Second hand dolls: Shouldn't they be cheaper than new ones?

I got my first adopted daughter 2nd hand. It was a leap of faith. I didn't do any research nor did I know anything about BJD.
I just wanted to adopt a girl, I looked around a local selling platform and saw her listing. Contacted the seller about the doll and that was it!

 

Honestly I'm very mixed as well on this...
I think if the doll is older than... hmmmm maybe a year or so, and it doesn't come with something extra... then it should be less than market price. As the doll has been through some handling and yellowing even if it's not to evident it's true.
Though if you just bought a really popular and limited sculpt , no matter the time I think you should be allowed to have people play at or just under market price.

 

Well, it's a free market and buyers definitely should do their research. As long as an item is not mis-represented (well, and not ill-gotten) I think there is nothing wrong for the sellers to set the terms they like. Of course, their terms might very well mean that their items won't be sold and they would gain an impression as sellers with overpriced items.

Who knows, maybe some sellers intentionally price things to not sell because they don't really want to part with the items but felt like they must put them on the market for some reason.

 

"Be allowed" by whom?

 

If the price of a used doll is close to a new doll I will be getting the new doll. If the price is decently better than a new doll that is when I am interested. If it is a doll I can't get anymore from any store well then that is going to be a factor too. Faceups, added clothes, and other goodies sweeten the deal of course.

 

Collectables don't always depreciate like cars off the lot, and there are a lot of factors that go into the pricing of a doll that have nothing to do with how new it is. Faceups, mods, desirability, the current wait times of the company or of course how rare the particular doll is are going to influence how much someone is willing to let go of an item for and also how much someone else is willing to pay for it. Heck, sometimes things start selling for more after a popular owner gets ahold of it; the market is constantly fluctuating.

There are some dolls that are absolutely worth less five years later than they were new, and others that are worth quite a bit more. There really isn't one catch all "should" you can attach to selling practices or pricing.

 

I always sell my dolls same as purchased, unless they have super-special face up or any extras. I don't ask Paypal fees as I'm the seller, I don't ask what I payed for shipping (buyer will already pay its own) and I don't charge my custom bills.
It's just silly.

I really think is ridiculous to see +700$ Minifee that can be purchased NEW on DDE or FL directly for 300$ less. I think it's ridiculous to ask more money for a doll scratched, stained or super yellowed. And also is ridiculous to try to make somebody pay for the shipping you had to pay, the customs you had to pay and your paypal fees. It was your decision to buy that doll, it's your country who charged you this customs and it's you who decide to use Paypal as payment method.

I respect sellers decision to put whatever the price they want, but at the end what happens is that second hand is expensive than companies, so basically the market "explodes", everybody wants to stay on the "regular" price, the MP goes slowly and everything you can see is (in FB case, for example) "bump, bump, bump" from dolls that are on sale since months ago.
Appart from people that try to have some profit of the second hand market.

But actually as has been said already, it's buyer's decision. The fact is that even if some of us are not willing to pay it, some people will pay +400$ for a head that is popular by the moment, and then as the people tastes changes dramatically, this head will not be 400$ anymore, so this seller lost money and try to sell it at same amount, obviously not achieveing it. I think this will be basically the void that will happen when somehow the second hand market "calms the tits" and prices become "normal".

And then in sometime it will happen again the same. This is a neverending story lol. Sorry for long post

 

Oh... I wasn't aware that this was a trend these days. One of the reasons that I finally joined DoA was to be able to get access to the second hand market. I always thought that barring things like limited edition dolls, the second hand market was a good way to get dolls a bit cheaper.

As someone who is looking to buy a doll people selling basic dolls for more than they cost brand new doesn't sit well with me. Good news for me through! Since joining DoA I was able to learn about quite a few dolls available to people on a tight budget. In fact, I saw several promotions that I may take advantage of. ^_^

 

No, it is not "a trend these days" for Marketplace sellers to overprice dolls -- if by "trend" you mean "most of the currently-available dolls are listed for higher prices than the companies charge." There are a few instances of that, sure -- as more experienced Marketplace watchers and buyers have been trying to explain, there always have been and there always will be. But to decide in advance, before you have Marketplace access, that you won't find any fair pricing among your fellow DoA members would be a big mistake.

I think if you read this whole thread, you will get a much better perspective than from reading just the first post.

 

I did read quite a bit of the thread before making my post. In the thread I did see quite a few people unhappy that things were "trending" in this direction at this time. Plenty of people did say that not everyone out to overcharge. Plenty of people also said why some sellers were doing so. Above all, plenty of people said that the market does change and that ultimately people will spend what they think is fair.
However, I did not decide that "I won't find any fair pricing" among my fellow DoA members and I certainly wasn't trying to talk bad about them. I simply said that I wasn't happy to hear that people were trying to charge so much for second hand dolls and that I had learned more about the dolls I can afford. As someone who is new to this rather expensive hobby, I am worried that my lack of knowledge about prices will one day lead me to buying a doll someone overcharged a lot with.

Again, I wasn't talking bad about other DoA members- even the ones that are trying to overcharge for their old dolls. I get why people would want to do so. I was merely stating my dissatisfaction about the practice and then being happy that I now know that I have other alternatives than the second hand market.

 

If you see a doll you want in the MP, but are worried about being cheated, do a search of the Sold Dolls Archive to see what similar dolls have gone for. That will give you an idea of fair market value.

 

Oh thank you!
When I have MB access I will be sure to check that the Archive before approaching a potential seller! -feeds cookies-

 

yeah..second hand dolls neeed to be cheaper than new, the only reason it could possible go for more would be like its super rare and limited or there is some sort of special artist paint job on it or something. Otherwise, it needs to be cheaper. You shouldn't be trying to recoup your shipping or customs fees, you paid those for the privilege of having the doll, it's pretty unethical to try and expect to completely break even.

 

I personally wouldn't pay more for a used doll unless it was a sold-out limited edition. Most times I would prefer to buy straight from the company anyways unless the secondhand doll came with an awesome faceup and I fell in love with it, but even then I've not paid more than retail on a secondhand, readily available doll. But sellers can ask what they want; at the end of the day it's worth what someone else is willing to pay for it.

 

Honestly it depends for me at least. There is a 'collectors guide' to most collectibles. Dolls are no exception. The only time a collectable gains value is if you kept it pristine with all of its extras in the original box. None of these dolls are old enough to be just that rare except for the original Volks 1/6 Bjds that started the hobby.

Customs after the fact are worthless extras...its bonus for the buyer if they actually like the custom extras like the faceup or the outfit...sell the outfits separately and forget about the faceup...unless its a limited company one, it's probably going to get wiped no matter how much you spent on it and its going to cost the buyer to get it wiped.

 

In general, I feel that secondhand dolls should be relativity less (depending on how "used" or rare the doll is) than they were when bought from the original company. However if a doll i s in exceptional condition (basically like-new), I can see why it would be sold secondhand at a higher price.

 

I think sometimes people want to get the money they paid back plus they add in what they think their face up is worth ( If they did one) and people tend to think something is worth more if they have a personal attachment. I think a doll that is secondhand should be a little less unless they have an amazing face up or body art. (Because then you are paying for the doll, the art, and someones time).

 

It depends on country -location where you live- too...

For example, secondhand markets in Korea, overpricing is forbidden for dolls and goodies both except some situations. And Japan -I mean, Y!J Auction- sellers often raise the price higher than the new one... there are some dolls and goods in reasonable price though.

When it comes to countries far from Korea -where lots of BJD companies and dealers are locating- and Japan -where Volks locates- the situation would become more complicated because of paypal fees or shipping fees or so on.

I only can tell about secondhand markets in Korea and Japan because I had lived/have been living in these countries. Sorry for my bad English Dx

 

Defiantly. The only exception being very rare dolls. There should be *some* discount at the very least.

 

Hmm, I have seen some MP posts I consider overpriced, and they seem to sit there for a while.
Some sellers do include their shipping costs or otherwise charge a little more for a non limited, in production doll, but some buyers would rather spend a little more and not wait 3, 6, 12 months. If everyone is happy with the transaction, it's fine.
I will make a lower offer if I don't want to pay as much, and the post doesn't request me not to do so. Usually people will negotiate, and I can't blame them for trying to get as much money back from the doll.
Personally I hate paying extra for a fancy faceup, but I totally understand charging for it if you spent a lot of money on it, and I bet somebody else thinks it's great to have a complete doll right away.

On the flip side, I have seen really good deals on the MP. I have bought (and sold) dolls for below their original value.

I think overpricing is an issue on essential items but don't have strong feelings about "should" on BJD selling besides accurately describe what is being sold and follow through once an agreement is made (no suddenly realizing PP fees are expensive or asking for extra because you miscalculated shipping)