Over the last few months I've purchased a number of dolls, with the intention of restoring them.

I'm writing this guide for sellers so they know what buyers expect when it comes to listings. And I'm writing it for doll buyers so they know what to look for when buying a doll.

MANY buyers buy dolls with the intention of restoring them - either restoring them themselves, or paying a pretty high dollar amount to have them professionally restored.

I was new to ebay in October, and bought a LOT of dolls that only had a few pictures (or less), and dolls that did not have pictures of them without their clothes on, and dolls that were afraid to look straight into the camera because they were downright ugly because of a bad restoration attempt. My innocence is lost - my lesson learned.

I've noticed that there are quite a few sellers out there that have no qualms about selling dolls with problems without mentioning those problems to the buyer, or they vaguely mention them (like calling broken composition "crazing").

All buyers have a right to make an informed buying decision. If you don't know something about the doll, that's fine. Say so. But when the doll's leg is split from thigh to toes, or the head is cracked through from ear to ear, don't hide it with clothes and say nothing about it or downplay it.

In some cases, it could be that the seller really knows nothing about dolls so doesn't know certain problems really are problems. But in far too many situations, the seller regularly sells dolls and absolutely knows the problems that exist and are intentionally hiding them in order to get a higher price.

Sellers have an obligation to disclose all defects or problems with the description and/or pictures.

Fortunately, MOST sellers are cool and try very hard to mention any problems and take lots of pictures. For those who don't know dolls or who have heretofore been lax about disclosure...

Let's go through some of the more common issues composition dolls have that should be disclosed:

Poor Restoration Attempt:

There are "restorers" out there who literally kill the value of a doll by using the wrong kind of paint, the wrong kind of painting technique, and overall sloppy workmanship. So if the doll you are selling has been painted with a paintbrush by someone without the skills to even paint a barn, you need to disclose this by showing pictures of the doll with close up shots of the doll's face, arms, legs and body, front and back views.

Do not cover up ugly painted hair with a bonnet. I mean, a bonnet is OK, but there needs to be another picture of the doll without a bonnet so the buyer can see that that hair needs redone and can factor the cost of the restoration into her bid.

Of course, some buyers like the heavily painted hair, and that's all right. Just make sure the buyer knows the hair is heavily painted with a  brush. In this case you don't have to say anything - a good, close up picture will suffice.

Then there's the hair that is bright yellow or chocolate brown or black. None of these hair colors were original in most cases, and the buyer needs to see the hair. These colors aren't so bad when painted on correctly, but they can be frightening of the restorer doesn't have the right tools or technique.

Or the hair that's been airbrushed on, but the restorer's technique made the little curl look more like a widow's peak. Or the restorer left overspray of the hair color on the ears. Again, the buyer needs to see this - don't hide it with dark pictures, shadows or a bonnet.

If you can see paint brush strokes on the flesh colored surfaces, again, let the buyer know this. Some may be OK with it, whereas others would not, and would either not want the doll, or would want to have it restored.

If the doll has been restored, it's usually pretty easy to tell. You know a doll has been restored if you see brush strokes in the paint on the skin and hair, if there are big clumpy areas where plaster or some other material was used to cover holes or cracks, or if the airbrush technique turned a curl into a widow's peak, or if there is overspray on the cloth body.

Tell the buyer the doll has been restored, and show the restorations in the pictures.

Missing Pieces and Parts:

There's a seller who had a doll up for auction that originally had teeth, but the teeth were no longer present. The seller did not disclose the missing teeth, either with pictures or the description. I specifically asked the seller about the teeth (the pictures were fuzzy and not close up), and he admitted that the doll had no teeth in a private email, but did not post the question to the auction so others could see it. I politely mentioned that said seller might want to disclose it in the description, because if *I* bought a $300.00 doll thinking it had teeth, but did not, I'd be upset, and I imagined every buyer of this particular doll would be (you can't just stick replacement teeth in this doll's mouth - the teeth have to be hand crafted especially for this doll).

Believe it or not, the seller relisted the doll, still a price too high for that particular doll, and still did not disclose that the doll had no teeth.

Bad form.

But he's not the only one. I've seen several dolls missing teeth that the seller did not disclose it in the description or at least show a close up in the pictures.

Fingers broken or chipped? Let me know. Tell me, or at least show me. Those have to be rebuilt.

Teeth and tongue missing? Show me!

Cracks in the legs, arms and head:

There are various types of cracks. There IS a difference between "crazing" and outright "cracks".

Some cracking (crazing) is just the top layer of paint, and it's normal for old composition dolls. Tell me about it and show me in pictures so I can see the degree of crazing.

Then there's the sort of cracking that requires the doll to be picked clean of all layers down to the composition, and this can include peeling. This is when the layers are cracked or peeling and it's more than just crazing because it goes down more than 1 layer. Again, I want to know about it, because it makes a difference in the amount of work that will need done to the doll to restore her, and therefore impact the overall cost to the buyer.

Lastly, there's the deep cracks that go into the composition. This also includes the peeling where the middle layer pulls up a layer of the actual composition. This will require that the leg, arm or head be picked clean AND rebuilt to at least some degree, or completely, depending on how much damage is actually done. And of course, I want to know this before I buy the doll.

In other words, sellers, please don't use bonnets, long sleeves and long dresses to disguise the fact that the head, arms and legs are actually hideously damaged, not just crazed.

Body Shot:

I've purchased more than one doll that had a terrible body. I expect the seller to let me know about the body. Don't say it's in "pretty good" condition when the reality is that it's been sloppily mended 20 ways from Sunday, or there are yucky stains, or gaping wounds. And if you say it's in "pretty good" condition, I might believe you, even if you don't show the body, and buy the doll, and then leave really negative feedback because no reasonable person would conclude that a body like the one on your doll could ever be considered "pretty good" (NOTE: the situation I'm talking about really happened - not only was the body sloppily mended in a half dozen places, but the leg actually came off because the cloth body was so thin and worn, when I GENTLY pulled her out of the box by that leg)

If the seller does not want to replace or recover the body professionally, that's all right. But at least let the buyer know that the body will need cleaned, replaced or recovered, depending on the extent of the damage - the body is responsible for a portion of the doll's value. You can do this by showing pictures of the doll with no clothes on, front and back views, close up.

Demon Eyes:

OK, there's not much anyone can do about those old doll eyes that craze and look like stucco. But I've purchased dolls that had these crazed eyes and the seller decided to paint them. Not paint them neatly, but just slap some black or brown paint over the whole iris and pupil, and in the pictures, it just looks like the doll has dark brown eyes because the camera didn't pick up the bumpy, gravely texture. But when the doll arrives in the mail, she looks like a demon, with entirely blank (bumpy) eyes.

Better to leave them crazed and untouched so the buyer knows she will have to live with it or replace them, than paint them brown or black and have the buyer be creeped out (and angry) when she sees the doll in person.

Clothes:

It's OK to sell a doll naked, as long as you tell the buyer she's coming naked. And it's OK to send a doll in different clothes, as long as you tell the buyer she's coming in different clothes. But don't take pictures of the doll in pretty little outfits so the buyer assumes she's coming in pretty little outfits, unless you make a point of telling the buyer in the description that the outfit it is NOT included.

Some doll buyers will want to dress the doll in something different anyway, so they may not care. Some buyers will want that pretty little outfit in the pictures because it suits the doll. And some will want the outfit, even if they don't want to keep it on the doll.

My point - let the buyer know exactly what is included in the auction, and if the clothes are not included, say so in nice bold print (or at least an easy to read disclosure)

Summary:

Everyone knows that most of the dolls on ebay that are not restored professionally are going to have issues, and even some professionally restored dolls have issues because these dolls are old and have been through hot attics, damp basements, multiple moves, children who drag them around and spill stuff on them, and plain old time. No one is really expecting perfection (unless the seller claims they are "pefect")

However, the buyer is buying the dolls sight unseen, and only has your description and pictures to go on.

You don't have to be a doll expert to sell dolls on ebay. You just need to be up front - tell potential buyers what you know about the doll, even if it's only a little, and take lots of pictures so the buyer can judge for themselves if the doll is something she wants or can handle restoring.

Bottom line - buyers and sellers need to work together to make ebay a safe - and FUN - place to buy and sell. And it all starts with the seller and their description of the doll, and it means absolutely full disclosure of any damage or issues that can be seen or that are known about.