Revisiting sold dolls: seeing dolls with new owners

I love seeing what the new owner does with any toys I sell. I anthropormorphise them I admit, so seeing them "happy" makes me glad I let them go. I do however get a bit miffed when I see someone selling something I made for more than they paid for it. There's a vintage doll I personally rerooted, repainted and restored that I sold to someone about a year ago and within about a month of that sale I spotted her for sale in a bundle of other random vintage dolls and was like "wait what?". Kinda bummed me out.
I get that sometimes you gotta declutter but maaaan. This was something I had created you know? It was a OOAK doll and I sold it for very cheap, seeing someone try to sell it on with some other junky vintage dolls for like 5x what i charged was laughable and it still hasn't sold because it's not worth that.

Maybe I should be flattered they think my work is worth that, but they haven't listed it as ooak or who painted it so...

i feel sorry for the doll.

I needed the money and space more though and maybe one day she'll find a forever home. I dunno.

I love finding my second hand dolls history as well, I really like tracing back their heritage, seeing where they started out. I dunno I just find it facinating.

Some sadly you just aren't going to trace, they aren't unique enough, but others i've managed to and it delights me. Seeing what the doll was before you got a hold of it and all that haha.

i wish I knew what happened to the Makies I sold. I never see them again and it makes me sad because they really ARE OOAK. Like. where'd they go? COME ON GUYS!

 

I have never sold a doll (or bought any second-hand directly from an owner) but if I ever did I would love to see them in their new lives and what the new owners do with them!

 

I've seen a few pics of one doll I sold on, but I'd love to see more of all the dollies I've let go! It makes me happy to see they got a proper life and are being appreciated!

 

Hm. I never regret that I sold my first doll, but for a year, it was pretty hard to see him with someone else. She have got a big doll family, and my first doll became her grail, or favourite. Now I am happy for that doll, and I get lots of pictures about him. I still think that sculpt is the most beautiful Iplehouse sculpt, but he just not work for me... It's nice to see someone loves him so much. So I think it's a good thing to see your exdoll with a new loving owner.

 

I don't think I would do that. If I had a doll I really loved and played with and I had to re-home it, I would not want to know what happened to it. That would make me sad because I would remember how I felt about the doll. This is kind of making me think "old boyfriend stuff here," (chuckle).

If it was a doll I didn't really care about and I simply gave it away, I wouldn't care one way or the other.

I don't sew so I purchase clothing for my dolls. I try to remember to take photos of my dolls in their new outfits and send them to the vendors so they can see my dolls in their clothing. One vendor sent me a thank you email and said that she rarely sees dolls for which the outfits are intended in those outfits.

I am saying this to say that when I think about a doll or an outfit from an "artistic" perspective then I can understand why someone might want to see where the item traveled to next. However, when I think about a doll as a something for which I cared for and loved, then I don't want to know where it goes.

 

I was happy to see my old doll with new faceup and body blushing, done by his new owner. On the other hand I felt a little bad for another person who bought a doll from me. They realized it was not for them and listed it for sale as soon as they got home from our meet. I wasn't mad at them or disappointed as I didn't want the doll anymore, I just knew they probably saved a long time for the doll and would have a hard time selling it forward - I had too.

I have been thinking about people who I've bought dolls from though. I've purchased most of my newer dolls second hand, and sometimes I used to send the old owner a picture of the doll after I paint and clothe it. I haven't done it anymore though, because I started thinking, what if the old owner never wanted to sell the doll, but they had to due to some surprising thing? Of course I never know the conditions that cause someone to sell their dolls and whether they really were just tired to have it. I feel like if they gave up the doll because they had no other choice, they might feel bad to see the faceup they loved wiped and painted over, and they might just miss the doll more if they keep seeing it.

 

Most of my collection are second-hand dolls but none of their owners ever expressed that they'd like to see what I do with them. I'm too shy to actually contact them again or send them some photos which is a shame. I would actually love to send them a photo when the doll is complete and thank them again for letting me adopt...

I've had to sell quite a few dolls due to emergencies and some because we never clicked. It would rip open wounds to see those 'emergency' dolls in the hands of someone else but then again I'd also be touched if I see how much they might still be loved. Unfortunately all the dolls I've sold seem to have vanished in thin air. It kind of makes me sad to think about it...

Therefore, if you've ever bought a doll from me I'd love to hear from you ^__^ even if you've since resold it and know the new owner too. No hard feelings~♡

 

I had one doll that I sold, a Elfdoll Hana Devil. He was my very first foray into BJDs. He was really cute and all, but I'm just not into tinies. I spoiled him when I had him.

I think I sent the buyer everything I had collected for him since I am mostly into SDs and larger.

I'd love to find out what happened to him. I hope he's still being spoiled.

Ryu

 

I don't think I would contact someone who had sold their doll to me out of necessity. That seems like it could be hurtful and I don't want to cause them pain. If someone just fell out of love with the doll (or didn't love it in the first place), I don't see why it would be an issue to send them a quick update! I think it's nice to keep in touch with previous owners, even if its super brief! I'm pretty sure all of my doll's previous owners have left the hobby though. There's one I would not contact though because I'm embarrassed I haven't bought the head a body 12 years later.

I've only sold one doll and given away another. I don't know where the sold one ended up, but I hope he's being loved! I certainly don't want or need him back but I still feel a connection to him. The other that was given to a friend is still in pieces after I unstrung and gave her away in 2017. I never felt any connection to that doll so it doesn't bother me to know that.

 

After so long in the hobby I've bought and sold a lot. I have many secondhand dolls and I've sold at least a couple dozen different sculpts on the marketplace (most out of necessity long ago when I hit a rough financial patch). I think the only two that would make me feel regretful are my MNF vampire Shiwoo and my tan classic Narae, but otherwise I would welcome updates from anyone who bought from me.

Every sculpt I bought was because I liked the look of it, and I would love seeing new owner pictures of all of them even now regardless of how they have/have not changed or the manner in which they parted from me. Given that so many of them are either no longer being made or very out of fashion I doubt that will happen either way.

 

I follow the person who sold my doll to me on social media, but she doesn't follow me back, so I'm not sure if she sees what I post or not or is sometimes curious or not about the doll. But I post heaps of pictures of them all the time, so I hope if they do look, they can see my boys are living very happily and spoiled together now.

I did go back through the girl's old social media posts to see my doll and how he used to be before he got sold. He's had 2 owners before me and unfortunately I haven't been able to find anything about the first owner other than the purchaser ID from the certificate of authenticity. BUt I'm happy to say that I won't ever sell him now, and he can be happy with me forever now. It's nice to see where they came from, I think, and if I ever had to sell a doll, I'd love to know that they're still being loved by their new owner.

 

i don't think i've seen any pics of any dolls i've sold which is a shame, sometimes i still think of them and hope they are being loved and appreciated where they are

 

I'm likely a crazy one here, but I am ~OBSESSED~ with seeing new owners enjoy the dolls I have sold to them. I end up following a lot of them on Instagram and sometimes here, because I LOVE to see what amazing things they have done with them.

In some cases, they may sell them again in the future and that's totally valid. But, for the ones that stay; the new characters that the doll takes on, new styles, and the creativity that the new owner has keeps me excited for them. I have also ended up meeting some awesome people BECAUSE I sold a doll to them, even if they didn't end up keeping the doll; I still love to see what new dolls they acquire.

Lastly, since I tend to buy pretty beat up dolls; once I'm done fixing them up I often wonder if their old owners would recognize them.

 

I have only sold one of my dolls so far. And he was my first doll, so he always had a special place in my heart.
However, his new owner doesn’t really like him, and the owner was one of my friends. We don’t talk to each anymore because of some things that happened in the past.
I sold my doll in 2018, he hasn’t posted any pictures of him since he bought it from me. I would love to see some posts of him, but I don’t think that’s likely. Although, I don’t regret selling my doll because I really needed money back then, so if I knew this would happen I will still make the same decision.

Just in general I would love to see people loving the stuff I sold to them, it makes me really happy and felt like I made a good decision.