Cheaping out

I get this occasionally with secondhand sellers, like, I paid you $700, you couldn’t spring for more bubble wrap? I actually bought three dolls once from someone who wrapped them in random used towels and it was super gross.

On the flip side, most of the secondhand sellers I encounter wrap their dolls zealously in just so much bubble wrap, and do a really good job of protecting them, so it’s not a widespread issue at all.

I’ve also noticed that the more expensive a doll is, the less likely it is to come with eyes. Probably because my most expensive dolls are small artist dolls, and they don’t have access to cheap bulk eyes the way resinsoul, for instance, would, but it’s notable that the resinsoul doll I paid like a couple hundred for comes with a carrier bag and eyes, while the artist doll I pay closer to 1k for doesn’t.

I genuinely don’t mind that the artist doll doesn’t come with any of that, so think of this more as praise for resinsoul for doing the opposite of cheaping out with everything they do haha.

 

I’ve generally been really impressed with purchases whether from the artist or second hand. Thankfully I have never gotten a gross package

There was one “cheap out” issue that kind of bugged me though. I bought some resin eyes made new from overseas, and the seller clearly saw they were scratched right on the pupil (badly) and shipped them out to me anyway. I don’t understand why you wouldn’t just replace them if you make them. You don’t think I might consider a second purchase? It’s lazy and wasteful and I guess I’ll buy somewhere else in the future…

 

I guess my only experience with "cheaping out" would be when I got my first SD doll from Luts. Her company face up started cracking under the sealant and it wasn't until I sent her off to a friend that I learned there was like a layer of gloss in that area? I can only assume it was a mistake and someone just decided to seal over it instead of wipe and redo.

 

Elaborate, close-to-$500 outfit... Cheap-ass, easily-broken plastic snap fasteners.

 

I’m 90% sure I know where you got the fabric tote bags and scrunched up bags, because both of those things were also in my dirty towel package—did the dolls perchance ship from Russia (I’m half-joking, but half serious)

 

I got a anthro doll that came with cat ears but no way to attach them to the head. No hole to insert magnets in the ears or head, and no magnets at all. It was kind of a shock, and it really dampened my feelings for this doll because it wasn’t complete out of the box, but now a project doll that I wasn’t expecting. I did find a way to attach the ears but they have never looked as good as they could’ve been if the ears had holes for magnets sculpted into them.

 

My first doll was from Dollmore and she came with eyes in place, a wig, and underthings. So when my next doll came eyeless, wigless, and nude I was a bit nonplussed. I didn't realize that was usually the case.

 

I've had dolls from Resinsoul and Doll Leaves arrive with eyes that were not actual doll eyes, but those cheap hollow eye cabocons sold for jewelry making and scrap booking. You know, the once where the pupil dissapears from view form every angle except straigt on?
Both are dolls from affordable companies, so it's fine. But it was a little bit funny. They are almost completely unusable, so at that point, why even bother including any eyes at all?

It's not like it gives a better first impression of the doll. When I unpacked my Doll Leaves boy he had those eyes installed, dead center in his eye wells and with those tiny pupils... the poor thing looked absolutely terrified.

 

When I sold my first doll head I packed it so so so so so full of bubble wrap and taped the package to hell and back I'm positive it was frustrating to get open. He arrived to his new home in one piece, so I call it a success even if I'm sure it was annoying for the new owner to get open.
I'll take an annoyance over disregard. I like when things are packed with care, even if that care is just a business card. It makes me feel good. I'm getting my first two dolls from a company (not bought second hand or just artist heads) sometime in the coming months so I'm really excited and hope they're packed appropriately.

 

Lack of packing materials, 100%! Mostly an issue with secondhand sellers, either not packing the box enough and everything shifts, rattles and...breaks. Or the box gets crushed because there was no padding to keep its shape. Or they pack with random stuff and not actual packing materials (I had one once with old t-shirts, another with...ziplock bags???). But I once did get a brand new doll that was packaged so poorly, I was shocked she didn't break. A very heavy 1/3 doll was packed with a little bit of thin foam on her hands and feet, then tossed in a plastic bag and shipping box. No doll box, no pillows, no sleeping bag, no bubble wrap. She was slumped at the bottom of the box when I opened her. And to make it even worse (cheap!!) they used the lowest quality weak string for this large doll, there were chunks of resin still stuck to her feet and hands, her eyes were jagged holes, not smoothed or sanded at all and I had to fix all of that. I was very upset that I spent almost $600 on this doll for that kind of treatment.

 

Sort of tangentially related, but i do notice sellers tend to upcharge when they realise they can tap into the BJD market. I recall seeing certain props (like miniatures) that were recommended in BJD communities for being cheap and to scale get their price bumped up by at least 200% when sellers started advertising specifically to BJD owners.

 

My first ever doll came well padded, with eyes, wig, and her own carrying bag. However, I cut my fingers while adjusting her eyes. Much later, after buying others dolls and eyes did I realize my first doll came with broken glass eyes. I'd cut myself on the shards of where the stems used to be. Took longer to realize sending broken eyes with a doll is poor customer service.

 

I had this issue only buying second hand dolls.
Once I received a doll inside a box. No wrapping paper, no bags, nothing to wrap her up. The doll was rattling around all the way from Asia to the UK. Surprisingly she made it home. Not even a broken finger.

 

Maybe companies that charge like $100 extra to sand the dolls when most companies just do it for free?

This doesn't really bother me, as actually enjoy the extra work of sanding and smoothing out the doll, but not everyone would feel this way, I think?

 

Holy omg

 

When I bought my first SD sized doll, the seller told me they were shipping him strung, so you can imagine my shock and horror when he arrived in a box smaller than the one my tiny delf came in I opened it to discover him shoved in there in a tight fetal position with zero packaging.
The only thing damaged was his very amateur faceup, I didn't even need to restring him! (Seller strangely restrang him before shipping and put him all together in his outfit but couldn't be arsed for ANY packaging???)

 

Decent companies don't cheap out.

 

My favorite company has started doing kind of a weird thing... they no longer include eyes when you get a doll with a faceup. But the weird thing is: faceups now come with eyelashes. To be honest, I much prefer the perfectly applied eyelashes, and NOT having to throw away a pair of acrylic eyes. It’s just a little strange, because eyelashes have never been an option or part of the faceup until the last 2-3 years.

There has definitely been a downgrade in packaging, too. The dolls used to come in a beautifully constructed box, sometimes with the doll’s sculpt name on it... then they started sending the dolls in pleather carrying cases (soooooo hard to store— the boxes you can stack!), and now they just send them in a regular cardboard shipping box.

They used to have an option where you could ask for the doll to be sent unassembled (lower shipping!), and they would send the elastic and S hooks and doll parts in a smaller box, but they don’t do that either. If they’re trying to cut costs, I don’t understand why they would nix this option. Big shrug!

 

This isn’t a major one but DikaDoll when I bought from them sent me huge 20mm plastic reborn eyes for dolls whose eyes were like 12mm-14mm size… it made me LOL!

However DF-H sent me a pair of cute little cat paws with one of my recent purchases which made me

 

The only time I noticed cheaping out was when I received a doll body brand new from the maker. The doll box was a plain white thing that didn't have the company's logo or name. Completely barebones, though there was a CoA and postcard inside to identify what I got.

The doll was secure inside the foam insert, but instead of the parts being wrapped in bubble wrap or similar, the whole body had been placed inside a plastic bag and put into the insert. When I got it out, the resin surface felt weird, like it had a residue on it -- from the silicone mould? whatever was left after seam sanding? who knows, but this was the first time I've unboxed a brand new doll and its resin felt grimy. But I wiped everything with a damp cloth, which took care of it. (But now, the first thing I'm gonna do after unboxing a new doll is to wipe it down...)

So the "cheap" part was the whole presentation. If I'm to judge this box opening experience, I think it'll feel the same as if a factory worker picked the doll off the assembly line and plopped it into my arms. Thankfully the body was excellent quality and I was so excited to receive it, that it more than made up for the barebones box opening.

 

I hate to say this, but I kinda get that feeling about Dollfie Dreams sometimes. Not the dolls themselves, but the accessories Volks releases for/with them.

It seems like some Volks outfits (especially ones that come with expensive licensed character dolls) are notorious for staining after only brief contact with the doll. While I understand that vinyl is just finicky, many independent clothing makers on taobao take great pains to stain test and/or line everything they sell that is intended for MDD/DD so I know it's possible to work around.

Also from what I can tell they only offer Acrylic animetic eyes, which are among the cheapest (and imo worst looking) types of anime eyes on the market.

Usually though with my resin dolls I much more often have the opposite experience! Especially with Chinese artist dolls, sometimes it really seems like they try to wow their customers with fancy boxes and lots of extras.

 

I would agree with this sentiment. I remember how the Saber maid dress that Volks released was an infamous stain monster. While I recognize the challenges that come with large-scale (for the bjd hobby, anyway) manufacturing of doll clothes, I still find it horribly disappointing that they aren't at least stain testing clothes in-house for their IP crossover releases.

My Dream Valley Gru came to me with the magnet in his pumpkin stem turned the wrong way, so now his head repels the stem entirely. I haven't worked up the courage to try and dislodge one of the magnets in order to turn it around yet. It's not even necessarily "cheaping out," but it feels careless for doll companies to not even double check that the magnets work properly before shipping out a doll.

 

I had a secondhand seller send me the doll in a plastic envelope. The doll was wearing a plastic mask and had a layer of bubble wrap, but considering he came from the other side of the world, it was a miracle he was in one piece. A box isn't that hard to find or purchase, so I don't know what they were thinking.