Would you ever buy a second-hand doll that's more expensive but modded well?

I might if the tattoos were amazing but generally I buy second hand so that I can wipe them down and re-mod them to my own tastes. So for me unless it was godly good, extreme faceups and carving mods count as damage for me so I would be more inclined to pay less than I would be to pay more.

 

When I look at dolls, I'm generally looking for a doll that would fit the character that I created. I mean, the point of BJDs is to customize them to fit your tastes, right? If a doll has extensive or permanent modding, it's not a blank slate anymore. It's someone else's character.

So I probably wouldn't buy a modded secondhand doll for a higher price. Not unless it was absolutely PERFECT for my character and I had no other way of getting it.

 

Honestly, probably not. A fancy face up usually has very little impact on me, price-wise and 99% of the time I'm likely to remove it anyway unless it's my exact vision of how I want my doll to look. I admit it. Very rarely do I just look at a doll and think "OOOOOH, that's just perfect! I want it exactly like that!" I think tattoos and that are cool, but that's someone other person's vision of a doll and it likely isn't mine. I have bought a doll where the person who owned her previously faced her up in a way that I really liked and converted her ears to look more human but she just happened to be that way, I liked it, and no, I didn't pay any more than I likely would have had she been not modified. I just might pay someone to do a tattoo or a face up I have envisioned if I can't manage it, but I'd like to have a real choice on the details of that, not just have it all done for me beforehand. I can appreciate the intensive work people put into their projects but too much customizing and price elevating actually turns me off a bit usually. The more someone customizes a doll the more I feel it's their doll.

Even face ups from the factory they rarely appeal to me for that reason. I don't want a doll already done up like that. I want to paint it, even if it's not perfect, and make it my own. I can only think of maybe 2-3 times since I've started collecting that I've seen a doll and totally loved it mostly as it was. Most dolls I get them and I do something to make them more mine, even if I do like their face up, color, or most of their renovations to begin with. I add a bit to it, do their nails, change a wig, something. But no, I can't say I've ever paid more for a customized doll, in fact I usually see major modifications as a reason not to buy a certain doll unless it's very inexpensive. In my mind the more stuff someone else does to a doll the less value it has to me unless it can be undone. A face up can ultimately be changed if down the road if I get tired of a doll looking a certain way and I want to. But things like carving, sanding, epoxy modifications, they can't always, at least not without considerable effort on my part.

I do like project dolls. They usually cost less and I can have the fun of trying to make them look like I want. But someone else full out doing a doll via their vision and fully expecting me to pay through the nose for it and never to touch it again unless it's just to send it back to them for needed touch ups? Nah. Don't think so. I can sometimes be awed by a truly brilliant face up and I can appreciate the art to it, but I don't have the $$$ that I can be paying a hundred dollars more for a doll just to get that face up for a while. If there is one thing I've learned about doll customizing it's that the results seldom last forever. A good face up might last a decade, properly sealed, and if you never touch the doll, but eventually it's going to have to be redone anyway.

I started collecting BJD's because they were even more customizable than my other dolls where and I wanted to be doing more and more of that. The more customizing someone else does for me the less fun I ultimately get to have. With most of my dolls I really want to do it all. I want to do their faces, pick their wigs and eyes, make their clothes. If I didn't want to do all that I might as well not be collecting BJD's. It's a huge part of the fun for me, doing it all myself. BJD's are a 3D canvas, far more so than any other dolls I've ever owned.

 

If the doll is modded and fit the character I want, I might buy them (but depends on the price, not too expensive)
For face-up I don't think I will pay more for dolls with very good face up unless it is done by a rare face up artist that will not accept commission anymore and if I really like it.
I tends to re-do the face up after I buy dolls anyway..

 

Personally, I want dolls that fit the characters that I have in mind, not what someone else does. In most cases, I would have to wipe the dolls anyway, so there's no point.

 

I might consider it if the face up was really fantastic, like if I was very fond of that particular artist's work. Tattoos might persuade me as well, and body blushing of course, but I think other than that, no. It'd really have to fit whatever character I had in mind, I'm not exactly in a position to buy a doll just because I think it's spectacular looking. Maybe in the future, haha.

 

If the mod somehow altered the doll to fit a mod I would have done anyway, then I might consider it. But since that's overall unlikely (and the dolls I have planned for major mods are either already home or on their way anyway), I doubt it will ever come up. I wouldn't pay extra for a faceup, no matter who did it, because I'd likely be redoing it to fit my own vision anyway. Similarly, I wouldn't want to necessarily pay extra for wigs or eyes that may not match the style I have in mind (or a style for any current or future doll). I order all my new dolls blank because I want to customize them to my own vision, not use someone else's, so for me personally there's very little, if any, motivation to pay extra for any kind of mods.

 

magkelly took the words right out of my mouth. Even if my face-ups and mods aren't perfect, I'm interested in this hobby because I want to customize my dolls myself!

 

I'd only pay more if the faceup, tattoo or mod suited the character I had in mind perfectly! Otherwise no; I'm not likely to xP I buy dolls to build characters of mine on them, thus premade things will most likely not fit.

 

No. I generally think mods are damage, because they aren't what I want. They may be perfect for the previous owner, but it's very rare that I want the same. There was one case where a girl head had been modded to fit on a boy body, and that was a good thing! But I didn't pay extra for it.

I don't think I'd ever pay extra for a faceup. I like to do my own to fit my characters, it's rare that I even like any professional faceups enough not to wipe them. They might be beautiful, just not what I need. I won't pay extra for something I'll spend extra time and supplies wiping off.

 

I might consider it. It would have to be really well done, though. Part of the hobby is the art aspect, and if someone took a doll and made it "better" artistically in my eyes, I'd be willing to pay for it.
It would have to be something fairly awesome though. Something that went far above and beyond a normal modification.

 

If the face-up and the mod is something extraordinary and I really love it, I definitely would. I enjoy the customization aspect of the hobby and like doing it myself too, but I also enjoy having pretty dolls that look more finished than what I manage myself.

 

I would probably pay a bit extra for extras, like tattoos and a good face-up. I'm a big believer in dolls appreciating with value as they get older (as long as they aren't damaged or incredibly yellowed, and have been kept in good care) so I totally agree with it. Plus, you'd get the doll straight away so you'd be paying for convenience as well xD

 

If I really wanted the doll and thought it was worth it, of course I'd pay more than retail.

Often you can't get dolls second-hand on the cheap anyway, and they are often limited--so it's not as if you can go and buy them from the company anyway, so you pay whatever price you are willing to pay (and the seller is willing to set).

 

If I plan to do this exact same mod, or like a head because of it, then I might consider paying more for it, especially if it's a mod I might have not been able to do myself that well or know it would be VERY hard for me to do.

However, face-ups and co. are nothing I'm interested in.
I also very rarely buy dolls second-hand (only if they are sold out) and I'm not a person who likes to collect "pretty dolls" or dolls that have been customized/owned by artist/collector XY.
I buy dolls as a blank canvas, not as a collectible or to gather around pretty/unique pre-owned and pre-customized dolls.

 

I would if it was a mod that for some reason I couldn't do myself, but that's unlikely since I've been modding dramatically and enthusiastically for years.

 

I would pay extra for a modded doll if I liked the overall look, though the doll would still have to fit in my budget and if the extra cost is added fairly.

I'd make sure to check how much it would cost me to get the work done by myself or by others.
It might work out cheaper to buy the modded doll than to pay multiple shipping costs to buy new and send parts out to be worked on.
Also if the mod is really unique, some people (even original artist) will not replicate it.

There are some modded/painted dolls I like that are way out of my price range, but I would only seriously consider buying it if I 100% like all aspects of the doll and mods.

 

I would if it was some kind of permanent mod that made the doll completely unique.

 

Absolutely! I don't want to get into modding - too scary! So for me if the doll was modded well it would totally be worth the extra money. It would also be great to have a doll that I loved, but was slightly different from the others of it's kind out there because of the mod work. It adds character to the doll and I think that it's totally justified for the owner to add money to the final doll cost due to fine craftsmanship.