About BJD Buyers' Rights - PART 2

There are lot of unfair aspects to BJD buying from the buyers point of view. Regardless of our considerable attempts to upkeep and promote the BJD industry, we buyers are being treated with a general disrespect. We are kept waiting for months on end with no buyer protection or updates on the progress of our custom purchases. Instead of showing their appreciation for our patronage, BJD companies have introduced what can only be interpreted as clever tactics to pry even more money out of their clientele, while at the same time reducing our choices. We buyers also have very little say in the outcome of our custom order purchases. We do not get to preview the finished items, nor do we have the right to ask for alterations before shipment. If there is a problem with the transaction or the product, we're left to live with the consequences. It is all making buying BJDs an embittering , disappointing and unduly expensive experience.

We the buyers already are thousands of dollars worth into being "ProBJDArtist". We’ve done our part of the bargain and paid the big bucks. And not only that! We buyers keep the dolls in the spotlight, constantly share our photos through all kinds of media, set up blogs and websites to feature their work. What do we get in return? What have these BJD companies done to show their appreciation for our efforts and for the free advertising we do? Do you feel like a valued customer?

I feel like the whole BJD industry has an air of greed these days. They claim the cost of production has increased. Perhaps so, but the prices have over the 6 years I’ve been in this hobby doubled, if not tripled in some cases, and yet there are a select few companies that have been able to keep their prices reasonable. BJD companies also use increasingly much marketing tools that are designed to squeeze more and more money out of their loyal fan base. The same tactics are making it very hard to buy the kind of doll you’d actually want. It has become a trend to discontinue the basic lines and release the same doll as an LE version with less custom choices. This enables the companies to add that couple hundred dollars again on top of the already outrageous price. Some companies only produce LE dolls with 1-14 days shopping windows, further complicating the shopping experience for us and making it more immediately profitable for them.

BJD companies constantly make irresponsible decisions that leave us buyers/BJD owners more vulnerable and in a disadvantage, such as discontinuing bodies and heads, so that if something breaks in your $1000 doll, you'll never get it replaced. Very few companies have a replacement part or re-face-up services readily available. Some, like Luts, downright refuse to sell parts in certain resin tones at all. Another extortionist tactic! You’d need to buy a whole new doll to get that spare part you need! With Soom I had to prove my identity, scan any the paperwork, have a witness and beg like a maniac to BUY an elbow joint to replace a broken one for my Chrom, that they then sold to me for $15 and grudgingly sent it to me with $20 EMS shipping. I got a $45 elbow joint after I paid the customs taxes for it. I can only imagine what it would have cost me if I’d broken a torso piece. They will reap profit from their buyers’ misfortune. Most of the time there are no guarantees that you’ll be able to get your doll fixed in any way if some accident happens to it.

As a buyer of a several hundred dollar custom product, we buyers are not allowed to have any say in how the finished product ends up looking. We are not sent pre-view photos of the doll before shipment. We’ll just get what we get, whether we like it not. It may not look anything like the promo, but we have no choice but to take that risk. We do not get to choose the face-up artist for our doll. We will get what we will get. We are not allowed to the opportunity to ask for alternations on a finished product. We’re not given any satisfaction guarantees on any level. We do not automatically get even the quality guaranteed. If you get a faulty product, you may or may not get compensated. We’re to just trust them implicitly and live with the consequences if something’s not to our liking. We can leave them feedback online, only we might get banned from that BJD company's website that you criticized publically and they might deny your purchasing rights in the future for expressing your dissatisfaction on their product. :(

I don't see any of this as being fair to us buyers, particularly considering the kind of sums of money we're talking about here. The higher end companies are usually the worst to deal with. The cheaper end companies are more likely to oblige you and agree to requests. With them you're also not gambling as much money as you are with the high profile firms, but then the smaller businesses are also more likely to go under and disappear on you in the middle of your transaction. There's just no winning for us in this game...

Unless something drastically changes in the policies and practices of certain BJD companies, I for one am not going be sending a penny their way ever again... Here's to happier BJD shopping!