Selling Dolls: Why?

I originally bought fantasy dolls because I love the concept and wanted to paint them myself, but they sat on a shelf and I would go "so pretty" and really not do anything with them because I lacked the time to develop the necessary skills. And, I wanted to sew. So, for a long time I was torn between painting and sewing and... well, I decided sewing was a better choice after my Japanese teacher volunteered to help me learn how to do it. As a result, the dolls had/have to go. Adore(d) them, but I love clothing my dolls more than I like buying new dolls, so it really was the right choice for me.

 

The first doll I rehomed was my DollZone Yuu. I wanted another doll and did not have room for yet another SD doll. So I rehomed the one I felt I had the least attachment to. The second, my LE DollZone Asura went because I could not figure out how to assembly all of his complicated parts. He was amazing and beautiful but caused me great stress. The person who took him was thrilled so I felt good about rehoming him.
(I hate to use the words 'sell' or 'sold' since they seem lifelike to me. So I use rehome instead.)

 

I agree with you. I have a lot of dolls and have only rehomed two so far. I don't care if most hang out in my doll closet or sit on a shelf. I know there are there when I want them. Besides it is just me and my partner in our house (unless you count all of the pets) and we are both in our 50s now so there is no one to answer to about my growing collection lol.

 

I've never sold a full doll.

I've sold heads and bodies separately before, because upon getting them they just didn't work with I thought I wanted and so on, but never a full doll head + body.

I'm a bit clingy with my dolls, and when I buy them I tend to keep them. If I find that I'm not liking one as much, I change the wig and eyes, re-do the face-up, change the name and personality, or in rarer cases, buy a whole new body for the head and sell the old one. I've yet to own a doll that that didn't work with. If I did, then that would be the situation where I'd sell it.

It'd be different if I was selling to get much needed funds though. In that case, I'd have to make a decision based on who I could stand parting with, how difficult the sculpt would be to replace, the condition of the head and body parts, and the likelihood of the doll selling in the first place. I hope I never have to do that, as most of my dolls are either not popular sculpts on the forum and so not as likely to sell, or they're limited run and not easy to replace. Still more were purchased at a price much lower than original sale price, so those ones would cost more to replace in the end.

It's a tough call. I'm developing quite an intricate relationship between all the characters as well, and while I'd always have those, I'd be quite put out to lose the doll. There's something really tight and close about my individual dolls and the specific characters assigned to them. They're almost interchangeable to me...

 

I have had 7 dolls (and one floating head), now there is only 2 left (or technically 3, but Im trying to sell one of them).

This hobby has been kind of a trial-and-error thing for me in the beginning, but since I've tried different sizes (from pukifee to SD) I now know whick doll sizes I like and can focus on those.
If I hadn't been able to sell the dolls that felt too small or too big for emotional reasons, I wouldn't be able to buy new dollies that I can really enjoy and have fun with. Im not emotional at all when it comes to my dolls, if I had to I could easily sell all of them. I focus on making clothes and stuff, not giving them characters, background stories etc. But sure, would be sad to sell the ones I like if I didn't have to.

 

The only dolls I ever sold (aside from a head as I just needed the body) were two little tinies. I wasn't ready for tinies then, and I couldn't get myself to bond with them. There was no spark or character like there was with the others. I sold them together to a "tiny collector" who I knew could give them more love than I.

Even if I need the money, I don't think I could part with them. Everything else I own, yes. My babehs no.

 

To quote Guns N Roses, "Nothing lasts forever and we both know hearts can change."

Just because I like or even love owning a doll for an amount of time doesn't mean I am always going to like or love that doll. I will probably eventually grow bored of it and then sell it because I don't think I should keep things I no longer no want. Buying a doll is not some grand life long commitment.

I've sold dolls because it didn't fit the character, I didn't like or in the case of one, outright hated it in person. I've grown bored of dolls, I've wanted money for new dolls or for other hobbies. Sometimes I think I have too many and recently I sold off almost all of my larger dolls to have a smaller collection.

There are as many reasons for selling a doll as there is for buying one.

 

What she said ^

 

I've only sold one doll so far but I'm about to sell another and a head when I've got time to get shipping boxes and estimated shipping.

The reason I've sold and will sell dolls are several:
I've got a small room and too many dolls makes me feel crowded and I don't do much with my dolls (sewing, photography etc). So it makes me, sometimes, wonder why I even have them. And then I start to think about selling, which I think is much better than keeping something that dosen't bring me much happiness anymore or just feels pointless to me.
Now it sounds like it's really easy for me to sell, or decide to sell, my dolls but it's really not. But while I do like them a lot I don't love any of them and the uncomfortable feeling of having such an expensive item without purpose (whether it be inspirational, functional etc) weights heavier than their pretty faces.
I can say I'm much happier now that I've decided to sell and only keep three where one is "on hiatus", another is to become a work-in-progress and the last is just cause I like having him around.

 

I have sold dolls before and it is possible that I will be selling them in the future.

So far the reasons were:
1. Event heads / parts I did not want
2. Wrong size
3. Shift in sculpt preferences

I started out with the belief that "SDs are just way too large for me! MSDs are the perfect size! Anime features are better than realistic dolls!" etc, etc... Then I saw my first MSD and my thoughts went on the lines of "Look how tiny she is!" But it took another MSD, 3 YoSDs and one pukifee to finally realize that SDs (and, strangely enough, YoSDs) were the perfect size for me. I sold the pukifee because she was clearly too small for me. Also, it took the company almost half a year to make and ship her. By that time I got so tired of waiting for her that when she finally shipped I just couldn't bond to her anymore.
My second MSD had a much more detailed sculpt than my first doll, and I understood that I would rather buy realistic-looking dolls, so my first MSD eventually got sold. The same happened with an SD doll that did fit my tastes at first and I loved her when she arrived, but then she just seized to interest me.

 

There are as many different reasons for selling as there are for buying. Every collector has his/her own ways of managing the collection. Space, money, love, practicality, etc.

I am too sentimental to sell dolls... The only time I've ever sold one was so that I could buy the same exact doll in a different skin-color (which hadn't been offered at the time I originally bought the first one). I have trouble even thinking about selling them. ;;^^

But I just recently lost my job, which has suddenly made it possible for me to even think about selling them. Destitution is not looming immediately yet, but, y'know, unemployment brings perspective.

... You're kidding, right?

You have it backwards. If you bought the doll, it means you must have once liked it. If you didn't like the doll, you would never have bought it in the first place.

Unless you were just really really bored, & looking for an item to spend hundreds of dollars on, blindly, without liking it. Then, I guess you'd bother buying a doll you didn't like. XD But I don't know anybody who's like that.

 

I've sold 2 dolls and attempted to sell a third.

1. Loved the sculpt but when I got him in person, I realized he wasn't the style I really wanted (I wanted manly, not boyish). Since I could only allow myself 1 doll purchase at a time, I sold him to replace him with the doll I really wanted.

2. Bought her because she was soooooo cute but when I received her, I realized I don't like the tiny size.

3. Attempted to sell a girl I bought in an act of desperation (depressed and stressed so I did some "shopping therapy") and then realized I couldn't really afford her. I still feel bad about being irresponsible, but it was my first time ever regretting a purchase like that. She's also MSD/tiny size and I just seem to like SD better.

 

I've done this- except, I bought a girl I really really wanted, for a price that was quite low compared to how much she'd cost to order direct, even on sale. And I don't want to sell her- she's an Iplehouse Ebony Benny and I've never owned a doll that colour before. She's so beautiful and surreal and I just can't part with her. I regret the fact that I couldn't really afford her when I bought her, and before I saw her in person I considered selling her, but now it's just impossible. I swear I'm like a baby chick: Once I see a it I fall in love and that's the end of it.

 

I sell dolls because they're not meshing with me or not working out how I thought they would.

And money for a doll or clothes/shoes/etc is good.

 

Tastes and priorities change. Ever think back at yourself 10 years ago and say, "Wow I was so stupid back then!" Well, that's you 10 years from now. XD

We are biased to believe we don't change very much over time, but obviously that isn't quite true.

 

I dunno about that. I've been in the hobby since 2005 and so far I ain't regretted a thing. :3

 

I sold one of my dolls because I wasn't really attached to her and I sold my other doll because I needed money for bills =\. I kinda regret doing it but it was necessary at the time. =(

 

For me it's a matter of not fitting the character. I buy my dolls to be the physical representations of my characters from a large story I have with my best friend so if they can't fit the bill they definitely have to go...

 

I've thinned the herd over here for all kinds of reasons...

Not liking the sculpt once I saw it "in person" (AS Gabriel, Miji Yu Jin, several of my Soom monthlies-)
Getting tired of the annoying quirks of a particular body type (My first Dollshe Hound was a prime example of that-)
Cutting down the collection for reasons of space and focus (My two Pet Ari anthros and several of my MiniFees were hit by that one-)
Not liking the way particular types of resin age (Most of my white CP dolls were sold on because I really dislike the color they tend to turn-)...

I'm only sentimental about my favorites, so it doesn't bother me at all to sell off dolls when they don't fit in with the rest of the crew, or when I decide they've got to go for some other reason. If I don't want to keep a doll, off it goes. It's as simple as that.

 

I always wonder why this question seems to baffle people - if you own something that doesn't do anything for you (because you've lost interest, because you don't have the space, because you like it but you like something else more and you don't have the money/space for both, whatever) why wouldn't you sell it? I've never sold any of my dolls, but if I were to move into a smaller house (or some similar thing) I could because I just don't feel equally attached to all of them. And I certainly don't need to have dolls - I like having them, but that's it - it's just a preference.

Fair enough, but these things aren't universal, so none of us prove or disprove that kind of thing on our own.


And spinning off of the regret thing: Change doesn't need to cause regret. One can certainly look back fondly on things you liked in the past without having the same interests and desires in the present. 15 years ago I was fascinated by the Napoleonic wars and built up quite the collection of related books and made travel plans based on battlefield visits - I'm less interested now so if something new comes out I might read it, and I don't plan my holidays around it, but I don't regret any of it. I'm just not nearly as curious about it anymore.