Scalping and YOU.

I have fairly complicated feelings about scalping too - which I define as buying a doll for the sole purpose of flipping for a profit. (Not selling a doll at a profit, as sometimes happens.)

In the early days of the hobby, one had to rely on Shopping Services to get dolls. I was - and am - glad to pay over retail for someone to take the time to shop and procure and ship something to me. A Shopping Service usually has a set, predictable fee that covers their costs with a little something for their time. If it's a full time business, I would expect them to make enough profit to continue in the business.

I have also bought from "scalpers" on Y!J in the past. It was the only way to get certain locally released LE's. When this has happened, I've felt nothing but gratitude to the person who waited in line at a Dolpa for a reasonable mark-up.

On the other hand, I do feel that there are people who prey on fellow fans - whose chance to get an LE is equal to everyone's chances - and it is this person who irritates me. Their procuring an LE for profit means its removal from the grasp of someone who desperately wants it. I will never respect this kind of seller.

I have sold dolls myself. I usually try to sell at cost or a little below, even if it's an LE. There have been some exceptions when I needed money and had a doll I knew went for more than retail value. In those instances (like, twice) I went to auction - knowing I could sell at retail here but that the buyer could turn around and instantly profit.

I don't know if I'm particularly proud of that (but it always made my husband exceptionally happy.)

I've never bought a doll that I didn't intend to love and own. Sometimes it didn't work out. (And if I needed money again, I would remember that this is a hobby and life comes first.) I do this for my own peace of mind - that's the only thing I can be responsible for, in the end.

 

The OT stuff are getting too long for me to reply to so I'll leave those be. As for what people say at the Marketplace threads, I don't monitor those so I can't comment but you'll probably have a better resolution to that by contacting the mods.

You know, I was wondering why the prices kept coming up and I think there has been a misunderstanding. I don't think I've ever said that scalping is the reason why the prices have gone up, which seems to be what you're implying. I don't believe I've said that the high prices is what makes me dislike scalping either. I think I've even said I wondered why it was suddenly a point of contention... Misinterpretation somewhere, perhaps?

But since you've brought it up, I'll have to say that I don't believe scalpers have no part to play at all in causing the prices to rocket. When a scalper buys a doll, someone else who wants it loses the chance to buy it. The demand for that doll then goes up because scalpers have reduced the number of available dolls sold by the company. Plus, you can be sure that most scalpers will try to sell for maximum value, instead of what they bought it for, which helps put the secondary market price at a higher range. So of course the prices continue to go up. Let's say there are no scalpers at all (an impossiblity, I know). Then the chances of the people wanting the dolls actually getting the dolls have increased. Less people on the marketplace looking for the dolls equal less demand equal less high prices.

The example of the BF's Sweet Day Louis doesn't really work in the sense that scalpers choose the limited dolls that are sure to be in demand (though honestly, I've no idea how much in demand the Sweet Day Louis is). I have definitely not said that the scalpers are the ones increasing the prices, whether there's demand or not. The scalpers might not be the one and only cause of the high prices but they sure aid in pushing up the prices.

I do think scalping is tacky. But I don't think the dislike for scalpers is irrational. If it was only the prices that causes the dislike, perhaps it wouldn't be such an issue, but I think what people dislike the most is what was mentioned by Janne; taking away someone else's opportunity to own the doll. Personally, I also dislike that they do so little, profit a lot, buy up a doll someone else wanted so that they can offer to sell it to them again at a marked up price, and then get offended when people dislike them.

 

Yes, but you're missing my point, how does one know there is a market for a doll until after there is a market? Just because a scalper has bought a doll to scalp doesn't mean there is suddenly a market for that doll. Scalpers don't have some sort of inside information that there will be demand for doll xxx vs. doll yyyy. Those couple of fans who need something regardless of price might get stuck paying an overinflated price, but the market will actually regulate itself. It's so odd, generally I am completely against capitalism, but from my experience with dolls it seems to actually work.

In the case of re-releases the scalper knows there is a market, but a re-release also means more of said doll in the market, and the possibility the new release will satiate the demand. There is not an infinite amount of demand for any doll. Even If Sasha, Tsukasa or Bermann were easy to attain at original price, I would have no interest in owning them and I can't believe I am the only collector who feels this way.

And no, I disagree with you that because a doll was scalped the secondary market price will remain high. Most of the time it drops within a few months to meet the actual demand. It only stays high when there is a higher demand than the production. Even if the few dolls that were bought by scalpers weren't, the prices would still be high, see Tsukasa.

And I've been arguing that a scalper who attended a Volks event in person has done a lot to get said doll, and that the profit is not generally as large as people contend it is.

A scalper is taking away a chance for someone to get a doll they wanted at original price (sometimes temporarily, sometimes for good) However sometimes if a scalper had not done so, that doll would not have ever been available to a foreign market. To me it's just a tough situation and one I am not going to pass judgment on. For nearly anyone (excepting those few people who got one in person at the event) who owns a Yuki, Kasumi, Yuh, Mamu or Volks Yo-tenshi body with magnets, a scalper took away the chance for someone in Japan to get that doll at original price for themselves. It's just something to think about.

 

I've acted as a shopping service on two occasions (almost done with the 2nd transaction) for members here to get LE dolls from a resale shop in here in Tokyo. The shop recently started carrying a few LEs that people had sold to them, and they in turn resold these dolls—usually at some markup from the retail price (but less of a markup than you'd find on Y!J or ebay). In order to circumvent the issue of someone purchasing the doll from me in order to flip it at a higher price, I looked around DoA to see who had a WTB thread out for the doll in question, and contacted them first. If someone’s actively searching for a doll, I think that they’d be less likely to turn around and sell it once they did get it, as opposed to someone who just sees the opportunity to make a few bucks on the resale and buys the doll.


Supply and demand does play a role in the prices that scalpers are able to get for a doll, but I think the doll market itself is doing more work than the scalpers. Without knowing the details of a particular company or mold, a scalper familiar with the hobby in general can see that the collectors are willing, able, and often do pay the market price twice over, so that’s where they set their BIN prices—and, people keep on paying, so why stop? As someone (several people, probably) said before, boycotting isn’t necessarily an option, because the people who feel the price tag is worth it will go on ahead and pay, so resale prices probably won’t budge.

I think part of what has brought this about is how quickly dolls seem to change hands. Because of DoA and other forums, we’re able to communicate with lots of other doll owners, so we know that we’re not the only people who would purchase a particular doll. Compare this to the time when there were only a handful of BJD owners, and think—would you have put down $400, $600 or more on a doll that you might not have “bonded” with, if you didn’t know there was any sort of resale market for it? This isn’t to say that pictures don’t deceive, and mistakes aren’t made sometimes. But, as the Marketplace has more and more threads starting out like “I just purchased [X doll], but we’re not bonding so…” it shows that a lot of people have taken investing in dolls a lot more lightly—possibly, because we know there’s a safety net of potential buyers out there. Many new owners seem more apt to take the risk on buying a doll because there is such a community that would be willing to ‘adopt’ said doll, in the case that they didn’t bond with it themselves.

Now, as someone mentioned earlier, scalpers are usually know a bit about the hobby—and thus, about the market connected to it. And, they’ve seen how our buying habits have become more fickle, too. In the past, scalpers were targeting the rarity of BJDs—now, they seem to think that “hey, someone will be willing to pay X amount for this doll” and take the risk for that reason instead. And, since the community is active, the risk is relatively low. This isn’t to say that everyone, or even most buyers, spends irrationally or irresponsibly. But, I can’t help but think that our own community's habits play a role in the way that scalpers take advantage of us.

 

Scalpers are out to make money, so it`s in their interest to become informed on the hobby. Good Scalpers or resellers know A LOT about the hobby, don`t think they are stupid, far from it. They just have a different perspective than a hobbyist. A Hobbyist reselling will want the doll to be loved and well cared for. Scalpers might give that impression to make a good sale but frankly they don`t care as much because what matter in the end is $$$$.

Buyers beware, is the only motto here and if you truly want to have a special LE prepare yourself to pay an augmented price. No one is forcing you to buy, you are the sole person deciding. But shop arround and maybe wait a little, you never know. I`ve seen people here not flinch at pricetags...I have and when a doll is out of my price range, you know what I don`t buy it.

I always wanted a Yukinojo and a Berman... both are out of my comfort zone in terms of prices so I`ll settle my love on other molds. It`s a personnal thing really.

Yes Scalpers are a necessary evil, but if you don`t want to be scalped then don`t!... It`s as simple as that.

 

It seems kind of like celebrity stuff that ends up on eBay.. Someone could buy a $5 t-shirt, get it signed by a celebrity, and then sell it for thousands. It's unfair, but there's nothing that can be done other than not to buy from the scalper. It's worse when you've saved up for a particular doll to the very cent, but it's gone, and then you go to look for it second-hand and it's over $1000. Problem is, people are willing to pay whatever it takes to get their baby.. ):

 

We're going in circles a bit.

A question you raised: how does one know there is a market for a doll until after there is a market?

I'm not sure why is this the main point in reply to whatever I said since I don't think I've said that scalpers create the market. But with a little bit of time spent in the hobby, anyone can know what dolls are going to be in higher demand, especially since they're re-released in lower quantities. Bermanns, Tsukasa, Shirou Tachibana. Pick a more popular company, famed for their LEs and watch the Limiteds. The DoTs, CP, Bambicrony. Scalpers are not idiots and really, what has a higher demand isn't hard to predict at all (plus, if they predicted wrongly, selling at base price is usually never a problem). Scalpers don't have to create the market to enjoy the perks of it. But again, that wasn't my point and it really wasn't something I was trying to debate previously.

But more importantly, the price was never the whole argument for me.

I had to reread what I said, but no, I didn't say that because scalpers scalp, the prices of dolls will always remain high. I definitely did say that I don't believe that scalpers play no part at all in pushing up the prices. There is a difference.

Volks event scalpers will always cause mix feelings among people. Since I pay little attention to Volks events, there's not much I can comment on that. (Except to say that I've heard of Volks event clothes scalping, which is something to bear in mind that dolls aren't the only things scalped in this hobby.)

I think many has expressed their mixed feelings about Volks scalpers providing to the international market and well, plenty of thought has gone into that. But that isn't the only scalping that goes around. I've seen plenty of limited dolls from popular companies that are available online getting scalped and sold within the week with USD200 to 500 mark-up. The scalpers didn't have to leave the room to buy and sell in that case. That type of scalping sits the most uneasily on me. And I think it's something to think about that so many people don't realize that these cases are scalping as well.

One last thing to the general public: Due to the continuous debate over certain points, I must be coming off as a rabid scalper hater. Again, I would just like restate that yeah, I am aware that there will always be scalpers. This isn't a 'me against the scalpers' campaign before I start a witchhunt. ^_^; This is me sinking my teeth into a debate.

 

Thank you very much!! My sentiments exactly. I am a responsible person and it is my choise to buy or not buy a doll from them In fact I have little to none chance to get a limited doll from volks, because Volks usa doesn't ship outsite the US and I also happen to have latency problems with my internet connection. And also leaving nowhere near Japan isn;t helping either. So the only way for me to get that Le dream doll I want, is from the secondary. So far however I have refused to pay the price. that's me.

I also feel the same way. How can we force someone sell an item at a price that we think it's right. I would extremly pissed if someone dictated me, what to do with my property. It is my property and I do whatever I want with it. There is also something else here involed, that it is called demand and supply and it is everywhere in our lives.

I actually didn't know it had a term assigned to it (scallping). I though it was everyday life situation. Trust me, I have seen it in many things. For example, expesive porcelain I am not a collector of porcelain tea sets and plates, but a very close friend of mine is. She has aquired some expesive items from well know high quility companies in a good price. However when the very same items she has bought from her trips abroad, hit the stores of Greece, their price doubles or even triples. The stores that sell these items however do not call it scallping. I am talking about items that can reach the amount of 3000$ and up, while my friend has bought them for 1000$ and maybe a little more. I am sure you can see a price similarity here.

Once again my sentiments exactly. No one is forcing to buy from them. Not even me, who as I said, have little chance of getting a Limited doll. I don't like to be scalped so I avoid getting sculpted and buy these overpriced dolls, from them. I personally find it wierd, because scalpers in my opinion are succesfull bussines people. No one has ever complaint that his friend, or next door neib....(what's the word? ) is a succesfull bussineman!! Hate the game, not the player.

Also as seller, I would feel at least infite stupid, if I sell a limited doll to a guy for it's purchase price and then see MY DOLL, getting sold for 2000$ from the very same person who bought it from me. I would be doomed to starvation, if I was so adamant in my real life. Were I live, if see a chance grab it and never let it go!

Lastly, I have seen posts in a style like: These people are bad because they buy the dolls just to sell them and they don't love them. In the best case scenario I find it funny to read something like that. These dolls that we love, are luxury items and most important, they are items produced by companies, that also make a good profit from them. Companies don;t make the dolls to love them, but to sell them. Are they bad people for making profit out of dolls?? Scallpers are simply a diffrent kind of company that makes money from dolls.

 

mmmm... but that's kindof different, because in the case of an autographed item, you're paying that much for it because it's been autographed, not because the item alone is worth that much.

 

Right now there's a scalper on eBay with a tan Bermann.

Debt is something to be avoided if at all possible, especially on things that aren't necessary.....and dolls do fall into that category.

However, we all make choices. For what it's worth, I'd rather go into debt for an education or a home....

 

And to go by my posts you'd think I believe scalping dolls is a great thing and I'm completely for it when people who know me well can tell you I have been known to rant about it to them in private. I just don't think the public policing and complaining is very pleasant or very constructive and generally the issue is not as simple as people like to see it.

And yes, people do scalp clothes. There are several sales threads where people are currently scalping Dolpa clothes, one in particular has an outfit I had really wanted myself but missed out on because scalpers and fans who had gotten on line before me bought all of them up. I don't begrudge the person scalping it though, since I know they must have gotten on line before 6:45 am as that is when I got on line. I also once bought a Dollheart outfit being scalped by a disreputable official dealer of Dollheart items which unbeknownst to me was actually damaged. o_O; So it's not even just Volks items.

Unlike you, I mostly collect Volks dolls and dabble in Blue Fairy, Unoa and want very much to own a LaTi. Having gotten Volks LEs in person at events, I know how hard it is and while it does suck when you miss out on something you wanted, I also know how hard it is to get said items having tried it myself.

In all honesty, the majority of dolls I see being scalped are Volks LEs and usually they're being scalped on Y!J by Japanese to other Japanese. Most other brands don't seem to release as many LEs. (Volks seems to release about 20 to 25 different LEs a year, and I suspect most of the editions are at least 750.)

Most non-Volks LEs seem really to be bought more by fans and perhaps as a non-Volks collector I just miss it, but I don't see them being scalped as often. (except Berman, though the odds of a scalper getting their hands on one are not so high) I more often see ordinary collectors deciding they've not bonded with a doll or someone getting enticed by extraordinary demand for their LE. I know of the companies you mentioned, Bambicrony has a habit of offering their LEs for a given period of time (like the colored elves) and it is a matter of having the money during the window of opportunity vs. waiting on line or being fast with a mouse, which makes them harder to scalp IMHO.

I still maintain you can't completely tell just by following a company which LEs are going to have a high demand unless there is already a market for said LE. And it is important to remember that in the case of scalpers, many are geared towards the Japanese market which does not necessarily want the same dolls as the foreign market. I mean just look at Yo-SD Puff and Papi. If you were to go by the fan reaction in the thread one would think you could easily resell one for double their original price and this is really just not the case.

I think the fact there are so many companies and each company releases so many dolls, works in a buyer's favor, as if they miss one doll they wanted, there always seems to be something new coming out just as good or better.

 

Oriscany - Why the talk about debt? *confused*

Public policing isn't allowed I believe. If it does happen, it's something that can't be avoided (for the few minutes it happens before the mods crack down on it anyway). As people call scalping a necessary evil, public policing is probably something that falls in the same category.

This is a debate forum for expressing opinions, so it's not just public complaining. Point of views are shared and ideas expressed. At least there's some information and idea exchange going on here. How and why would private complaining be better or more constructive?

The limited DoTs were very happily scalped on DoA and on Ebay as I remember. Every year, Luts release a number of limiteds and as I recall, nearly every release had their happy number of scalpers. I recall a few Latidoll limited scalps on DoA and on ebay as well. They do happen.

Volks get scalped quite a bit as well but so do the other companies, you just need to watch for it. It does exist and quite a fair bit.

If you're saying that scalpers can't predict market trend...then how do scalpers make the profit? Or are you saying there are no actual scalpers or they don't make profit? Or that scalpers are facing a high risk? Anyhow, we'll have to agree to disagree then, because I still believe that it's not too difficult to predict what LEs are going to be in higher demand, especially the rerelease or dolls from the more well known companies. When it's limited and people want them, there's always a demand, and there's always going to be people who didn't get the LEs, especially if the scalpers are at work. And again, it's fairly low risk since the scalpers can always sell at base price if they don't manage to scalp at high prices.

 

No, this is a debate thread and rather interesting, however this is most definitely not the first thread discussing scalpers. This is just the first one that is a formal debate. I do think people have a tendency to act viscerally about scalpers instead of seeing how in the end their effect is temporary at best.

And no mods do have lives besides modding and often these threads are open more than minutes where people try to "out" scalpers. And if people try to price police within an individual's sales thread, someone generally has to bring in the threat of a mod or contact a mod themselves for it to stop.

The Limited DoTs were scalped, for a few months, and then people stopped wanting to pay over retail and now I don't see them getting scalped really/the prices have come down.

And yes, to your last paragraph, I'm saying that unless a doll is a re-release with a known higher demand than the supply could ever fulfill then yes, they are taking a risk. Again, I am mostly speaking from Volks dolls where buying them generally does consist of a huge time commitment and at least $20 expenditure per doll. So having a doll not sell for more than original price is really not worth it. I've just been trying to say that just because a doll is limited even by a big company like Volks, does not mean there is always demand and gaging that demand is not so simple.

Yes, for a scalper where buying a doll consists of just clicking on the internet the risk is low, but at least with Volks dolls, I have seen scalpers still end up stuck with a doll and needing to sell for lower than original price.

Scalpers can set a price to be whatever crazy amount they want, but in the end we as buyers decide what is actually an acceptable price/mark up. Maybe I really wanted that Luts doll but had to be at work when they went on sale. Paying the scalper might feel more like paying a commission. You mentioned a ways above $200-$500 more for some dolls. On an $800 doll, $200 is 25% more, which while higher than original is not something outrageous. Often people who want to be commissioned as a buying service ask 20-30% in fees.

Is the person who could have only bought the doll at original price more deserving than the person who also wants the doll and can afford more but for some reason couldn't even try for said doll and has to go through a scalper?

I believe we will just need to agree to disagree.

 

Previously, scalping was brought up in General Discussions which was also a suitable location for that thread at that time. And it was very heavily discussed there which is why most of everyone is probably skipping this one since it's not a new issue. I'll stand by the belief that having it discussed openly is still better than just complaining in private. In public discussion, more people become aware of what scalping involves and I believe, have their eyes opened to its presence and the reaction of others. In that sense, some effects are not so temporary.

Price policing, unfortunately, a necessary evil then.

When the dolls were scalped, are they still being scalped; none of these negates the points that they were, in fact, scalped.

Not all scalpers settle for a $200 profit though. Sometimes, I barely even blink if it's a $200 mark-up, this being so common already for LEs. However, I've seen a fair share of higher mark-ups in less than a week (as with the previously mentioned companies and Volks as well). And I know you're talking about Volks, but for companies on the internet, clicking on a website hardly equals a commission of 25%.

The idea of entitlement to a doll seems ridiculous to me. Neither of them deserves it more. If a person wants to pay scalper fees, they don't deserve the doll more or less, they're just paying scalper fees. If a person can only pay for the original price and has managed to buy directly from the company, they don't deserve the doll more or less, they're just buying from the company. No matter how much a person wants a doll, they don't deserve the doll more or less either. If someone has a whole load of cash, wants the doll like mad, but gets sniped on Ebay and loses out to someone who has less cash, they don't deserve the doll more or less, they just lost out in an auction. This was never an issue about who is deserving. The idea that someone is more entitled to a doll is something I always found amusing.

I'm just going to agree to disagree because we're rehashing some old points and it's getting pretty long winded. With this, I'm pretty much done with this debate~

 

this is never gonna stop as long as there´s someone who´s willing to pay the price. Period

No matter how much we complain or how exagerated the situiation is (I mean most of the time it doubles the original costs or more for crying out loud). Pople of course takes advantage of tha fact that the dolls are very difficult to get and not just pricewise

It´s what bothers me too about shopping services or people that will order the FCS for you. They charge like double for doing almost NOTHING! to me it´s like taking credit for something that´s not yours and since I am not willing to inflate someones wallet for nothing I never ordered the couple of FCS that I want so much...anyway sorry for getting a little ot

 

I would argue that buying an FCS is actually a bit of work.

There are often multiple email's to hammer out details and prepare pictures.

The buyer must travel to a Tenshi no Sumika - or Tenshi no Sato in Kyoto - wait for their turn, and take quite a bit of care translating the desires of the person ordering the doll into understandable Japanese (if in Japan.)

Travel - especially in Japan - can be expensive. And again, as in waiting in line at a Dolpa, their time is worth something too.

There is also (hopefully) some expertise involved. Not all wigs and eyes fit all heads. The Service has to keep up with the latest FCS news. If the buyer is in shopping in Japan, t's necessary to either be Bilingual, or have an extremely trustworthy partner.

Compare this to staying up and adding something to an online shopping cart from an English language doll site and checking out...

 

I of cpurse do´t mean the people here that have to organise everything ewith a friend in japan and be worried about everything staying in the US and being able to do nothing but wait and hope everything goes well with the person who is ordering, that must kill one´s nerves

Of course I know that time is valuable and FCS is not a plain online shopping methodXD, but how much is this worth to you?

I had a close friend doing it a couple of months ago (unfortunately I had save d nothing by then) I she charged the train tickets or any other transportation she needed and stuff, but the poor girl even prooved the price of the tickets with pics! and why?

because I think it´s fair to charge for transportation and time, but there are people (we´ve all seen it) that charge like..what 500 USD more? (I´ve seen this in person)

Well I am sorry I think that´s not fair at all. These people damage the image of other shopping services or just people taking orders. And of course it goes against us customers too .But again, if youdisagree, just don´t buy , that´s what I did

 

Well, having had a Sato FCS order go horribly awry - no idea where the money ended up - I have to say I think the trustworthiness of a buyer is worth something to me.

I would still compare fees, and, like selecting a doctor, make sure I felt the buyer and I could talk and were on the same page about my dream doll. I actually think it's nice that there seems to be a few of trustworthy services now.

But I completely agree with you - it's up to you to decide whether that's worth it to you or not.

Addition: And of course, an FCS service isn't taking a doll out of another fan's hands.

 

Though on the other hand now to play devil's advocate after my vociferous defense for scalpers...

While it can take quite a bit of time (having placed orders at Sato for myself and for other people) most of the people running a service like this end up getting compensated quite well as they refuse to place orders unless they have a certain number.

If one is just placing a single FCS order, the amount of money and time spent on transportation is not quite so worth it, but for several dolls...

When placing an order for someone else it can be as fast as 20-30 minutes to order, since it's not as if you are trying to decide on a wig or eyes, you know exactly what the buyer has requested. There is commuting time and costs but those are generally shared by 4-5 orders and varies by location of the seller. Someone coming from Tokyo by train has to spend $250 roundtrip to get to Sato, someone from Osaka is closer to $12 roundtrip. Getting to a Sumika from many place in Tokyo will only run you $5 roundtrip.

The staff at Tenshi no Sato while not fluent (there use to be a staff member who was, but she quit) are quite helpful. They'll let you put in eyes and try on wigs to make sure said eyes and wigs will really work with that head and will give you advice. I probably placed one of the first orders for a F-33 for Kim on March 20. She is extremely pleased with her doll and my Japanese skills are very limited at best. Originally Kim had wanted a F-16 but on seeing a few promo pictures before I placed the order changed her mind.

The person doing the buying (unlike at Dolpa) can also collect points. I forgot what the actual conversion rates are, but if you place enough FCS orders you are very soon getting dolls for free. (and no, I am not exaggerating)

However as has been pointed out one of the main reasons people dislike scalpers is they take away a chance from an ordinary buyer to get said doll at original price. No FCS service is taking away this chance or the chance for someone else to get a FCS doll at all.

Though I confess, whether it is someone who waited on line at a Dolpa or someone who did it via the internet from the comfort of their home, please don't forget that BOTH scalpers took away the chance for someone to buy that doll or outfit at original price. The Dolpa scalper did a lot of work for it, and I personally do not begrudge them their profit, however they DID take away the opportunity for someone to get that doll, just as much as the internet person did, so don't be grateful to one and demonize the other. In fact in some ways, I would argue while working harder, the Dolpa scalper is worse, since the people who lost out to a scalper were also waiting on those long Dolpa lines, while the person who lost via the internet, like their scalper was in the comfort of their home.

 

It's always nice to talk to someone who's actually been to Tenshi no Sato! (I'm pretty much parroting some semblance of what I've heard! ^_^ )

Thanks for those insights, Rachel.

And I have to say that it's also occured to me about Y!J scalpers. After I bought my Captain Cecile, I read here about Japanese fans upset by his scarcity. I have to admit, I felt bad about that then and haven't bought a doll at Y!J since. (Of course, Volks online AE's had a lot to do with that.)

Even Crecent Trading used to get dolls that - most likely - other local fans would have liked the chance to buy. (They don't shop for Volks LEs any more.)