Will you sell your doll to me?

oooh reading this gives me the creeps, the thought of someone snatching someone's doll from their very hands is beyond frightening. I don't have mine yet but I've already had dreams like that. I don't know what I would do in that situation...I have had people come up and touch my hair as well, mostly when I was younger and had a mohawk. Once a long time ago at the mall this really perrrtty punky boy asked me if he could buy my necklace (I had made it out of beer bottle caps) it made me happy so I said yes...but it might have had something to do with the huge purple spikes sticking out of his head.
I also had a girl ask if they could buy my shirt while I was at the zoo!! I laughed and sad no, no then I'd be nakey!! She would've traded for her shirt too...that was odd

 

I really hate talking with strangers about the money I pay for Dolls.
My casual answers are "They cost a lot of money/ It cost more, than you are willing to pay/etc...." If the asking person is polite, I give the pricing with hints like "she is a limited Doll/Resin is a high quality material/he is from a small company in china/etc.." so they can understand why I am willing to pay a lot of money.

Last week:
My mother hast guest from her club. They have been interessting in my SD13 Link, because I went out for taking pictures.
I dont wanted to talk to them, because I dont like them.
The member of her club are the kind of people that talks a lot and didn`t make anything.
One poser asked me about the price (because he was thinking about costumizing) and was shocked when I said, that Dolls start with a price arround 100usd

 

That's weird! I had someone PM through Flickr to ask how much I wanted for one of my dolls, despite it not being for sale, so I just wrote back "the moon on a stick" - to which I had no reply. How rude though! It's like I'm rummaging through Flickr one night and see someone wearing a nice dress and PM them to ask how much they want for it... insane! It's Flickr not Ebay.

I have a friend who is weirdly obsessed with the cost of everything, she walks into your home and looks for anything new and then baldly asks "How much was that?", usually followed by "I wouldn't pay that". She does this to all our mutual friends and it's become a bit of a joke. She constantly enquires how much I charge for my art dolls and blatantly asks if I will give her any of them she takes a fancy to. Back in the early days before I was confident enough to sell them, I actually gave her a few. Now, despite the fact that they sell for between £100 - £250, she still just says, "I like that one, can I have it?". She gets told NO but it's embarrassing, as is the fact that when I tell her the price she comments that she can't believe anyone would pay that for a doll! I have never let her into the room where I keep my BJDs and never mention them in her company and it's going to stay that way.

 

When I'm reading the question "Why wouldn't you sell it?", in my head I'm hearing the question with a more curious tone. Personally I don't think there's anything wrong with the question if the intent is to better understand the attachment to the dolls.
I'm guessing though that people are refering to more of a "how dare you not sell it to me" tone, which really would just be rude.

 

I was at a convention a few years ago and one of the girls just grabbed one of my dolls and WANDERED OFF into the convention without saying anything to anybody. I'd brought several dolls with me and was trying to get mine into the group shot so I didn't watch him for like 2 seconds. Luckily, one of the other girls was sharing a room with her and tracked her down, but my doll was MIA for 2 hours and I was livid. She was all "I wasn't going to steal him, I just borrowed him to show him to somebody." It was so hard to not slap her... repeatedly. I get still get kinda angry when I think about it. Some people have no concept of boundaries at all.

Of course, this doesn't apply just to dolls. I tend to wear corsets/bodices at conventions and on several occasions people have come up to me and asked if they can rub my breasts for luck. -_- NO. Why is it ok to ask me that? Yes my outfits give me crazy clevage and granted people stare and that's fine, but why does that give you the right to do anything but look? Once when I worked at a jewelry store (and just wearing a normal blouse) this girl comes running up to me and was like "OMG are your breasts real?" and she GRABBED my chest. I was perfectly justified in slapping her. My co-worker told me it was her friend and I shouldn't haven't done that. She put her hands on me! I had every right to remove her from my person. She's lucky I didn't put her in a wrist lock and break something.

I used to have a table at conventions where I'd sell doll clothes and despite all the signs saying "DOLLS NOT FOR SALE" people constantly tried to haggle a price out of me for one of my dolls. Sometimes signs aren't enough. I finally made up cards directing people to DOA.

 

One person did ask for my hyacinth. I wasn't offended but didn't want to sell.
I have no problem with people asking to buy my dolls.

 

My first meet we went to the moll with all of our dollies in a stroller to push them around and a lot of people had mixed feelings. I wouldn't say they asked to buy them per se, but they did inquire a lot about them (price, where they came from...) The same thing happened at a Sonny's too; we came barreling in with all of these freaky ass dolls and people started to ask questions xP
I mean I've heard of people asking about buying a doll off of people. One girl said she'd sell her dollie for 500 bucks and my heart about broke ;w; If I ever acquired a gorgeous doll I wouldn't sell it for all of the tea in China

 

She probably asked more than it was worth, and dolls are pretty much easily replacable, unless they are limited.
If I could make money by selling my doll for much more than they are worth, I might consider it. I could just buy back the doll, clothes, wig and everything later if I wanted to.
This doesn't mean I'm not emotionally attatched, but if someone is stupid enough to make me rich, I'm open minded.

 

wow grabbing your chest...if I had a chest I would totally slap someone for doing that!
and taking one of my dolls :P

 

Well……………… actually a kid of my mom's friend used to ask me this kind of question before. But fortunately my mom help me deal with it.

To tell the truth, if a little kid just ask you for your BJD, be gentle and smile to him/her, talking to him/her sth else. Maybe they just want a toy so that you can give him a Barbbie or just some snacks instead. XDDD

 

I use this method when I'm out in costume, but I'm thinking of implementing it for when I go out with my dolls. On one side of a card (or card sized sheet of paper) put the website/ distributor. "No you can not buy my doll, but here is the information for you to get your own." Most people will be rather appreicative and you don't have to deal with harrassment. If you want on the back you can even put a general BDJ information website. You can just keep these in your doll bag, purse or pocket.
The cards have helped immensily when I'm out and people are bothering me about where I got something I'm wearing or where it's from or on the really annoying part if the can buy what I'm wearing off of me. Awkward.

 

I once posted one of my (now traded) El's for sale in an emergency, but hours later pulled him down when I acquired the money elsewhere. In that interim, I had someone interested, she was absolutely fine with me choosing to keep him, but asked to be notified if I ever did sell him. At the time, I was sure I'd never part with him. But in May I decided to offer him for trade, but for the life of me could not remember the username of the girl who wanted him. I felt terrible, so I put a little note in the post saying that if she saw the thread and wanted him still, she'd get priority. Never found her, though.

So basically what I'm saying is, maybe (I hope!) this person had a similar circumstance.

 

when i went to a book store with my 65cm obitsu some girl knew about them a ask all kinds of questions then she wanted mine and then she had the nerve of asking one of her friends to try to knock me over and take my doll! needless to say the manager there saw everything and took madders into his own hands and gave me a gift card for like 20 percent off any hardcover book!so in the end it went well.

 

When I'm at conventions and my dolls are on the table as clothing models, I often get asked if they are for sale or how much they cost. So I point out everyone and their market values (starting with my most expensive doll). That usually shocks the people who are looking at them. Those that are serious, I point out the less expensive and when they still seem interested I hand them a business card for the place I buy most of my dolls from. Yes, I'm an "enabler."

I've had people who wanted to buy my very first art doll in the first pattern I drafted. I would sell others or the pattern but not that doll. If they ask, I give them an outrageous price. "This one isn't for sale because it's my first" just doesn't seem to satisfy them. They retort "Everything has a price!" I say "Fine! One BILLION dollars!"

 

LOLZ I love this! You should also make Dr. Evil face when you say that!

 

All of this sounds creepy. Asking for dolls, and demanding them. I think I'd be put off, and a little perturbed. And if I was alone, I'd most likely start to fret.

But I'm still trying to wrap my head around people just outright trying to take them from people outright, or just offering $50 for one. Clearly there's great craftsmanship involved in BJDs, and I mean, I sell hand-sewn dolls for anywhere from $65-150, and they are not nearly as sophisticated.

People are so odd.. I wonder if it's a society complex?

 

scary and shocking posts!

 

WOoow some people think they can get anything if they have money....