Rules when buying a BJD for someone else

Best advice... Know what they want. Lol.

 

I think the best advice that a lot of people have posted already is... Dont buy them the doll you want. Thats just doll envy waiting to happen, and bad.

Lol... but yeah, people talking about buying a doll for someone else or having someone buy you one... dang! I just wish I had some friends who loved bjds also! Im alone in this...

 

Dood... there are Rules?


Personally, the dolls I've given have been to friends that I knew well enough to know what they wanted.
Usually, it's pretty easy when they say "I'd give a kidney to have that doll!" or something similar.

 

I would definitely never buy a doll for someone unless I knew or had been told beforehand exactly what sculpt they wanted. That particular love for certain dolls is really important to me, so getting the "sort" they like and hoping they like it would feel kind of.... off.

In my case, I can't exactly just "buy" the doll I know my friend wants, because he's a Volks Okita Souji (I don't even know exactly how much, and pretty sure she keeps a hawkeye on Ebay and such just to find a chance to buy him), but I'm definitely going to save up to help her buy him! I would never consider buying him for myself, but I have to love him because she does so much. For me this is exactly the kind of doll-gifting that seems perfect-- she gets exactly what she wants, and I get to feel good because I helped!

 

My partner has 4 BJD, and I bought all of them! I love him dearly and he wanted vampires, so I got him vampires. Only once did I get one without first consulting him, and that was because he had already said he wanted that doll, when it was released, several years before....damn minifee shiwoo vamps are soul stealing

People also have bought dolls for me, but I am really particular about this. No one has ever surprised me with one, simply because most people need to be led throught he purchase process, and because I am very particular about the dolls I want, so I guess the rules are:

Find out what they like, dislike, if there is something specific they want, or a doll they hate
Do not buy them the doll YOU want,t hey may not like it or you may end up jealous (unless you are getting yourself one too)
Don't get mega expensive ones unless you know they will love it
I also recommend that unless they are a tailor, artist etc, give them the doll with at least one outfit (or make sure someone else is providing one) a pair of eyes, a wig and a basic faceup so that they are not getting a shock at this weird blank thing. If it is a birthday present this is a good way to do group presents, you get the doll, ine up uncle Marty to get the wig, cousin Jenny can give the outfit, brother Paul can give the shoes....

 

This might sound stupid and petty, but... make sure that it's also a really good friend who you'll be friends with for a VERY long time. I've bought a couple of friends BJDs and am helping my GF with her layaway; I'm happy to help the GF, but I really regret getting the other ones. :\ One friend I've grown distant from and I know for a fact that she just keeps the doll in a drawer, collecting dust, though she had been wishing for him for years. The other friend that I bought a BJD over... let's just say that the friendship ended VERY badly. =_= (Never let your friends date your boss. There is no winning in that situation.)

Because of that, I've decided that I'll only get BJDs for the relationships that I know will be lasting: family, as well as a couple of other situations.

It was a lesson learned and, unfortunately, a very expensive lesson learned. :\

I'm glad, though, that there are other people here in the thread who've had positive situations! I just seem to be the odd man out. XD;;

 

If money were no object... lol I can think of a couple of people I'd like to buy dolls for.

But if I were to buy a doll for someone, I'd do as much research as I could into their preferences. I'd go "doll shopping" with them - i.e. look at dolls on the web with them. See which they seem to like the best. If that doesn't seem to work, I'd look up their other profiles on the internet (like DoA or DA) and see which dolls they seem to like through there. Such as if they fave a certain mold more than others on DA, or seem to comment more on a certain type of mold on DoA. It seems a little stalker-ish, but if I'm going to be shelling out $500+ for them, I want to make damn sure that it's going to be something they'll love.

I don't want to buy someone a doll they wouldn't want, just because they want a doll or some such. That just seems like a huge waste of money. And not only might they keep a doll they don't like or can't bond with to keep from hurting your feelings, but if they did end up selling it, they wouldn't get what I paid for it and then they wouldn't have as much to use to buy another doll.

In the end, I'd either stalk their profiles on DoA, DA, or other places in order to find out what they like, or just give them enough money to get what they want (as well as a good pair of eyes and wig). And if they ask how I knew what they wanted... just say I'm magic! No need to tell them that I spent hours lurking on their profiles in various places on the internet.

 

My best friend's parents and I conspired to get my best friend her first Dollzone BB. We had already discussed which ones we would want several months before, so I was able to casually bring up the little details like, oh, what color resin do you prefer, what kind of a wig do you like for girls, what sort of clothes do you see on DOA, yadda yadda.

We talk about doll stuff fairly often, so we were able to surprise her. The package came Christmas Eve, in the morning, so I was able to wrap it up for Christmas Day. The funny thing is, she did the same thing for me that year!

So I would say my "rules" would be to

Plan ahead. Months in advance, in case you need to wait for the doll to arrive (if you want it to be a surprise, of course. If not, it's no problem!)

Make sure they don't end up buying the doll themselves by mistake!

If you can, casually bring up ideas for dolls to get them talking about what they prefer for their own collection/crew/family. That way, you know for sure what they want. Unless of course, they just point to the computer screen and go "...That one." Which is also very helpful.

 

I plan to purchase a doll for my husband someday... but not until he finds the sculpt he wants. His tastes are very different than my own RE: ABJDs (he leans towards realistic while I prefer slightly stylized). Whenever I welcome a new doll he enjoys studying the mold/pose-ability/etc. to learn which companies suit his personality. I don't have many dolls yet, but based on his opinions of my own crew I know never to buy him a DOD. He can't stand their joints.

My advice is to buy a doll you think or know the person would love, not one you necessarily want. Everyone's preferences are all over the map when it comes to BJDs, and since it is such a personal hobby I think it's only fair that the selection is personal, too.

 

My boyfriend got me my Rosette Fir for Christmas/birthday/etc.

When he ordered it, I was actually there, and let him pick out one that was in his price range and one that both of us liked. I showed him all the dolls on my wishlist, and it was nice being able to have both of us pick one out.

If you're getting a doll for a friend and it must be a surprise, see which one they like best, even if it's only from your collection. Or try having a casual discussion with them about what style they like best, or look at pictures together. Be sneaky!

 

I bought a head for my sister, and all I can say is be sure she will like it.
I am kinda mean though... I bought only a head (Yes becasue I did not have enough to get the whole thing) but also to get her into the hobby more ^^

I knew she liked girls and SDs so when I bought a head for myself I tohught I could buy her one too ^__^
She even joined the site after getting it while she was really not interested before! So Its a big plus for me XD

 

I actually disagree with a lot people here. I think you should get them a doll you like, if you don't like/want it, how are they going to like it??

I recently went through this my mom. She had never shown any interest in BJDs other than to hate all of mine. Until she saw my tiny, a Leeke D bebe (Tiny Alex). She went nuts over him, even to the point of pulling him out of my purse to play with him while I wasn't around. When she started dropping the "I need a hobby" and "I want to start sewing again but I don't know what to make" comments I decided it was time to get her her own doll.

This is what I did...

I knew what she liked, so I wanted to look for a similar doll. I didn't want to get her the same doll even though that was suggested to me, because A. I don't order from Leekeworld anymore and B. I didn't want to spend that much on a doll if she wasn't going to like it and I was stuck reselling it later. So I needed a company that I like, that was a little less expensive than others. I asked for help from other doll owners which was a good idea (yay! Step one accomplished with this thread XD) because I got lots of advice. I didn't need to follow all of it, but it was there and I did take a lot of the suggestions.

for example: B&G was suggested, which made feel dumb since I have a few B&Gs and love them so I should have thought of that myself. So I had a company to look at which narrowed my search down a hell of a lot. B&G has YO sized tinies which are fairly new and very cute. I had several things I was looking for:

I wanted a girl. Part of my moms fear of the dolls is that mine were at the time, all boys. Like a lot people unfamiliar with BJDs she was thinking Doll should = girl. I also wanted a pouty mouth like mine had and big eyes since she had commented on both in the past. The head I ended up liking best was a boy, but Jack being the awesome dealer that he is got me the girl body (and of course B&G sent the wrong one, but Jack fixed the error before it got to me. Yay Jack!).

When I was finally able to give my mom the doll she LOVED it. From the time I gave it to her to her leaving to go home, she'd totally bonded with her little girl.

Long post is long. So yeah, I didn't write this monstrosity to say THIS IS WHAT YOU MUST DO!! it's just me saying "I did this! And it worked!!" it's a place to start, a suggestion. It's hard to buy something as personal as a BJD for someone else unless they're pointing to it saying "that one there". If you're getting a doll for someone, chances are you are close to them so you should have some idea of like/want. Start there and look at stuff. We're good at that in this hobby XDDD
And don't forget they'll probably like it just beause you got it for them in the first place (I had to be reassured of that, so I thought I'd throw it in here too XD)

 

There are no rules. Different people do it different ways. I've bought a doll twice for people. The first time I bought a tiny I liked myself and gave it to a friend without telling them until it arrived and I was on her doorstep holding her. The second time I showed three dolls I liked from one company to a friend and asked her which one she liked best, then which colour resin she liked best. It was funny to see how long it took her to catch on that I was buying it for her :3

Honestly, it depends entirely on the person you're buying for and you yourself as to how you go about it. Personally I can buy someone a doll sculpt I adore and want myself, but some people might not be able to do the same.

 

I have been on the receiving end: two friends pitched in to buy me my SD and one of them was getting a pukipuki and ordered another just for me. So both my dolls were gifts.

As for how my friends knew which dolls to get me, as for the SD, it's a long story. We roleplay, so when my friend talked about getting a doll for one of her characters, his wife's character began begging me to find a doll to suit her (she's one of mine). So both of us were online trying to find the right sculpt, and we did. I pined for the IH Silvia for months, and my friend even went to far as to take the company photo into photoshop and change things like eye color and hair style to see if the sculpt would really work (obviously, it did), but I wasn't going to buy any doll until I'd dug my way out of debt, which will take me a few years with a good job, that I didn't have at the time. Whew! Run on sentence! Anyways, about a month after this hunk of resin arrived (he is an EID), she tells me that I should be expecting a present in the mail that she and her cousin had bought for me (because they felt bad playing with their dolls at the house with me doll-less and doing other things inside). I about died. So it was and wasn't a surprise, as she was a few weeks still in coming, but I wasn't told until she was Before Shipping.

The Pukipuki was different. I had expressed interest in them as a whole, but hadn't developed any fondness for a particular sculpt of them. So when I was given the Mary (I was literally handed a silver foil wrapped Fairyland book with a blank pukipuki, spare magnets and sleeping faceplate), I was delighted and a bit nonplussed, because I hadn't even seen that face before, nor done a faceup of any size. She quickly became a favorite however, once I decided I can't do faceups that small and had Rosslyn do it for me, and her little pouty face made me squee.

I couldn't part with either, and only one had any basis in knowing my likes and dislikes. I'm a bit clueless when it comes to someone sneaking me a present, so unless they start hinting or outright tell me, I piece nothing together. So, I love my dolls because they are my dolls and were gifts to me. Though I've been told they are mine and I could sell them or do whatever with them I wanted, I couldn't part with them, even if I were about to be on the street or living from my car (I know this, having just been out of work with no savings for two months).

 

I think your story is the reason why I wouldn't outright buy a bjd for a friend. I'm all for letting that lent fiver slip by occasionally, but I'd be really annoyed at being $300 minimum out of pocket for a friend who may or may not buy a present worth $300 in return.

If they were really eager to get a doll, I'd happily help them choose and decide, or let them split it half and half with me. I know I sound horrible, but from my personal experience, my friends would not plunk down a large amount of money for me, because as you said, friendships can turn sour and drift apart.

I'd say a rule would be
Make them agree that if they don't want the doll for any reason later, give it back so you could sell it to someone who would give it a loving home, not lie about in a drawer somewhere. (The sales money could be given back to the friend or whoever the pair decide)

 

I understand that not everyone would want to spend a large chunk of money on a friend. And that sometimes people have a falling out with their friends.

But gosh... a gift is a gift. Adding conditions to the gift seem like an issue with control.

Just my two pennies :/