Update Front Page on Reborns

I don’t, either. I don’t see any benefit in that.

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Your IP is not given out to buyers. Only paid members can see them. His thought was that it would help you see if they were scamming.

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yes, my understanding is that if someone messages you or you them and either one of you are a paid member then you can see the other person’s IP address in their messages.

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Well reading through all this almost made my head spin, but it does seem like things will be pretty much the way they were before the changes except with filters displayed differently. I hope that things work out for the best for everyone.

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I wish this could be optional instead of mandatory.

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I discussed the IP address with hubby and he says it is something anyone can find on you just by looking up your email. Amazon and FB gets them off every log in which is why you get targeted ads. I think overall it is ok but it is not my preference.

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ebay charges about 13% now, and they include shipping charges in that amount. Not crazy about them any more. I wonder if Etsy charges are still less.

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I just looked on there and there are no more reborn templates or any templates. I remember when there would be dozens listed. Pretty ones. I have one I still use but it looks like the lady I purchased it from on eBay is no longer there.

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Yeah, I feel dizzy just reading about all the changes.

Is he trying to make more money?? If so, he just needs to tell us that’s what he wants. And he keeps making changes before we can find out if they might work and he keeps adding and taking away things!

All a scammer would have to do is use a VPN to hide their IP, and so it probably doesn’t do much to show IPs in PMs. And IP numbers are visible in emails we send.

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Hubby said that too

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Hi, I’m just catching up on this drama. Thank to you everyone for the screenshots, I’m not a paying member right now, so the screenshots are really helpful. I maybe plan to come back to reborns do com when I have more dolls ready and if everything calms down (big if!)

While we’re talking about it, can someone please explain to me why Dave doesn’t allow watermarks on our photos? That’s one the biggest reasons I’m worried about rejoining. The scammers have gotten worse since I last sold on reborns.

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Thank you! I agree that all of those things are true. I still think we should be allowed watermark our photos, maybe with the exception of the thumbnail, because it at least helps protect us from the lazy thieves who don’t bother to remove the watermarks.

Quick example: I recently saw an account on TikTok of someone who claimed to be a doll artist. One of the videos she uploaded had a watermark on it, but I wasn’t clear if that was HER watermark, because plenty of legit artists are new to TikTok and don’t have a lot of followers there. I messaged her and asked her if she made the doll, and she said yes. Then, I Googled what the watermark said and found the real artist’s Instagram account and asked if that was her TikTok and it wasn’t, that was an identity thief. So yeah, on one hand the watermark made the scammer account look more legit, but on the other hand, the watermark helped me uncover the truth. What a mess.

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This is the crux.

He can’t please everyone.

I think a lot of people who got in this thinking they were going to stay at home and paint babies all day and get rich are looking for someone to blame. It is not Dave, it is not his selling platform, it is not PayPal, or the current President, or how much rain fell in January. It is just the way “business” works.

Honestly and sadly too many people got into this for the wrong reasons.

I personally turned it into a “business” so I could write off my losses, the IRS want their cut and call it income so I call it a business and write off my paper towels, paint, kits, brushes, baby clothes and don’t tell them but I even write off the chocolate I send with babies (even though I eat some of it!) If I want to keep making babies I have to sell a couple babies…

I paint babies because I love doing it.

I did make some money but not a ton and I didn’t depend on it. I would have never put all my eggs into the reborn basket. This was a great distraction and I was already working as an artist. For a while I could paint babies and turn down some boring projects I didn’t really want to do.

Times are slow now and I can ride it out or stop painting.

I am reading posts from people who lost the sale of a baby and can’t make their monthly bills or go see a new grandchild, or are going into debt.

It makes me sad.

Any business is a gamble.

This was never meant to be a way to make a living and feed your family. This is an expensive niche hobby: Buying, selling, trading, making, collecting.

We are not corporations, if anything we are the assembly line.

I don’t mean to be rude or ugly but the real money is made by the people supplying us. Dave used his skills to build a selling platform, as long as we make and sell babies he gets his cut. BB created a nice business selling us kits and paint and ideas, what they are doing is a business, they took a chance, they did the homework, they invested wisely, they had a business plan, they pay attention to the market, they also have margin for loss.

It is easy to get caught up. I know I have from time to time. I work from home, it gets lonely, I get bored and this can be a very nurturing and awesome community. Not always but mostly, I have met some really wonderful people here in the reborn community.

I am rambling, I just feel bad for people who invested what little they had in hopes that they were going to somehow hit the jackpot.

Some people did, but they worked hard for a long time and had exceptional skills and were in the right place at the right time.

Off my soap box.

BTW: I am not fa- girling Dave, I respect him as a business man, he is smart and he provides a service we need, same with BB, I love what they build as a family, they created a lot of fun for a lot of people.

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Sounds like price gouging to me.

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Not really gouging…I don’t sell on reborns…yet…but $30/ month (if that is truly the only fee) isnt half bad…especially since its not PER baby…I can see where it might get expensive if your doll doesn’t sell for a few months…but…compared to Ebay or Etsy fees…not too shabby of a deal.

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Exactly. It is not unreasonable at all compared to the alternatives. Maybe that new site is cheaper but then they are new and not getting all the foot traffic right now. I am not sure how I feel about that other site anyways.

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Try selling on Etsy or any other platform, its pretty fair.

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