Resale Overprice (foreal)

I don't know that this is really a debate. If the buyer is willing to pay the price it is not overpriced it is just the going price. If I had the money I would have a Sard, but just bacause they are overpriced for me does not make them overpriced to me.

 

In honesty, I tend to start all my items at what I paid (I just sold a doll for exactly what I paid) and sometimes I will do auctions on ebay or here and if it is a really popular item. If it goes for more than original that is ok with me, but most of my items I just sell at my cost (or just under and this often has shipping and price of extra nice wigs and outfits (which the new owner does not have to buy)).

Sometimes I have paid over the original company price and then sell it for what I paid (or less). Is that considered resale overprice? I do not really think so, but people who do not know what I paid might assume I am just charging a markup. So, I do not think it is really black and white.

 

8U Hmm well double is a bit of a push unless its a limited or something like that. But if its like..scalping, I don't condone it. If its because that person redid everything like customized face up, sueding, etc etc the whole package, then I don't think it's bad to up the resale value 8U..

I don't think it's as simple as a yes or no to answer you. n_n;

 

I'm pretty sure no one is going to be like "Yeah, I love being scalped! Adds that sizzle to my day!"

PS. You posted this twice.

 

I've never done it, but I honestly don't see anything wrong with it. The resell value cannot be upped if people were not interested in paying that much for them, could they? If someone bought a doll at $800, then resold it for $2,000 and it sold, why should they be made out to be the bad guy? Someone was willing to pay that for it! First hand, second or third, if no one would buy them, the prices would be lowered. But clearly, they are that high in demand. If people are willing to pay that much for them, it's fair. If they're not, clearly they don't want it that bad. To say "Oh, I want it soooo much! But I don't want to pay more then $$ for it!" doesn't sound like someone who REALLY loves something to me.

:EDIT: I'll use my 60-year-old mother's first car as an example. When she bought it, she paid $1,000 for it new off the lot. Now, 46 years later guess how much that car is worth? $85,000! That's with it being partly rusted, without the super-shiny-brand-new glossy paint finish or anything. Somethings things can be worth more over time, even if they aren't in that good of condition. Why? Because there is a low supply and there is a high demand. Dolls are no different then anything else in this world in that respect. There is no right and wrong when it comes to buying and selling. :EDIT:

 

Well... it really depends, I think. If it were a normal doll, and someone simply made a simple mod to it, selling it for double the price would be ridiculous. But say that someone opened the eyes to a sleeping head, modded the nose and lips to a different but still attractive shape, sanded the seams, gave the doll a truly beautiful face up and body blushing, pierced the ears, and is willing to sell it with wig and eyes and a default outfit of sorts, then it MIGHT be okay to sell it for double the price because of all the work that has been done on the doll before it is sold. Although I highly doubt anyone with a sound mind would buy a doll and do all that work only to sell it; most likely it would be well-loved before the owner decided to sell it. ^-^;;

 

What kind of doll are we talking about here? A standard that can still be purchased new from the company, or a much sought after and rare LE? It's not really such a simple question, because there are various factors that go into pricing dolls. Popular LEs or dolls with mods by well known artists can fetch a lot more than their original selling prices. If a doll is priced in line with what other dolls of that type or sculpt are going for, then I would tend to think of it as being fine even if it is much higher than the original company price. If a doll is priced far over what others of it's kind go for, then I would be apt to consider it overpriced. Either way, however, it's really up to the buyer to decide how much they are willing to spend on a doll. If you think something is overpriced, just don't buy it.

 

I can't even answer your poll because you're just assuming that the high price the person is asking is an "overprice."

If the price is really "too high" for the market, then no one will pay it, so it's not a problem.

On the other hand, as someone else already said, if the doll sells at the high price then it's not "overpriced" to some buyer or group of buyers. If that doll is very rare or sought after, it could easily go up significantly in value, and that sort of thing is very common in collecting, and is a feature of collecting that some people even enjoy (essentially "betting" on what dolls will go up in value).

If your post is really about people who buy limiteds with the intention of "scalping" them, then we've had that ethics discussion before many many many times, so there's no need for your poll.

 

This isn't really a debate question.

If the market price of a given doll is more than it was purchased for originally, then that's the price of the doll. That's all there is to it. Some dolls appreciate in value even if nothing is done with it (heck, BECAUSE nothing was done with it) and thus, it's not precisely a 'bad thing' to sell the doll for more than it was purchased for. I wouldn't even think I could get away with spending only $600 on an old-type Dollshe, for instance; that may be what it cost from the maker, but that isn't what they're going for now and thinking that they SHOULD be sold for less than their market value is ludicrous.

It's just the nature of the marketplace. Nothing will change that some dolls will command higher second-hand prices, regardless of your personal opinion on the matter.

 

The only time when it's "not okay" is when a person buys a doll they KNOW will increase in price, like a doll that will be an LE, and resells it with the intention of profiting on the limited nature of the product. That's when it becomes scalping or flipping. But if you have a limited edition item, and simply decide it's not for you, and then list it at the going rate or hold an auction, then what you get for it is what it's worth.

 

I personally have maybe broke even on 3-5 dolls out of well over 100+ dolls. Most times I lose money any wheres from $50-$150 on each. Plus I usually add eyes, wigs and sometimes clothes so if I could ever sell a doll and even make a bit of profit I would, but I seldom have the doll people desire bad enough to pay the money. i even lost money on a Dollshe Bernard and only because they were still being made so a new one wasn't that much, now look at me offering quite a bit for a Dollshe. I have learned when you want a doll you will pay and if you buy a doll from me you save.

 

I think as long as there is no deception going on and the seller isn't buying up a large share of the supplies to control the market, then selling dolls at the current market price is not wrong in any way.

We all decide what something is worth to us, just because we think something is too much doesn't mean there is anything wrong with the people who do sell and buy it at that.

 

Every item has its going rate, and that's that. It's true of all sorts of things, not just dolls/bjd. If you are patient perhaps you will be lucky and find your desired item for less than its going rate. If you love it enough the wait will be no problem!


Raven

 

But often times it's those people that allow those who want them most to get them in the long run. :-/ I don't see how they can be made out to be bad people, if you look at it logically.

For example, only 80 of a doll are made. The price from the company is $1,000. The item is not a lottery item, but a first-come, first-serve thing. Say there are 100 people who want the doll, but only 75 can afford it at the moment, well what if 80 of those people had the money at the moment and wanted the doll for themselves? That would mean there would be no chance of anyone else ever getting one because no one would want to part with it, leaving 20 people without even a bit of hope.

But if 5 resellers came along and bought the last 5, since they did have the money on hand at the time and don't want the dolls for themselves. That is 5 dolls that could go to someone who couldn't afford it at the moment before and who are willing to pay more for it, it's part of making up for the fact they couldn't afford it at the time. In some way, they are doing some people a favor because that means there is still a chance to own that doll, unlike if people just bought a doll only if they wanted it for themselves.

And even so, that's still 20 people competeing for 5 dolls. If they sold them at the same as company price, that is what I'd call unfair to all sides. Although in real life, there are normally more then 20 people wanting the same rare dolls. That is why they go for so much, the more that find loving homes, the more they go for. It's stupid to continue to sell them at company price when honestly, they are worth more than that over time.

Does that make any sense? I know I jumped around alot, I'm sorry about that.

 

What you're saying makes sense, but I don't think the system needs people intentionally trying to make profit to work. Out of those 100 people who want the doll initially, I'd bet that probably only 50 will keep it long term. Some will open the box and find it wasn't what they expected, some will come on hard times and need money, and some will own it for a while and get bored of it, etc. These people all bought the doll with good intentions, and sell them with good intentions, and allow someone else to get a chance at owning it.

 

I really don't see how this is so bad, anyway. The person doing it is making the initial investment in the dolls, as well as taking the risk that they won't be as popular as they think, or that there will be quality issues with the LE, and they will either have to sell at a lower price or be stuck with a lot of dolls they really don't want. They are banking on their taste and knowledge of the doll market -as well as a little luck!- and none of those are absolute or infallible.

If you look at it another way, those who pick up an LE doll with the idea of reselling in the future at least ensure there will be dolls available from that edition when it closes. If everyone who bought an LE truly loved it with all their heart and soul, hardly anyone would ever sell theirs, making them extremely rare and -whattaya know!- driving up the market value of the doll.

 

My sentiments exactly. Supply and Demand. The market is a very non-partial arbiter of the current value of a doll.

I don't understand all the moralizing over the resale price of a luxury item. Who am I to surmise what someone's intentions were when they bought a doll? Maybe they bought it to keep, got it home, realized it wasn't all that and decided to sell it. Maybe they decided to speculate on a limited, had the money to purchase at the time of release and took their chances on a potential profit. They also took their chances on a loss--look at what the economy is doing to the value of some limiteds

 

I agree with you there, absolutely. Now, if we were talking about moral standards of people in third world countries driving up the price of water by supply and demand while they had enough to go around, but just wanted to get as much as they could for it while people died, then we can get into moralizing actions and intentions.