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Miss Reborner · Senior Member

Secrist kits on ebay

precious_lullabies · Guru

your right, i've found this to be true also... i just never knew how to bring the topic up fearing offence to secrist given that they are hosting this forum for us all.

i've not worked out the WHY but i've deffinetly noticed and experianced the same as what your mentioning.

TinyEarthAngels · Guru

i was a bit the same i didnt want to offend secrist by bringing this up :( from watching them for a while now on ebay ive noticed two things, if your a well known artist and sell secrist you can still get anywhere from 250 to 900 and the other thing i honestly feel that because secrist is known for Beginers that alot of people feel if a secrist is selling it might be from a beginer reborner so they arnt willing to pay alot of money and a new nursery on ebay is usualy selling a secrist so it confirms that way of thinking to a buyer,its a shame really because secrist sculpts make beautiful babies.

Heather M · Senior Member

I've noticed this too, and I think that part of it has to do with production numbers. Many of the dolls that sell for very high prices are limited edition kits. Dolls like Berenguers don't usually get high prices either. I think many buyers are willing to pay more of they know their baby will be different from all the others. I also think part of it is that the Secrist limbs just aren't as expressive and engaging as many of the other sculpts--plus, they are too big for the heads that they come with. But in terms of ease of making the dolls, Secrist kits are some of the easiest to work with.

But again, these are just my thoughts!

TinyEarthAngels · Guru

im not sure the limbs are too big for the heads i know the older sculpts were but i just got my sassy yesterday and i must say im very impressed with the new colour vinyl and limbs, sassys limbs are perfectly sized for her i started her painting yesterday and its been a dream so far, my other thought is if secrist could bring out a sculpt make it a limited addition of say 250 or less perhaps with a more wrinkly type face very newborn and say it is for intermediate or advanced reborners instead of beginers i think it would fly with sales they could produce sculpts for beginers and sculpts for advanced etc i recon it would make a big difference to our sales and bring more reborners to secrist just an idea mr secrist if ya lookin :)

precious_lullabies · Guru

i like your thinking Leah. I think sadly secrist have been labled as "beginner kits" by the doll community at large and its stigmatised their selling value. I honestly feel people see its a secrist sculpt and just gloss by not really taking the time to even give the baby a chance.

I don't think its ness an issue of edition size, as Luca still remains one of the most popular and best selling babies out there no matter how many of her have been done or how flooded the market has become with her face.

I do have some issue with secrist limbs - the preemie limbs being too straight for my liking and the bigger limbs are a little too bulky, seem too beefy - they're fine when dresses in longer sleaves and winter clothing but i do feel they look somewhat out of proportion to many of the heads, not all but many. The other thing i've found with the limbs is that although they are 3/4 the length of the upper arm seems to make them almost enough to be full length and so when attached to a body slip they seemed to hang down too far with the length from shoulder to elbow -- so now with my secrist bub's i shorten the fabric upper of the arm and thats sorted this issue.

I really like Leahs idea of secrist trying to market to the more advanced reborn artist though, maybe offering some more difficult expressions with that wrinkled just born baby. Or just seeing what thier marketing team can do to try and shift the view that "secrist are only for beginners" or are not for the serious artist nor collector.

precious_lullabies · Guru

interesting though at my show thingy last weekend, 3 or the 5 babies i sold were secrist and they were priced in the $450-$480. So in person people fell in love with these bub's quite easily. Ebay seems very snobby about what a "real artist" should be reborning.

Interestingly many people also wanted to buy my rosebud berrenguer who was just there for show, she is one i did my mum so wasn't for sale. But there were many many comments on how lovely her face was and such.

sara zata · Guru

Hi, reguarding kits, in 1987, we went to England and nth Ireland, and be cause I had a lot of young nieces and three daughters , we went to a toy shop in Ireland and found these beautifull Berjusa(I think thats how you spell it.) vynal dolls, they had beautifull like baby legs and arms, bendy and soft. I bought 10. Plus one called shivers. She shivered when you took her cloths off. Tomatoe Jam 77 has given it to Macey at the moment, her IVF niece. They are full arms and legs on a vynal body. Only thing is I couldn,t reborn any off them , I love them the way they are. weirdface

Heather M · Senior Member

I think the Luca dolls are a big seller because they have such a stunningly beautiful face--as do the rosebud Berenguers. But I agree that I would like to see a more wrinkly newborn. I really like Linda Webb's Emily and Charlie--that sort of ugly cute newborn face and deeply wrinkled hands and feet. But I don't really like working with the silicone vinyl. And I like some of the BB sculpts too, but their vinyl is too squishy and a very weird "dead" color. Maybe Secrist could find more sculptors who do the newborn sculpts.

Nai Nai's Nursery · Senior Member

I absolutely LOVE the Secrist babies!

I do have a suggestion, though, to promote Secrist dolls.

I noticed that when other companies come out with a new kit, they not only highlight it on their websites but also have one or two "prototypes" displayed and selling on e-bay. The auction creates an excitement about the arrival of a new sculpt and gives prospective artists the chance to anticipate and then dream of how beautiful the baby would be.

I'd like to see Secrist do this!

Heather M · Senior Member

I'd volunteer to reborn a prototype...but then again, so would everyone else...

precious_lullabies · Guru

have any of the modorators thought about passing these suggestions to HQ. Manybe the marketing department could look at some of our ideas, suggestions and experiances.

we all love secrist, but its difficult for us to reborn many of the secrist kits due to their lower selling appeal. As kits and expressions go, there is no reason WHY our secrist reborns don't sell as well. But as we can all see with this thread we've all found it to be true. I know there are still many of the secrist sculpts that i'd like to do, but hold back a little from actually doing so b/c of the risk of the lower return at auction.

i really don't understand the WHY behind the secrist mentality of ebay. there is no reason in my mind that secrist cannot be as respected and highly thought of as BB.

Buffington · Guru

Quite interesting views ladies! I don't know what it is either that causes this. I too love the Secrist dolls and their vinyl but as you all said...

I have passed on the link for this topic thread to HQ and will await some response. In the meantime, keep posting and if someone comes up with any other good marketing ideas, just post them here. Maybe someone will come up with a solution.

I do agree that with some of the other artist kits being L.E.'s that it makes a difference. The sculptors of some of the Secrist babies HAVE put the prototypes on ebay. Danielle put her triplets on and got over $400 for the set! Wasn't as high as she wanted but they were only 6" after all. Their new mum loves those little girls :)

I'll let you know when I hear anything on this thread.

secristdollco · Member

Secrist babies seem not to sell as well on eBay simply because they are usually reborned by beginners.

The Secrist dolls that have been reborned by very good artist sell very quickly and sometimes in the $1,000's of dollars. Because we are a gateway company to beginners we sell more kits to beginners than anyone else.

As you all probably already know (and have seen us post on our website numerous times) dolls that are not as realistically painted or posed in photos will not sell. Since we work so much with beginners we try to hammer home this point. Too many people try to sell dolls before their painting/photographing abilities are really ready - and that can be discourgaing to the artist.

Believe it or not, but based on our research, selling a doll has little to do with what company manufactured the doll and more to do with the photographing and realism of the baby. That's why we've introduced paints that are more accurately colored than anyone else's - like our new Strawberry and Peaches & Cream Complexion paints. By helping people create more lifelike reborns we know they will sell significantly better! That is a proven fact. :)

We sure appreciate your comments and ideas though and will definitely consider them for the future.

-- Edited by secristdollco at 15:01, 2008-08-12

Judie · Veteran Member

Heather M wrote:

I'd volunteer to reborn a prototype...but then again, so would everyone else...

Yes, I am one of them! My very first reborn was the Jamie...loved reborning her, hard vinyl and all (I broke many many needles rooting her hair! biggrin

So they have improved considerably in that part. I still do babies that catch my eye from Secrist. I've done several Jamie's, Acorn, Teddy, Missy, Hayden, Paddy, even AV Chris, and soon to embark upon the tiniest the triplets. After reborning/newborning for several years this is what I found. When the kits started becoming more available, this opened a whole new world! To the artist, vinyl was much softer (in some almost too soft), there was so much more lifelike detail to the face and extremities making them more 3 dimensional. Now this new turn made Secrist babies look more 2 dimensional, appeared as not having a lot in the detail hence as the beginner's baby kit, the simple lines worked just fine. The doe suede bodies also made a difference. So when people see or saw those "new" babies and then see the Berenguers and Secrist...the artist must be extremely good at displaying in order to get a good price. It's all about eye appeal and this is what it boils down to, most people are "eye buyers". Believe me, I put just as much into my "Secrist" babies as I do my "Ltd. Ed" babies. I love them all the same! Coming up-to-date, you can see a big difference in the newer babies, for example, Jordan (I just love her face) and Petunia, they are more baby like. Secrist's has new faces that I would love to do...I don't know how the arms and legs look but the faces are adorable. The catch? I have to sell some babies. With evilbay the way it is now it doesn't seem to matter what kit you display! The economy is horrible that people have to make a choice
...doll.... confused

or housenote or gas?

Nope, not a reborn for sure! cry

Well that's my take on this topic!

Now...hint, hint, hint....

reborning a prototype with a few more baby wrinkles would be nice!

secristdollco · Member

Anyone interested in prototyping for Secrist should send images of their finished Secrist reborns to dolls@secristdolls.com - subject line, Prototype Photos. :)

Judie · Veteran Member

Will do!

sara zata · Guru

I think it is photo quality that makes the dols sell on ebay, the ones that show realizem will sell for more money, but at the moment it is only people with the money to spend that can afford them, due to our rising interest rates. My sister has lost over $40000, from her retirement fund in such a short time. So i think at the moment, everyone is thinking twice about spending. weirdface

June M from Oz.

Miss Reborner · Senior Member

Here I am again. I definitely did not mean any offense, Secrist, just wanted to see if maybe there were thing that could be improved. New limbs for all of them will help, I'm sure. It could be that yes, most Secrist babies are from beginners, problem is, I'm a beginner, and therefore will probable not get as good of a deal on ebay, anyway. Definitely with the economy the way it is, and with so many reborns being made, this is not the best time to sell a baby. But I love Secrist babies, and I love reborning, so I'm still going to make some of them. And Secrist kits are among the most affordable ones, and the best and easiest, in my opinion.

secristdollco · Member

Hi Miss Reborner,

No offense was taken at all and we are happy to address the issue! :) Most people don't realize we sell to more beginners then any other company... so it goes with the territory.

We appreciate all your ideas and we'll see what we can do to change this!

precious_lullabies · Guru

Well my little "Zoe" boy (alexander) just sold for $510 (plus postage), however i did change his limbs to BB preemie limbs before listing him. Still i was very pleased with his sale, it was a surprise as he was sitting at $265 right up till the last 30mins.
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESOX:IT&item=110280460171

Nai Nai's Nursery · Senior Member

WOW! That's terrific! He was very cute! I noticed that you used BB preemie limbs which really added to his realism.

Congratulations!

Judie · Veteran Member

CONGRATULATIONS

TinyEarthAngels · Guru

Congratulations hun do you think using the sculptors name had made a difference? just wondering as i have thought about doing that for quite some time now (((hugs)))

sara zata · Guru

That was a terrific price for him, I bet you were pleased, as when I had a look with 4 hrs to go he was only 260, Con grats my Lady. weirdface

June M

precious_lullabies · Guru

sorry secrist but i think the thing that really made him 'pop' was using the BB preemie limbs, it just added so much shape/character/realism to him.

i'm not sure if listing him under the sculptors name made a difference or not... whould he have gone as well if i'd listed him as a secrist sculpt ?? something i can never answer.

my personal feeling are that Zoe is a beautiful sculpt and the BB limbs just finished him off

TinyEarthAngels · Guru

k i thought i saw one of yours listed as secrist maybe was somone else ill just keep watching and see :) congratulations again hun was a great sale (((hugs)))

precious_lullabies · Guru

i did have Jasmine, who i did as a boy Toby and i did list him as secrist - he didn't sell at all. But it was a different sculpt, he had quite redish hair too and i don't know if this was a factor. I don't think he was ugly or anything, but i'm possibly bias - this was his listing
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEUSX:IT&item=110277025930

Anyway instead of relisting him i've sent him to my grandmother in tasmania... she should get him tomorrow and she doesn't know his coming so its a surprise.

She already has one of my babies - an awake girl, but she did mention how much she likes the sleepers so yeah, i decided he must be for her instead when he didn't get any bids.

sara zata · Guru

Good Morning, Naomi, Just saw Jasmine and the others on ebay, My Jasmine looks totally different as a girl. Hope all goes well on ebay. weirdface

June M from Oz

Judie · Veteran Member

Truly....those limbs made a very big difference! I never thought to try that! Great idea Naomi!
After looking at Toby's I really can't understand why he didn't get a buyer? He's adorable!

-- Edited by Judie at 09:28, 2008-08-27

secristdollco · Member

The good news is... in 2009 Secrist has ALL NEW LIMBS coming out for all the doll kits! They will have smaller hands/feet and be stunningly realistic. :)

Nai Nai's Nursery · Senior Member

I'll be anxious to see the new limbs! Thanks, Secrist!

TinyEarthAngels · Guru

secristdollco wrote:

The good news is... in 2009 Secrist has ALL NEW LIMBS coming out for all the doll kits! They will have smaller hands/feet and be stunningly realistic. :)

ohh i cant wait!!!! i must say mr secrist i bought the sassy sculpt and i am very impressed with her limbs they are alot smaller and very suited to her i have sculpts i bought a year or so ago with the bigger limbs etc but thought i would let you know im quite choofed with little sassy I dont know any other company that listens as much as you do to what we all ask for to make our reborning/newborning easier and more realistic so I would just like to say THANKYOU!!! ((((big hugs)))

Judie · Veteran Member

secristdollco wrote:

The good news is... in 2009 Secrist has ALL NEW LIMBS coming out for all the doll kits! They will have smaller hands/feet and be stunningly realistic. :)

Yeaahhhhhhhhhhh! I can't wait!!!! That is wonderful news!!! biggrin