Wait Times Why does it take for at least a month to get a doll?

The listed wait times are the time it would take for the company to SEND your doll out. It doesn't include the shipping time. The reason for that is, in the vast majority of cases, dolls are made to order. That is, once you place an order, the company begins casting, sanding, painting and assembling your doll. That's why it takes at least 4 weeks, and this is usually a pretty quick delivery.

 

Dolls are not always 'in stock' and ready to be shipped immediately. More often, they are made to order and processing time is often at least a month if not two or three.

 

It isn't the shipping that takes that long but the making of the doll, every doll must be made and it is very toxic to make the dolls and safe precautions must be made for the health of the makers. Also, depending on if you get a face up on your doll also makes the wait longer as they need to then apply it to your doll, which is also very toxic and must be done in a very ventilated room or outside and saftey precautions have to be made as well as the face up needing time by the artist to make. There may only be one or two artist to a company and so there is a time wait. A doll company can consist of a small number of people and a large order of dolls. Everything is hand made, not mass produced and takes time. You must also take into account that things can go wrong and the doll could be faulty and they need to make another. The shipping part is actually really quick. All of my dolls once shipped only took about 3-5 days.

 

And, the two reasons why they are made to order is one; because it's too expensive to preplan and have a set number of sanded dolls, a set number of faceupped dolls, a set number of blank unsanded dolls, and every combination in between and two; once resin is cured, it begins to very very very slowly oxidise (aka yellow. Very very slowly.), even if you keep them in a dark cold room. Since no one can guess how many x doll will be wanted, what if a long period go between making the doll and actually selling it? It might have yellowed compared to the a new batch. Who knows? So companies want to make the doll as fresh as possible to please the customer

 

Things that are made to order take longer, pretty much always, especially since most doll companies are actually quite small. You may be lucky and they might have a doll in stock ready to go that you get very quickly (Dollmore for example is sometimes VERY fast - I got one in less than 13 days once from them) or you might order during a rush of other orders during a time of year when the resin is difficult to make right and it might take 3-6 months or more. I'd suggest checking the waiting room for the doll you are interested in getting to see what current wait times are like. The company site might say 3-4 weeks when it might more realistically be 3-4 months. Also keep in mind if you order from a dealer there might be an additional 2 week or so delay - dealers often order in batches so they might not place your order with the company immediately, and then the doll has to ship to the dealer first before it can be checked, repackaged and shipped to you.

So a few weeks to make, finish and assemble the doll, possibly another week or two for the faceup, then shipping time. And that's assuming they have no supply issues or weather problems or equipment failures and no one is out sick...

 

You are very correct! Except the fact that it's alot more tedious but the wait time is all worth it in the end!!!

 

I also forgot to add to my original post- if you get anything other than NS or WS for skintone, it will take longer. Tan skin or any funky colors (or colors like ebony) are harder for them to make and WILL have a longer wait time because it is much more difficult for them to make.

 

3-4 weeks is quick. Volks usually has a 3 months depending if the doll is ordered FCS or LE. Waiting is a must part of this hobby, very few companies have "in stock" dolls although some do. I have been waiting 7 months for a pair of urethane eyes from Bambi?

 

@tsukidoll 7 months D: . . . I wish I had your patience xD