I was all excited a few weeks ago when I sold two babies in two days. I thought things were starting to pick up but since then zip, crickets, nothing.
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As if we didn’t have enough competition in this market already, now we have to compete with kit sites offering painting services for Reborns. For around $275, they will make a complete, bald doll. 
https://www.dollssoreal.com/collections/doll-kits-by-artist/products/basic-reborn-painting-assembly-for-your-doll-kit
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Wow… I have no words. I get an artist offering a service and I get that dollssoreal May have artists on their team but it feels…off… to advertise on their doll supplies website. If it was advertised elsewhere and for an actually reasonable price it might be okay. It just feels weird and it’s way too cheap. It may not directly take customers from us but it will give customers an unrealistic and unreasonable idea of what a reborn actually costs to make.
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Right?! We might as well all team up and create an assembly line. Each paint a layer or whichever step is next in the process so we can produce lots of dolls cheaply so we can compete. Nobody seems to care about art anymore anyway. 
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The Dolls So Real painting service only includes light painting, creasing and blushing-no veins and bald. Kit, eyes, lashes, wig and clothes are all added to the $175.00. So, it’s not $175 for a completed reborn.
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Someone after a doll for their child or a starter reborn may go for it, but collectors wouldn’t even look at this twice.
Overall I agree with @MilosMeadows. I know that people offer kit painting services, but something about this feels off . Sell kits to artists, then compete with them for business. Hmmmm… have to sit with this for a while.
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The painting service is $175. It includes a basic paint job, weighting and assembly, magnets, and a shirt and diaper. Add the kit price…$60-120 depending on the sculpt…and you have a complete reborn for around $275, just like I said. 
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Personally, I would rather buy a quality painted reborn. I understand where you are coming from. After making my own and not selling a reborn, it is truly an art.
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If you look at the sample pictures, the babies do not look all that great. You can definitely tell that they are minimally painted. I think that it is a safe alternative for those that are looking for “cheap” reborns as play babies or nursing home babies. It does kind of set a bar for those of us that are putting in more time and effort. After seeing this, I feel comfortable raising my prices and if someone wants to low-ball me, I will simply send them the link and say (more graciously than this, but essentially), “this is what you get for $225 - a basic bald sleeper with no lashes whose blank kit costs $45. Want anything more than that and you will pay a premium price. Mine are better, sorry not sorry.”
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You get what you pay for, a wig, glued on eyelashes and lightly painted. I would pass if I were looking for a doll. I do think it is a crap thing to do to doll artists that you sell kits to. I know many suppliers sell repainted kits, it annoys me but everyone needs to make a buck. We just need to make some really beautiful babies.
Some Reborn artists are offering “affordable/ budget reborns”. I understand they are trying to sell to people who may want a doll for a young child, a memory home, or maybe to someone who doesn’t have 500 bucks for a baby but it kinda rubs me wrong. I do sell some babies less expensively if I am experimenting with a new the unique or the baby just didn’t turn out like I planned.
It’s a slippery slope.
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I sold lots of “affordababies” when I first started. It is a great way for newbies to be able to experiment with new techniques. I thought about making some budget babies this Christmas too. But I decided to leave that market for the newbies. I don’t blame anyone who does offer budget babies, regardless of skill. It’s a tough market and everyone has a right to do whatever they have to to make a sale. But I personally appreciated having that price range available as a newby. So I’ll try to leave it for them. If I had time, I would make some inexpensive ones for family and friends. But I don’t even have time for that.
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I painted a budget minded cuddle baby, but when it came time to put it up for sale, I felt like I didn’t want it associated with me as my style or level of painting. That is purely a personal opinion and choice. I am going to donate her to a nursing home I have decided.
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I’ve sold 5 babies in the last 24hrs on etsy. It seems like it comes in bursts, sell a ton in one day, and then nothing for a week.
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Nice, congrats
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Congrats! I think so too! I sold two or three in a week, then nothing for a week, but another today. I’ve also found that Sundays, Mondays, and Thursdays are more active for me.
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Same for me but Friday instead of Thursday usually. I think sales are definitely picking up. I got 2 a day apart and some potential custom orders coming in.
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I get a lot of attention on Thursday for people that are getting ready for their paychecks Friday too I guess. I just sold Kyrie too, who has set for a few weeks with no bites, so I do think it is picking up.
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Congratulations on you double sale today, Aly! Great job!
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Woot! that is amazing!
I’m seeing ‘babies for adoption’ on reborns.com going up and down like a yo-yo, so people are buying.
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