Has anyone ever heard of...?

[AmberRose]

I have bought imperfects from artists before. they are unique and special and adorable.

[mochi.kochi]

It did seem fishy when I first read it, good thing I asked for opinions XD thanks guys :hugs to everyone:

I think for me the only logical things I read were the asking for unstrung and no box thing. The rest I was even sure it was possible.

[SoapBubbles]

I'm sceptical about the calling on the phone and haggling tip...

Especially since most of them are over-seas in non-English-speaking countries.

[Mirrin]

I've never heard of secret sales. Special resin colors you have to email to request, yes... That's something secret, I suppose.
I've also got a flat out free BJD from Dreaming Doll as a 'thank you' for doing a nice review of one of their dolls and spreading the word about them. The gift was a total shock to me, not that I am complaining.
So, you never know what could happen.

[EAB]

I'm sceptical about the calling on the phone and haggling tip...

Oh I forgot about that one. I really wouldn't suggest doing that. I know that in the second-hand marketplace, unless the seller states the price is negoitable, then haggling is seen as very rude.

I think haggling is rude. I have some designer clothes posted on Etsy at rock-bottom prices, and the minute I listed them I got a flurry of emails wanting them for insultingly cheap prices. Some of these emails were from people with stores who wanted to buy cheap from me and resell at a profit. I now post that the listed prices are my best prices.

[anoniemouse]

11. Check Seamlines: Rough, pronounced seamlines along the arms/legs/torso can lower prices!

I only wish that were true, most companies don't sand the seamlines >.> Oh, the Chinese ones sometimes do, but frack neither my ex-Fairyland boy nor my Volks girls were sanded. It's nice that DZ sanded, but it's definitely something you should not expect from a company. Anyway, Korean and Japanese companies don't consider seamlines to be a fault even the more pronounced ones, so they're not going to discount for them.

I don't think she's umm fraudulent, but I think the information is misleading because I don't think she's every bought directly from a company "or" from a dealer that puts orders in, instead of having the doll already made. I think when she talks about "haggling" I think she means calling a dealer like Junkyspot up or a seller on the second hand market. I think she really needs to clarify that on her post. Her Tips aren't completely wrong though, a few of them aren't bad.

Yeah you can try to find a "Kit" doll or unstrung, but to the best of my knowledge only Volks and Soom(Including it's offshoot companies) do that. Volks only does kits for MSDs, and Soom only does it on the holidays. They're might be someone else out there, but not too many. Although, if you are going to own a BJD, yes you do need to learn the basics of stringing.

No boxes is actually more of a dealer thing, less of doll maker thing. Some of the dealers will ship the doll to you without the box, but that's not always easiest.

Holiday sales are great ways of getting a doll at a price you want. They are even holiday heads, so you can sometimes sell the head to recoup some of the money. And Asian holidays often fall on Tax Return times The downside to holiday sales is the sheer wait time it takes to get a doll

Second hand is also a good option *but* for a first time BJD owner may not be the way you want to go, there's a sort of joy/mystery about buying your first one from a maker/dealer that doesn't exist with seconds. That's not to say don't buy second hand, but I know deboxing a doll that no one has really touched before can be exciting in a way that second-hand doesn't offer. However, I love second hand dolls, when the price is right

Anyway, this post has gotten way longer than I intended it to be.