The prices of seccond hand dolls. Are they getting ot of hand?

Is the trend really prices going up, though? I mean, from my observations it seems like the market is oversaturated and prices are falling, not rising, on the secondhand market. Occasionally I'll see some price that makes me roll my eyes a bit because the doll's rarity and condition are waaaaaaay not worth that price. But overall the secondhand values on many sculpts are lower than they used to be. I just spotted a doll that I could almost swear I've seen go for $1500+ as recently as last year, at less than $1000. And I'm seeing dolls in good condition whose original prices would've figured in the $500-700 range, go for $300-400 whereas earlier the depreciation usually settled at about $400-500 (again, if the doll was kept in good condition). Now, granted, I only check the marketplace sporadically, I have floated in and out of the hobby, and I've certainly not recorded my observations in any organized way, but still my overall feeling is that the secondary market prices are going down and will continue to do so. Understandably so, as there are far, far more choices on the market today.

 

You definitely do get some greedy sellers, but if the price honestly is far too high no one will pay that price, so the greedy seller will lose out and will usually have to drop their asking price to get a sale. Sometimes sellers who are asking a fair price have to drop their prices to attract buyers if the market isn't good and currency conversions don't work out well.

It's not that the seller deliberately charges extra because the buyer can get the doll quicker, the seller puts whatever price they feel is fair on the doll and it's up to the buyer to decide if that price suits them. The buyer may decide that it is worth it to them to pay a little extra to buy a doll right now rather than wait for months for a doll to be made. To you, obviously, it wouldn't be worth it, but to me, perhaps it would. For some people, the wait for a doll isn't 'all part of the fun' and they would just really rather have their doll in a few days and play straight away than to buy brand new. I know of quite a few people who wouldn't mind paying a little over the base price to have a doll faster.

I definitely do disagree with you there. There are very talented and sought-after face-up artists in this hobby and a doll with a face-up by one of those artists is going to be worth far more than a blank doll or a doll with a standard or home-made face-up. Just because you might not know any 'names' of face-up artists doesn't mean that no one else knows them and feels this way. Not all face-ups are commissioned to be highly personal or dramatic or tied to a single personality. When I commissioned Viridian House to paint my Volks School B and Volks Rose I just wanted pretty faces and Icchaeyo designed face-ups in her style that were fresh, pretty and of exquisite quality. Those face-ups are on my dolls but they aren't strictly my characters' faces and anyone could appreciate them and do what they wanted with a doll with a face-up like that.

If it doesn't matter to you who painted what doll, you don't have to buy a doll with a 'big name' artist face-up, but if you do fall for a doll that has a face-up by a very talented and rightly celebrated face-up artist you may well have to pay a premium for that face-up because it most likely cost the seller a lot of money to commission that face-up.

I would agree. Generally dolls do hold their value, but for a quicker sale sellers do tend to be going for lower prices and those dolls are selling faster.

 

I think they kind of are, but I think its mostly for popular companies. Ive seen a lot of dolls that are cheaper from not so popular companies and then I see people charging the same or more for a doll that Fairyland or Volks made.

I guess it depends if the seller is a scalper or not :/

 

I've gotten every doll I own second hand, and hope I can get the type of Impldoll Pinky I want too (more so because it will come earlier, even if its not much cheaper)

 

A lot have already covered my feelings on prices. The only thing I can add is a comment on face-ups and their value.

I have been known on several occasions to purchase a doll I otherwise might never have considered JUST because it has a face-up by a particular artist I admire. Heck, I actually consider myself to be a bit of a face-up collector. So yes, even if "you" do not think face ups can be worth more - they ARE. To someone, at least.

Edit: To expand a bit: I came across a really old type one, Luts Delf Lishe. She was made, probably in 2004/2005 and was extremely yellowed. Extremely. I've never seen such a yellowed NS doll outside of french resin horror stories. I normally wouldn't have looked twice at her.
Instead, I paid $950 for her because
Look
At
Her

 

I do not understand this driving need to place some kind of moral compass on the secondhand market. The doll secondhand market is exactly like every other collectible market on the planet. Some items depreciate. Some items hold their value. Some items appreciate. Not all dolls depreciate, just like any other collectible out there. (I don't even know where the idea that ALL dolls depreciate came from.) This is not a market of necessities. A seller pricing a doll at a premium is not viciously depriving someone of the means they need to survive. I mean, I am terribly sorry if people are finding that things they want cost more than they want to pay, but that's life. If you want that doll bad enough, you will find a way to get that doll, either by saving up your money, or waiting to buy it with the hopes that the price will come down (although anyone doing that must understand that the price may never come down or may actually go up in the future).

Profit is not evil. If someone is fortunate enough to have an item that either held its value or appreciated, they're well within their rights to reap those rewards. They aren't being 'mean' by asking what their item is worth. Dolls are not special snowflakes, spun from fairy dust and unicorn sneezes and carefully molded by the light of the new moon on All Hallows' Eve by a team of water nymphs. They are not some magical commodity that is somehow exempt from the standard practices of every other collectible market on the planet. I do think it's 'mean' to attempt to tar and feather every seller who ever asked retail or better for an item as some kind of horrible meanie and a scalper or whatever just because they sought market value for their items. That? That is just cruel.

At any rate, I find that a lot of the people who preach morality the loudest frequently forget these 'morals' the moment the market swings so that the same basic laws of supply and demand work to pad their wallets instead of emptying them.

ETA: OH MY GOD. Adalaire. That is...holy CRAP she's gorgeous! Who did that faceup??

 

Tez: i could not have said it better myself.

 

And really, if it is somehow greedy and immoral to want to charge what you want for a doll you are selling, it's also pretty greedy and immoral to want to pay as little as you want for a doll you want to buy. These are luxury collectibles. No one NEEDS one of these dolls to live.

 

Completely agree with what you say Tez. A prime example of "value" in collectables? Action Comics #1. A bit of paper and ink that can sell for tens of thousands. What makes it worth that? Absolutely nothing but another person's DESIRE to have it.

(And my Lishe's face-up is by bread17. )

 

I guess the lesson I've learned from this post is to research. I think I would be willing to pay more if I didn't have to wait for what I want. I'm a total impulse buyer and I like instant gratification. I'm an easy target, I guess.

 

In one hand, "greedy" sellers, increasing prices for various (either good) reasons such as trend, makeup, discontinued, OOAK mod... and on the other, increadibly low prices for dolls people don't want anymore, out-of-fashioned, never-heard-of. How can one set a price for a doll within these two extreme ends ? Years before you could never find a doll under 150$ except for those cheap chinese companies...

 

I actually sold my first doll this year. Tried to sell two actually, both limiteds. Started at what I paid for them in splits, which was what others of their sculpts were marked at on the MP. Marked them down three times. One eventually sold. The other didn't, despite the fact that he was $100 below what I paid for him, which was 1/3 off the original price. I had people offering to trade me all sorts of stuff, most of which was only worth one half of what I paid for him or less. Obviously, even though he is a limited, he is not a desirable sculpt. Since I wasn't willing to accept any of the lowball offers, I took him off of the MP. I may at some point offer him again-wipe him and shoot new pictures of him clean. But I'm not complaining. Sometimes things appreciate, sometimes they don't. A couple of years from now, he may be just what somebody wants, or I might have to just accept a low-ball offer if I'm really intent on getting rid of him. That's just the way the cookie crumbles.

I should add that I've been in the hobby since 2009, and I've definitely seen a change in the MP. The old adage that you could "get all you paid back" just doesn't apply any more. There are enough different dolls on the market now that I don't think you can expect to recoup all your expenses, even for desirable dolls. I've seen people have to do some pretty severe markdowns to move dolls that when I entered the hobby would have gone for full price. Even brand new dolls don't necessarily go for what their owners paid, though they are the ones most likely to. So no, I don't necessarily think second hand prices are out of hand. The ones that are unrealistic simply don't sell.

 

A couple of points not included in the OP that I think are good reasons for a doll to be sold for more than the original price:

1) The company has a bad reputation when it comes to safe packaging or replacing parts damaged in shipping. As long as the second-hand seller has good feedback, it might be much safer to order a mint-condition doll from them and be guaranteed it will arrive safely, rather than gamble on the company's bad shipping/service. I'd consider paying a bit extra in this case for the peace of mind.

2) The company has a very long wait time. Some people don't want to pay $500+ and have nothing to show for it for 3+ months. They might be happy to have the option to pay a little bit more to a secondhand seller in order to know their doll will ship out immediately. It's not unusual to pay for expedited shipping, so I can see people paying second-hand sellers a bit extra for this.

When it comes to 'greedy' sellers, I think people get much more upset than they should. So many of the high-priced dolls have negotiable prices, but people just see the $price is high and move on. I'm sure most sellers with high-priced items would seriously consider most offers (unless they're specifically labelled their sales thread price as 'firm'), but a lot of people just don't seem to like making offers at all. I think there would be less of a perception of second-hand prices 'getting out of hand' if buyers were more willing to ask sellers if they'd accept lower offers.

 

LOL LOL so true, pretty much all works of art are paper (or canvas) plus some pigment (paint, pencil what have you).... but heck people would pay millions for some and not a dime on others.... I hardly think it has anything to do with being " right or wrong"

If I like it and I want it then it is the right price for me

I have paid and know people who had paid a lot for dolls with gorgeous face up. It is not that easy to get a slot with a talented face up artist - so I do not see why I should not pay more for a doll with gorgeous face up.

If I have done my homework and I feel that price is good by me and I can afford it - I buy it.


I have a LE that I paid close 180% of his original Volks company price for when I got him. Volks has released two more editions of this doll 2 years after I got my original LE. BUT for the past 4.5years I have never once regretted paying for him. He is still my number 1 doll !!! The leader in my pack. To me he is and always worth that price.

My collection will never be complete without him