Dave’s doll factory. 
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That’s what it feels like. I’m torn because I want to mention the name of Dave’s site less frequently as we’ve already done more than enough free advertisement to turn him into the Amazon of artdolls, but many of you still list there. The fact that your dolls may actually be selling better on Facebook, Etsy, eBay, or Instagram is inconsequential…
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I understand that. It is your art. Have fun with it. That is how I am looking at it because I don’t want to sell but I do want to improve. I tell myself have fun with it.
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You may have a point.
The thing is that the reason he gave us is nonsense.
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I do list there, but a fair number of my customers come from my own IG page. They click the link and pay because it’s easy.
Some do come from reborns itself, so it does help me sell dolls. Plus the other thing is that when I have no time to play around on IG, I list and don’t bother with it. They do sell eventually, usually not as fast as when I advertise.
With the sold dolls coming down that adopted screen nobody can see what I’m doing behind the scenes, they probably think all sales are just naturally coming from Dave’s Doll Factory. 
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I know that you have quite a following. If you had said you never advertised outside of DDF I’d have been very hard pressed to believe it.
It’s obvious which artists market the heck out of their own work. A bonus is that artists like you produce such beautiful work that you generate positive word of mouth recommendations from satisfied customers as well.
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Awww you are so sweet. My number of followers is quite small compared to some other artists. Some have 6,000, 8,000 or more followers. Really popular ones have 20 or 30,000!
You just reminded me of something though… some of the dolls that sell on that site come from repeat customers. I’ve seen others talk about that here and for sure some of mine are repeats.
One time a lady bought one doll. Half her friends and family bought a doll because they loved hers so much. I may have sold 6 or 7 dolls because of this lady and all of them came scrolling down the sold section like some random person bought a doll.
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I thought the same until someone stole my pic. Now I watermark the heck out of everything except WIP pics (I will now) and listings on reborns.
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I’m not too well versed in selling or web page design, so perhaps somebody that is can inform me.
Would it be possible to set up a free or cheap website as a landing page for your Instagram posts, so to speak? Could you imbed a link to PayPal yourself so that somebody could purchase a doll directly from you, cutting out the middle man? If so, I wonder how difficult that would be.
I remember a couple of decades ago, people used to link websites together in “rings” off at the side of the page. Does anybody else remember that? I’d be proud to link to some other reputable artists pages if I had a page and that was still a feasible possibility.
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I have started painting these dolls as I am usually a collector. I plan to eventually sell some of the dolls I make and maybe even a few from my personal collection. I’m nervous about not being allowed to watermark photos when I start selling. so far, I have sold a few blank kits on here and on eBay without the scammer stealing pictures issue. I don’t think eBay allows watermarks either. Does etsy allow pictures to have watermarks?
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Yes, I used to watermark my pictures on Etsy, now I just use a frame with my logo in my photos, because it’s easier than adding my watermark but as far as I know you can definitely add your logo to all your listing photos.
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@jlesser shared this with us:
https://discourse.bountifulbaby.com/t/logo-watermark/72361/24
https://discourse.bountifulbaby.com/t/logo-watermark/72361/27
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This is exactly why I decided to invest in building another selling site. Daves rules are dumb. And they are hurting us artists.
My goal is to curate a site that allows each artist to create their own page with a gallery of adopted dolls and an about the artist page. One where each artist has creative control of their own page and can add logos and even videos of the process if they want to. A showcase for each artist. If that makes sense.
I will be looking into how to prevent screenshots and right clicks. I just dont know how to prevent a screenshot. Although my bank does it. I cannot screenshot any of my banks pages when o am signed in. Not Sure if that’s my device or their website.
I just wish I could build the site faster. But it will be quite some time.
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I’m bothered by people on this forum who are selling dolls on reborns.com and totally bashing Dave. Please don’t misunderstand me. I would prefer that watermarks be allowed as some protection for sellers. Colors on the site I could care less about as long as my dolls keep selling. It is Dave’s site. I have never seen anything that even implies that the artists work for him. No one is required to sell there. It’s our choice. There are other selling options, so I don’t think it’s fair or right to blame Dave for slow sales, etc. People are forgetting that Dave has also made some changes in order to accommodate some of our wishes. Anyone can design their own website, with payment options, and do it exactly the way they want it instead of badmouthing someone who has successfully done exactly that.
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I’m looking forward to seeing your site. I like your ideas and hope you’ll continue to work on it.
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Dave’s site looks like an out of date scam site. To be honest.
I have no issue with how Dave runs things aside from the watermarks. It seems as tho he is trying to make it look like we all work for one company since we aren’t allowed to differentiate in photos.
But those are my only gripes regarding the site. He may have invested and built it. But without sellers its nothing. It would fall into internet obscurity quickly if not for artist support. So. He should listen to what artists want.
We all want to be able to watermark pictures.
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I’m excited for your venture. I’m sure you will come up with something fantastic!
I’ve never sold a doll using the other site, but I’m happy that it does work for some. All of my sales have been done privately. I did list my very first doll to a free nursery page back in 2018-19ish, but marked it as not being available, since we kept my first in the family. I had planned to build a bit of a portfolio that way, since I didn’t want the first doll I would list for sale there to be the only example of my work.
Neither my bank nor PayPal allow me to screenshot them. I also don’t know whether it’s built into the site/app or the phone. It would be wonderful to have that level of protection on photos posted though.
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It was not my intention to pick on Dave. I actually think he is a shrewd business man who has accomplished a lot. I just don’t agree with the watermark issue and do believe there are other reasons for that rule… unless someone else can tell me why a tasteful watermark or cute background pillow could actually cause a problem.
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Thank you so much @AnnieSokay and @jlesser
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I agree with you totally, I have thought the same thing for a long time now. If people go straight to the artist nursery, he loses is monthly fee. Why pay when you don’t have too.
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