I prefer to get my dolls straight from the company. It just feels more reassuring for me. Say, if the doll gets damaged during transit, I can easily get a replacement part from the company. If the same thing happens on a second hand purchase, a lot of paperwork is required to get your money back. I also just prefer to get things brand new. That being said, I do own a few dolls from the second hand market for various reasons. One of them I bought since it was much cheaper than getting one brand new. The other ones were limited dolls I couldn't get brand new.

2° Do you immediatly order sleeping faces and extra hands for your doll through the company? If so, do you do this for every doll you purchase?
I bought an extra head once. I thought it would be nice to have an alternate head but when it arrived, I just wasn't interested. Never again..

3° If you have dolls with sleeping faces and extra hands: do you actually use them enough to justify the purchase? If not, do you regret getting them? If you don't have the above, do you regret not getting them?
same as#2

4° Have you ever found yourself looking for extra items to throw in your shopping cart just so you could reach the necessary minimum amount to qualify for an event or free shipping? Do you realize this is a merchandising trick? If so, do you mind being seduced by this?
I don't particularly care for free event items unless it's something I really wanted to begin with. I'm more likely to add stuff for free shipping, but only if the value is not too far off from my intended purchase.

5° Did the cost of a doll ever stop you from actually purchasing it when you had the necessary amount of money? Have you ever thought, "This doll is too expensive, I'll pass".
Yes, but space is more of an issue to me than cost.

6° If for some reason you had to sell your whole collection except for one doll, would you be able to do it? Would you know who to pick? Why choose that one?
I wouldn't want to do it... but if for some reason I absolutely had to, I would pick my Elli. No particular reason, I just like the sculpt a lot.

7° Do you think you could be happy with just one doll? Why?
No. Even before I bought my first doll, I've always enjoyed looking at group pictures and photostories of bjds. I've always wanted a group of dolls to make photostories with

8° Do you dislike purchasing popular sculpts? Do you prefer limited and rare dolls above others? If so, why? If not, are you bothered by people with this attitude?
On the contrary, I actually find myself more attracted to popular sculpts. These sculpts are popular for a reason after all. I just happen to belong to the majority who enjoy these sculpts' aesthetics. Being limited doesn't really affect how I like the sculpt. However, I do feel more pressured to buy limited dolls just cause I don't know if I'll get another chance to purchase them..

9° If you had unlimited resources which doll would you purchase? How much does he/she/it cost?
I am more interested in purchasing clothes right now since I am trying to downsize my dolly collection. I've always wanted to buy expensive clothing for my dolls but I just wasn't willing to spend so much on clothes..

10° Do you keep track of how much you spent on the hobby so far? Why (not)? Does anyone else ever comment on the financial side of your hobby?
Yes I do. I feel that keeping track of it can help me control and limit my spendings.
I think everyone I've told the hobby about judges me on the amount of money I spend on it... but it's fine for me. I'm actually surprised at how easily I've gotten used to the pricing in this hobby.

 

1° Do you bother to look for the doll you want on the secondhand market or do you go straight to the company? Why? Always, I prefer to buy in the second-hand market because I know exactly what I'm getting with no photoshop in the mix, also because I'm an impatient loser. Also, usually in the second hand market they would list the doll for the same price but add some clothes or a couple of wigs and that's always a bonus, that way I don't have to worry to get the doll clothes or a wig immediately.

2° Do you immediatly order sleeping faces and extra hands for your doll through the company? If so, do you do this for every doll you purchase? No and yes. Sleeping faces for me are a waste of money, sorry if that comes out harsh, but I do not see the appeal in sleeping heads. I'm never going to change the head for the sleeping one when I already spend $20 on eyes, my bjd better show off those eyes until they get dull!

Yes for the hands though, I technically do not older this when I order my doll though, but I wait to save up some more money to order extra hands since they are not really necessary and that's only if I like the other hands they have or if the company even offers them at all.

3° If you have dolls with sleeping faces and extra hands: do you actually use them enough to justify the purchase? If not, do you regret getting them? If you don't have the above, do you regret not getting them? Don't get them, don't gotta worry about this! But with hands I constantly change them if I have them depending on the pose my doll has for a quick pic.

4° Have you ever found yourself looking for extra items to throw in your shopping cart just so you could reach the necessary minimum amount to qualify for an event or free shipping? Do you realize this is a merchandising trick? If so, do you mind being seduced by this? Not really because when I buy something I either wait for all my dolls to need something or I don't order it at all for this reason. Free shipping is a huge deal, specially when sometimes they also charge you paypal fees on top of your order, which most asian websites do. So I always wait to buy stuff in a bundle for my bjd, if only one needs shoes then oh well, they better learn to share until I need more things or they are gonna deal with ebay shoes for a while.

5° Did the cost of a doll ever stop you from actually purchasing it when you had the necessary amount of money? Have you ever thought, "This doll is too expensive, I'll pass". Yes and no. I want some dolls that I don't necessarily love, so when I see them on the second hand market and they are around the same price then I don't bother, but when I see them for a good deal then I buy them it is just the fact that I don't think they are worth the high price, this has happened with all my soom bjd since I think soom overcharges for no reason.

On the other hand when I fall for a bjd, I fall hard and the price kinda becomes irrelevant as long as my brain tells me that it is worth the money.

6° If for some reason you had to sell your whole collection except for one doll, would you be able to do it? Would you know who to pick? Why choose that one? Yes, I have thought of this a lot as I get new dolls and as of right now I think I would be able to sell all of them except one, which is my luts aragorn, which is the bjd I'm still madly in love with because of how damn cute he is. If i had to chose another though, it would be my Peak's wood Kasspio. I'm am super attached to these two characters and it would be a rough battle to let go of one or the other but my luts wins.

7° Do you think you could be happy with just one doll? Why? Not really, because it would be lonely and boring to just work on one BJD, even if I love this sculpt. I like variety and I like projects, not to mention it would be depressing not to have those characters around anymore.

8° Do you dislike purchasing popular sculpts? Do you prefer limited and rare dolls above others? If so, why? If not, are you bothered by people with this attitude? I don't dislike popular sculpts, a lot of them are beautiful, I just get incredibly bored with them specially if the owners all go for the same style. It gets repetitive and boring which makes me not want to get those sculpts. I don't prefer limited or rare dolls over them either, I just prefer what I like and something that won't bore me. Although it is kinda annoying when people complain left and right about some sculpts is like, whatever for me.

9° If you had unlimited resources which doll would you purchase? How much does he/she/it cost? I would probably buy more Peak's wood dolls and Luts! I am in love with all of their sculpts so honestly I wouldn't be able to pick one.

10° Do you keep track of how much you spent on the hobby so far? Why (not)? Does anyone else ever comment on the financial side of your hobby? I have been keeping track on how much I spend on the bjd itself not so much the clothes and such. So far I have spend $4775 on just dolls, and on accessories I have spend roughly around $700. This was in the course of a year. Now that I have the bjd I want and need my next year should be roughly around $2k since I only want to add 2 more sculpts to my collection, plus clothes for them and wigs.

People don't usually ask me but if they did I would have no issues telling them, it is keeping things as they are and this hobby is hella expensive, trying to hide it is not good for yourself or the people interested in the hobby via your stuff. It is healthy to keep track of these things, otherwise it becomes a borderline obsession in which you stop to think about the value an item can have in your mind versus what you need in your life.

Buying bjd has actually help me be less cheap and more giving, because it has made it easy to spend big amounts of money. I'm not saying is a GOOD thing for everyone, but it has help me notice that yes, I can afford nice things and I don't have to be so paranoid about spending money as long as I'm smart about it and keep track of my finances, this includes the people around me that I care about. Plus it has help me build my credit a lot, so I have that going for me.

 

(This made me think, thank you for that. Very good questions!)

1° Do you bother to look for the doll you want on the secondhand market or do you go straight to the company? Why?

I usually go straight to the company since I'm quite picky so it's hard to find dolls that I would want seconhand.

2° Do you immediatly order sleeping faces and extra hands for your doll through the company? If so, do you do this for every doll you purchase?

If there is a sleeping face and/or extra hands to order then yes. It's usually because I might regret buying them later on and then I would have to buy them separately... aaaand I'm scared if that batch of resin is not the same color as mine was even though all companies try their best to keep the resin quality and color same as previous.

3° If you have dolls with sleeping faces and extra hands: do you actually use them enough to justify the purchase? If not, do you regret getting them? If you don't have the above, do you regret not getting them?

If the sleeping face is a faceplate which is easier to change I use it more often but if it is the whole head I don't change it as much. I know it's still quite fast to change the whole head too but I'm so lazy.

4° Have you ever found yourself looking for extra items to throw in your shopping cart just so you could reach the necessary minimum amount to qualify for an event or free shipping? Do you realize this is a merchandising trick? If so, do you mind being seduced by this?

Yes I have. But it depends on an event ofc (how many items I need to add and with that value and so on). I know it is a merchandising trick but I would still be supporting the artists that make the dolls. ^^

5° Did the cost of a doll ever stop you from actually purchasing it when you had the necessary amount of money? Have you ever thought, "This doll is too expensive, I'll pass".

No. When I have the necessary amount of money it's a clear decision on what to buy.

6° If for some reason you had to sell your whole collection except for one doll, would you be able to do it? Would you know who to pick? Why choose that one?

I would be able to do that but I don't need to do that because I have this limit thing with dolls: I can have only a few dolls at a time.
First I decided it has to be 3 but I know I might get something cheaper which means I don't need to worry about my money so I can't put a number on it... though I'd like to keep my doll family small because I wan't to give attention to all of my dolls as equally as I can and it's easier when you have less dolls. Choosing shouldn't be too hard since I always seem to have a favorite - so I would choose it.

7° Do you think you could be happy with just one doll? Why?

Absolutely! Then I could afford to buy a huge wardrobe of clothes and props. Not to mention doll furnitures and dioramas which are new and exciting things for me.

8° Do you dislike purchasing popular sculpts? Do you prefer limited and rare dolls above others? If so, why? If not, are you bothered by people with this attitude?

I don't dislike it and I'm not a huge fan of limited or rare dolls. I just happen to get interested in dolls that are not so popular.
People can buy any doll they want and so can I.

9° If you had unlimited resources which doll would you purchase? How much does he/she/it cost?

Loongsoul Momo or Fairygarden Papana - I would not change those dolls to something more expensive and limited.
I have my eyes on only those two at the moment.
>> Loongsoul Momo would cost me $280 + $29.00 shipping + custom fees.
>> Fairygarden Papana would cost me $387.60 + $43.00 shipping + custom fees.
I don't remember how big the percentage was on doll custom fees so I can't be specific on them. But they are quite high.

10° Do you keep track of how much you spent on the hobby so far? Why (not)? Does anyone else ever comment on the financial side of your hobby?

I do not keep track because I'm quite picky which means I don't buy just any doll that I think is cute and affordable to me.
And as I wrote above I like to keep my doll family small plus I know I spend less than most doll owners. That's why I feel like I don't have to worry about money in this hobby.

My bf has commented quite directly to my spending on doll related things but back then it was something I needed since I had some level spending problem. I learned and here we are now, no bad feelings.

I try not to spend too much on doll related things since I love spending money on other things too that are not doll related such as taking my little sister to eat and buy her little gifts every now and then. (She does same to me so this is kinda our thing - spoiling each other). We even plan once a year our amusement park day together (train tickets, schedule, where to eat, how much money needed and so on).
I also like spending money on clothes and games for myself - it's so much fun!