Where has all the good stuff gone?

Hello everybody, puxlavoix here

I just came in from a long hiatus from the hobby after calling it quits and getting rid of everything doll related three and a half years ago only to find out that there's just no listings in the marketplace at all...  no place to resupply Tamaki's wardrobe 

No clothes, no wigs, no shoes, no props? No nothing? I mean yes, there's like 2 or 3 listing right now but there used to be dozens upon of them.

I know the migration to the new site was great and all but what happened in between? I'm I missing something? Was it deemed a forbidden activity, not fun/necessary anymore?

Haha kinda joking right here but yeah that's the spirit folks lol. I live outside the US and this used to be my main source of dd goodies by a long mile: fast, friendly, great used and new items.

It was the go to place for everything DD shopping related and seems like it's gone??

 

 

Hey there, welcome back! Yeah, unfortunately the second-hand marketplace here has dried up over the years. I think it's mostly because people have found other places to sell things faster, like Facebook and Instagram. I'd recommend Mandarake as well, their used selection is usually pretty decent.

Edited December 27, 2020 by Selenae

For myself, I haven't sold much here lately for a few reasons, including not needing to because I currently have enough money and space to not want to sell. But primarily,  since the pandemic started and then our government allowed our postal service to get messed up, I haven't trusted shipping things overseas. If I did post a sale this year it was for within the US only because of this.

I have things to sell (or trade!)..... just cannot at the moment. What with the pandemic and the malicious gutting of US Postal Service, mailing things is just far too nerve-racking right now!!

Already had a $100+ vanish into either back in June, am still too anxious to try again

Welcome back!  It's certainly been a while since we saw you. 

 

I think part of the reason we don't see the sales in the marketplace like we used to is two fold.  One reason is as others have stated.... other places are easier and seen better.  Like Facebook and Instagram and even Discord have really been killing it for sales.... at least for me they have.  Stuff shows up and gets sold super quick there and you see all kinds of cool stuff too.

The other reason is that with our move to a different platform, people find the new marketplace not as easy to use or at least that's what I think. There's no bumping of posts anymore so things aren't seen as easily.  I know the old marketplace was easy to use because it was just post based and the new one isn't so maybe that's another reason people don't sell as much here.

 

 

Billy

4 hours ago, Selenae said:

Hey there, welcome back! Yeah, unfortunately the second-hand marketplace here has dried up over the years. I think it's mostly because people have found other places to sell things faster, like Facebook and Instagram. I'd recommend Mandarake as well, their used selection is usually pretty decent.

Its great to be here 😃, definitely the online community is a great part for many of out not US based. 

Would you pleae point me in the right direction for the groups/people to try to do it on Facebook Instagram? I feel like such a newb, its like joining for the first time all again lol.

Also I didn't know mandarake had a second hand selection, maybe I'll look into that as well.

2 hours ago, Chise said:

I have things to sell (or trade!)..... just cannot at the moment. What with the pandemic and the malicious gutting of US Postal Service, mailing things is just far too nerve-racking right now!!

So bad to hear about that, its a shame. Shoot me a message if you decide to give it a try, will you maybe? I have family and relatives in the US... maybe we can work something out 😀

3 hours ago, Jezrah said:

For myself, I haven't sold much here lately for a few reasons, including not needing to because I currently have enough money and space to not want to sell. But primarily,  since the pandemic started and then our government allowed our postal service to get messed up, I haven't trusted shipping things overseas. If I did post a sale this year it was for within the US only because of this.

Maybe its like Chise said, and there are people who'd like to sell and trade but the current situation doesn't allow them to 🙄.

Talk about messed up postal services being messed up... I was kinda fearing the worst when I ordered Tamaki back in November even Japan Postal Service had a warning of severe delays and such... it took 6 weeks when it usually takes two and is usually faster than usps but at least she didn't got lost or stolen which was my greatest fear.

2 hours ago, baldylox said:

Welcome back!  It's certainly been a while since we saw you. 

 

I think part of the reason we don't see the sales in the marketplace like we used to is two fold.  One reason is as others have stated.... other places are easier and seen better.  Like Facebook and Instagram and even Discord have really been killing it for sales.... at least for me they have.  Stuff shows up and gets sold super quick there and you see all kinds of cool stuff too.

The other reason is that with our move to a different platform, people find the new marketplace not as easy to use or at least that's what I think. There's no bumping of posts anymore so things aren't seen as easily.  I know the old marketplace was easy to use because it was just post based and the new one isn't so maybe that's another reason people don't sell as much here.

 

 

Billy

Yeah its great to be back Billy, its been a long time. Last time you had the huge family of girls already but recently found out most Dollfie Dreams in the western hemisphere are staying at your household . 

Thanks for the comprehensive explanation, definitely sounds like those on top of the pandemic situation are behind the lack of activity in the marketplace.

However, I wonder what other's opinion on the matter is... I'm sure the current system could be tweaked into something better for the community if everybody agreed it needed to be changed. It's kind of a sad if it never gets back some of its former glory. 

I haven't have the best experiences on facebook buying or selling non DD related things cause its seems that people are unwilling to commit to a sale, but hey we DD people are trustworthy and committed so ill give it a shot... Would you care giving me any pointers Billy? 😬

 

Best!

IMHO: It's the same thing that killed the DoA marketplace: forcing each item into its own unique listing. For a lot of smaller items, the shipping cost doesn't make it worth it to buy just one or two things (especially with the current environment). Back when a person could put 20+ items in one listing, you could easily see that they actually had 5 or so items you wanted and now the shipping cost was reasonable. Plus listing it all, and updating as items were sold, was so much easier on sellers when it was just one post to manage. Also who wants the hassle of a whole listing for one $5 item? 

Covid is what did it in for me. I have a bunch of stuff to list but no drive to do it right now. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I have many things to sell but I rather do so on Facebook and Instagram too, because of three reasons. 

One, like Cauldroness, I can't be bothered putting a listing for a every little item here in the marketplace. It takes more time than just having a list of available stuff and even one photo with everything shown. 

Two, there's not as much activity like it was a few years ago so things tend to not sell fast or at all. The fact that the listing runs out after a specified amount of time and you'd have to make a new listing again doesn't help. 

Three, I'd like to know some feedback of the buyers and sellers I do business with and with the option to make your account private you also hide your feedback. A person can have horrible feedback but it won't be visible since they can just make the account private. I had one transaction with such a private buyer and I was just told not to do business with them when I'm not sure about their reputation. 

It looks to me as if anything the migration to the new site somehow hit the community on one of its core activities by embedding those silly marketplace rules into the site itself.

I get that people has now found a way to continue trading but whats the point of having the forums if people is forced to go outside to another platform 

Eventually that same people will find ways to bump into each other in more organic and fulfilling ways.  Maybe that's already happening  cause the forums used to be so enriched and full of life and now even lifetime veteran users are nowhere to be found.

I guess it's a case of "if it aint broken don't fix it" 

Sigh... 

I, too, am looking for secondhand options! I'm new to this hobby but love acquiring stuff secondhand when possible. Let me know if you find anything and welcome back 

Though it's absolutely true that people sell more on Facebook and Instagram anymore... I've also seen fewer sales in both of those places.

I think the whole shipping situation (because of the pandemic) has made everyone extra nervous about shipping. 

On 1/28/2021 at 7:14 AM, Hollytastic said:

Though it's absolutely true that people sell more on Facebook and Instagram anymore... I've also seen fewer sales in both of those places.

I think the whole shipping situation (because of the pandemic) has made everyone extra nervous about shipping. 

Yup, I agree--doubly so with anything international, because it's so hard to keep track of which shipping services are still going to which countries, and when there are restrictions, the remaining methods available can be cost prohibitive. For example, last I checked Japan Post still isn't delivering to the US, and no private-person-to-private-person sale is going to make sense with DHL.