One fear

Is there a local group of owners in a FB group or something? My state has a few that I am in so I can see what's happening. I'm not super social myself, so it's nice to follow along and then I can reach out to specific people. I'm close to a couple people and they keep me in the loop about meet ups since I can't often attend...

 

Ah! That's awesome~
I understand the FB issues. I have a alternate name for online due to my ex...He hasn't found it or if he has, decided to leave me alone though. So I'm in the clear! Instagram is a lot more fun for me to be honest. I love following as many doll pages as I can

 

THAT IS FOR SURE MY BIGGEST FEAR E-V-E-R!

I'm from Brazil and our postal service is expensive and crappy. I never had any package lost by them, but I know people that had been through it (some of them lost rare or LE dolls).

My second biggest fear is also related to postal service and it's called "Damaged package". Once I got a box with a doll inside and it was wet, smashed on one side, half opened on the other side. My heart dropped right down my cucu, but thankfully the doll was very well packed and no harm was done.

 

Like most of you here, I'm scared that my doll may be lost or damaged in the mail. That's why I resist the temptation of getting them mailed to me from my hometown in China to Australia, where I currently live in. I'm going to pick them up the next time I go back to China.
Likewise, I'm too scared to send out heads to faceup artists who are based in another city or country, since I've heard of countless horror stories of them getting lost, damaged, or even stolen by the "artist"...

 

Getting a doll head lost in transit either way certainly is a deterrent for me sending out for a commission. I've heard plenty of horror stories of heads getting lost, stolen, not returned by the artist, and so much more. But...my main reason for not doing so mainly has to do with the fact that I feel more comfortable with doing the work myself than sending them out to have someone else do it.

Don't get me wrong; there are many talented artists out there who do excellent work. This is not a jab from me against them in any way. I just....I never really feel connected with my OCs if somebody else does the work for me. I know that there are people who could probably replicate whatever I request down to a T, but I feel I connect to them through doing the work myself. Even though not every attempt I make meets my standards, when I get it it right---it just works.

I'm also an artist, so I am just hoping to hone my own craft. Maybe someday I'll aspire to do faceup commissions for other people, permitting time and other things. I'm currently busy finishing off a degree, so the only time I have to squeeze in for faceup work will have to be my own crew, especially since I'm using them as class work subjects

 

I have the same insecurity too that’s why I source locally.

 

I send a head for a face-up once to Italy, I was TERRIFIED that she would get lost on the way. It was an expensive doll due to import fees and if it had been lost I'd been out of 300 euro again atleast thanks to those fees and shipping costs.

 

The idea of my doll getting lost in shipping is absolutely terrifying.

 

I did have a doll that I bought go missing in the mail last summer. Fortunately, the package was insured and the seller did not undervalue the doll, so I was able to get a full refund. Took a few months, a lot of paperwork and some heated phone calls, though. But that's been the only time, and I have been in the hobby for quite a while!

 

Ah yes. I have this one fear, but mildly. I don't usually ship dolls unless really needed for faceup commissions. With selling, I would much rather meet up with the buyer or seller if I could and if I sold it locally. I could ship out but if I do ship out I'll be sure to update frequently where would the package be.

 

I've haven't had this happen to me, but because my dolls are all really hard to get, this is a fear I can relate to and it is the reason why I haven't send them out to face-up artists so far. I mean, if something should happen to them during transit, I wouldn't be able to get them back again. Still, I do think I'll have to take the hurdle one day or another, because I'm just not good enough a painter myself.

 

I think it's a valid fear (because we all seem to at least know someone who has had something lost), but I think the chances of lost packages are smaller than it seems because we all hear about *every* package that gets lost (almost), and forget how many dolls we are all likely to be shipping back and forth...

But, because it is a possibility, making sure to insure for full value and then keeping records of all receipts/tracking/communications helps me to maintain peace of mind while dolls are in transit, even though it can be a bigger expense and extra effort.

However, it is a valid fear, and I don't think we can ever get over our shipping anxiety!

 

I live in Russia and once I saw how cars with postal parcels were unloaded ...
This horror is beyond words!
They just threw them on the ground, right on the asphalt ...
I am always very worried when I sell or buy dolls so that they come in a whole condition, although a couple of times it happened when the dolls came with broken fingers ...

 

I’ve been collecting BJDs since 2004-2005, and in all that time I’ve only ever sent one doll out. It was my beloved Lue, who went to get his ears pointed, his fingers separated, and a few things done to his body to increase his mobility.
I think I wrapped him in so much bubble wrap, he literally couldn’t move at all in the box.
I did the works, insurance, tracking, signed for, sent like next day delivery, etc. Lol, I all but hired a private courier to hand carry and deliver him!
The artist doing the mods was wonderful, she let me know as soon as he had arrived and kept me posted on how things were going. She also notified me when she sent him back and gave me all the tracking info.
Still, those were probably one of the worst most stressful times in my life, the time he spent in route to the Modding artist, and the time he spent in transit coming back. I was on pins and needles until he arrived back home.
The only time I wasn’t too much of a nervous wreck was while he was actually safe in the hands of the artist. Lol, at that point I just had to contend with the almost withdrawal like symptoms of simply missing him, like a part of my heart was gone.
Even though he made it safely back home, and I adore the wonderful job the artist did in pointing his ears, I haven’t been able to bring myself to send another doll off for mods, face ups, etc.
It’s not about money, the cost of replacing the doll either. You see, most of my dolls are irreplaceable to me, even the least expensive most common available sculpt. If any of my doll’s heads were to be lost or irreparably damaged, I’d never be able to replace them, because they just wouldn’t be the same ‘doll person’. If you get what I mean.

 

A long time ago I've send one of mine most treasured LE dolls for a face-up twice. First time within my country and second time to China. Chinese address looked like a spell to me and post office worker and the parcel was send not by EMS cause the worker misunderstands me. So my precious boy was going on the second trip without tracking and I had no idea where is he for 2 weeks. That's the story with happy ending, he returned home and was totally perfect.

In each particular case only you could decide is it worth it or not? The fear was always on my mind and will be, when I will be sending my dolls for face-ups. Now I don't want to part with my irreplaceable guy, he has a very simple face-up now and I really want to send him for a more detailed and realistic one, but I'm afraid to lose him too much. But for all replaceable dolls I'll do it, cause it's part of the fun in the hobby, to bring dolls to live by giving them unique look. And I'll never will be doing it myself, cause I'm perfectionist, it would be too long to get this skill on the level I want it to be.

 

I'm going to be shipping two of my heads (and two hands) out first to get color matched here in the USA, then out to Poland for a face up. I'm terrified that they're going to disappear at some point of the process, no matter what shipping company I use or insurance and tracking and signature release I set up. I'm so anxious. I just want to fast forward to the part where its all over and they're back in my hands, completed.

 

I have never had this happen to me luckily, but I did have a posable art doll get stuck at my customs office for 4 months I wasnt sure he would ever arrive!! I would be so nervous if it happened with my resin or vinyl