Shops or Agents selling BJD in the United Kindom

I only know of one dealer in the UK, her website is here:

http://angelesque.co.uk/

I'm not sure if Carol will accept layaway or not for the dolls, you'll have to email her about it. And, she's a Dollzone dealer, so the doll's she carries and can order in are DZ ones. If you're looking for other dolls, I'm afraid you might have to order from someone outside the UK. There are other dealers in other EU countries that you could probably search for info on. But as I said, as far as I'm aware, Carol is the only active dealer in the UK as of this moment (others can correct me if I'm wrong!! I want to know if there are more UK dealers too XD!!)

How are you intending to pay for the doll? Just out of curiosity... because if it's by paypal, you could still order from doll companies like Soom who provide layaway services - since paypal can automatically convert pounds to dollars when you pay ^^;

 

argh... stupid double post ><!!!

 

Hi Abi,I am in the Uk and fairly new to Bjd (since last year)and I have yet to find a shop in the Uk. However I have bought dolls from Uk sellers I found through the DOA marketplace which you will be able to use when you have made enough posts. The other place you may find them on Ebay and there is a shop in the Netherlands called Triskel at this link;http://www.triskelfantasy.com/index.php?_a=viewCat&catId=157
Buying from Europe and the Uk avoids the expense of paying import duty and the fees added (I once paid £54 to free a doll from customs!!!).
If you do buy from the US or Asia it is a good idea to pay by Paypal as you can pay in dollars easily that way and you have some protection.
Also you can ask for the parcel to be marked as a gift or the value marked down, but some companies and sellers are uncomfortable with this as it is against the rules.
There is one other and highly recommended option for you and that is to buy a BJD from our one and only UK BJD artist Tiny Bear, she has amazing dolls made in conjunction with a asian manufaturer and can be seen in this months Dolls House and Minature scene magazine. (I have a couple of sleeping elf dolls and adore them) The name of the range is the Sleeping elf and they can be found here;
http://littlebloomers.tripod.com/thesleepingelf/
I hope I haven't overwhelmed you with information, and that you are inspired to start a beautiful collection.

 

If you use paypal to pay, why can you not pay for dolls in dollars?
Mostly over ebay or in the marketplace here (though you cannot yet get to it) are the best places to buy dolls in this country. I've never personally bought a whole doll in this country, at least not one that is on topic here, clothes and such are easier to find ^^;

 

There aren't any actual British manufacturers of BJD's (or even European at that), but there are some dealers for Dollzone, Angell Studio and the like.

As far as I know, all of the companies (the dealers as well as the official Asian websites) accept Paypal so there are no problems paying in any kind of currency. If you buy from a European dealer you won't be hit by customs per se, but you will pay a little more for the doll because the custom fees are partly added in. You could look on eBay or on the Marketplace here on DOA (once you have a post count of over 40 and been here a month) for the second hand market which is a great way to buy.

Good luck and welcome to the hobby!

 

why dont you access the uk forums eg. angel_unlimited.co.uk/forum
after X amount of posts you will gain access to the marketplace which has quite a few dolls up for sale just now and as we are mostly uk-ers we can help with advice on dealing with companies abroad (uk customs etc.)

 

Don't be afraid of international sellers! Since moving to the UK, I've bought dolls from Bobobie and ResinSoul straight from their respective websites, and a 60cm Obsitsu doll from HongKong (from mimiwoo on ebay). You don't need to worry about prices being in dollars - check on xe.com to see about what you'll be paying. You may have to pay customs and VAT, but it's pretty straightforward - RoyalMail will do all the paperwork and just charge you. Just be sure to factor that in when you're calculating price.

Buying from sellers in the marketplace, or Angelesque or Triskel, or EU sellers on ebay, takes away even these worries. But prices will still often be listed in dollars rather than pounds or euros, because US dollars are more internationally recognised value. I got used to it, buying from Australia!

 

I'm just purchasing my first doll, and I'm trying to work out how much tax I could get hit for. Can I just ask, was that £54 VAT, Duty and handling fees, or just handling fees?

 

The amount we can spend is going up - it may have done already - to just over £100 but I can't seem to find out if that differentiates between a gift and a non-gift. I think £54 would have been the duty, and fees etc as you tend to get one bill. I think it's best to assume you are going to get caught for customs, and save enough money up in that case, then keep everything crossed!! You will find many companies, especially Asian, will mark down the value (which is totally against UK rules but.. ) so if you can always ask if they do.

 

I thought that might be the case. I'm prepared for the tax, and the lovely Mr Romwell calculated for me how much it should be, but the PF handling charge seems to be a bit of an unknown quantity, and I'm paranoid about them adding a big fat chunk to it.
I'm lucky I set my heart on a doll that isn't hugely costly, so even if I do get charged and the company don't mark it down, the customs shouldn't be too bad (still a very nice wigs worth, though. ), looking around on DoA some fee's charged to UK buyers this end are truly eye-watering!

 

You might get lucky and when it comes to your next doll, keep your eyes open in the marketplace. I bought my Charlie (Leina) from a lady in the UK who didn't pass on the customs charge she'd been charged and I love her to bits (Charlie that is ). Always best to try in the EU first.

 

Who did you get? I know that LUTS and Fairyland tend to mark their dolls down, and I've ordered a B&G from Jack on ebay who was kind enough to mark my doll down and I avoided the customs demons. ^_^

 

Here's a bit of information for anyone curious about the actual Parcelforce handling charges. I happen to have an invoice from PF that they sent me when I had to pay custom charges for my DoI back in September.

I got hit with VAT at £33.26, and the actual ParcelForce clearance fee (which includes the handling fee and stuff) was £13.50 - the parcelforce fee hasn't changed to the best of my knowledge, it was the same the first time I got hit with customs too.

Now, I wonder if the VAT will be less since the UK recently just lowered the VAT from 17.5% to 15% o__O