I have four porcelain dolls and I don't know how to identify them. I'm kind of curious what their names are or serial numbers or what they're worth if anything?
Add your voice! Click below to answer. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
You will need to undress the dolls to look for identifying marks.
I am relatively new to formal doll identifying, just been admiring, and if I saw something that really tickled my fancy, collecting since I was a child (so MANY years). I say that because I learned at the beginning not to buy for a value, but to buy only what I loved, but that is another story.
So these look familiar, but I can't place their names or brands as there are many that look similar so without size or other distinguishing marks, it is hard to be 100%.
The easiest way to start your research is, as Judy said, to look for markings. They can be hidden on the back of the neck, scalp under hair, on the feet, butt or back. If you find no markings, while it isn't impossible, it can be a challenge as there are millions of dolls out there.
You can show her to everyone you know and put her on other doll websites as everyone has their own little niche and someone may recognize her immediately. This one is a little bit of a challenge because there have been millions of dolls made around the world...and finding the right person the first time out is a little like finding a needle in a haystack :(
The second easiest way to start is to go to Google images and type in her description, like the height, hair color, dress style etc. to piece together info.
You can do this same type of search in eBay to learn more by reading posts. DO NOT USE ACTIVE AUCTIONS TO DETERMINE VALUE THOUGH...ONLY SOLD AUCTIONS WILL TELL YOU WHAT SOMEONE WILL ACTUALLY PAY FOR A DOLL.
Value is also different from profit...value is what you can charge, profit is how much you will actually make--usually two different things if you are paying fees to sell, like online or on consignment.
To help you set an age, you can do things like figure out if the hair is human or synthetic by burning a strand:
This YouTube video talks about that. www.youtube.com/
You can try to see what she is stuffed with (always risky because you don't want to damage), but typically really old dolls were stuffed with things like sawdust or cotton (not modern synthetic materials)
You can try to figure out of the body is porcelain or bisque
en.wikipedia.org/
A couple of my favorite sites are below that may be useful to you, although some seem to recently have broken links (GRR):
www.thesprucecrafts.com/
antiques.lovetoknow.com/
There are also a list of doll museums that I have been considering putting my bucket list to call to see if they help with identifications. If one is near you, maybe you could take her for a road trip:
www.thesprucecrafts.com/
Once you have a name and/or maker, remember to use the SOLD section on eBay to set your value--what people pay for something dictates current market value in today's economy.
If you are going to sell on eBay remember to value consistent with the SOLD prices (or people won't buy), wrap it VERY carefully (no one wants a SMUSHED doll) and enter the right package dimensions and weight (LOTS OF PADDING FOR DOLLS!) into eBay so you don't lose money on shipping and remember profit (what you will earn from the sale) will be less than the selling price because eBay has fees and Paypal has fees.
I hope this is helpful! Don't let it overwhelm you....if you are like me, the process is fun and you can learn a lot.
Also know that in probably 85% of all dolls people have today the value will be less than the buyer originally paid as there are just so many out there and right now supply is SUPER high, and demand is super low.
That said, there are still a few hidden treasures out there and dolls that even though mass produced still held their value because people really love them.
Let us know what you find as we on this site, like to learn!
If the dolls are collectors dolls then they should have a signature and an identification mark on the doll. You can normally find this mark on the back of the neck, on the doll's back or even on the feet.
If you can't find anything such as this it will be extremely hard to identify the dolls.
Add your voice! Click below to answer. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
