Buying DD's from Taobao

So I'm wanting to buy a DD from Taobao but have never prushaced from there before. Would I need a proxy? Can someone let me know about their experiences and what they did.

 

~Thnks~

If you are outside of China you need a proxy (although recently I think they added support for Japan, although I haven't tried it). There are a lot of different proxies available, I used one back in 2016 called TaobaoTrends in order to get some doll clothes and magnetic antlers, which worked pretty well, it was just a matter of giving them the URLs for what I wanted. They sent me a photo of all the stuff when it arrived and then packed it together to send back to me, I was impressed that they fitted it into such a small package too.

 

I have never actually heard of buying a DD on taobao, though. Is there any reason why you're using that site in particular? Remember that the prices are in chinese yuan and not yen (just in case you thought things were cheaper than they are)

 

I also know that Taobao is a haven for counterfeit items - although so is ebay - but I don't believe a DD on there would be counterfeit (although I'd like to know what others think about this).

Edited January 22, 2018 by Guest

I also know that Taobao is a haven for counterfeit items - although so is ebay - but I don't believe a DD on there would be counterfeit (although I'd like to know what others think about this).

I have never seen a fake DD?

The DD I'm after isn't on manadrake or eBay anymore

I also know that Taobao is a haven for counterfeit items - although so is ebay - but I don't believe a DD on there would be counterfeit (although I'd like to know what others think about this).

I have never seen a fake DD?

Neither, but I always hear conflicting accounts about whether they exist or not. I would assume they are as legit as the ones on ebay, if there are any there. I've heard rumours of DD heads being recast in resin, but the bodies would be far too labour and cost effective to bootleg (unless they just whacked the recasted head onto a random resin body, anyway. However, i have never seen proof of these rumours myself.)

I would just be cautious. A lot of the Taobao prices are not the total cost of the doll -- they are the deposit only for a shopping service. The seller then finds the doll for you and charges you whatever extra you owe.

 

So you'd have:

~ Proxy fees for your Taobao agent

~ International shipping from the agent to you

~ Domestic shipping from the seller to the agent

~ The initial deposit for the doll shopping service

~ Whatever else the seller charges you (which could be 5x the deposit or more depending on the doll)

The DD I'm after isn't on manadrake or eBay anymore

 

Try Yahoo Japan Auctions or Hobby Jungle too. I've seen DD disappear from Yahoo Japan for a month only to have four more of them NIB pop up the next month.

The DD I'm after isn't on manadrake or eBay anymore

If I may ask, which are you searching for?

I also know that Taobao is a haven for counterfeit items - although so is ebay - but I don't believe a DD on there would be counterfeit (although I'd like to know what others think about this).

I have never seen a fake DD?

Neither, but I always hear conflicting accounts about whether they exist or not. I would assume they are as legit as the ones on ebay, if there are any there. I've heard rumours of DD heads being recast in resin, but the bodies would be far too labour and cost effective to bootleg (unless they just whacked the recasted head onto a random resin body, anyway. However, i have never seen proof of these rumours myself.)

 

 

So far only a DD body was recasted, I don't remember where the post was, but someone posted here that they bought a resin DD body at a con believing it was the DDI body(which isn't made of resin, it's made of hard vinyl). Other than that I haven't seen any recasts of anything. But I would still be wary, Volks has stated they have gotten both SD and DD counterfeits into their servicing.

The DD I'm after isn't on manadrake or eBay anymore

If I may ask, which are you searching for?

 

MDD Arle

The MDD Arle on Mandrake is gone?!? I didn't know that. I was saving up for her

 

Is she available on taobao?

The MDD Arle on Mandrake is gone?!? I didn't know that. I was saving up for her

 

Is she available on taobao?

The one Mandarake got in a couple of nights ago? She sold very quickly. I'm usually sitting here browsing this forum or doing other things around the time of night they do their updates and I refresh that page a few times an hour; when I first saw her she was already sold.

 

Price was 120,000 yen and given how rare I get she is from reading here I was surprised she wasn't higher.

 

To be clear, I'm not looking for her; I just noticed the listing. So I'm not competing with you. At the moment I'm just looking for clothing, and also MDDs aren't my thing.

I already said this to Lexicat when they PMd me but just in case anyone else was wondering, the Arle on Taobao they showed me cost more than I have ever seen her go for on mandarake or yahoo after you convert the yuan (and that's not even counting proxy fees). She actually pops up on yahoo with some regularity, and is typically around the 120000 mark. (I dont think I've seen her for more than that?) I actually just missed out two separate listings for a head -and- a fullset about 2 weeks ago. The head ended up selling for about 60,000 yen and the fullset about 95,000.

 

My advice to anyone who wants her is to be patient and wait and see if she gets a rerelease from the poll this year (after voting for her as much as possible). That's what I'm doing, anyway. There seems to be significant support for her already, so I feel like she has a decent chance. Obviously there's no guarantee that WILL happen, but it would suck to pay that much for her and then find out you could have gotten her for her RRP after all. (and even if she does get rereleased and you lose the lottery, the increase of Arles into the wild will drop her resale value at least a little) (well, unless you can afford to throw down that much and dont mind, in which case I'd just wait for her to pop up on mandarake and yahoo again. she's always been expensive but I wouldn't call her 'rare' because I see her pretty regularly.)

The MDD Arle on Mandrake is gone?!? I didn't know that. I was saving up for her

 

Is she available on taobao?

 

Yeah they had two and both are sold

 

My advice to anyone who wants her is to be patient and wait and see if she gets a rerelease from the poll this year (after voting for her as much as possible). That's what I'm doing, anyway. There seems to be significant support for her already, so I feel like she has a decent chance.

 

That sounds like really sound advice. Taobao just seems too dodgy for a DD to me.

 

Try posting a want-to-buy in the forum markets too. There may be someone here who has one they want to let go. There is also a Dollfie Dream facebook group for Doll Sales/Trades, and you can post a want-to-buy there too.

 

They have a separate feedback group on facebook iirc.

 

Get the word out that you want one while waiting for the Volks poll to give results, and you may get lucky while you wait.

My advice to anyone who wants her is to be patient and wait and see if she gets a rerelease from the poll this year (after voting for her as much as possible). That's what I'm doing, anyway. There seems to be significant support for her already, so I feel like she has a decent chance.

 

That's really good advice. I think that I'll do this. Hopefully she'll get enough votes that Volks will re-release her *fingers crossed*