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

I have a bad habit of impulse buying dolls without thinking through whether I really want it or not..... or I’ll buy a doll I love the look of but then it arrives and I just don’t bond with it. Usually if I don’t love it immediately I don’t end up loving it at all so it’s wasted on me and I’d rather sell it on to someone who would give it a better home.

I also have a space issue as well, whilst usually I might just say eh well it’s cute so I’ll keep it, i need to do clear outs as well because I just physically don’t have the space for them as my boyfriend is afraid of dolls so I have the store them away.

I’m actually currently waiting for three dolls to arrive and im 98% sure I’ll probably sell on two of them as it’s been some months and I’ve fallen out of love with them ......

 

that happened to me, the wait time is soo long that i lost interest in him

 

I’m currently trying to sell my first doll. Sometimes, or at least in my experience, you realize that the doll really isn’t right for your character or just looks so different in person. I found that there’s are a lot of angles that I don’t like with my doll and she doesn’t fit my character at all. I guess during the wait period sometimes you realize this doll isn’t for you and decide to sell them so you can use the money for another doll. At least that’s how it is in my case.

 

Yeah, I've been guilty of this. When I was a beginner in summer 2017, I bought a doll and cancelled it right away with PayPal. I made my decision too quickly. The company got mad with me and banned me, they even made a post about people cancelling due to changing their minds. I felt bad... I've done similar things to this at least 4 times. I have OCD and a lot of intrusive obsessive thoughts, it can make me impulsive and it can make me stressed out. So for example, if I impulsively bought a doll that I wasn't 100% in love with, my brain would obsess about it and then I'd feel guilty about spending that money, so I'd file a claim through PayPal and get my money back (before receiving the doll though, I wasn't scamming them, just didn't want it anymore and cancelled before they shipped it out) I feel bad for what I did to the companies, (though one company lied to PayPal and said I was already banned from their site for a while, which I wasn't... so that was a bit weird that they lied because they had done business with me previously for clothes a few days prior...Paypal caught onto the lie too) but like others have mentioned above, when you don't see it in front of you right away, you kinda have a change of plans and then you need money for something else... on top of that, my crazy OCD mind doesn't help. I've always been afraid to tell this to people in this community because they would rip me apart. Now, when I want a doll, I make sure that I 100% want it and can wait for it. That's why I like companies like Iplehouse because they work fast and stuff. Also, I got my first doll from them so I already know the company and love their stuff. My OCD also makes it impossible for me to have multiple dolls. I have to have only one, otherwise it doesn't feel "RIGHT" when I have more than one. I like to focus on one and only one. So when I used to buy more than one, I would get anxious and cancel the order or return the doll to sender. I hate that I did that though, I try to think of it more positively though and say "They have one in stock now" anyways, sorry for rambling! Some people may ask, "Why not just wait for it to come, then sell it" that's because I didn't want to go through the trouble of finding a buyer and shipping it off. I figured it was much easier to cancel before it even got here. I know it's selfish of me, which is why I feel bad, but sometimes I can't justify spending that much on something that I don't want. Not trying to make excuses or anything, I know it wasn't okay of me. Just thought I'd get it off my chest and maybe someone out there can relate to having this weird anxiety OCD. (I'm much more aware of my anxiety now though, so I don't plan on doing anything impulsive like that again) Thanks for listening!

 

Reasons for a turn around resale can be many and varied.

• The doll you receive looked a lot better in the promo pics.
• The doll is larger/smaller/less poseable than you expected.
  
• Buyer's remorse.
• You need the money for something more important.
• You just don't bond with the doll and want to give him/her the chance to find an owner who loves them.
• You changed your mind while the doll was in transit and don't want to go through the sheer hell of returning the doll for a refund (if that option is even valid, which it sometimes is not).
  
• You're a scum-sucking bottom feeder who buys limited dolls for the express purpose to scalp them at outrageous prices to those who didn't get a chance to save up to buy them new.

Bitter? Me? Naaaw.

Please understand; I'm not downing anyone who resells a limited/discontinued doll at a higher price than they paid due to market demand. That's the nature of the beast. What turns my stomach is the people who buy five of a limited edition of ten to hold someone's grail doll for ransom. Thankfully, these days most companies have steps in place to prevent that sort of thing, but back in the day it was absolutely rife.

 

There are definitely a lot of reasons, but for me it's usually because I don't like the doll as much in person or don't "bond" with them quickly. Once, I bought a doll from Peak's Woods with a SUPER long layaway -- I'm talking almost a year, because at the time PW offered that (I think they might have changed it since, which is honestly a good idea for them and for customers in my opinion LOL). By about halfway through I was just sick of it and didn't really care for the doll anymore since it had been so long. I ended up offering to sell him to an IRL doll friend because I found out he was on her wishlist, so she paid me the day he arrived and I handed him over literally didn't even have him for a day bahaha. But it worked out well for the both of us and I learned a lesson about unduly long layaways!

 

I've had two where I resold fairly quick, both were instances where there was a lot of uncertainty about what was coming.

I was on the original group order for the Nobility muscle girl back when Nobility had their custom sculpting option. There was a lot of back and forth, from my point of view at the time either Nobility or their sculptor was not comfortable doing a muscular female body but they didn't decline the project either. By the time I received mine, there were additional issues being posted in the doll's engineering, so I ended up putting it up for sale pretty quick.

My other turnaround sale was when Migi did a buy a blank head plus eyes but it's a mystery/blind box order. I was excited. I had a WS Ell and loved pretty much all their sculpts. I got WS Jina, who was adorable. I realized had no idea what to do with Jina. I sold Jina to someone who really wanted Jina.

Similar has happened with other grab bags items for me. No more ordering what I can't see in detail and be sure of.

That said, I have certain orders I've missed and watched the MP for to see if I still wanted it when it starts hitting there, so I'm not against the turn around and resell at all.

 

I bought a Soul Doll Annamari a while ago, and when i saw the doll and the faceup, I fell in love. But then as I was waiting for her to arrive, I bought a second hand Minifee. I ended up falling in love with the minifee bodies and the minifee aesthetic. The size for me was very good too. So when Annamari arrived and she was almost 2 inches taller than my minifee, but also didn't have that aesthetic taht I had grown to love with my minifee, I sold her almost as soon as she arrive. A waste, but I sold my Annamari for about $75 less than what I bought her for, so someone out there got a really nice deal I think. With such a long wait time for some dolls, especially if you own dolls from multiple companies, your likes and dislikes for doll bodies and aesthetics can change before your doll arrives.

 

Unfortunately sometimes needs must or in my case, the doll just doesn't click with me when it arrives. It's better in my opinion to resell a doll quickly after arrival rather than holding onto it for no other reason than having had plans which will no longer work.

 

Ive done this a number of times as the doll doesnt fit the idea i have in my head in the end, or the doll doesnt look like the promos... i am a huge fan of default face ups as its hard for me to imagine them differently but sometimes it works sometimes it doesnt.

anyways, i do think that some do this to make some money off of it. Like some Volks dolls are CRAZY prices due to demand and jsut rarity of certain heads...

a lot of what i was going to type has been said, but i can see people adding on a bit extra if the doll comes several months to a year later and they want to recoup costs like shipping etc... we dont want money down the drain.

a lot of dolls ive sold hit the market in a slump so ive sold them less than their market value (even if they are a bit more rare).

Though this doesnt say that once i get sale photos up that i dont have sellers remorse after......... its a never ending circle. lol

 

I just wanted to say I relate to this SO much. I like to have only one too and I've sold all my dolls up till now because they just didn't feel perfect. It's that OCD need for them to be Just Right, and if I have even one negative thought about them I need to get rid of them. I feel like I wasted my 'first doll' experience because my OCD made me freak out over it not being exactly what I wanted. I switched bodies on my second doll and bought stuff impulsively to try and soothe it but ended up reselling all of it.

I just ordered a doll I've wanted for a long time but I'm having so many second (intrusive) thoughts. Already planning how to resell her..it's ridiculous!

But yeah, for the topic in general I think people just have all sorts of reasons to turn around and sell a doll.
Buyers remorse caused by anxiety is the big deal for me. I don't look down on those who resell because I understand why it can be really really difficult to bond like other people do with their dolls. I greatly envy people who can be certain of their decisions and get it right when they order though.

 

The thing that gets me is not selling immediately after a long wait or a few weeks after that when it's new, but buying a doll secondhand that had a ton of interest on social media sites before their sale with the intention of selling it almost immediately. I see this a lot on Instagram. Even if the doll isn't limited, just has a beautiful faceup that you may or may not wipe after buying. People will jump on the reasonable sale price, take a single photoshoot and then spam all of their accounts with the photos and once they hit a certain amount of likes/faves post for sale threads/posts selling the doll for much higher than they bought it for :/ . I understand why from a selling point of view, but as a collector it's frustrating and I don't see the joy.

 

Wow, I feel that we are one and the same LOL Feel free to PM me if you want! I never met someone that felt exactly the same as I do!

 

Before i got my firsr doll I was like "how could someone not 'bond' with something they spend several hundred dollars on"...then I figured it out. I got my first doll and was flooded with hurtful comments about him delivered by people whose opinions I trusted. Eventually he got a nasty personality because when I looked at him the feeling of others were projected onto him. The second doll, however, I was more careful about. His personality is sweet. Eventhough people say the same nasty.stuff about him I was ready and didn't let it get to me. Hope this helps someone

 

I bought a doll the seller only had for a month. I paid the new blank price for her, she was a new blank doll.

They told me it was because when they got the doll home she didn't fit with the rest of the dolls, or look like what they had expected.

It's great for me, she fits in perfectly with my dolls, and looks better then expected.

 

If it's a brand new doll from a company, I usually don't immediately. I suppose I also "bond" with my dolls through RolePlay or their storylines more than anything. If their story goes, they do too sometimes. I guess I feel like if somebody else has more use for the doll who sits around my home, maybe I should trade or sell them for something else. Or if the doll does not look as you pictured it to. I have had a few secondhand dolls arrive to me... sometimes in worse shape than mentioned on the page and something about that bothers you.

 

I have done that twice with full dolls, once even gone to the post office to collect my doll knowing that I'll just take sales photos and put them back to box to wait someone'll buy them off my hands.

For one doll the reason was, he was just plain lower-than-expected quality when I got him. He was new from company but couldn't keep any pose no matter what, and while sueding can help, none of my dolls have been that bad even without. I saw design flaws in his joints that I figured I couldn't fix (the resin was super thin and fragile at places).

Another doll was due to a very long waiting time from company. I was going to get the doll only for the body anyway, the head would have to go in any case. While waiting, I suddenly found a secondhand sale for a (quite rare) discontinued body that I liked much more and that had better mobility. By the time the doll arrived in mail, I had a body for my head, the character was complete, and I no longer needed the body for anything.

I also once bought a hybrid doll and sold the head off right away although I didn't plan to. The proportions/match were just way off in real life, the photos were much better. But I liked the body alone too and had a head at ready, so it was no loss either.

I regret none of the dolls I sold on impulse. I just saw no potential there.

 

I think most of us could write a book on reasons why people would sell a ball-jointed doll right after it arrives and hardly any of these reasons are ill intent so I hope this phenomenon doesn't turn you away from the hobby.

I personally greatly dislike people who jump on full-sets and limited dolls or heads for no reason other than to make money. I know a few people who do this every new release of a certain company. They hog as many as they can with each release and resell them the second they arrive at higher prices. Unfortunately because there are people who will pay said prices this scalping market will stay in existence.

I've never sold a doll right after their arrival because I'm one of those stubborn ones that wants to try and make the doll work even though their gut is telling them it's no use. I'm trying to loosen up regarding the hobby and just accept that it's a a hit or miss. If a doll arrives and I don't get atleast a single overwhelmingly positive reaction to the doll then it's not going to work. I've sold quite some dolls and heads because of this but unfortunately always with loss. I comfort myself knowing they now reside with someone who loves them for who they are.

I always look at company photos, blank photos, owner photos and even videos of the sculpt if they're available. However it can still happen that the doll feels wrong when it's finally in your hands even though it seemed gorgeous online. I've even had the opposite happening, a company accidently sent a girl of mine with the wrong head. It was a head that I would have absolutely never even considered because I categorized it in the 'yuck' category during online research. Waiting more than half of a year for this doll and getting the wrong head should have turned me off so much but it so happens that I fell in love instantly when I had it in my hands in real life and asked the company if I could keep her as is.

The hobby is a strange thing. We really do need physical stores where we can handle dolls or see them in person before buying...

 

I bought a doll to sell it straight away. I bought it to shell a character but soon after buying it I ended up falling out with the person that helped me create the character, it was super messy, they blamed me not wanting to date them for their life choices.... so I couldn't stand the character I had bought it for, not wanting a reminder of what happened, so as soon as it came in I sold it, I know it's a lame reason, but just looking at the doll made me angry, and so I couldn't have it around anymore.

 

I know for me it's easier to get rid of more recently purchased ones than ones I've had around a long time and gotten too attached to. I'm planning on a bit of a cull and, sure enough, the most recent purchase is gonna be one of the first to go while the two oldest are definitely staying. I'm hoping it's the last batch of dolls I have to sell as I really don't enjoy the process...