Does Anyone Import and Resell Dolls?

I have a sideline buying and selling Lego sets. It's really profitable, although less so now I've switched jobs and no longer have the lucrative store discounts scheme that was a perk in my old job. I wondered if anyone was into buying and selling dolls, and whether I should diversify into these.

I wouldn't trade Dollfies because it would be a major catastrophe if a high value doll was involved in an eBay scam. Also they're too specialised really, with comparatively few collectors (at least in the UK).

I did a quick bit of research into Blythes. My sister in law has one and I see there are a lot on Mandarake and eBay. I'm not a fan of them but there is a big Blythe scene in the UK. The trouble is there would be very little profit once shipping fees and taxes were taken into account. JPY/GBP is quite volatile too.

Are there any other types of doll I could look at? Azones seem a good choice, although the Sugar Cups are most popular in the UK (and everywhere else?) and they don't really appear at a decent price on Mandarake.

Failing that, I guess I could import some other type of anime collectible. There's plenty of people who just cannot be bothered to import stuff from Japan (not least because not everybody has a credit card).

I don't really think a collectors forum is the best place to essentially ask "What should I buy and scalp?"
I would say that most of us would actually look down on this practice.

That aside, if you are actually serious about importing and selling dolls like Azone, I would suggest looking into becoming an official distributor. I don't have links or details for that, but it doesn't seem to be impossible. There are numerous retailers outside of Japan that are able to import Azone products officially.

Edited December 15, 2022 by Subaru

Thanks - yeah that's a possibility. We do have a Dollfie friends store in the UK which saves a lot of hassle with imports, and it's also great for small things like bodysuits.