"Never to be sold again"

I think that's really dumb. I can sort of understand why companies would discourage resale because they don't make money off of that and would rather have a prospective buyer buy the doll directly from them. But they really can't expect anyone to follow their suggestion.

Seriously, if the owner no longer wants the doll, you can't expected them to just keep it because the original seller said not to resell it. What do they think will happen? The person will return the doll to the company for free? Ummm...get real.

Also, I've seen some individuals sell their dolls and state that they don't want the doll to be resold or have any modifications made. Well, if you wanted the doll to stay the way it was, you wouldn't sell it. Basically, once a person pays for the doll, you have NO SAY whatsoever in what the person does with the doll even if they go drop it off a roof (godforbid) or something like that.

 

I think it strange that someone selling their doll would make that request. They obviously didn't keep the doll, and if they're that concerned about what happens to the doll, then maybe they shouldn't be selling it to begin with.

I don't know how they'd know, unless they were really keeping tabs--if you remembered who you sold it to and it was someone on DoA, you could keep an eye on their profile or do a search for sale posts. However, that would seem like a lot of wasted energy to do so, and they can't enforce that you have to keep the doll. I am a very sentimental person, but I would never expect someone to keep a doll forever--it's just not always feasible and if I were to sell a doll, it would be none of my business after the doll left my hands (not that I actually sell my dolls, but hypothetically speaking).

I have several dolls from the marketplace, and if an old owner kept bugging me for updates it would weird me out after awhile. Not sure that anyone actually does that though.

 

If I went to a Dolpa and won a little volks guy....I'd probably sell him. Because those little buggers are worth a lot of money...but that's saying as I don't really like any of the volks molds. D: But yes, has been said before, if I wanted to drop him off a rooftop I could. It's sort of a pointless thing to say when selling your doll.

 

Doll sellers asking buyers not to re-sell their dolls reminds me of that kerfluffle over Ellen Degeneres giving a dog she'd adopted to one of her TV crew members. As long as it ends up in a 'good home', who cares how it gets there? :B

But seriously, these are luxury goods, not living things. The doll doesn't care how many times it's sold. I see no reason for a doll owner to request that their doll not be re-sold.

 

I've gifted a few of my friends with my casts, but under the condition if they ever tire of the doll they have to give it back to me. I only give my closest friends who I trust my dolls, and for the most part I don't think they'd ever sell the dolls anyway. X3

But if I SELL a doll? It's SOLD. I have been monetarily compensated and I have no right to say a thing.

 

Hmm, I can kind of understand dollshe about the Bermann's though. I mean, they are sold at the marketplace for such high prices @__@ So... I just think they don't want people to buy their dolls just to make a profit off of them.
And I think it's the same with Volks? Or maybe it's just impolite in their opinion to sell something rare that you have received as a gift...

 

I do know that culture wise in Korea and Japan, selling gifts is considered to be very rude, even if it isn't considered rare.

 

I can understand people and companies feeling badly about a "gift" being sold, because I know people who feel this way. However, my personal opinion is that when you give someone a gift you have to be prepared for them to do most anything with it, including not like it, or decide to sell it off later, as much as you may want them to understand and appreciate the specialness of the giver giving it. If one can't accept that this is going to happen then one shouldn't give gifts. I apply this idea to doing favors for people in general, not just dolls, because I honestly believe that doing something for somebody and expecting appreciation in return is the wrong reason to do it and often leads only to disappointment.

As far as companies or anyone else stipulating that an item can't be resold, I understand it's to discourage scalpers, but in practical reality it is hard to make it work, which is probably one reason why the US legal system tends not to support post-sale restrictions. Stuff bubbles up on the market, just more quietly sometimes if it's not "supposed" to be sold.

 

Well, once something belongs to you, you can do with it what you feel. If I get a DVD and then sell on it on eBay two years later, that is my freedom. There is definitely something gauche about selling any product you got for free and making a hefty profit from the experience. But the product belongs to you, and you can do with it as you please. You may make other people angry at you, though.

 

I can see that the company would like to think you would own the doll forever which is sweet. BUT how many times have we read a sales thread with a line about "just not bonding" with the doll? Would the company want the doll sitting on a shelf being unloved? It would be nice if the person could sell it to someone they knew would really like it and not over inflate the price. I would also like to see legally how an overseas company would enforce a "verbal" contract with another country seeing as how varied laws and regulations are from country to country and even in the US state to state.

If you buy something and it comes with a freebie and you don't want it there is nothing wrong with selling it, you bought something during a free offer time and now you can sell that and get more stuff for your doll

With free gifts, well if you win it and decide you don't like it what do you do with it? Give it away and hope that person keeps it and doesn't turn around and sell it? Hopefully you ahve a friend who you know would cherish it.

 

As someone who has bought several dolls via the Market Place, I'm really glad that people decide to sell their no longer wanted dolls--otherwise I wouldn't have some of my guys who I love very much. Sometimes selling a doll is the best situation for the parties involved.

 

We have never sold a doll in our family. The oldest doll is almost 50 years old, she is older than me, she's made in England. Many dolls we have are gifts from family friends. Gift dolls cannot be sold. Our most remarkable gift doll was hand carried from Kyoto to Singapore in the mid 70s. It is my mom's dream to be able to hand carry her back to Kyoto one day and then look for the friends who gave her to us. We don't know the doll's market value and we don't want to know. That doll cannot be sold. I kind of understand why Volks do not like their gift dolls being sold but then, the giver cannot dictate if the gift is sold. It's up to the receiver to either keep or sell the gift.

Since we don't sell our dolls, I cannot buy too many dolls. I now only have 1 BJD, he is SD13 Isao Nanjou. I am his 3rd owner. I felt sorry he is being sold 2 times in 4 years. I assured him he won't be sold again unless I die

 

What a lovely tradition. It must make every doll a true member of the family.

 

Yes, Anne Marie, it is a lovely tradition but also one with responsibilities. It's no joke cleaning old dolls, not to mention the cost when we moved from Singapore to Canada, and oh....moving within Canada itself! There were times when we felt like selling but in the end, nobody got sold. A few got sent away to live with relatives.

 

They way I see it, to resell a doll is the fully within the rights of the person who paid for it. By the same token, the company is within their rights to enforce repercussions if they find out (such as not selling again to that individual). While the later is unlikely, the doll world isn't that big quite yet. Everyone involved is entitled to their choices.

And while I think selling a gift is kinda tacky, it's more disrespectful of the art to hold onto something and leave it unloved and unappreciated. But that's my sentiment talking.

 

I think such attitudes create neurotic doll owners.

It is one thing to sell on a FREE gift head that the company gave you because it's happy for your business. Or even the Sei/Reis because they ARE gifts. But Bermanns? Please. The artist makes out like a freaking bandit every time there's a casting, please don't get so sentimental out of one side of your mouth while charging $2k for a hunk of resin worth, at most, $800, and thinking this is wonderful. No, you sell them, and they are out of your hands. That's it. Once you accept money for it, you lose the right to say what can be done with it, period.

Pfft. I've no patience for that kind of thing. Not that I HAVE sold one of my dolls or ever plan to, of course.

 

You know, it may be a marketing ploy, I mean doesn't that just make the dolls more desirable and sought after? Plus I'd much rather see a doll go to a loving home then see it languish in home that will never appreciate it or give it the attention it deserves.

 

The way I see it, the companies know these are going to be sold on, especially if it's a free gift head that's not available for sale directly. A large percentage of people who buy the main item are not going to like the free gift head or don't need it and would rather defray the cost of their purchase by selling the head to someone who really wants it and can't afford or doesn't need the main item. In the end everyone is happy and maybe the doll company gets some extra business as the person who bought the free head might need a body, eyes, wigs and so forth and purchase those from the doll company that sold the head.

If the doll company was really that concerned about giving someone something that wouldn't be sold, they could let the customer choose the free gift up to value X, or better yet just give the "gift" of a discounted price on the main item.

Doll companies who claim they don't want "free gift heads" sold are totally talking through their hats.