Volks News 75

Hey, I figure I should ask -- for a lot of the new outfit lines, I'm planning on waiting til they show up on VolksUSA to buy them instead of Volks Int., but occasionally things don't show up in the USA store, right?

 

Correct, USA seems to get a subset of what gets released in the Japan events. Not sure if there is any rhyme or reason to it. I'm guessing USA just buys what they think will sell here.

 

Volks US gets whatever is leftover from the Japan sales. They have no say in what they get. We are treated as a secondary market and we're lucky ANYTHING shows up at the US store at all.

 

 

 

Billy

Volks US gets whatever is leftover from the Japan sales. They have no say in what they get. We are treated as a secondary market and we're lucky ANYTHING shows up at the US store at all.

 

 

Although I slightly disagree, there's many outfits for the October lottery(US) which are actually sold out(within the same day) in the International store. I am sure the international store leaves some of their stock aside for the US store. But I do agree that the US is treated more as a secondary market. We get significantly less stock than the international store gets.

 

Example: Ribbon Girl restock there was about 20 in stock in the international store. The US only got about 2-4 of them.

Volks US gets whatever is leftover from the Japan sales. They have no say in what they get. We are treated as a secondary market and we're lucky ANYTHING shows up at the US store at all.

 

 

Although I slightly disagree, there's many outfits for the October lottery(US) which are actually sold out(within the same day) in the International store. I am sure the international store leaves some of their stock aside for the US store. But I do agree that the US is treated more as a secondary market. We get significantly less stock than the international store gets.

 

Example: Ribbon Girl restock there was about 20 in stock in the international store. The US only got about 2-4 of them.

 

The reason I was thinking Volks USA may just buy what they think will sell is that their sales model seems to be based on people pre-paying for items before Volks International ships to them. Now I could just be reading too much into their need to make sure dolls are paid for before they get shipped across the ocean, and I'll be the first to admit Billy with his legion of pint sized minions has way more experience in this hobby than I do.

Volks US gets whatever is leftover from the Japan sales. They have no say in what they get. We are treated as a secondary market and we're lucky ANYTHING shows up at the US store at all.

 

 

Although I slightly disagree, there's many outfits for the October lottery(US) which are actually sold out(within the same day) in the International store. I am sure the international store leaves some of their stock aside for the US store. But I do agree that the US is treated more as a secondary market. We get significantly less stock than the international store gets.

 

Example: Ribbon Girl restock there was about 20 in stock in the international store. The US only got about 2-4 of them.

 

The reason I was thinking Volks USA may just buy what they think will sell is that their sales model seems to be based on people pre-paying for items before Volks International ships to them. Now I could just be reading too much into their need to make sure dolls are paid for before they get shipped across the ocean, and I'll be the first to admit Billy with his legion of pint sized minions has way more experience in this hobby than I do.

 

I had a HUGE diatribe written here and deleted it all because it went WAY off topic. All I can say is that when it comes to the clothing sets, the US store is dealt an extremely low number of them to sell or lottery off compared to the Japanese stores. The US store KNOWS it'll sell pretty much whatever new items come out so why would they shoot themselves in the foot by not getting as many as they could buy if that were the case?

 

The doll thing I understand tho. Wanting to sell all of the dolls you make is business 101. You don't want stock sitting on shelves because it's not making you any money there. I don't blame them one bit for doing the down payments and limiting things a little on fullset dolls.

 

I don't know for certain that the US store doesn't buy their items from Volks Japan but it really seems that with how many things show up as available here at online events, they get small numbers of things sent to them and have no say in it. The Ribbon Girl set is a great example. It's a super popular set so if they had the availability to buy them, why only get 2-4 of them? It'd make more sense to buy ALL of what was available to them because they know it would sell out. That being said, I guarantee you that they were only allowed that small number to sell because......

 

I think they are allotted a very small number of things or just get what's left over from events because Volks Japan looks out for their main market first and foremost. We all know this to be true because their sales model is really odd compared to what we're used to seeing here in North America. If they were after making as much money as they could, Volks would make a lot higher numbers of outfit sets to sell and the US store would get WAY more things than it does. But this all goes back to the thought process of the Japanese loving limited items and short runs of things.

 

Bah, I went off and ranted anyways. Dang it.

 

 

 

Billy

 

I think they are allotted a very small number of things or just get what's left over from events because Volks Japan looks out for their main market first and foremost. We all know this to be true because their sales model is really odd compared to what we're used to seeing here in North America. If they were after making as much money as they could, Volks would make a lot higher numbers of outfit sets to sell and the US store would get WAY more things than it does. But this all goes back to the thought process of the Japanese loving limited items and short runs of things.

From an American business perspective, this practice seems very weird to us, almost foreign.

 

From a Japanese business perspective, this makes quite a bit of sense and is a necessity to continue doing business in Japan for a "niche" and "small business" like Volks. For a Japanese business , brand perception is an extremely powerful thing, even more than in the US. A company that is seen prioritizing the other markets over the local market loses a lot of credibility both with consumers, channel partners, distributors, manufacturers... pretty much the entire supply chain. For a Japanese company, this reputation is the highest value asset they have and maintaining it is priority #1. It is much more important than market share, product distribution, and yes, even profit. From a Japanese business perspective, without a good reputation, none of the other items can exist as a company in Japan with a poor reputation goes out of business. We've seen this with numerous other Japanese conglomerates, where a reputation hit to the company results in the CEO effectively committing corporate seppuku by resigning, issuing a very strong apology, and then disappearing from public eye forever. Similarly, the Japanese consumers and market have nearly zero tolerance for scandal, appearance of scandal, and any impropriety. Any person showing hints of those is immediately shoved out of public eye and forgotten (this is especially true for actors and idols).

 

Similarly, if a company (Japanese or otherwise) is not seen as giving good treatment to local consumers and partners, that means that the business relationships suffer as well. Other Japanese firms will shy away from doing business with them and hold them at arms length in business dealings. Any potential pricing advantages, special favors, or forgivenesses are gone. That company will effectively get the lowest priority in all business dealings underneath the companies that are "certified Japanese." Yes, that's actually a real thing that non-Japanese companies can apply for. Thinking about it in 1st grade terms, a non-Japanese company has cooties. Sure, you'll stand around them maybe talk to them. if you touch them, all of your friends will point and laugh at you and then take half a step away from you.

 

Given the economic culture in Japan, I'd say Volks behavior is pretty justified for the sake of their home market, even as an international consumer, I get the short end of the stick.

 

Bah, I went off and ranted anyways. Dang it.

Yes you did. Very far off in the weeds. And I went looking for you. XD

Edited October 22, 2017 by Guest

I don't know for certain that the US store doesn't buy their items from Volks Japan but it really seems that with how many things show up as available here at online events, they get small numbers of things sent to them and have no say in it. The Ribbon Girl set is a great example. It's a super popular set so if they had the availability to buy them, why only get 2-4 of them? It'd make more sense to buy ALL of what was available to them because they know it would sell out. That being said, I guarantee you that they were only allowed that small number to sell because......

 

Yeah, I hadn't considered Ribbon girl or the Miku stuff, but I can understand that in the case of limited items USA would get the leavings to sell several month after the after event. I was thinking more in terms of the ordinary outfits, which they do seem to get in decent quantities. I've griped about this before, but the Miku items are just so pricey I never try for them. They usually have little mix and match potential too, so they just never seem worth the price in the end when I can get three of the Blue/White/Pink Label, or White Rose items for the same money.

 

I think real estate costs play a role too. The country is 87% mountainous and it's geologically active. Not sure if this is still true today, but moving goods around the country took place by boat not rail during WWII, because it just was't feasible to build rail through geologically active mountains. They have 13% land leftover for agriculture and cities, and people mostly live around the coastline. They are very space conscious with low consumption rates compared to the US, and businesses in general don't have the space to have extra stock in a storeroom for months.

 

If you're only going to buy a few items then you probably want them to be extra special, and not something everyone else has.

 

I remember American's griping at the cost of the PS3, but when I first saw it I realized it was multi-function, looked nice, and made to stand on it's side and take little space. Basically it was made to appeal to the needs of the Japanese consumer, and that drove up the price point.

HOLY ****!

 

I managed to get a Type 2020 into my cart and checked out!

I only got the red one. The blue one (The one I wanted most.) was out of stock in the time it took my web browser to load the page. Guess I'm going to be haunting the page in hopes one shows up.

 

On an aside, I also got all the bra/pantsu sets and a pair of sneakers too. I'd say I did alright for my 1st click war.

 

Still sad I didn't get the blue Miku outfit. Sigh. There's still the Volks USA lottery next year to get it, I hope.

I only got the red one. The blue one (The one I wanted most.) was out of stock in the time it took my web browser to load the page. Guess I'm going to be haunting the page in hopes one shows up.

 

On an aside, I also got all the bra/pantsu sets and a pair of sneakers too. I'd say I did alright for my 1st click war.

 

Still sad I didn't get the blue Miku outfit. Sigh. There's still the Volks USA lottery next year to get it, I hope.

 

I've seen stuff pop up in stock weeks after a clickwar, so as long as it still says Will Be Restocked it can happen.

The checking back paid off. I just finished placing an order for it. Mission complete!!

That Karin doll looks like a cow from certain angles and the sweetest girl from others. Towa on the other hand just looks dimwitted.

 

Why is Karin seen wearing the Ruffle Blouse Set (pink) designed for the smaller bodies. Is the DDS body that comparable to a DDP that DDS clothes should fit?

Congrats! I was only after the blue one, so I'm happy.

 

Now if there could be a DD version of Haku's Gothic Purple set. Luka's Fraulein module would be really nice too.

Why is Karin seen wearing the Ruffle Blouse Set (pink) designed for the smaller bodies. Is the DDS body that comparable to a DDP that DDS clothes should fit?

 

Volks made it for both the small girls and big girls, and Karin is wearing the big girls version.

Volks made it for both the small girls and big girls

 

That would probably go a long way toward explaining it.

Volks made it for both the small girls and big girls

 

That would probably go a long way toward explaining it.

 

I noticed this time around a lot of the MDD outfits are mini versions of DD outfits Volks has been making for a while.

Now that I'm in the correct thread, has anyone gotten shipping notices yet? I placed two orders due to one item running out of stock the 1st time around, and I got a notice for said second order. The original order still is only showing confirmed. Do they not ship stuff in order received? Or do they sometimes not get the system updated and ship anyway?

I got my shipping notice over night. I only ordered one thing, like your second order, sinclair.

My order had been updated to shipped by this morning as well.

Also got my shipping notice this morning (very early AM).

Both the miku 2020 outfits are in stock on volks int.

I'm going to the PO today to get the 2020 outfit. No one was home when they tried to deliver yesterday. The other (2020II) is exiting LA customs, so I should get it Friday if someone is home when they try to deliver, else It'll probably be Monday before I get it.

The October stuff goes up for lottery on Volks USA Dec 8th - 11th. The 2020 outfits aren't on that lottery page though. Those are on the special lottery that ends closes on the 27th at 9 AM a pacific.

 

http://volksusastore.com/webstores/event/index.php?dispatch=categories.view&category_id=1388

 

http://volksusastore.com/webstores/event/index.php?dispatch=categories.view&category_id=1381

Just put in my entry for the blue 2020 outfit. Fingers crossed! I'm glad I scrolled through the whole email they sent; I almost missed the banner for it.

I forgot to order the sweetheart hands. ;A;

Just put in my entry for the blue 2020 outfit. Fingers crossed! I'm glad I scrolled through the whole email they sent; I almost missed the banner for it.

 

If you don't get it, Volks Int still has both of them as of last night when I looked. And an FYI for those that want to know, after a quick check last night, it doesn't look like the socks stain. I'll know for sure in a couple days when I get around to changing her into the red one from the blue one she's been wearing for a couple weeks now.