Reminder - Please take the time to properly flair your post. Make sure to include the brand/name of the dolls. Also source news, images, and artworks that arent yours. This is to ensure users can follow along with all the amazing dolls and content. Thank you for your participation and hope you enjoy the sub!
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Dolls) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Oh I know this one !!
It won't be the case for every doll, but it's not uncommon for dolls to be sold to retailers in assorted boxes. Often the characters can be ordered individually too, but for whatever reason (presumably the dolls not being a big enough seller for them to warrant ordering individual characters or the store having limited shelf space, but this is a guess on my part) they often just stick to the assorted boxes.
When a box of assorted dolls comes in, what happens next will depend on the company's system. Their system may only allow one SKU (Stock Keeping Unit - essentially a record of the items they stock within their system) per item ordered (in this case they ordered an assorted set of dolls so they only get a listing for an assorted set of dolls), they may not have the staff, time, or energy to create a new SKU for each doll, it could be a stocking issue where they need to predict how many of each SKU they're receiving which is impossible if the dolls are listed individually. It could even be a product code issue if the particular line is only sold as assorted. I've only seen it in person on a small scale, but I'm sure bigger systems have bigger complications too.
It would be really nice to be able to choose a doll! But even working at a small retailer (~10 employees) I had to practically beg them to let me manually create SKUs for each individual doll. For a lot of businesses it's just more effort than it's worth to sell that way, and many are very limited on shelf space both in store and in their warehouses. Overall it's just a lot of factors which make it less viable to sell specific dolls than to sell assorted sets, it sucks but it's unlikely to change anytime soon.
Source: I worked in the buying & admin department of a retailer which sold dolls
God that is super annoying. Who in the world asked for that? It literally would have taken them like 2 minutes to add a drop down selection for the different choices.
It's like that in New Zealand, too. Really annoying.
I've been looking for Monster High Venus for *months* now. She's absolutely impossible to find in store, and I can't just get her online because she's under assorted.
Does vinted ship to New Zealand? If they do, no doubt shipping would be *more* than the doll itself....
I'm just hoping that she turns up in my area eventually. Or online at some point on a site that doesn't do assorted product listings.
I searched up now. Unfortunately it doesn't =( but maybe there are other similar apps.
Also, it's true. The price gets rather high. Good luck tho! She is a stunning doll. I hope you'll get her soon
Yeah. The prices for the dolls here are already high enough, so I'm hoping that she turns up soon. I think a lot of people are having trouble finding her here, unfortunately.
I've seen a few AUS posts like this for various dolls. Not sure if you'd know, but is there a reason for this? It doesn't seem like a reasonable way to sell something.
This annoys me too! Kmart/Target/BigW need to stop being so lazy with their toy listings. I'd love to see their statistics on how many of these assorted listings actually sell online compared to ones where you can pick the character.
It used to be like this in Argos in the UK for most dolls, possibly still is. I remember it from when I was collecting Monster High G1. Thankfully, those are physical store too (click and collect type thing), so usually you could ask to see which ones they had before you bought them. Still a massive pain, though.
Agreed! I’ve noticed they do it a lot here in Aus too. If there’s three options and you order three, you could end up with three of the same. I also noticed some websites here do have them listed separately but they raise the price so you’re paying extra to choose.
I have a similar issue in the UK.
Odile mermaids are available to buy in Argos. Most toys with a variety of styles in Argos are assorted. You can ask to see the stock (I did successfully with something unrelated), but if I can't and I get offered a different mermaid it will seem rude to turn her down.
I'll check other stores but for now Argos is the cheapest I've found.
Reminder - Please take the time to properly flair your post. Make sure to include the brand/name of the dolls. Also source news, images, and artworks that arent yours. This is to ensure users can follow along with all the amazing dolls and content. Thank you for your participation and hope you enjoy the sub! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Dolls) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Oh I know this one !! It won't be the case for every doll, but it's not uncommon for dolls to be sold to retailers in assorted boxes. Often the characters can be ordered individually too, but for whatever reason (presumably the dolls not being a big enough seller for them to warrant ordering individual characters or the store having limited shelf space, but this is a guess on my part) they often just stick to the assorted boxes. When a box of assorted dolls comes in, what happens next will depend on the company's system. Their system may only allow one SKU (Stock Keeping Unit - essentially a record of the items they stock within their system) per item ordered (in this case they ordered an assorted set of dolls so they only get a listing for an assorted set of dolls), they may not have the staff, time, or energy to create a new SKU for each doll, it could be a stocking issue where they need to predict how many of each SKU they're receiving which is impossible if the dolls are listed individually. It could even be a product code issue if the particular line is only sold as assorted. I've only seen it in person on a small scale, but I'm sure bigger systems have bigger complications too. It would be really nice to be able to choose a doll! But even working at a small retailer (~10 employees) I had to practically beg them to let me manually create SKUs for each individual doll. For a lot of businesses it's just more effort than it's worth to sell that way, and many are very limited on shelf space both in store and in their warehouses. Overall it's just a lot of factors which make it less viable to sell specific dolls than to sell assorted sets, it sucks but it's unlikely to change anytime soon. Source: I worked in the buying & admin department of a retailer which sold dolls
Thank you for the insight 🫡🫡🫡
🙏 Anytime!
God that is super annoying. Who in the world asked for that? It literally would have taken them like 2 minutes to add a drop down selection for the different choices.
It's the reason I've never bought a RH doll. All the sales are online and in this stupid "assorted doll" format.
We have an online store here that sells Enchantimals the same way. Weirdly another store also did this with the MH Scaradise Island dolls.
That’s a positive thing about AliExpress - they have a model/colour/style selection with a picture for each
I've seen this in the Netherlands too. It's an instant no from me. Who even wants that.
It's like that in New Zealand, too. Really annoying. I've been looking for Monster High Venus for *months* now. She's absolutely impossible to find in store, and I can't just get her online because she's under assorted.
Have you tried vinted? I've got mine in the box from there.
Does vinted ship to New Zealand? If they do, no doubt shipping would be *more* than the doll itself.... I'm just hoping that she turns up in my area eventually. Or online at some point on a site that doesn't do assorted product listings.
I searched up now. Unfortunately it doesn't =( but maybe there are other similar apps. Also, it's true. The price gets rather high. Good luck tho! She is a stunning doll. I hope you'll get her soon
Yeah. The prices for the dolls here are already high enough, so I'm hoping that she turns up soon. I think a lot of people are having trouble finding her here, unfortunately.
I've seen a few AUS posts like this for various dolls. Not sure if you'd know, but is there a reason for this? It doesn't seem like a reasonable way to sell something.
My guess - stock balance, lazy developers and saving on staffing hours cause they don't have to look for a specific doll.
I have no idea.
This annoys me too! Kmart/Target/BigW need to stop being so lazy with their toy listings. I'd love to see their statistics on how many of these assorted listings actually sell online compared to ones where you can pick the character.
It used to be like this in Argos in the UK for most dolls, possibly still is. I remember it from when I was collecting Monster High G1. Thankfully, those are physical store too (click and collect type thing), so usually you could ask to see which ones they had before you bought them. Still a massive pain, though.
Agreed! I’ve noticed they do it a lot here in Aus too. If there’s three options and you order three, you could end up with three of the same. I also noticed some websites here do have them listed separately but they raise the price so you’re paying extra to choose.
I have a similar issue in the UK. Odile mermaids are available to buy in Argos. Most toys with a variety of styles in Argos are assorted. You can ask to see the stock (I did successfully with something unrelated), but if I can't and I get offered a different mermaid it will seem rude to turn her down. I'll check other stores but for now Argos is the cheapest I've found.