Hi everyone, I’ve just ordered 2 “clone” kits from Aliexpress because I’m a beginner and I can’t afford real kits yet. I believe I’ve practiced enough on the little vynil doll I bought some time ago, and I’m ready to paint and assemble a real-sized kit. I’m running low on money and I’d like to start selling my creations if I manage to make them look decent. I would order a cheaper kit from Bountiful Baby but the shipping to my country is really expensive… Of course, I would specify to the buyer that the baby’s kit is not original and doesn’t come with a certificate, and I’d sell it for a much cheaper price (my first and only reborn is also a clone and I paid 166 euros for her, but I love her nonetheless)
I feel quite ashamed asking this but being fair is really important to me…
BTW the kits I ordered are Twin B (my favorite baby) and Tink
EDIT: Thank you everybody for your replies, I canceled my order and hopefully I can get a full refund so that I can save it up to buy a real kit. I did not realize how insensitive it is to use stolen kits and now I’m glad I know. I thought it was somewhat okay because I’m really new to reborning, and I’d seen several people selling reborns that now I know are illegal. I’ll be more careful in the future! Happy reborning <3
Buying the knock off kits is generally a big no no honestly. Most sell sites do not allow those in the groups. Technically, they are stolen kits from the genuine sculptors.
Honestly, I’d cancel that order.
Knockoffs seriously hurt the sculptors and are technically illegal as well. Many people hate them and you’re not allowed to sell them on several different pages. You’d hurt your reputation before you’ve even properly started reborning!
Bountiful baby isn’t the only legit website. Look around and find one in your country.
I would not be buying or selling illegally reproduced kit. It is stolen from the sculptor, so if you already purchased it I would return it or use it for test parts.
I understand that kits are costly, but I really would suggest that you go to Facebook, search for The Bonnie Brown Collection and read the posts written by Bonnie Brown who sculpted Twin B and Tink. Every illegal kit produced and sold whether as completed doll or blank vinyl is theft from Bonnie. It is how she supports herself and this is hurting her. She posted recently that she is considering producing kits limited to an edition of 100 and sold only to select artist or only in silicone. This means that those of us who have never bought an illegal kit may not get the chance to buy anymore of Bonnie’s kits. For this reason (and others) you should not continue on with purchasing and selling “clones.” Moreover, in the end you will ruin your own reputation.
You will absolutely damage your reputation in the reborn community if you use knock-off kits. Since you are new people will be kind and let you know it’s not okay, but if you decided to use them anyway you will have some not so nice backlash. The knock off kits are hurting the reborn community, both the sculptors and the reborn artists. Those kits are also not regulated since they are stolen copies, there is no way of knowing what potentially toxic substances are in these kits.
Since tone is often hard to gauge in an online forum, please know that everyone warning you are doing so in kindness. Sometimes people who are new judge the tone in these warnings as mean and/or snobby, but please know that most of us are not intending our words to come out that way. We speak (type) with genuine concern, to protect you as a new reborner and to protect the reborn community as a whole.
Thank you and everyone else for your kind words! I just edited my post saying I canceled my order because I realized I was doing a bad thing, and coming across as ignorant and probably insensitive. When I’ll have the chance, I’ll make sure to buy a real kit with a COA. Thank you all again!
Thank you for listening and understanding! I hope you stick around on the forum, it’s a great place to be, full of helpful info and a bunch of people who love reborns!
Good for you! You are better off buying BB seconds until you have gotten good enough at reborning to make a profit and can invest in non-BB kits priced a bit higher.
I’m glad you took the advice the right way!
Were are you located? If you’re from Europe, I know several good European websites where you can buy legit kits.
Thank you for linking this website, their kits are beautiful! And it’s great that it already has a linked cloth body so that I don’t have to look for the right size somewhere else (like in this other website I might buy from). I live in Italy and my only concern when it comes to other European websites is the shipping costs, and how long it will take to get here. Thank you for your help
