Star Spangled Dolls

You're right. Aaron is displaying very poor customer service before his/her first sale has even happened.

 

I love how putting the American flag on these dolls instantly makes them American, and every American here should feel immense pride and satisfaction because of it.

Also, marketing them as American-made on a website for Asian dolls? Not the best idea. It could have gone really well for you, if you'd just had the sense to clarify from the beginning that they're American in design only, and that all production was done in China. American design or not, the Chinese have done all the hard work, and that to me says they get all the credit. Perhaps their flag should be on the headcaps instead? Just a thought...

Calling your potential customer base "silly" (twice!!) makes you sound like a teenager, and that alone put me off ever even *considering* ordering from you. (You'd even had people offer you very polite and friendly advice, and you basically insulted them.)However, as a long-time BJD enthusiast and general lover of all things pretty, I took one look at the dolls and instantly clicked 'Back'. The faces are just wrong - eyes too close, chin WAY too huge, lips wonky, head too big... You shouldn't have focused so hard on correcting things that other (successful) companies don't seem to have any issues with. I can't even commend you for getting out there and producing your own dolls because, y'know... you didn't.

Very poor show, old chap.

 

Wow.

Madonnafanme,

1. Considering any feedback as "silly" is not the right attitude

2. Posting that in a forum filled with your potential customers is not doing any good to your new business

3. The cap tag represents your company. The blurry flag image is not a good presentation

4. Your website represents your company. The flag filled background is too busy, let alone tacky. Fix the banner image too. It is an image of the doll you are selling and it looks squashed.

5. The layout of the website is strange. You have Favorite Sites and Favorite Stores taking almost half of the main page, instead of focusing on your own dolls.


Does it still sound silly to you?

It is good that you are proud of your doll business, but listening to feedback and suggestion is important. Do not be defensive. Treat this thread as a free good market research.

 

As a former web designer myself, I have to say that I don't buy from such poorly designed sites in this day and age. A poorly designed website such as his could have passed for usable around a decade ago, but in this day, people expect more than something sloppily thrown together in Frontpage, which is what he used according to the source code.

This entire thing reeks of a person that saw a chance to profit off of the community thinking that blind sheep would follow him if he offered some dolls at an inflated price. Even his shipping here in the US is ridiculous. I have shipped a 70cm doll, in box, with extras across this country for less than $20 via priority mail while it was fully insured. So how does that equal a "small handling charge" if the price tag is set at $40 to ship?

This whole thing makes me ill in the stomach and I am quite proud of the people here at DoA for standing up against this! Hopefully Aaron will change his marketing strategies because of it as well as get the hint that people don't like being blown off as "dumb consumers", which is what he has made it seem like he views us as.

 

This was my first impression as well. You have a large community of people that pay a great deal of money for their dolls, you know there are going to be people that try to take advantage of that by trying to sell cheap-imitations of quality dolls.

Whether this is a case of that or not, remains to be seen, but that is my first impression and I can't imagine someone wanting to risk $500 for something that not only isn't very appealing aesthetically, but buying from someone who does not present their company online nor via their comments in a very professional or business-like manner.

 

An American business and a local business are two different things. A truly American business has a large percentage of its product, if not all of it, made in the US. A local business has their product produced overseas, or simply buys overseas product, for resale in their own country.

By mimicking the 'Made in USA' look of your labeling you are implying that your product meets the stated requirements which, as you've bluntly said, it does not. Depending on blind patriotism to sell your product is insulting at best. Calling your customer base 'silly' and otherwise arguing with them rather than considering the feedback is downright poor business practice.

Also, might I recommend this book since, as was repeated often by the instructors in my art school days, you need to know the rules before you break them.

 

I agree with everyone's points, so there's no reason repeating the silliness of an 'American doll' that has little to do with America. (And I'm not even particularly patriotic).

I also was highly dissapointed by the doll's aesthetics. Barring the fact that their facial structure/proportions are unappealing what with the eyes so close, I would expect an 'American BJD' to be made with an integration of American/Western style and features that still follows the Asian aesthetics that define this hobby.

All I see are dolls that are the bare minimum of what qualifies an Asian Ball-Joint doll. No personal 'American'/Western touches, not even American/Western fashion regarding their clothes.

All in all, this is a terrible business move.

 

Madonnafanme:

1) This is the single largest forum for BJD collectors, and many of the people that have viewed your site/dolls have concerns about the way you're marketing them. Calling them silly is a BAD idea.

2) Many US doll enthusiasts, like batchix, have SCULPTED their own designs and had them cast in china, that's a truly HANDS ON way to produce your own dolls.

3) I'll be perfectly honest here, those dolls are FANTASTICALLY ugly. I would NEVER pay what you're asking for those dolls. Ever. I can get better quality, more appealing looking dolls for the same price. Either you are making a large profit, or the chinese company you're working for are really REALLY ripping you off.

4) Your attitude stinks. Do your reasearch. Don't get so butthurt when people offer their opinions, especially if those people are your potential customer base.

 

I have read the entire thread, and I am sorry to say that this is very much my opinion of the company so far. I have never seen a 'company' (even a small one) dare to call their potential customers names like that, before- or even after- they have established a good repuation for themselves.

I fear that your behaviour on DoA will have far reaching consequences for your company future, Maddonafanme.

 

To be fair, I have dealt with Aaron before--he's the US rep for AOD, and he helped me out when I was having an issue with an AOD dealer. I wouldn't assume that he's just trying to make a buck off the community, and my experience with him was a positive one. I've also seen other less than stellar doll websites from legit people (though I have to say, a nice website will help--first impressions are important!)

I think there was perhaps a lack of market research and the information he gave wasn't written clearly enough. Websites can be changed and information clarified, though I think he's placed himself in a difficult spot in terms of the market. $500 comes right in the average range in terms of bjd prices which means he's competing with very well established companies. They are limiteds, but people who are really into owning LEs aren't necessarily afraid to shell out the cash for expensive dolls which means for that market niche the competition is going to be even more fierce. For people who don't care if a doll is an LE or not, it won't act as an incentive to buy. There are also some really fabulous less expensive dolls available too.

I think he would have better luck if they were priced lower, at least for a special introductory price where hobbyists would be more likely to take a chance on a new company. Some good reviews could do a lot to get his company off the ground--of course to get good reviews, the dolls need to be up to a certain standard. But if they did go over well, he could then consider raising prices--or perhaps offer regular editions at lower cost and introduce LEs later if there's enough interest. Anyway, it's all up to how he chooses to handle things. Hopefully he'll get it all worked out.

He shouldn't have responded to the criticism the way he did--as an owner of a doll company he doesn't have the luxury to hit back and potentially alienate others (who are potential customers). On the other hand, I think the point about using the US flag was made a long time ago, and it may be time to stop and cool down.

 

This pricing really only applies to dolls that give the impression of quality. The dolls he's selling appear to be sculpted by a less talented individual than the established companies and their faceups are sub-par for factory faceups. Even the applied eyelashes are a joke and appear to be cheap human fake lashes that have been crudely cut. Whether they are or not, that's what they appear to be.

No one is going to pay $500 for a doll that looks like it cost about $300 regardless of whether its limited or not.

I'd say he's off to an all around bad start. Taking customer comments into consideration instead of insulting us and brushing us off, considering hiring someone with a more professional manner to deal with customer service, setting up a more professional website and lowering the prices would give him a better chance.

 

I fully agree. If they're using a chinese sculptor, and seem to have an affinity to AOD They should at least be as aesthetically pleasing as the AOD Dolls and bodies. There are a lot of people who own beautiful AOD dolls, and yet, this 'american' company has incredibly unattractive dolls. For the first few seconds I had looked at their dolls considering buying a body, but saw how unproportionate the heads were to the bodies, and how INCREDIBLY ugly the heads were (at least one boy and one girl) And for that price, I could get a much cheaper, and much more 'well known' AOD body.

As for calling customers silly, I don't understand why they would feel the need to do this, alienate the customers they are trying to sell to.

 

I agree about the pricing--that's what I was saying. $500/doll is setting himself up for difficulties. No arguments there.

 

I would just like to clarify that batchix Machina is sculpted, molded and cast professionally in the USA and has no connection whatsoever with China.

 

I also find it somewhat misplaced to have the dolls made from scratch in China, and then market it as something American. But that is just one factor.

I remember that the release of AOD was also a rather clumsy one, even though I am unsure whether Madonnafanme was involved at that time. Either way, the release of AOD and these new dolls both seem to be poorly planned and executed- and I think it would be wise to do some research before releasing a whole line of expensive dolls.

To be honest, I cannot picture these dolls selling at all. My personal opinion is that they have poor anatomy, unattractive features and that they look overall cheap and inconsistent as a "line".

 

Well it seems the dolls will be have a different name to go by and they will NOT be using the American Flag on the back of the dolls head, they also state that they are not saying it is a product made in the USA, but only SOLD in the USA. Personally I like Daphine she could have potenial with another faceup artist did a different faceup.

 

Unfortunately I have to wonder if the damage isn't already done. Their site still looks very unprofessional and slapped together and then there is the fact that most people have stated that they don't like the look of the dolls. The doll community isn't as forgiving as other hobbies, so time will tell if the damage can be undone.

 

That's definately a leap in the right direction.

 

I really dislike these eyes.
I'm sorry to say so, but I think the dolls are quite ugly.

 

Perhaps my first post was a bit harsh. I really should have cooled down before posting. I do apologize for some of my harsh words. Though, Aaron should have behaved in a more professional way, insults tend to brush people the wrong way. But I digress.

Maybe their aim wasn't to use patriotism to their advantage. You must admit though, overall it seemed a bit dodgy. At least they're taking steps to improve, it seems.

Now they really should focus a lot more on the aesthetics of their dolls and their marketing. We'll see what happens....