Doll arrival: Dollzone Deer Head

How long has it been since I posted on this blog? I actually forgot this entire website existed. Oops.

I finally received my Dollzone Deer head in the mail! However, I was quite annoyed when I saw the shipping label. Let me explain why.

​When I purchased this head from BJDivas, I paid in full. I also paid $11.75 for PRIORTY MAIL shipping, which includes up to $100 in insurance.

BJDivas Order Details

So you can imagine my surprise when the label reads "USPS First-Class PKG"! BJDivas paid about $4.88 for the label since they use Shipstation and get discounted rates. Even if they did not get discounted rates, they would have spent around $6.40. The calculated rates are below.

USPS Shipping Calculator

Shipstation Shipping Calculator

In my opinion, this is bad business practice. If a customer pays for something, then they should get what they paid for. Don't cheat your customers just to get a few more dollars of profit. They still would have gained a few bucks even if they purchased a Priority Mail label, which would have been okay for me. But they didn't. Could this have been a mistake? Possibly, but they should have checked the shipping method before proceeding.

This is strike two on my BJDivas score card and this makes me sad. I am hesitant to purchase from them now. Because of this, I decided to list out a few pros and cons about BJDivas. You don't have to agree with these points, as you may have had nothing but positive experiences with them. But before we go any further, let me give you some facts.

Number of orders I have had with BJDivas: 19
Total dollar amount spent with BJDivas since 2018: $8,879.88
(This hobby ain't cheap, ya'll. That number is NOT a typo!)

These numbers do NOT include the two or three orders I did with them manually, because the dolls were not on their website.

Needless to say, I think I am a little more qualified to give BJDivas a "review" than a person with only two or three orders with them. So keep that in mind as you read!

Pros:

• Super long layaways!
  • I have purchased a doll on a TWENTY-FOUR month layaway! That is 2 years for those of you counting. WOW! This is great for the doll community and allows more individuals to enjoy the doll hobby. I wish more dealers and companies would adopt this long layaway practice.
• Will purchase doll on your behalf if they are not a dealer for that company (charges a fee).

Cons:

• Slow to respond.
  • We are talking a week or more to respond to inquires.
• Complains a lot on social media about their customers.
  • I get that some customers can be difficult and some may try to harass a business to get free things. But I think BJDivas kind of takes things a little too far. I don't see a need to expose all the business drama to your customers. Keep drama on a need to know basis.
• Apparently they do not buy the postage you pay for.
  • ​ See above explanation. Please don't cheat your customers to get extra profit.
• BJDivas takes a long time to ship the doll sometimes.
  • ​It took BJDivas almost a month to even print a shipping label after paying for a doll and the shipping.

My experience with BJDivas was great a few years ago. However, I think think they are struggling now and it shows. In order to keep the profits up, they don't want to hire enough help. I get that. But they still need to address a few of these issues to improve themselves. They also mentioned on social media that they were thinking about giving up the business and only continuing for a specific set of loyal customers. That comment in of itself makes me hesitant to purchase from them again.

Should this stop you from using their services? That is entirely up to you. The layaway lengths BJDivas offers may be the only option some people have to enjoy the hobby. Give them a shot and then decide if you want to buy from them again in the future. I myself have purchased another doll from them on layaway. However, there are a few things I will have to remember to address with them before they ship my doll to me 9+ months from now.

Pre-ordered dolls:

• Dream Valley Horseman (Probably about due to ship)
• LUTS Bory Sweety Elf Head (Probably about due to ship)
• Freya Butt 2.0 (Bigger badonkadonk!) (Probably about due to ship)
• Coral Reef One B
• Dream Valley Nirvana Phoenix