What would you do if...you bought a doll that had been stolen?

Seconding what sakuraharu says here.

I have no obligations to other doll collectors based on the number of dolls I have. I have plenty of obligation to follow the laws of my country, as they pertain to other doll collectors and anyone else in the world.

People have made some impressively obnoxious requests over time based on 'number of dolls', which is likely why you're seeing such firm reactions to that, Gherkin. People have said, "You have a bunch of dolls and I have none, so you should give one to me for free!" Or, "You should sell me your LE for $50 because that's all I have and you have plenty so you won't miss it and you have to because you have more than I do!" These things have been reported plenty, and they're presented under the umbrella of "you have more than me, so you are obligated to even things out at your own expense". There are other equally silly 'obligations' people have created to project on to others, but that's just it: these are 'obligations' that only exist in someone's imagination because they see something and draw an erroneous conclusion; they aren't genuine societal obligations backed up by law or even something as simple as the social contract to treat others with respect and civility. (Though I would actually say that turning in an item to the police is absolutely covered under the latter, even if the former was not relevant.) There's quite a profound difference between the two.

Look at it this way for a moment and see if the distinction isn't more clear: "Joan has more dolls than Becky, so Becky is OBLIGATED to listen to everything Joan says about anything." Starting to see how utterly silly that is by comparison?

 

Why should the original owner pay you anything? I don't understand that reasoning . . . as many people have already said earlier in this thread.

 

depending on the doll (ex: if it's one of my dream dolls) I may try to buy it from the original owner (urgh, paying twice for a doll X_x xD ). but if she/he really doesn't want me to keep it, then I wouldn't have the choice to give it back I'd make her/him pay for shipping though! I know the person has ZERO obligation toward me but I could still decide to be a dick and keep it. after all, I did pay for it. so the person should AT LEAST pay for shipping.

if someone contacted me to tell me they had my doll, I would probably give them a little reward for being honest and it would be a little compensation at the same time because it's unfair they had to pay for it but in the end, got nothing

 

I think i would start with crying, then i would get really mad at myself for being so stupid not to check feedback etc. After that i would get really pissed at the seller.

And then i would send the doll back with all its belongings. After which i would cry a bit more.

I could never, ever life with myself if i kept stolen property.

 

I had a mere nightmare about a doll being stolen and I was beyond devestated, as soon as I woke up I checked my dolls to make sure they were all there. I could never imagine something as devestating as losing not only a fairly substancial amount of money, but most if not all doll owners see their bjds as part of their little resin families, almost children and having someone take that from you is horrifying. If I found out I was an accomplice is taking someone's resin baby away, I would notify the owner right away and notify wherever I had bought it from to report a scammer.

Sorry if I sound alittle melodramatic, but I care about my dolls alot and I'm positive many do too.

 

I agree as well.

That thread is different from this one, because the people were being asked if certain members had some kind of special obligation, which means something totally different than what's being described here. That other thread is more focused on if you feel that people who are in a specific situation with their collection have to give up, or do certain things because of where they are in the hobby.

 

I would contact the owner right away, tell her/him how I have got the doll and send it to the owner. Sure I would be frustrated about the money, but maybe the owner would help me get the money back. I would feel so guilty to not contact the owner. If you keep a doll and you now that the seller had stolen it and the owner really want the doll back, then you have stolen it as well.

 

Read a lot of the thread, and skimmed the rest...

As upset as I would be, I'd still without a doubt turn it into police and do my best to get the doll back to the original owner as quickly and safely as possible. I've had an expensive belonging stolen from me, when I knew any hopes of replacing it were years away, and I cannot imagine not only suffering that, but with an added emotional attachment to the item in question. Asking the owner for reimbursement would never have crossed my mind until I read this thread - expecting them to pay twice for their doll is beyond comprehension for me.

If I never managed to get my money back? Oh well. That sucks for me. I'll chalk it up to a spot of bad luck and stick to more reputable sellers, or swear off secondhand buying entirely - not that I have any plans to start buying secondhand.

Here's what really bugs me, though. Also, I'm using "you" in a general sense, here. Saying, "Oh, well, I'm broke, so it makes sense for me to ask for some form of reimbursement," is fairly nonsensical. That is a doll. It is not a form of currency. Were you planning to turn around and resell it right after receiving it? You paid that money for a doll, so you must not need it to eat. If you are in the sort of financial situation that you need your dolls as some sort of piggy bank store-of-value, maybe you should stop buying them for now (not saying anything about people who do resell dolls in times of need, as that's perfectly reasonable). You may not be able to add another doll to your collection for awhile, and that's disappointing, but that's no reason to expect the true owner to give you anything or hope for more than a nice word of thanks.

If it were my doll that was stolen, I'd hope I had the means to show my appreciation in some way, and would get in touch with them later if I couldn't at the time, but no one is obligated to do so.

 

Hands down contact the persona and try to confirm i indeed had there doll. There is no way i could live with myself knowing that the doll was stolen. it would never TRULEY be mine.

 

If I bought a doll that was stolen I would contact them and ask need substantial proof that they were the original owner. Then if there is enough proof I would send it back to them even though I lost the money. I would contact the seller regarding the doll and getting my money back. If not I will file a claim to paypal or (if not using paypal) take them to small claims court or something.

 

I'd contact the owner and let them know, and also ask to see photos etc to verify that they are the rightful owner. Once that's done, I'd give them whatever info I had about the seller. Then I'd report the seller to whichever forum or marketplace I bought from, as well as the police. I'd send the doll back to the owner, and try to get my money back via paypal or small claims.

 

I would contact the original owner, if possible. I would never be able to keep a stolen doll knowing that their real owner misses them.

 

To add to the last post, if I saw a doll for sale that I recognized as being stolen from someone I know, I would probably buy the doll just so I can return it to its owner.

 

It may hurt financially and emotionally, But I would return the doll. It wasn't really mine.

 

We have been talking about Volks limiteds and unique faceups and identifying marks. In real life though, how often do you know for sure that the doll was stolen, let alone who the original owner was? There were a few examples of the unique type given earlier in this thread, but I think they were the exception rather than the rule. I remember a case several years ago, where an Elfdoll Soah was stolen from Denver Doll Emporium. It was a basic doll with a factory faceup. Suppose later I bought a factory Soah from someone in the Denver metro area. Would I have any way of knowing that it was the stolen doll? No box, sure-- a lot of people don't keep their boxes or paperwork. Suppose I had a vague suspicion that it might be the stolen doll-- the owner was evasive or something. I still have no proof, but I take the doll back to Denver Doll Emporium and ask if it's their doll. Would they have any way of knowing? It looks just like every other factory Soah they've sold.

The same would hold true of many other stolen dolls-- the stolen Bobobies mentioned above, for instance. IMO this scenario is far more common than a Volks limited. So as an honest person, what do you do in this case? Give the doll back on the off chance that it might be the stolen one? Keep it, and always wonder?

 

Thats a tough question. I would want to get my money back, but I certainly would not ask the original owner for it. I would report and attempt to get back my money from the seller/stealer, and then give back the doll to the original owner.

 

For the most part I see this from a legal standpoint, not an emotional attachment standpoint. In some parts of the United States (like TX, which is the only state law I am very familiar with) if you have a receipt of some kind to show you legitimately purchased an item, it is legally yours even if it was stolen from someone else. I am going to give an example of this I had read about in a paper further down in this post.

Newspaper example:
A woman bought a ring at a pawn shop and got a receipt with her purchase, when she went to work later someone at her office freaked out saying that the woman was wearing her ring which had been stolen from her house along with all her other jewelry a month ago. There were a few identifying marks on the ring such as a missing gemstone, a small dent on part of the band and a three-letter inscription. But the woman who bought it at the pawn shop had a legitimate receipt proving herself the current and legal owner of the ring and it was legally determined the woman who it had originally belonged to had no right to it at all. But, don't feel bad for the lady who's ring was stolen (I know I did until I got to the very bottom of the article), because she had the ring insured and filed with her insurance company to get money for the stolen ring.

Though in some states this is extremely not the case and any ownership of stolen property, even if you didn't know it was stolen, can get you in a lot of legal trouble. So it is something that varies greatly and I always prefer to go with the law for these reasons instead of whatever my first panic-infested reaction would be in that situation to make sure I am doing the legal thing.

I know, stolen items are a miserable experience for everyone involved and unfortunately in these situations there is almost no way for everyone to come out happy and in a lot of ways everyone is at fault, I'm not going to just blame or shame one side. The original owner is at fault for being so reckless with their belongings, the buyer is at fault for not checking in to the seller better.

As for how I would personally react if I bought a stolen doll. That would depend on a lot of factors such as how much I paid for it, how much the original owner paid for it, how long I had it, if it was in default condition, if it was customized, how much proof and what kind of proof the original owner has, if I can communicate with the owner, what the police advise me to do.

If it was a doll in default condition with say, a 'slight scratch on the torso' as an identifying mark and I paid $2,000 for the doll and the owner only has a few owner pictures as their proof and they start out demanding I send this doll to their home address, like hell I'd return it to them. That is so vague I wouldn't risk the chance of me being scammed out of $2,000 by the so-called original owner, I would take it to the police and give the so-called original owner the case number and have us settle it from there.

Now, if it were a customized doll that would probably be a different story for a few reasons. One being if that was the case, I could ask the face-up artist who the person was they painted that doll for and cross-reference names, addresses, etc. That in it's self would be another form of proof of original ownership for me, even if it's not legally. Two being I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to keep a doll that was customized as it currently is, I'd want to reinvent it as my own, and I'd hate to ruin something that was already perfect to someone else for that. In that case, I could just as easily get any other of that doll to re-customize and it wouldn't bother me, meanwhile it would kill the owner if I wiped it. This is, of course, assuming I or they found out it was their doll before I got to wiping it.

But for those saying you'd have the owner pay to get it back, I can understand for many reasons why you'd say that and I don't consider it at all greedy/selfish or anything of the sort! If the original owner's item is so special, so expensive or so irreplaceable to them, it should be insured! Insurance exists for a reason and this is one of them. If your item gets stolen, report it to your insurance company, get reimbursed and either buy it back from the new owner should they wish to sell it to you and you know who the new owner is or buy a new one. I know I can't realisticly expect this of everyone, but for me personally, if there is something I couldn't stand to lose either because of emotional or monetary value, I insure it. If it's something I am okay losing or would rather pay to replace than pay the monthly/yearly fees to insure, I don't insure it and remain ready to take that loss.

Depending on the type of insurance* and how the item was stolen, you can most likely get more than the cost of the doll in insurance money, making it where you could easily buy a new one (or 'new' used one off the secondhand market if it is limited edition). If that's the case, suck it up and try to enjoy the experience of bringing your doll back to life as good as or even better than it was before.

*Types of insurance; Home insurance should cover it if it's stolen out of your home. Car content insurance for if you leave it in your car. Some types of collectors/hobby insurance cover items you walk around with (I know two people who use this for dolls and a good handful who use it for expensive cameras) for if it's stolen while traveling, at a meet up, out on a photoshoot or anything like that. Though you have to really shop around to find ones that cover that.

There I go writing a novel on very simple things lol.

 

As someone who thinks artwork looted decades ago and bought by museums needs to be returned, yeah, I would seek a doll's return to its rightful owner if I found it was stolen and it was positive beyond shadow of a doubt that it is definitely that doll that was stolen. I would also see what I could do towards bringing the thief to justice (and maybe getting my money back).

I wouldn't be able to enjoy a doll that I knew was stolen and possessing stolen property in California is punishable by fines or jail time depending on the value of the item, as far as I know. And I'm sure as heck not risking ruining my clean record for a doll no matter how pretty it is, how much I paid for it, or if it was my Holy Grail doll.

 

I am a little aghast at this level of victim-blaming. There are a great many ways theft can occur, and to suggest it must have to do with negligence on the part of the original owner is more than a little galling. Certainly, some people are reckless -- but even if they are, that does not in any way excuse or lessen the wrong actions of the thief. Having personal friends who have been robbed at gunpoint, I suppose, and in one case beaten until near death by a thief, I suppose I might have stronger views on this than some, but really, it's a truly absurd statement to make.

Sure, I might have less sympathy for the person who has their items pinched because they left them sitting somewhere out of view for several hours in a busy public space and without anyone monitoring them, but I'm still not willing to say that they deserve to be blamed and shamed on par with the person who stole the item. I am also never going to consider everyone who has an item stolen as being negligent in some fashion. We are not psychic or all powerful; we do not and cannot know every direction from which risk will approach us or our possessions.

 

I am sorry if my horrid phrasing has offended you, Surreality. I realize using the words 'shame and blame' were not proper phrasing for what I was trying to convey. More like, I don't believe anyone but the thief is to blame for the havoc that is wrecked from these types of events and that was not a proper sentence structure to convey that, I apologize. I guess that is what happens when I write such long dribble at 2am.

What I meant more to say was "I'm not going to blame or shame either side and you (general you/average reader of this thread) as a bystander can try and spin it anyway you want to try and blame the victims, but for what reason?", though others might wish to, that's really none of my concern and I have better things to do with my time than trying to guilt people for both of them being victims in a horrible scam and I find some of it quite repulsive. I did not wish to quote and reply to any of those exact posts on this thread or target any specific people when I see a good handful of it, but I can see why my phrasing is viewed as so offensive. Reading it today even I find it offensive, so thank you for calling me on it and allowing me to realize my improper phrasing and allowing me to further clarify.

I was using those phrases based on what people were saying in the first 5 pages of the thread like the ones that basically read "It was the owner's fault for not being more careful/so reckless with their belongings and they therefore don't deserve this doll as much as I, the new owner, does if I were to buy a stolen doll." and that is not always the case. You can take every precaution in the world right down to having your items locked in security boxes at a bank and it can still get stolen, so there is no real one way to keep items 100% safe and only ways to lessen the blow slightly (though only financially, the emotional one is always and will always be there as a permanent trauma) should such a thing happen.