... and I feel fine!

Well, it seems that eBay doesn't want us small & sporadic sellers, they want to be Amazon ... ('scuze me while I finish laughing at the potential success of that venture!)

Anyway, doll crafters are heading in DROVES to Etsy! Customizers, doll part suppliers, doll clothing makers, we're all high-tailing it Etsy's way!

To keep things simple the BJD people are all being universal in putting the "word" bjd in our descriptions and tags so we can be easily found by our customers.

There are options open to all of doll people, we just need to look ...

- - - - - - - - - - - -

This morning I posted on a board I help admin ...

thoughts on the eBay boycott and the subsequent mind-set change that a lot of us seem to be going thru ...

(Just proof-read thru this, if you can bear with me after 3 hours sleep and a Vicodin you can read anything, LOL!!!)

OK, first off; I've been laid up for the last few weeks, waiting for my gallbladder to be removed, and now post-op laid up (but almost all better, whee!) so I've had WAY to much time on my hands to think and read (if not always the energy to type).

All of us who are in mass exodus away from eBay have taken a big step in reminding the 800lb gorilla that it got to be so big on the backs of all of us little people. I'm not as large a seller as someone like our Grace (JPop), but she is considered a small seller by eBay and with eBay being slow to listen to reason (read: hasn't yet) all of the little guys are being pushed out. I for one could give a dung if the 800lb gorilla crashes off the Empire State Building at this point; it's bitten the hands that loving fed it once too often.

Have seen people post here and elsewhere with "where will I find my favorite insert odd item here without eBay???" The best answer; Google. Or Yahoo, or whatever your favorite search engine is. There are websites for everything! And if there aren't easily found websites there are often index sites geared to a certain hobby/collectible that gather URLs for you (I know, I manage a couple, LOL!) when you find 'em, bookmark 'em, they come in handy. Those folks selling bit by bit from their small websites are going to be SO glad to get business from all of us leaving eBay in mass droves!

So we're now out finding new avenues to peddle our wares or to go shopping.
Us crafters have Etsy (and Mintd and Dawanda and our own sites), for other doll folk there are doll auction sites - even free ones - cropping up, and there's always the forums.

I opened an Etsy store in August 2006 ... and let it sit much to my chagrin. But now I'm looking at it again and thinking how liberating it will be to sell there, and at the same time it will force me to not be so mamby-pamby in pricing; I know how much the materials cost and how many man-hours went into each item - I need to ask for that instead of trying to compete with Dollheart or any of the other mass BJD clothing makers ... and then *hope* that it brings more at auction. (And now it's downright embarrassing that I've had an Etsy store this long and have yet to list an item - gah!)

I could say I wish I shopped at Etsy for handmade goods but I haven't because I live in the middle of hand-made central. There are craft fairs, bazaars and shops specializing in local craftsmen's goods everywhere here in VT. But I've been poking away the last few weeks and WHEE-HEE-HEE!!! The selection is fabulous! Inspiring actually! And not just to me in my little family, but my oldest son (14) who has expressed interest in glass blowing and working with glass ... there are goods by glass-workers on Etsy that has his mind - and mine - churning in interest. My husband has said he'd get our son set up with a home annealing oven and lampwork supplies and now we're going to be learning as a family. THAT is cool; even my son is taking the handmade challenge!!!

Anyway, what I'm getting to is that maybe turning our backs on eBay and finding small/grass-roots venues to buy and sell and just generally hang out is NOT a bad thing. And when you consider this particular wing of dolls the "big" mindset is all wrong; BJDs are about small local meet-ups, customizing and buying from artisans rather than manufacturers.
When eBay became too big it lost that community feeling and that's something we as humans need, even online.

- - - - - - - - - -

As someone recently posted on the eBay Feedback Discussion boards; "It's the end of the world as we know it - and I feel fine!"

eBay is not the doll trader's friend ...

Or any trader's friend really.

eBay has made yet another batch of changes that I'll list and bitch about later in the post ... but it's forcing me to finally find another venue to buy/sell on.

So far I've found links to these auction/seller sites ...

auction-warehouse.com
AuctionSddict.com
AuctionSaloon.com
Auctionweiser.com
BidVille.com
Bidz.com
BlackwellsLiveAuction.com
Blujay.com
BuyNSellIt.com
CashBackAuctions.com
dawanda.com
eBid.net
Ecrater.com
ElFingo.com
Etsy.com
FairAuction.com
iOffer.com
ItsGottaGo.com
Manions.com
Mintd.com
MSNAuctions.com
NorthWestBlvd.com
Ola.com
OnlineAuction.com
PlunderHere.com
PriceFire.com
QXL.com
RubyLane.com
Sell.com
SellYourItem.com
specialistauctions.com
Tazbar.co.uk
TheFreeAuction.com
TreasureSales.com
WagglePop.com
Webidz.com
WodAuctions.com
uBid.com
uTrove.com
Xuppa.com

need to find URLs for: Webidz, Biddersnsellers, BidUpToday & Midnight Auctions

Etsy has a good reputation, and just got a serious chunk of venture capital to grow with. I'm not sure about the rest, it'll take some time to do some research.

I joined this board to learn more about other auction sites and payment systems: Power Sellers Unite - yeah, started by eBay Power Sellers, LOL!

And because soapboxing is one of my favorite past-times I posted a comment to a NY Times article:

This is why eBayPal was a bad idea for consumers from the get-go.

The changes are both a smokescreen and pathway; sellers are focusing on increased fees and inability to leave viable feedback - as that is the immediate hurt, while forgetting that little blurb about how eBayPal can hold a payment in escrow for 21 days or until a buyer leaves positive feedback.

The justification for that? If a transaction/seller seems “at risk” - a very arbitrary judgment. This means (for example) that funds for the large $700 item that costs $200 to ship are being held because seller’s “star rating” is lower than the high mark eBay says it should be at - the star rating is another arbitrary set of judment calls from often difficult-to-please buyers. Now seller must front the cost of shipping and pray that the buyer doesn’t do a charge-back thru PayPal by claiming they never received said item (yes, this happens).

That float of held funds is the real reason behind these changes to the feedback system; the more “iffy” sellers the more funds eBayPal can garner interest on.

History lesson; when PayPal started it was a zero-fee service - that is back when it was x.com and up until shortly after purchase by eBay - it stated quite frankly that their upkeep was earned thru short-lived high-interest loans using the cash sitting in our acc’ts.

The changes in the feedback system and the increase in overall auction fees are purposefully pushing out the “small sellers” - some of us “Power Sellers” even. We’re the people with the odd/unique niche items that people flock to eBay for.

The only sellers that will be able to remain are the mostly automated Power Sellers who can afford the occasional deadbeat bidder and ludicrous negative feedback. Those sellers most generally offer mass-produced dollar store/discount electronics level goods. Not the neat “it” that people want on eBay.

Oh yeah, a goodly percent of eBay’s buyers?
The small sellers.

Think you're immune to the changes?
Just wait, your selection will decrease dramatically and next time you go to sell a batch of your collection to raise some cash and find yourself with a deadbeat bidder ... Ugh.

This rat is jumpin' ship now. Wish I could take my 9 years of excellent feedback with me.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - >>>

added later because I just can't shut up ... just posted this on a thread in the eBay Feedback Forum:

Mr Donahue;

Please note, all those small sellers that you and the powers-that-be at eBay are trying to push out to improve your bottom line ... are also your a large portion of your buyers.

If the small sellers need to leave to find greener pastures they will be spending their earnings elsewhere.

Negative bottom line improvement.

Feedback is the issue that people are roaring about here, but it's more than that; it's the too-large hike in final value fees, it's the the fact that a slightly low star rating will leave (small) sellers out of search results, and it's the fact that escrow is being forced down our throats.

You are the 800 lb gorilla. Your market is saturated, the people that want to buy and sell online are here already (if they haven't been driven off - and not by negative FB, those bad buyers just get themselves a new ID and come back).

Gordon Gekko was wrong, Greed is not Good, it makes you shoot yourself in the foot. Here's a novel idea, why doesn't eBay try recompensing stock owners with dividends? That would be better than sending your stock plummeting.

What eBay is doing - modeling itself after Amazon - isn't growing (it may, for a while), it's setting itself up to compete with another 800 lb gorilla. That's probably not a fight eBay can win.

Signed,
Just another Drop in the leaky bucket

Christmas is for the dolls!

Well, kind of ... in my home it's really for the kids - that's what I enjoy about the season so much; shopping for them, watching their faces as they get exactly what they wished for (but not too much!), passing on traditions, making new ones ...

But for me, personally, Christmas is about the dolls. I don't need (or want more) jewelry, I have enough sweaters to last a lifetime ... I did ask for a couple books and some (very specific) toiletries and perfume, but the "big" gifts? All about the dolls - the only problem with that is convincing hubby that yes these things will be used for my sewing, but I still want them.

So, I asked for a bigger light tent - which has already been used (see below images ... above image was outside, in the snow at night) and walked hubby through buying a child size BJD from a Korean company. Yup, dem's da big gifts! I'd love to have said "these shoes", "those wigs", "some of these eyes" and "oh, could you please schedule a face-up with ___?" But ya know, that would've been too fussy ... and he doesn't need to know that the dolls shoes can cost as much as mine.
(Man-doll mentioned in last post came ... and went. That'll be the last time I buy a doll by it's promo alone.)

And right now the doll clothes I'm making are all about Christmas - only fair I guess. My three year old is fascinated the "correctness" of male BJDs ... only time you'll hear "Dolly has penis!" and not need to do a double take.

I do find myself pulling the camera out for the dolls a lot now though ... especially for Francesca ... she is wonderfully photogenic ... just wish the three boys sat still so well for the Christmas card photos I'm procrastinating ... gah.

4 months later and ...

It has been four months since I bought my last doll. WOW. (Ok, ok, and four months since I last blogged here - I'm such a slacker!) I have been seriously collecting dolls for ... eight years now and this is the longest I've gone without buying a new doll.

I have bought a Chair of Great Decadence, five pair of BJD shoes and a couple sets of eyes in this time ... but no new doll.

Francesca in The Chair

And ya know what? I'm not missing it. The Wish List has changed around just a bit; have decided when I do finally get a child BJD it will be a Rosen Lied, the Sasha-needing-a-wig is still on the list. Oh, and I am reverting, just a bit ... asked hubby to get me the Daniel Craig doll from Tonner for Christmas. I did promise Veruca a man some time ago and frankly can't think of much I'd let other folks buy for me - not being a snob, just saying I have enough.

Have been surprised on the doll boards - there is a lot of selling it seems, not just in one doll-type, but across the board. People are re-prioritizing and winnowing out all over the place. I don't think people are necessarily doing that just with dolls, I think it's wider. Watch HGTV for a few shows; LOTS of minimizing and clearing out of clutter, many car commercials are trying to appeal to people's frugal/ecological side, even read a news article today that stated that retail stores aren't hiring as many extra people for the holiday season - is that because of the prevalence of online shopping or because more people are doing what our family is doing for Christmas giving this year?

What are we doing? We're minimizing. The kids are each getting one biggish gift (Leapsters for the little ones), a couple smaller gifts and a stocking. Hubby and I are giving each other one nice gift and doing a stocking for each other. For other folks that may be a lot, for me this is severely minimizing. The boys have everything really, they don't need much (any?) more. I'm embarrassed thinking about Christmases past where we kids ripped through gifts until the living room was carpeted in a foot of torn wrapping paper, and my first several years as a single-mom breaking the bank because I thought that is what you do for your child. (Thank goodness that did not spoil my boy!)

The trend in doll collecting now is a mirror of this bigger picture of what society is doing; smart doll companies are expanding their consumer base so they stay afloat, and many doll collectors - like me - are gravitating to dolls that we can customize and make special ... and we're finding less can be more.

But still, on occasion, a Chair of Great Decadence is needed.

Doll Priorities ...

I bought an unplanned BJD recently. I swore I wasn't going to do that, but I did. At least a conversation with hubby happened first and a financial game plan was made as to how to gather funds (or should I say, pay back the family fund quickly).

I wasn't going to have time to sew up things to sell, so it was time to re-prioritize my collection. Briefly I considered selling one BJD for the bulk of the cash, but I took a good look at her and the rest of my collection and decided to sell off more 16" fashion dolls and more Barbies instead. How much was the doll I wanted to buy? Neveryoumind. But, the Tonner collection got narrowed down to just seven dolls, and only a dozen Barbies are left now - the Sashas weren't even considered, they stay.

It always surprises me what folks will pay for doll items. One of the things sold was a red pleated paisley vintage Barbie skirt (in excellent condition) that went for well over seventy dollars. Wow. I'm glad, but wow.

How did I decide what to keep? Nostalgia. Dolls that are replacements for favorites from childhood (Barbies and a Darci) and 16" fashion dolls that represent something important from my adulthood. One of the Tonners is my first Tyler, a gift from wonderful friends, others are dressed in outfits that look like favorite outfits of mine (like the knock-'em-dead black velvet suit worn on a date with my hubby early in our relationship) and one is my Harry Potter doll. Yeah, I'm a Potter-head. Been something fun to do with my oldest child ... but I had to promise I wouldn't bring the doll to the upcoming HP7 book release party. Tuh! Spoil sport!

So, what was bought and why? It was another 60cm scale BJD, a Dollstown Lucille head on a Domuya Flexi body. What made her special? I fell in love with her pictures. Her original owner, a wonderful face-up artist named Jay (drop me an e-mail if you want to contact her for a commission) was doing her own reprioritization and put her up for sale. Am so glad I happened to pop into the board Jay advertized her on when I did!

Her name is Francesca, and she looks to be straight out of a fairy tale ...



*Sigh!* Isn't she lovely?



And here she is with the rest of my resin kids ...



Have to admit, am feeling the need for one more ... a little child BJD in correct scale to the rest ... like a Bambicrony. Hmmm ...

Making a Doll Enjoyable ... and some words on the importance of cleaning and modifying BJDs

I bought both of these beautiful BJDs (Asian Ball Jointed Dollfies) earlier this year with the intention of doing their face-ups (make-up) by myself. Freakin' eep. I can sew. I can make jewelry. I can sculpt fantasy heads. I just don't have the patience to give good face-up ... the poor things, something had to be done or they'd be justified slashing me while I slept ...

On the left is a Lishe from Luts, on the right is an Estella head from DollsTown on a Soom body. They are gorgeous now because my wonderful friend TracyP) took pity on me - and the girls!

When Lishe first arrived - her head that is, the body was purchased separately, both second hand, my first "project" BJD - there was a lot of work to be done sanding her smooth, cleaning the resin's yellowing and getting the old face paint of of her facial crevices. That was quite a lesson on doll face-lifts, not as ugly as human face-lifts, but nearly as terrifying.

When cleaning resin doll parts ...

• a two minute soak in 91% Isopropyl alcohol helps considerably in getting off sealer and facial paint; use further-soaked paper towel for the large areas, soaked Q-tips for the small, and an alcohol-soaked wooden toothpick for those hard to reach places. Always rinse well in cool water. Keep drinking alcohol on hand for yourself, it makes the process seem smoother, I recomend Red Truck highly. This strength of alcohol seemed to help lighten yellowing as well.
  
• Soaks in an OxyClean solution also help lighten the color of yellowed resin so you might not have to sand at all. Yellowing happens for many reasons; age, too much sun exposure, hand oils and general dirt.
  
• If you do need to sand your resin doll, use the finest grit sandpaper available - preferably one backed by sponge - otherwise the sanding is too harsh and can scrape the resin away faster than you thought possible.
• Have heard that soaking the resin parts in hydrogen peroxide (leave in a dark area, as it loses it's potency in light) for a couple or more days will whiten resin well. I have NOT tried this myself yet.
  
• It is always best not to do any of these without checking to make sure there are no adverse effects, the inside of head caps makes good testing ground.
• Keep in mind that what works on one company's resin may not work on another's as they all have different resin properties.

For Lishe's face-up I wanted something soft, pretty and clean and made a couple attempts at doing this using watercolor pencils and chalk pastels. Unless you want to invest in an airbrush and get REALLY good with it before going near a Dollfie, stick to these kinds of pencils and chalks, mistakes erase easily and the materials blend well together with a touch of water. (I've been told by a few to steer clear of acrylic paints on resin, it tends to flake off.)

The best sealer for resin dolls is a product called Mr. Super Clear, it doesn't yellow or clump up like other sealers are known to. MSC's instructions are all in Japanese, so shake for two+ minutes and do thin even coats, letting them dry thoroughly between layers. Use a coat for an underlayer to give your pencils and chalks something to grip onto.

This was my first attempt, not horrible, somewhat amateur but pretty:

And my second - good freaking lord!:

And then I cried "TRACY!!!" and she did the job with the expertise that I just don't have the patience to learn ... there's just not enough red wine for that ...

Isn't Lishe lovely now?! (Nevermind the straggling hairs.)

Similar happened with Estella ...
Never even got the eyelashes on with the first attempt:

The second attempt lasted longer, and told me that yeah, this is the color scheme that fits her, but still no cigar ... more like crayon:

Tracy's work is SO much more satisfying! This is a doll's happy look:

So, Lesson #1 with modifying your own doll: know when it's time to put the job in someone else's (significantly more capable) hands!

Collecting and Not Breaking the Bank

On a fashion doll board recently someone had said they just wanted to sell all their dolls, get out of the debt the doll purchases had brought and move on with their life. That they loved the dolls, but they were almost obsession level and it needed to stop. She asked for our opinions, how we managed - or didn't - and it made me think about the realities of collecting anything.

Really, this is the doll collecting version of "When in danger, when in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout."

Veruca Gestalt is not amused, as all funds should funnel her way ...

I've come to be of the mind that a hobby is to be enjoyed; it shouldn't cause stress and it shouldn't encroach on your needs. Family, pets, bills, and um ... non-internet social life are all much much more important. It seems like when anyone first starts a hobby, or a new aspect of an existing hobby, common sense goes right out the window.

Doll collecting had taken over in this way when I wasn't feeling good about what was going on in my life (so easy for that to happen to anyone). The rush of winning a new doll or desirable and hard-to-find outfit made me feel temporarily better and that began to impinge on the rest of my life. A vicious circle of happiness and self-condemnation. This was obvious to everyone but me back in my Barbie collecting days; stoppping by Toys R Us on the way home from work just for time in the "pink aisle" is a sure cry for help.

It tapered off eventually (to just vintage Babs) before I stopped collecting Barbie altogether from boredom; too much pink, too much repetition, too much hype for a mass produced thing. I still love my Barbies, but only have the "nostalgia" ones now, the ones I had and loved as a child.

But not long after abandoning full-time Barbie I was enabled into 16" fashion dolls, mainly Tonner, and soon I found myself buying them hand over fist, filling that social need that collecting dolls and sharing them with other collectors online gave. I'm a stay-at-home-Mom so it was getting put on credit cards ... as much as I tried to only buy what I could after selling some of my existing collection, it didn't quite work that way. At one point I had about fifty 16" fashion dolls. Not a lot - to some collectors perhaps - but more than our budget could handle.

And like Barbie, I became disillusioned with the 16" scale fashion dolls; too much fouf, too much repetition, too much hype for a mass produced thing - albeit in smaller masses. My first love in dolls has always been art dolls and I needed more substance to my dolls than these could give. Mass produced fashion dolls are fun, and their creators are lovely people, but I recognized that I personally needed something different ...

This is the main reason I got into BJDs, after enough exposure to them I began to see the creative art aspect to them that was beyond mere lovliness. Having just a few of these more expensive dolls - that can be modified and individualized - has quelled my need to buy buy buy because I am finally satisfied with what I have. A good place to be; somplace I try to be with other aspects of life, and should have embraced with my hobby long ago.

So, I sold off the fashion dolls (and more of the leftover Barbies) and I got deeper into BJDs. And yes, I even went a little crazy and bought three so far this year ... well, one was planned, but one was a deal not to be passed up, and one was true impulse, an impulse that turned out to be a good thing.

La diva Veruca still thinks those big resin things are freaks.
Tough cookies honey ...

I feel now like my collection is manageable; knowing what I have without having to look. The collection contains about a dozen each of 16" fashion dolls and Barbies, a couple of Sashas, a Sybarite, and five large (super dollfie size) BJDs.

As part of the beauty of BJDs is their individuality - in my case mine wear clothes I've made - this saves cash. And each of my other dolls have only the clothes on their backs. Veruca, my Sybarite, is another story, her diva-ness deserves a wardrobe - but it's not as big as it was.

Hubby and I have agreed that if I want a doll (especially a BJD) that we will discuss before I purchase; do layaways where I can, budget, prioritize ...

And what I've found really works to get me to calm down buying is to MAKE A WISH LIST. The Wish List is the coolest kind of list going; it's almost like having the doll already, because there in black and white is at least the dream of having that "it." What also helps is having next to each item how much it costs and where funds for it could/would come from - just to throw in the practical aspect back in the mix.

I have only seven dolls on that list currently; about half of those I may never buy, but they are there to remind myself of what other desires might be. There are accessories on the list and even a couple vintage Barbie outfits to look for while prices are low. Will I buy all of these? Probably not. But there have been times I've gone to add something to the list, and after reading it over have decided not to.

My priorities now are sewing for dolls (which I haven't been as productive with as I'd like lately, but that's another issue), mainly BJDs, but would like to sew for Sasha, too. So, oddly, at the top of my wish list is a blue-eyed Sasha (my current have brown eyes); preferably somewhat worn, missing hair plugs, so I can make her a mohair wig and have her be my rag-a-muffin girl. That's pretty humble and far from wanting the whole "Limited Edition Princesses of the Seasons Series."

Forget what the collecting crowd you chat or meet with all want, forget the limited editions/exclusives/convention specials, forget the excitement of new releases, look at what makes you happy ... and recognize that part of that happiness is being able to pay the bills.