Why do people buy a doll just to turn around and sell it?

I sold some of my off topic fashion dolls to pay for two of my BJDs. I've only sold one BJD so far, and it was because she was too small to fit with my other dolls, and after 4 years I no longer liked her. I was happy to let her go to someone who would actually like her. I sold a face-plate pretty soon after I got it, because it came with a full set doll and I had no use for it.

I considered selling one of my Soom fairies when I got her, because she is not the color I expected, and the company didn't send her wig with her. Then two weeks later I got her wig in the mail. And more recently I got her nicer eyes that fit. Now I'm in love with my fairy princess,

 

That's something that I've been wondering, too. Especially because most dolls can be really expensive, I don't understand impulse buys or not really researching and making sure you love the sculpt. Reading these answers has helped me understand some of the reasons they might be sold so quickly, though.

 

Lots of reasons. I buy and sell frequently, usually a few times a year, here are a few of my personal reasons:

-Reshelling. Found another doll that fits my character better.
-Disappointment upon receiving the doll, either because it doesn't look like it did in photos, the customer service was so horrible it ruined my feelings towards the doll/company.
-I found a new doll I really want, but I can't afford it without selling others.
-Lost interest in the character. All of my dolls are physical shells of my roleplay characters. Once I stop a story line or lose interest in the character, I don't really need to keep them shelled. Re-using a doll for a new character rarely works because I choose sculpts based on what fits the OC, and I'll likely only see that OC forever in that sculpt.
-Events. Sometimes I get a doll as an event head/doll with an order, and it's just not something I'm interested in keeping. I've also bought grab bags that had a head or doll in it that I wasn't really interested in keeping, but the risk was worth it.


I'm also more of a hobbyist than collector. I don't enjoy keeping large amounts of anything, and if I didn't ever sell a doll, I'd feel like I had a hoarding situation. I sometimes feel the need to clear out some of the crew to feel refreshed. I also enjoy creating more than collecting, so sometimes it's fun for me to create a character and work on a doll, keep it for a year or so, then let it go so I can work on something else. I'm far too fickle to only choose dolls I'll keep forever!

 

Besides all of the reasons already mentioned...Lack of impulse control, perhaps? You can have it in regards to shopping for other items, so there's no reason to believe you can't have it towards BJDs. Some people seem to be blinded by the excitement of making an order, so they lack the foresight to realise it's a bad idea or they haven't thought it through. *shrug*

 

I've sold a few dolls directly when I got them home. First one was a Ringdoll Warren, and I waited 8 months on him, during which time I lost interest in him completely. Mostly because Ringdoll's constant promises of "soon, we'll ship him soon!" made it all a bad experience, but also because once I opened the box I saw that the resin was more like French resin (a bit transparent), and I can't stand that sort of resin. To me, as a nurse, that sort of resin just reminds me of the dead skin I cut away on infected wounds x) So it was two bad experiences in one, and I had him out of the box for about half an hour, just to get photos to use in my sale post.

It's a true shame, since I REALLY liked the aesthetics of the body, and I'd love to get a pair of their new hands, but their resin is still bothering me...

I also sold my April Story New Spring head, because it didn't look at all the way I had imagined for that specific character, and I sold my Switch (???) head for the same reason.

For me, having bought and sold well over 30-40 dolls by now, I've learned when I do a box opening when it 'clicks' and when it doesn't. I can tell almost instantly if this is a doll I'll keep forever, or if it's a doll I'll keep for a while to see if I can do something fun with it, or if it's a doll I don't want. Because dolls can look really different from their company photos, especially if they are from companies that won't show their sculpts blank or from different angles.

When I started out in this hobby I know I felt a bit uneasy by people buying and selling dolls over and over, since I bonded so hard with my first dolls I didn't even think you could NOT love a doll you got home. But six years later I understand them, and I also understand that there's a vast variety of people in this hobby, all in it for their own particular reason and that reason being their reason alone. Some collect full set dolls to keep in a cabinet, some collect them to customize completely, some to mod, some to make a fun doll out of and when finished move on to the next project making the doll obsolete, and so forth. There's no "right" way to collect dolls and no "wrong" way, it's just your own way. That's what makes this hobby so wonderful to me

 

Wow this really is an elaborate and clear answer. It's super interesting for me to read. I never thought about it that way.

 

Some people buy limited dolls to resell them for more on the secondhand market. I find it irritating, but to each their own, and since it mostly happens with volks dolls and since Volks's ordering structure favors customers who live in Japan, I cannot really blame the people who make a profit off this.

This is also a hobby where a long time can pass between ordering a doll and receiving it, and when that happens a lot can change in that time. The owner might have an emergency and need more money NOW, and the new doll is likely the one they haven't bonded with yet. Also, a lot of people buy dolls to shell a specific character, and in the time the doll is being cast another that suits the character even better might be released. I bought a regular Heliot head and some Cuprit horns off the Marketplace planning to make him into a demon boy, but a few months later Soom released Dream Ripper Heliot which was... even better for my purposes, so I bought him, and now I have a random Heliot head I don't have any need for anymore. Other times, "flaws" (more like ways the doll isn't quite right) that aren't apparent in company photos become obvious in person, and suddenly the doll is completely unsuitable for the purpose it was bought for.

I got my Clozel's body because my split partner was expecting it to match old Soom resin, and it did not because Soom shifted to paper white resin, which did not match the intended head for it at all. So she sold it to me, and it did match my head.

 

For me, it pairs down to the doll not meeting my existing expectations, meaning, they happen to have something I know I can't live with.
When I want a doll, it needs to not have a few key things. (A lack of general robust-ness seems to be my biggest Kryptonite so far.)

I have a long standing history of keeping dolls that I am not the happiest with, but when I do want to sell a doll a few hours after opening them, it's usually because there is something about the build of the doll that I absolutely can't tolerate, that was never brought to attention in other people's care, because it doesn't bother them.

And I'm not talking about shipping breakages, or warping, it is usually something that is on ALL of the dolls of that model, is meant to be there, and isn't meant to be fixable.

To be honest, I don't like selling dolls in general, let alone immediately after opening them, it makes me feel like a terrible person who doesn't know what I'm doing, but my skin crawls if my collection has even one of the three major flaws I can't stand.

 

Sometimes I buy dolls without thinking that much. Most of the time, I regret.

 

This has happened to me a few times. Usually I think I really love a doll, and I'm super super excited about getting her in...only to realize when I put her on the shelf that there's just something there that I can't bond with. This has mostly happened to me with dolls that I feel are over painted...I prefer dolls with more natural faceups, and most of the dolls I've sold shortly after buying have had really glamorous or over the top looks that I admired a great deal from afar, but when I put the doll in with my collection I just didn't feel anything for her.

Just once I sold a doll shortly after getting her because the experience of getting her was so negative...but the same sculpt has found her way into my collection again and I'm quite happy with her

 

I try to think a lot before purchasing so this does not happen to me often but sometimes you can't avoid it.

It has happened to me not long ago, twice.
Last year I saw a really cute doll that took my breath away, showed it to my sister and fiancé and they were really excited about it too, they hurried me to buy it as it was limited and even helped me to gather funds... but now that the doll has been at home for a few months, I barely play with it as I'm not comfortable with the scale and everything else about it. I think I got carried away by other's feelings and didn't consider it seriously. I'll try not to fall un this issue in the future.
Over the past few months I had a character in mind I would like to shell, searched a lot to find the perfect sculpt, order it and wait for it to come home and then little ago it came and... nothing. It was suppose to be a very special character for me, but it just didn't click. This time it was a mixture between not bonding and also scale issues as it wouldn't look right with my other MSDs. Plus, a previous doll of mine started to change into something alike what I wanted for the new character so... now I'm stuck with a head I think I won't use. I am glad I didn't purchased a body for it before making this decision.

So I think there are as reasons for selling a doll you just purchased as there are people in the hobby.
Everything is harder if you are as nitpicky as me xD

 

For me, it was definitely the price point that I paid for it. I loved the doll, however some things weren't really working and just not really what I'd expected. So I still kept the doll because she was so unique and really an artwork rather than a doll for me, however because of my small concerns and the anxiety about how much I paid for her, I really just had to sell her to someone I thought would maybe appreciate her more. I also had to be really realistic with myself and told myself not to spend so much on a doll anymore because it would constantly give me too much anxiety.

 

I personally could never do something like that. I mean to me I feel like each are family. I couldn't just buy one and then turn around to sell it.

 

I've done so only once, and it was for the reason that I didn't fall in love with the doll the moment I opened the box. And I know if I'm not in love with something the moment I see it, I'm not going to, ever. This applies to almost anything in my life, not just dolls. So I sold it.

 

I've done it for a head, and that was because I made the mistake that everyone warns against. I tried to get a different sculpt from the one I actually really wanted. I was unsure the whole time and when it finally arrived I had to admit that I had made an error. Fortunately, I was able to sell it pretty fast and get the one I actually wanted.

 

I have a pretty simple reason: I was enamored with an event doll and another doll in a company's event. But I couldn't order the one and qualify for the event doll as well. Playing around with the cart, I realized I could get the other doll exactly as I wanted her and the event doll if I added one other to my cart. I had the money to do this, literally no time to even think about find and organizing some kind of group or split order, and my mom (who I bounce a lot of my large purchase thoughts off of) was still on board with my plan, so I went with it.

All those dolls are home now, and the two I initially wanted I'm absolutely thrilled with. The third doll I used to qualify for the event? She's certainly cute and probably would be even cuter with some real attention, actual clothes, and a wig. But I knew photographing her at the box opening that she wasn't going to be staying.

Basically I had the means, so I entered into an event knowing a doll coming home had a slim chance of staying. Cute as she is, we didn't bond when I opened her, so she'll be moving along. I think there's a lot of reasons people can turn around and sell a doll as soon as it arrives - or have the plan to do so before it even arrives.

 

Who wouldn't pay a bit extra to NOT have to wait for a doll you have wanted?

 

I think because the wait for a doll can be so long and sometimes plans change while you’re waiting at least for me anyway! But I always try to wait a few weeks to see if the new addition can win me back over

 

i guess it's the same with any other hobbies... some people r in it for the passion, & some r in it for the money.

 

I bought a Soom Pyrol when it came out and I thought I was going to love it. I was so sure. And then when he finally arrived...I didn't. Maybe I should have put him up for sale then and there but I thought "No I'm going to love this doll". Long story short. I didn't. I never bonded with him and he's spent his whole life tucked in a box and ultimately forgotten about. I've finally admitted it's just not going to happen (after finding him tucked in the back of the cupboard)
So perhaps this is some part of it. I can also understand some other people's points that if the experience is really awful that can tarnish the whole thing, no matter how much you love the sculpt