"Never to be sold again"

I don't think there's anything wrong with selling a 'gift'. Especially if it's something that you've received and don't like. I don't care who gave it to you.

If you sell a doll, you have no right to inquire about it to the new owner. It's not your doll, you sold it, don't be a stalker. Even if the new owner taked a flamethrower to it, you've no right to say anything.

As for doll companies with a 'no-sell' policy, I think they just want to make sure that no one makes money off of their dolls but them. A very unrealistic goal in the real world. People ARE going to buy limiteds for the express purpose of scalping. There's nothing to be done aout it.

 

That's one of the healthiest giving statements I have heard! This is really true - little is as depressive as a person who keeps giving to people in the expectation that they will be given back to or that their gift will be taken in a specific way, and then gets emotionally compulsive about it _having_ to be taken in a specific way. Because people being as individual and free as they are, you can pretty much count on someone not having the same feeling about it as you do. That's the kind of gift and related emotional burden I don't need, and the kind of distress I don't need as a giver either.

BtA

 

I can see both sides of this issue, however, usually those 'free' gifts aren't free as far as the company is concerned. I don't see it as a gift if they're still making profit, which they are. It's just a little less then what they would make.

As far as selling a prize that you win, I don't really see a problem with that. I'm not the kind to go to big conventions or anything, but I've always adored Sai. Not enough to buy one but I could see where someone would want one very very badly. Now if someone that didn't like tinies won one I'd rather that person sell it to someone that does want it and it have a good home.

As far as buying a second hand doll, there's not much the seller could do about it. I just baught a pocket doll remmy off a user here. She was selling it because she never bonded with it and I wanted one for a character. She informed me that she just wanted the doll to go to a good home, and now he's at one. If I decide later to sell him, there's not much she could do about it and that's not saying that if I do decide to sell him that I didn't love him. Stuff just comes up. However, if I tell someone I'm not going to sell the doll and I promise I wont, then I wont.

 

Awwww i think that's lovley.
It shows the company actually thinks of thier dolls and not just the money they make from them.
:]

 

I think Volks discourages the resale of Sei/Rei Tenshis because they have such a huge resale pricetag. These Tenshis are non-profit gifts given out as bingo/lottery prizes to Dolpa guests...and for the lucky winning guest to turn around and 'flip' that gift for $1000+ is distasteful. If I got a Sei/Rei I didn't like, I'd try and swap it at Dolpa with someone else who won one and come away with a doll I actually did like...or not play the bingo game at all if I didn't actually want a Sei/Rei.

I feel the same about any gift, whether it's from my Great Aunt Maud or Volks Inc. Make grateful noises on recieving the present and either give it away as a gift to someone else (this is how I recycle a lot of presents that don't suit me...) or swap it, because there's always going to be someone else who wants what you have. Making a huge profit off something you got for free when there were people at the event who would have loved to have won the same item is distasteful to me. Having people pay $1000+ for the 'privilege' of buying your free gift is wrong.

Ultimately though, while the company can discourage the resale of their products, once it's out of their hands there's nothing they can do about it.

 

I think it's kind of nice that a company loves their dolls so much that they want to make sure they have only one owner for ever. That said, I really don't think they have a right to do so. A doll is an object, and they cannot force you to keep it if you're not happy with it after a time, or whatever. They can discourage it all they want, but once you've paid for it and it's in your hands, you can do whatever you want with it.

 

Well, I've never won a doll or anything, but if I went to a dolpa and won a sei or rei and after a while didn't bond with the little one...I'd try to find a new home for him/her. I wouldn't sell it for a high price, I'd try to trade someone for something I really wanted...however...I seem to bond with dolls easily and I think a sei or rei would probably be welcomed into the dollie family.

 

Thank you for telling this story, a lot of people might not have!!
^_^
Raven

 

You've got to wonder about the people who really wanted one and didn't get one. I know I've been present at giveaways and have been absolutely crushed when I didn't get one. I know, that's life... but if someone who won one doesn't want it, why not offer it (for some compensation) to the person who really wanted one and didn't win one for themselves?

Somewhat OT but I collect plushies too. There was one limited release of a certain plush that I really really wanted. No one had it because only a certain number were made for a very limited time. I found ONE and paid whatever they asked for it because this plush was impossible to find and I WANTED it. And after dishing out my $200, I finally had one. It belongs to someone who wants it rather than the vendor that previously had it.

 

I once purchased some original paintings and had to sign a legal form indicating that I would not reproduce the images for resale.
There was no stipulation about reselling the paintings themselves, however.
Considering all the hoopla about people copying doll sculpts or using the images in their art, this might make a more practical request from a doll company.

 

If I get an extra head and decide I don't want it, I have no issues with reselling it. I've gotten an April head spare with my Bambicrony Sunday and was originally planning to turn it into a boyish twin. Now I'm thinking I may sell it and use the money on a deposit for a Shlphia instead. The company still gets an extra sale because either way, I'll either buy a body or buy a smaller doll and put the funds towards it. I may end up having a twin and a Shlphia because I've become hugely addicted to Bambicrony. Either way the free gift head has been appreciated.

 

I talked about this with my mom...I've eyed the Elfdoll Hanas for a very long time and I finally got to buy one.

It was a Halloween Hana Wizard that someone won at Dollectible...and sold it to me for market value...what Elfdoll had been selling them for. She told me that she too tried to bond and didn't happen...and the doll had just been sitting in the box for a year and...a half. She was so happy that I bought it because she knew I really wanted one.

I am happy I got my Hana...but I do wonder about the ethics of this...but people sell raffle etc prizes all the time...but the conditions suddenly seem to change because it's art. There were no conditions that this doll could not be resold...and it would seem to me to be unfair if there were.

Because what if the person who won the doll needed rent or money for medical bills or something and had this doll worth so much money...and found someone who really wanted a Sei or whatever...In the interest of the doll's care it would be better off in my opinion to be sold. The person who won the doll could pay their bills and the person who bought the doll would be really happy.

I do NOT believe though that it is ethical to buy a gift doll from someone and turn around to make a profit. That to me is cheating the person who sold the doll to you (provided the sale was in good faith).

 

Agreed about this.

Personally, I would honor the wishes of the seller as best I can.

In the case of a gift, well... it would become a gift to someone else, and I would pass along the terms under which I had acquired it at the time and the wish that those terms be honored. I couldn't hold someone to this, obviously, but I would make them aware of it. Bear in mind, I don't think poorly of people who sell gift dolls, either, for many of the reasons described in this thread.

I had a 'gift doll' that came as a bonus with another doll ordered as a Xmas special offer, and he wasn't my cup of tea. Rather than selling him, I ended up giving him to my mother, because she loves my dolls, loves cute (which he was), and had made a rule that I was "never allowed to buy a doll" for her. And he was free. Ahem. I didn't buy him! And she absolutely adores him. There was no special 'no selling' clause attached to him, but since he was a gift, I just felt better about making a gift of him.

In the case of "must not be resold", I would not resell it -- but I would potentially consider trading it or gifting it to someone who could give it a better home than I could if necessary. I don't exactly have a lot of money, so holding to that clause -would- sting financially in the case of making it a gift, but I'd honestly rather lose the cash and have a clear conscience about it.

Much as I hate to say it, sooner or later, many of those 'may not be resold' dolls will be, even if it is simply because when we pass on and pass on our belongings, our heirs may have no idea of those sales terms. (And even if they do, it's again a 'who knows what would happen'.) Much as I love my dolls, if I ever bought a 'not to be resold' doll, I wouldn't have it buried with me unless something fairly drastic changed in my worldview.

 

"It's mine and I can do what I want with it."

Tickets.

Some states/countries have heavy laws against ticket scalping. I have a couple of tickets sitting here on my desk that I bought from a ticket machine. They are "mine." But I am not free to sell them at my leisure. It is illegal here. If something happens and I can't go to the show, I'm just supposed to suck it up and eat the cost.

Is that fair? Eh. Not really. But it's a policy there to prevent people from buying lots of tickets and re-selling them at a huge profit. And in the case of my fanclub membership, if I did buy a ticket and sell it to someone else, there is a possibility (since my name is printed on the ticket) that I could be kicked out of the FC all together if it was discovered that I sold my fanclub ticket to someone else.

In a similar vein, I know a guy who deals in a certain type of goods. He was given access to a specific type of good under the condition that he not re-sell it. It was discovered that he had resold it, and he wound up being blacklisted by every dealer in Japan. No one would do business with him anymore because he was considered untrustworthy.

I give these examples because people are using the "Well, it's mine" excuse. Yeah, that doesn't mean a whole lot. I don't believe it's illegal to sell your doll the way it can be to sell tickets, but I would probably say you deserved it if a company asked you not to re-sell a doll, you did, and that company refused to do business with you in the future. If you get something for free and sell it at a hefty profit ... it never looks good. I don't care if you say your baby has brain cancer and you have bills to pay. If you buy something under the understanding you won't sell it, promise (by entering into the contract to buy it or receive it) that you won't sell it ... and then you sell it ... I would say you deserve a good blacklisting yourself.

 

It's a nice sentiment but totally unrealistic, not to mention unenforceable. I would be sad if I sold a doll to someone who sold it again but that the way things go. However, since I am such a horrible pack rat, I don't forsee myself ever selling one of my boys!

 

I'm totally an enabler of people selling their gift heads. If you look at my profile I am The Home For Unwanted Event Heads...I mean, if someone buys their dream doll and opens the package to find a stowaway, I can totally understand them wanting to sell it. I suspect these dolls have a "shelf life" too, so it's better that they go to places where they will be appreciated rather than quietly degrade in a box under someone's bed.

 

In the United States, at least, legally a company has no right to do this. The book industry tried to shut down lending libraries around the turn of the last century, and got smacked down hard for it. A legal doctrine called the First-sale Doctrine was established, and not only lending libraries but used book stores were legalized by that legal principle.

The recording, movie and software companies have tried to erode this right of an original owner to dispose of their property as they see fit, to varying degrees of success and failure. The Wikipedia article I linked to has a good layperson's summary of the legal principle. In European Union countries there is a similar principle called Exhaustion of Rights and it's basically the same.

The Doctrine of First Sale/Doctrine of Exhaustion of Rights likely covers dolls, probably more so than books, records, CDs or DVDs. Copying a doll would entail a lot more hassle than ripping a CD or scanning a book. Copy a Sei Tenshi or Rei Tenshi doll? Good luck to you, have fun with the mold making and casting process, and oh yeah, you'll prolly ruin the original in the process. I don't know if this is the same case in Japan or South Korea or China but if Volks tried to sue someone for selling a Dollpa prize in the US or in EU countries they'd be laughed out of court.

 

As a mother of two I find this comment more than disgusting

If one of my "babies" was ill in any way I would move heaven and earth to make them better.... the sale of an inanimate object to pay for the treatment would never be an issue to me, no matter what the original agreement. Any I certainly wouldn't want to deal with acompany that would blacklist in those circumstances

I sincerely hope you never have to deal with having children of your own suffering illness