Selling someone else's doll?

I've not been this situation myself, but I think the thread that was the reason this thread was started was my thread.
A friend of mine(now gone from DoA) was commissioned to do a face up and the buyer just kept saying they couldn't pay, couldn't pay, couldn't pay, couldn't pay... but they were actively buying other dolls that we could see in their feedback.
Now what ended up happening in that situation was the person finally admitting (3.5 months later) that they didn't really like the doll anymore and asked my friend if she would buy it for some discounted price.

but the advice I gave my friend from the beginning was to give an ultimatum, then sell the doll for what it's worth, take the money that would pay for the face up(and of course shipping and handling) and give the rest to the dolls original owner.(it was an easily obtainable doll, my advice may have been different otherwise)

For me personally, if I ever had another person's doll in my possession I'm having a clause upfront that says something to the effect of "if I can't contact you for 3 months after I'm done with your doll and you make no effort to contact me, then your doll is now my property" and then, as others have said, make great efforts to get in contact with that person.

now my clause for commissions has always been "you dont pay up in a month after I finish your commission, then your stuff becomes mine and I can sell it for whatever i want or use it" And I would only bother myself to PM and email the person (to their paypal email address that I'd already have)

But I think someone's doll is a whole different situation.

 

What a strange situation indeed!

I'd say around six months. If after six months no response is received, look into previous meet-up threads they have posted in, see if you can get in contact with anybody who might know them personally, or have a contact number or insight into information about them. If they've provided an address or you have one from the original packaging, send snail-mail letters. Anything you can do.

If in another few months nothing comes of it...yes, sell the doll. A customizer can't be expected to work as a babysitter, take care of the doll/doll head, tuck it away safely in a box. It's rude to assume so.

I realize unexpected situations arise, emergencies occur, but six months is ample time to pop online somehow, even via public library, and send a quick PM or e-mail detailing what has happened, or at least apologizing and explaining a future solution or when they will be able to pay for the face-up/return shipping.

I agree that a disclaimer should be had on the commission thread (6 months no contact, I sell your head, that sort of thing), although that sort of thing is something no artist would expect to have to deal with. This hobby is expensive and the people in it value their dolls, usually, too highly to send them off and not follow up until they damn well got them back.

It's a strange situation indeed....uncommon, I'd both assume and hope. Also unfortunate.

 

isn't that illegal to sell someone else's doll?

 

If it were me, I'd do all of the trying to get in contact with them business for 3-6 months and then after that, if it were a whole doll, I would give it my other dolls extra clothes and I think I'd let the doll live with the rest of my dolls as an orphan or something. A visitor? I'd feel bad if something happened to the owner that made it impossible for her/him to contact me and a year or so later they could, but someone else owned it. If it was only a head or body, I might sell it after a year or just put it in storage, but a whole doll is just too sad.

 

Depends on how long they left it for. After so many months it is considered "abandoned property" in which the person who possesses it has the right to do as they'd like with it.

As for everyone else, I agree. I believe there should be some clause the person being commissioned gives to the commissioner stating that "After so long, I have the right to do as I see fit with your doll if no contact can be made" or something to that effect just so the owner can't come back and say "I didn't know you'd sell my doll."

I've had my Yunae's face-up done by someone. I mailed out her face and was terrified but I trusted person who was doing it. Everyday she sent me email updates and even pictures of the face-up progress. She would also say "If there's anything you don't like, tell me and I'll change it." through each step. If I didn't like the colors, or the way it was done, she was willing to change it for me...which not every one does that. I was amazed with how sweet and awesome she was.
I love Yunae's face-up and thinks she looks perfect now, so much better than I could have imagined and the transaction was smooth. She told me when she shipped her and even asked a few days later if I had got her okay. I think that's how face-up, body-work, etc should be handled. Constant communication between both parties involved.

And I'd say seriously, if you aren't comfortable giving your number to someone, then why send your expensive doll off to them? Sometimes things happen when a person can't get to the computer, I think it's just a good safety net...to ensure nothing happens to your doll.

I had an experience similar only with personal items and not dolls. I had a bf move into my house and it wasn't working at all and things happened and I made him leave. He left half of his items here (on purpose) and I tried over and over to ask him where he wanted me to send him, because he was moving from place to place, even out of the state. He refused to talk to me. Month after month I tried...I'd say "your items are safe, I have them, let me know where I can send them" and I'd say "Just want to send you your items." I emailed him, messaged him through messengers, called and texted. He just refused to answer me. It's been 2 years. I finally came to my senses and realized he probably didn't want the stuff so I threw half of it out...I still have the novel he had hand written because as a writer myself, I can't bear to throw that out, but like I said it's been two years...and he's never once gotten in contact with me. My cell number never changed, nor did my address....so sometimes it's hard to just get rid of someone else's things because you just never know....

sorry for the long story...

 

As someone who does not take comissions...

If I left my doll at someone's place to do a faceup, body blush, whatever...


....if I neglected to pay/contact them for a few months, I really hope they'd sell my doll. That's just irresponsibility on my part.

 

Definitely.

I have been on the other end of this - not with a doll, but with cheaper, doll clothes. I had entered a trade, where I had to pay off a small difference, because the other's item was slightly more expensive. I was also in the middle of a move at this time (it was literally the most spontaneous move you could do, so it literally fell like: "oh want to trade?" next day: "hey babe want to look at apartments?" same day we're signing a lease on the first complex we looked at, to move in the following week).
So Life got hectic, and I could barely find time to sit at the computer, even after I moved in to the apartment, mix in internet that wouldn't stay on for longer than 2 minutes due to (an eventually diagnosed) faulty router, I just decided, IDGAF if she never sends her half, she can keep what I sent.
When things settled in, I logged on and bam- I had a bunch of missed pm's from her, and in the end she just paid me what the amount of my side was, which was more than I was expecting, even after I told her she could keep my end for free.

 

I'm not a face-up/customizer so not an issue really. But if they sent me the doll and I finished the work, and tried contacting them, I would say give it two-three months. But I also would attempt to send a letter (not just email) but a snail mail letter to the address the head was sent from.

 

If I would be confrunted whith such a situation , I think I would keep the head for at least 5-6 months, trying to get contact whith the person . I would also , like others people have mentioned , post a warning in my comission thread.
After six months whith no contact(and assuming no payment) I would either keep the head for myself if I`d like it to compensate for the unpaid comission , or sell it . - I`m talking hipoteticly , because I`m not good at faceups

 

This seems like a well thought out plan, and more than enough trouble to go to for the artist trying to reach the person.

The rest of the details in the question about offering to give the original owner some of the money if they finally come forward is also pretty noble if you ask me. It would be different maybe if there was some exceptional reason for the owner to leave the artist hanging. But the trouble there is that some irresponsible people are the best at making up sob stories. They get a lot of practice. And that is most devious because it makes it hard for the person who really has a good reason/troubles to be in that difficult place to begin with.

 

I thought I replied with the quote attached and now I can't even re-locate the answer. Anyway. Someone had a list of exact steps for how attempted contact would be made through various avenues before selling. But in the end selling.

 

The thought just occurred to me:

I wonder if there's been a situation where a customizer held onto someone's doll for so long that they forgot that they didn't own the doll, and sold it.

True, it sounds far fetched, but I wonder if it's at all possible?

 

If I'd do costumizations, I'd make it clear. That I'd tell the person when the customization would be done. after a month, I'd try to contact the person any mean I could and if after the second month I'd not have any response, I'd sell the head or the doll for approx it's market value (less, but more than what the amount the person owed me). I wouldn't want to keep storing people's things for months, months and years...

 

It probably is possible if the doll is in the possession of the customizer for years+, but I think most customizers are organised and keep records of dolls coming in and the contact details of the owner.

If you've tried everything you can think of to reunite doll and owner and get paid for your work and still the owner is missing, I do think that the customizer can keep the doll or sell it. Their house isn't storage for someone else's things, and if you do abandon property for months and never claim it, it would be bad form to come back five years later and still expect your doll to be where you left it.

 

This would be a strange situation indeed! I have no clue as to what I would do if I ever found myself in a situation like this... I just cannot imagine someone not wanting their doll (parts) back! =O

 

Wow, thanks for this tidbit! Hmm.. I'd give them more than 3 months if I was doing art on someone's doll. 5 minimum for sure.. Odds are I wouldn't sell it if it was a nice doll/head.. I'd remove the face-up/blushing and re-do it how I like it. If they ever returned for the doll I'd probably re-do the work they wanted, and give it back. Might charge them extra for it..

 

As someone who does take commissions, this has happened to me once before. I believe the owner lived overseas, and went to school in the US. I held on to the parts for over a year and a half, trying to get in touch with the owner in many ways the entire time. Then sold them. It was actually the reason that I went to the model I have, to take money upfront (at the very least half), that and it helps cover material overhead.

Should the owner ever get back in touch with me I've got it noted in my big ole' commission spreadsheet, how much they sold for, and cost of commission and would reimburse them without question.

 

I'm really glad I have learned to do my own faceups. It would be awful if my doll or part of one was out and maybe something terrible happened that I couldn't respond. I think my family would like to have my dolls around if I died, at least for awhile. If I was badly hurt, I would miss them for comfort. I don't do commissions, but if I did, I would ask for return postage cost up front. If contact was lost, I would send it back blank with a note. I always ask for a secondary contact whenever I do a money deal directly with another member in the MP just to be safe.

 

Every jurisdiction has laws about when property is abandoned. Once it meets that criteria the person who has it can do whatever is wanted. And it is like pawn shops that are highly regulated. If the person has taken legal ownership of the item then he or she should able to sell it. The item no longer belongs to the prior person.

 

Fwoof. I just read through the origin post and then through some replies. Quite the question you have there. I'm not a commissions artist, but if I was, I think I would put the cutoff time at 6 months. In this day and age it is so easy to shoot someone an internet message of any kind OR even send a letter through the mail, explaining your predicament. There is internet available everywhere, and sending a letter only costs about 40 cents, so if in six months a person didn't get back to me about their commission, then I would have no problem with selling off the item, but I would warn of that condition beforehand.