Would you buy broken or damaged dolls, from the company?

Yes, I think it is a great idea. As long as you know that the doll is broken/not perfect and the company is offering a discounted price, I think it is fine. I work in a guitar store and companies sell us their "b" stock and "seconds" all the time. These are less than perfect guitars given to dealers at a discount who sell them to players a discount (and the discounts are pretty big). Customers love to buy them and many like to try their repair skills on these seconds (for blemishes as instruments that do not play correctly will not be sold as seconds, only guitars with physical blemishes like a nick, ding, or finish flaw are sold as seconds), while others just want to save a bit of money. I think it would be perfect for a hobby were moding and customization is such a big part of our enjoyment of these dolls.

My guess as to why they have not done it is that they are predominately on line businesses and it it is hard to show the extent of damage in pictures only. Speaking from experience, it is much easier to sell a "b" stock guitar in a store than on line. Selling them on line we have faced people not realizing the damage from the pictures or not understanding our descriptions because english is not their first language. I can only imagine this is intensified with BJD companies who sell mainly on line. It can create a lot of issues and I can see why they have not done it yet.

 

I think it sounds like a sweet idea for the doll community, but in reality the company probably wants to maintain certain quality control standards. It might be neat if they came to special community sites like DOA and offered them specifically to our members through our marketplace, but I don't think they would want to potentially harm their reputation by selling damaged dolls through their retail site. Also, someone planning on buying the full doll might then say "oh, I can just get a damaged one for less" and they might actually lose money on people willing to settle for less. Personally, I think this might be just as bad for the company as buying knockoffs...

 

I would! we had this ongoing joke in the Heliot WR about buying dollie "KFC" and I think it would be awesome for companies to do this! Or the idea of selling them in the mp... no reason to just toss out those poor dollies

 

It would depend on the how much of the doll is damaged or whether or not it is fixable with my own hands. It really comes down to that; otherwise, it's not worth buying a damaged/broken doll.

Just to add, do they even sell broken/damaged dolls? I'm new to the doll world and have yet to learned about everything.

 

No, they do not sell broken or damaged dolls. You can find them on the Marketplace, although most of them time people who are selling broken dolls usually fix them or have them fixed as a matter of pride, love of the hobby, or a genuine caring for the doll itself. But you can acquire broken dolls second-hand. You just can't get them from the company.

 

I would think that the "errors" would be noticed prior to putting the doll together. If, indeed, that's the case, then not too many whole dolls would be offered for sale, just parts. Not only that, but it would be time consuming for the companies to post "exactly" what was wrong with the doll or item. Plus description of the damage would be subjective and might not be what you felt it would be. It would be great for people to have the option to buy a damaged doll/or piece of same, but I don't think it will happen.

 

A. Yes! I'd love to! It's a great idea

I actually emailed souldoll to ask if I could buy a marbled tan doll, since they often have marbling. (Or at least, I have heard.)

They said no. But I think a doll with 'birth marks' would be really cool!

 

C. No, I like my dolls/pieces in good condition

I'm not crafty enough to make something beautiful out of a broken doll. I applaud anyone else that can though.

 

A.
Yes, I would probably buy if the price was tempting and if I had an idea about what to do with the flaws, how to make them into something different. It's like falling in love with the possibility to create something very special and only yours.
However, there are molds so dear to me, that I wouldn't want to buy them with flaws. It's when I'm already in love with the mold itself, and do not really want it to look very different.
Ah, but of course there are minor flaws like a broken finger or a hook, which can be easily fixed and totally unnoticeable I wish this kind of damaged dolls were sold for half their price ^^

 

I'd definately buy a broken/uneven tan doll for a knockoff price. The uneven tan would make your doll really unique, you'd be the only one with a doll with that type of skin then! Plus those of us arty people could easily fix them up good as new if they'd prefer a doll to be in freshly bought standards. ^^

 

A. Yes! I'd love to! It's a great idea
I would gladly buy damaged/imperfect dolls and doll parts from companies for a reduced price. Uneven colour, broken, air bubbles, etc. Of course, the price would have to be very reasonable.
I really wish companies would start doing this. I enjoy sanding and repairing dolls, and that would make it much easier to find low priced dolls to work on.

Has anyone ever asked a company if they had imperfect pieces they would like to sell? I wonder if some would work out deals on an individual basis.

 

I feel the same way. I read a bit of this thread and now I want a girl with an uneven tan. Where will I ever find my beautifully defective girl?! >_<
Curse you guys for putting that thought in my head. T-T

 

If mutiple choice, I would have voted A. Yes! I'd love to! It's a great idea and D. Other - Please say your reason because in fact I have already bought a damaged doll from a company I agreed to do so with, although I was not chasing it. That BJD was so slightly damaged that by now I have not found the little scratch she is supposed to have on the back of one of her ears yet. It reduced more than considerably her price and besides her body, in perfect condition, was on a great discount term so meant less money too. Not only the fact it was my last chance to get her, also that although kind of "cheaper" she was and is in gorgeous condition. That is my experience about it. My other BJD arrived home as mint condition as expected from companies.

So what is my opinion about buying damaged BJD? More than buying a damaged BJD, I would like being able to buy the parts, from head or body, that I wanted/needed. When a part of a BJD is slightly or even seriously damaged, the rest of it may be and surely many times is still useful. How I would like I could buy Dollmore Glamor Model Doll forearms separately. How I would wish being able of purchasing pairs of Luts Delf boy feet by their own. But, most of all, how the much I would love being allowed to buy any head, of any kind, without having to get the full BJD. Next to it and to sum up I also agree. Damaged BJD should be an option to anyone who want to buy them for the good of sellers and we, customers.

 

I choose A for the same reason as you i would love to buy an uneven tan doll maybe it'll look adorable no one knows ifit won't. And broken fingers can be fixed. I could make a cute little mummy doll if i wanted too no need to waste dolls. Heck one could make a bubbly doll into a cool underwater creature maybe.

 

A. Yes! I'd love to! It's a great idea

As an artisan who loves doing crafts I agree. The companies are still making money and though yes it takes time to detail what exactly is wrong with the doll it's not that difficult to list things such as 'marbled skin', 'broken limb', ect ect. A lot of clothing companies have a clearance rack that's there for clothing that have some flaws on them. It's cheaper in the long run as well since you save on shipping broken parts out of the factory to a dump and whatnot.

If you have a steady stream of customers willing to purchase a defective doll and fix them up then I say that they should and seeing how a good number of people are willing to do restoration projects or mods then it's a clear indicator that companies should go for it. You're not losing anything and gaining a whole lot more revenue.

 

Yes, it sounds like a good idea, but it simply isn't realistic. No doll company is going to sell extremely discounted dolls, even if they are "broken" in the sense of having an uneven tan or something along those lines. I doubt the money they'd make from it would make up for the lost sales.
If you think about it, many people without much money skimp and save for a dream doll. If that same doll was available for less, and the only problem was a bubbly torso and head cap, or an uneven tan, they would probably go for that doll. I'll bet there's a lot of cheapos out there like me who can "make do" with just about anything. And that's just one example.

This is especially costly for these companies since it's a relatively small hobby. They need all the sales they can get.
The company would lose sales of their main product, and I'd bet the regular doll prices would go up.

Yes, it would be nice, but... it's just not reasonable to expect anything is going to change.

 

I wouldn't mind buying broken dolls, especially if they're priced lower. I'd use the parts for mod and face-up practice or find ways to fix them. If the imperfection's stylish enough on it's own, I'd try to make it a part of the doll's story. Selling broken dolls sounds like an awesome idea! c:

 

I doubt that doll companies would really be interested. The problem is when the lower quality doll gets on the second hand market, and is misrepresented (by accident or on purpose), then the reputation of the doll company can suffer.
It's a bit like when my father was associated with an ice cream company. they would dump their seconds (ones that were perfectly edible) rather than give them to charity as they were concerned that people would start to think that they were truly representative of their product.

 

I'd definitely have to go with option A... I'd really love to get my hands on a cheap(ish) damaged doll, fix it, mod it, turn it completely OOAK... and then auction it off and donate to charity (keeping just enough to recoup some of the cost... by that I mean if I bought a doll for $100, gave it another $100 worth of work - including clothes, wig, eyes, faceup, blushing, mods, repairs- and it sold for $300, I'd keep MAYBE the $100 it cost for the doll because the other $100 was hard work that was focused on a specific cause... yes, I'm on an SPCA binge right now...

 

I wouldn't mind - it'd give me a chance to improve my skills at either face-ups, body blushing, modding, etc. If the companies were to sell the damaged dolls, though, I don't think they'd be anywhere close to even 50% off.