Stating where you purchased

I’m not sure if I like this idea of stating where you bought the kits. I have a large stash, all purchased from legitimate sites, some years ago, but I couldn’t tell you which sites if my life depended on it. I understand it’s a way to, hopefully, reduce the amount of fakes people sell, but my concern is that if the seller doesn’t know, the buyer may think it’s a fake and report it as such.

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I just search the kit up in my emails.

I dont delete reborn related emails.

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I seriously doubt that everyone always knows and doesn’t just put down BB if it is a BB kit and whatever reborn site they usually purchase from. I don’t see it as being anything reliable to prevent anything really.

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IMO, if you have legit COA it doesn’t matter from where you purchased it.

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Ya sometimes I feel like all the options to fill out is getting ridiculous.

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I definitely feel that it’s nobody’s business where I purchase what. Unless they’re paying for it I have total say. As long as I have COA it doesn’t matter. If it’s a kit that didn’t come with a COA, it still doesn’t matter. If someone doesn’t trust that I’m using legitimate kits they can not purchase from me. Buh bye. :wave:

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I agree.

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Question about those COAs on AliExpress. Have you ever seen those? I’ve seen them advertised, they are blurred out. I never really investigated them, it’s aggravating to see the lengths they will go to deceive someone. However, If they do look the same, then we’re back to square one. I totally agree with you, just haven’t been very active and not sure how those fake ones are handled.

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I have and they look pretty legit! I bought a Nevaeh and Sam a while back from another artist on FB and have thought they were authentic until just a few weeks ago when I was going through my kits and realized they had no neck markings, the flange numbers are correct but Nevaeh also had a number on the front like all the fakes do. I’m pretty upset about it, I love Nevaeh, her advertising pics had legit markings, I paid a decent amount for her and thought I had a great SOLE in my collection :roll_eyes: But had I not randomly inspected the kits I never would have known, based on the Coa’s and the kits are identical in every way, except the neck markings! And I’m educated about fakes, had I not been my reputation could have easily been destroyed, so it’s a good reminder if you buy second market to look closely when you get them. I haven’t seen a real Neveah kit to compare, but Sam feels like the same exact vinyl as the Sam kits I’ve had. I tossed them, I don’t want to accidentally mix them up with my regular kits, but here’s pics of the COA’s

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Thats crazy. Ugh

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I don’t know I have never even been on AliExpress. I only buy from dealers or doll friends who buy from dealers so I never worry about my COA’s, I know they’re legit.

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That is terrible. I though COA is a seal of proof, but now I would not trust even that.
Only markings.

Those written numbers on both COAs looks written or just photoprinted?

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They’ll be copying markings next and even if sculptors won a lawsuit against them, how can it be enforced when they’re coming from a country that has no copyright laws? Fake products of all kinds have become an unpleasant fact of life. :sob: It stinks.

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They are written! In shiny marker even, so when I first saw them I assumed they were real.

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Wow! Just wow! :scream: :sob:

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Yeah I don’t know if they came like that or if she wrote them when she pulled the bait and switch.

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I don’t mind it. I only buy from Macphersons, Bountiful Baby, Dolls By Sandie, and Irresistables. I have once or twice purchased directly from the artist. I have also purchased from other artists but only here on the forum from people I know.

There is no way to know if I have sold a knock off in the past, I just didn’t know back then, the only way it could have happened is if an artist I knew passed off a kit that they were unaware that it was a fake.
I hope I didn’t.

I am painting down my stash and have a box full of “parts” I am not sure how it happened but I am guessing I am not the only one. Not sure how I feel about using them to Frankenstein a couple babies, I don’t want to risk having a knock off arm or leg and people going ham on me. Maybe I will teach a class with them, I keep telling myself I will go to the senior center and teach a very basic baby class, air dry, bald babies, just for fun, the ladies there are kinda awesome and always looking for something new to do.

[One day I will be there getting my 3.00 lunch, playing Rummy, doing puzzles, and yoga on Sunday. It is so weird to think about it, it feels a million years away but it really isn’t. I am not sure I am going to do old gracefully.]

If you don’t have the COA just don’t check any box, you can explain in the description or notes. Many of us here are painters most people know so I think we should be ok.

I kind of like the little speed bumps, it keeps people honest (sorta).

If it’s a realborn you most likely bought it here so that is easy enough. If you can’t remember and you don’t have a COA just do your best to authenticate it and write in the notes that It was purchased from another known artist (assuming it was) and you don’t have the COA but it has been authenticated. It’s really all you can do.

People shopping on Reborns are a mixed bag, some care about knock-offs some don’t, some care about COA, some don’t.

Reborns is still the only place that will not (knowingly) sell knock offs. What ever you feel about the site or Dave you have to hand it to him, he is keeping us safe, keeping the knock offs out, he doesn’t sell our information, and he is loyal to us, he does value our working with him. It’s a win-win.

For me selling on FB, IG, or eBay is a gamble and I am not about the headache and uncertainty. I like to keep it simple. I miss Etsy but I don’t miss the fees. I think I might be black-listed, I had some heated back and forth about the 12% fee for 3rd party marketing, and I have reported knock offs a million times.

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One of the sculptors- cannot recall who said that some of the illegal productions of the kit were made from molds created from 3D scans- kind of like the Realborns. Therefore the proportions and markings can be correct. I do not know what the answer is other than to only purchase from a dealer- which means I will be stuck with a lot of authentic kits if I decide to stop painting.

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That really stinks. When I first saw the crop of fake COA’s, I thought, now how is this possible? I guess where there’s a will there’s always a way. :unamused:

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Those of us who know of each other will still be ok selling to each other I think. And unfortunately as was mentioned elsewhere, many buying on reborns don’t care one way or another so you can still sell them there probably.

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