Buying from Ebay/Amazon

[MeltedCaramel]

Oh!! versora, just so you know, even if a doll on Ebay is the same price as the real doll, it could very well still be a recast. They're still making money because all they're doing is making molds from a fully finished and sculpted doll. The legitimate doll's pricepoint includes paying workers, faceup artists, sculptors, etc. It's a lot easier to pop a blank resin doll out of a mold than it is to hire an artist to sculpt the doll, workers to make molds out of the artist's final product, hire faceup artists to paint the doll, workers to package the doll, etc. Right now there's a pre-order on a figure that costs $40 (well, 4000yen, but you get the idea) and it's being sold pre-ordered for $77 from Hong Kong. If it were a legitimate item, the seller would literally be making NO profit once you counted importing fees, ebay and paypal fees, etc. So even though it's being sold for about the same price as a legitimate pre-order from Japan, it's obviously fake, because the seller would actually be COSTING themselves money to sell the product at the price they are. So, it's always good to know your conversions, do your homework, know your doll/figure/applies to anything origins, the general pricepoint, and if it's a doll sold on the secondhand market, try and figure out the aftermarket value of the product. You can do searches for completed and/or sold listings on Ebay using the same search parameters you would to find a new product. Try and compare what others have sold for versus what the item you're looking at is being sold for.

[OkamiKodomo]

So even though it's being sold for about the same price as a legitimate pre-order from Japan, it's obviously fake, because the seller would actually be COSTING themselves money to sell the product at the price they are.

Actually, I would like to argue this point just slightly. Often times, a legitimate dealer will get a "bulk order" discount when they meet certain quotas, which is how dealers such as Denver Doll and Mint on Card make a profit while selling dolls at the same price as the original companies. Also, there are some eBay stores that are legitimate dealers as well, with the same system, or others that actually gain a percentage of a sale, as a finder's fee of sorts (though I don't know if that's the case with eBay). That's not to say there aren't people out there trying to make a bigger profit by "fooling" buyers with the same price tag as the legitimate companies, but price is not a very good indication of an item's legitimacy. The rest of it though, is totally on point. Do your homework, check feedback threads, and if you do get scammed, (as I have unfortunately now been the victim of and it totally sucks) report it.

[victoriavictrix]

Your situation with K2 is an unfortunate one. Also, hint: It's always UPS' fault.

You may not have meant it that way, but it sounds as if you were saying K2 is scamming me. Perhaps you might want to rephrase that.

As it happens, Karl was sending me a head. I got a pair of shoes. The UPS store very clearly slapped the label on the wrong package when he left it there. We were both told I was going to be sent a return label that never got here. Clearly the store made a mistake and is now trying to cover it up, hoping we will go away.

[Kirahfaye]

Misty, they obviously don't know you don't just "go away". Good luck with that situation. (I hope you get the doll head. Mine will forever be lost thanks to it being left at the front of my porch so it and my husband's Christmas presents could be seen and stolen....)

[versora]

Thanks, this is all good advice. As for misplaced parcels, that's not fun. I can only imagine how that is. So far My research on Ebay is proving elusive. But I shan't give up. But I still plan of buying from either Alice Collections or Mint on Card.

[MeltedCaramel]

OkamiKodomo Ah, you raised a good point that I neglected to mention in specifics (I was kind of lumping the bulk retailers in with what I called "businessmen and women out to make money with a legitimate item" since I'm well aware of the practice), but thank you for mentioning that specifically. Sometimes I tend to forget that just because I know of a particular business practice that not all people do. Also, I should have been a bit more clear on the exact item I was talking about in my example (It's a $40 action figure so I doubt anyone wants specifics). The user is Hong Kong based and has set up two duplicate auctions for a pre-order item that is Japanese in origin and isn't even available yet for pre-order from legitimate Japanese companies, somehow managing to be the only person on the internet able to get this item. The supposed release date (Bandai can't be trusted so I'm skeptical) is around June-July of this year. The picture shown for the item on the auction is a poorly photographed ad from a magazine that showed up on the internet around a month ago, showcasing Bandai's upcoming pre-orders, except the user has modified it so the price in yen is whited out. So...considering several very large red flags (including their store which has several undervalued statuettes and whatnot) I think it's pretty safe to say that yes, this seller is intent on defrauding people.

Victoriavictrix Oh my God!!! I am so sorry that it sounds that way, I meant it to be read as in "I'm sorry you and K2 are going through this unfortunate situation together". I would never suggest he was trying to scam you!!!! I apologize for the miscommunication. Unfortunately sometimes with text things that are meant to be read with some sort of inflection get lost in translation as it were. Please accept my profuse apologies for the faux paus, though I hope you understand it was most definitely not meant to be read in that context. Also, I hope K2 understands that I never meant it to be taken that way. I find him witty as all get out and it's always a pleasure to see him posting his hilarious comments.

Kirahfaye Wow, that is incredibly horrible. I can't imagine if one of my expensive packages was stolen from outside my door!! I'm so sorry you're going through (went through? Is this still dragging on? ) that type of situation. Do you have any idea who the thieves may be? I have to say I'm lucky enough to live nestled in a condominium complex that has a very insulated feel to it. Neighbours pick up my packages and put them in the small divide between my screen door and...regular door(? ) if they hang around too long because I'm too ill to go outside and pick them up, essentially hiding my packages from view, despite the low chance of the packages being stolen in the first place. (The thing we have a problem with is car break ins!! Our parking lot, and many of the parking lots in the complex, provide good cover for thieves looking to break into cars. We've had ours broken into twice. It was more hilarious than anything because at the time my mother smoked and the only thing for the thieves to steal was some cigarette butts in the ashtray. Although the town's police chief lives a few buildings away from me, so thieves "in the know" stay away because several of our town's policemen and women live in my complex so they're literally a minute away.)

versora What sort of research are you looking for? I can help you if you would like hun!! I have some fake-vs-real figures, and I'm a wrung-out Ebay veteran that can probably answer any questions you may have.

[versora]

MeltedCaramel That would be lovely. I need all the help I can get. Ebay has the store pics up, so I really don't know what I am getting into on the Ebay end. But any help of weeding out a fake is greatly appreciated.

[Alopecia No Hime]

I'm tempted to get an Ai Doll off of Ebay they have ones I really want for a good price..But they have ELEVEN negative feedback five relating to Dolls...Despite the over 2000 positives..Augh...

It's this seller if anyone's curious:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Jun-Planning-AI ... RTM1562569

Or this one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Jun-Planning-AI ... RTM1562570

I really am tempted to get either one or the Blackberry the seller of the Toriena is selling because both Toriena and Blackberry resemble my OC's Celia and Ayami...But I'd love to have Cosmos she was the first Ai Doll I saw..Just wondering others opinions on this...I usually avoid sellers with negative feedback...We're still waiting on a package

[DollyKim]

If the negative reviews are nit picky or general trolling kind you can over look them. If they're about quality, not getting what you ordered, bad shipping, or as you're pointing out dolls they're selling it's nature's way of telling you DON'T BUY FROM THEM! In general most sellers are going to be good people and do what they're supposed to. If you're really worried use a doll store.

In my history of buying stuff form both places I had one package the post office lost, then found and delivered, a skinny origami kit, and one Amazon secondary seller who was a jerk and never sent. Amazon got me a refund. I bought one used doll form a seller who hadn't been active in months but their history was consistent with someone occasionally selling odds and ends. The doll arrived fine.

[MeltedCaramel]

Alopecia no Hime, I checked out both sellers, and honestly, I would take a chance on them myself. Not saying this is what you have to do, but personally I think the positives FAR outweigh the negatives. The one seller's feedback is mostly about missing cards, which sellers usually just ship via an envelope and many buyers, who don't look through their mail, simply throw the card away without ever checking their envelopes (trust me, I've seen it happen many many times). Where are you located hun? If it's in the US you should have a quick, relatively painless shipping experience with both, and the worst thing that happens is Ebay gives you a refund, but I think they look legitimate to me. Do what feels right to yourself, but whenever I look at negative feedback I try to remember that the seller is human too and there may be more than meets the eye to the situation. Also, people who don't take the time to leave PROPER negative feedback (one of them just has one that says "no"!!) make me doubt the sincerity of their claims. And the first seller, one of her negative feedbacks say "good good good" which makes me think the buyer made a mistake and hit negative instead of positive. (That's one of the five). The other four negative feedbacks regarding dolls come from the same person and it's repeated OVER AND OVER that only one box was damaged in transit, inferring that the other three were fine and they could have talked to the seller about a refund or replacement. I wouldn't put too much weight on the negative feedbacks in both of these cases, but especially the first seller. When you get to be a high profile seller sadly almost all of them have SOME sort of negative feedback, and it's usually because buyers just don't want to deal with the hassle of a case (say for...hmnn...perhaps accidentally throwing away a $2.00 Yu Gi Oh card? ) and just leave nasty feedback.

My two cents, there you have it. Not worth much I know, but I did try and research and sort out exactly WHAT the negatives were about for you.