Selling an old doll?

Hey there! In general, you can sell anything once you find the right price for the situation and the buyer who wants it.
I do recommend you may want to edit the specific sculpts you plan to sell out of your post in case it invites buying outside the marketplace problems.
Old dolls are very popular right now within certain parameters I think. CP dolls are valuable. Many other old dolls are loved but the second hand prices (as a seller) can be tragic right now. If you don't care about how much money you make it's a buyer's economy and you will find some with reasonable prices.
Many people collecting really old dolls especially know that certificates are often nonexistent or sometimes lost by now. Boxes are often very appealing to people, for storage and authentic experience. To price, try to check the sold dolls archive or ask friends if you know anyone who knows anything. Just list what you know, what you have and invite questions if needed.

Best of luck!

 

I know it was long ago but do you perhaps have any emails from wherever you got them or still have the messages if they were purchased from another collector? Those could at least give you some provenance regarding authenticity. Even invoices or delivery notes on the boxes are something.

Other than that just be honest, say if you don’t remember, take very detailed photos of any yellowing or marks and just see how it goes….trust your gut though, have a lowest price in mind that you won’t go below just in case someone tries to take advantage!

 

Just to point out one thing here... Aside from the early elves, CP/Delfs never had CoAs. Anyone who demands one for those dolls isn't being reasonable. You can't provide what never existed, and most buyers in the market for one of your oldies will know that.

 

It's been awhile, but I don't recall LuWen having one.

ETA: After a quick look at my paperwork folder for the Delfs, I definitely don't have one for Jester & Mirror (My LuWen and Vampire)

 

There is also that recasting wasn't nearly as ubiquitous then as it is now. Even when I joined the hobby in 2009, there wasn't much happening and few dolls came with COAs. But there's a lot of collectors who look for those older dolls and their jointing and aesthetic so I am sure they would be able to sell.

 

I have sold a few years ago two old SD sized dolls (back from the 00s!) And I didn't had any issue with it. Usually people who are into old dolls knows about the no-coa thing. In fact I discovered about coa's fairly recently LOL.

I'm sure with nice pictures and being honest about the doll deets you'll be fine!

 

Basically what everyone else said, most older dolls don't have a CoA. Some without any sort of paperwork at all.

What I do when I sell a doll is take front, side, and back pictures of the full doll and of the head. As well as pictures of the inside of the head and headcap, and underside of the head. Then pictures of any damage/issues the doll/box has and of any extra items they might come with.
If they have their original box/paperwork/whatever, I take a picture of the doll with those items for my main photo in my sales post (along with any extras they might come with).
In my opinion, you can never have too many pictures, even if you have to link to them lol

Be descriptive, but don't write a novel about why you're getting rid of the doll. Most people just want to read about the doll, it's condition, and your terms. And please, please, please make sure you say whether you have pets or smoke (they're options you can check off when making a sales thread on DoA). Some people can't (or even just won't) buy from pet friendly or smoking households.

For layaway, decide how long you would offer, then decide the amount you would accept for the down payment. If you're flexible with layaway length, mention that. Make sure to mention whether or not payment is non-refundable. Some people only do non-refundable down payments, some do all of the payments.

For international shipping, most shipping services have a price quote option so you can estimate the shipping cost (it will vary between countries), or you can take the package to your post office/UPS/etc and they can get a quote for you. Decide if you will underdeclare the package or if you will only declare for the full price. You can only insure the package for the amount that is declared on the customs form.

Speaking of insurance, I would highly recommend requiring insurance for the full price you sell the doll for (before shipping cost). Some sellers don't require insurance, but I'd personally rather be safe than sorry. If a buyer is adamant about not wanting full insurance, and you're willing to sell to them, make sure you get it in writing that they agree to not have full insurance and won't hold you responsible for anything that happens during transit.

This is getting kinda long, so if you need anymore tips, feel free to message me.

 

You're welcome! Yeah, sometimes packages arrive looking like they've been used for sports that involve a lot of kicking and insurance can be a lifesaver. (so can lots of bubble wrap, but some people don't use enough or any)

No problem! Been selling things online for almost a couple of decades, so I've learned some things lol

 

Many companies from that time did not give certificates with the dolls. This was the era where there was no or very very few recast companies.

 

What's a CP doll?

 

@miresmoon cerebrus project is CP, it was a maker name.

 

The Cerberus Project dolls were available from Luts, Domuya, DollMore and through an individual dealer named Liria once-upon-a-time. Luts ended up being the best known of the bunch, and near the end of the line had become the exclusive distributor for the 60cm CP/Delfs. (The Delf dolls that Luts has these days are all in-house head-sculpts rather than CP's, though the older Luts Delf bodies were the same design that the CP/Delfs had come with. Their most recent versions are different.) Luts also sold CP's MiniFees back in those days.

Eventually, Luts and CP parted ways and Cerberus moved to using their own storefront, which they had started up with MiniFees and the now long-extinct Feeple70s. That's Fairyland. The CP/Delfs were discontinued when that split happened, but Fairyland has the Feeple60s now, which are sort-of the stylistic descendants of the old CP/Delfs.

 

Ooh i see, thank you!

Thank you! I like to search everything new about BJDs that i see since i just started researching my first one!

Thanks for telling a little bit about the history of CPs! So they're like a line of dolls, and not a maker, is this correct?

 

Cerberus Project are the sculptors. Delfs, MiniFees, Feeples and such are their doll lines. Fairyland is their current company/storefront.

 

Oooh ok i'm gonna check fairyland, i recall having heard the name before

 

Thank you all for overlooking my spelling error. I'm having a hard time putting letters in the right places. really good history refresher from @Brightfires