Weekly summary 06/2019

Post by **Dollstudio** » Sun Feb 10, 2019 6:07 pm

Hi,

this is a summary of what was going in the doll world in the past 6th week of 2019, as far as we at Dollstudio & DS Doll Europe were concerned.

In short, there was not much. It's a slow time.

1) Latest blog posts.

Our daily blog posts feature mostly new photo sets, showcasing dolls and heads in various configurations.

Among some other things, we have posted these new picture series during the past week:

Jarliet JA-166 body style and ›Jen‹ head
Sanhui SH-168 body style and ›Marya‹ head (SH-008)
OR Doll OR-156/H body style and ›Shally‹ head (OR-032 / Jinsan no. 261)
SY Doll SY-164 body style and head no. 170

These blog posts are mirrored on the Latest blog posts section all three Dollstudio websites. It is sorted in reverse chronological order, newest posts on top:

Dollstudio US - http://us.dollstudio.org/blog
Dollstudio EU - http://eu.dollstudio.org/blog
Dollstudio DE - http://de.dollstudio.org/blog

(EU and US sites in English, DE site in German)

2) CNY closing schedules.

Most factories are still closed and will remain closed for at least another week; the same goes for the relevant Chinese logistics and shipping companies.

So yes, one more week with neither completed nor shipped dolls.

3) Other topics.

Registration and legal formalities for Indigo's cold-welding TPE & TPR diffusion adhesive (in short 'CWA') have been finalized. It is to a certain extent brand agnostic and will work an many TPE and TPR blends. The important part is that with the CWA we become a little bis less dependent on the cooperation of Chinese factories. During the past weeks I have posted a couple of 'how to' tutorials so you can visually compare if you need the CWA to repair certain types of injuries. Product launch will start on Dollstudio US within the next days.

On TDF, a couple of new brands were listed. Among them Aiersha/Junying rebrands like AF Doll and finally Jarliet. In TDF terminology those are 'manufacturers'; this might appear confusing as, on their websites, they show a lot of photos already known from certain other (unlisted) factories, mixed with own/exclusive bodies and heads. So the researchers among you will have some challenges (and hopefully also some fun) to untangle the actual heritage.

Currently we do not have access to their TPE material yet, so as far as repair/maintenance accessories like Indigo's TPE repair kit are concerned, those 'newcomers' are unsupported brands. If you are representing one of these new brands/manufacturers, please feel free to contact us or Indigo directly if you want to make your dolls repairable and maintainable with products like Indigo's tpe repair kit or check for the compatibility with Indigo's stain remover.

Sandro

Post by **Booty Call Dolls** » Sun Feb 10, 2019 6:12 pm

Sandro,
I will contact Jarliet and AF.
As always, thank you for all you do!
Jeff

Anung Un Rama · Post by **Anung Un Rama** » Sun Feb 10, 2019 9:34 pm

Great update Sandro, some good tips, advice and explanations, that should again echo what I have advised a few of the Industry about.

Also on the near horizon, after CNY, expect some more exciting innovation and almost game changing info out of Xiegang district, in Dongguan

Anung

Post by **Dollstudio** » Fri Feb 15, 2019 10:28 am

Hi,

a quick addendum regarding the CWA. I have disabled the product again because it is simply too expensive when reselling.

Due to slow business I can no longer sponsor each sale to make these products affordable.
The same thing happened when other vendors took over VonRubber's tongue & teeth set, the retail price more than doubled in the other vendors cost-covering price calculations.

The best route to take is to switch to direct sales by Indigo. He is VAT exempt and runs a small business with low tax rates. That should suffice to keep Indigo's products affordable.

Sandro

Out_Of_Sync · Post by **Out_Of_Sync** » Fri Feb 15, 2019 5:07 pm

Hi Sandro,

I'm not sure I understand your last post. On Feb. 10th you were about to start selling indigo's CWA and then on the 15th you say that its too expensive to sell, but I didn't understand your explination. Is it just more than people are willing to pay? It seems like quite an innovative product that will help add additional life to existing dolls.

Post by **Dollstudio** » Fri Feb 15, 2019 6:22 pm

@Out_Of_Sync: Indigo's products are hand-made. That's why their wholesale price is and always will be at a level where a reasonable retail price point should be. If you add a reseller, you also add a 2nd margin and a 2nd company which has to pay additional taxes.

Speaking with real numbers, if Indigo and myself have a $5 margin each, the resulting retail price is around $85. The remaining $75 are raw product costs, shipping costs, Paypal fees and taxes. For this calculation I am not taking tax evasion strategies under consideration; that is not my area of expertise, and I do not run a HK Ltd. for that purpose. So we can not get rid of the taxation overhead.

Neither Indigo nor I want such a high selling price. $85 is simply too much for 10 ml / 0.33 US fl. oz. of TPE/TPR adhesive.

If you cut out the middleman (myself), one of the two $5 margins and a lot of tax overhead is gone, and everything remains legal. With direct sales, Indigo should be able to sell a 10 ml bottle of the TPE/TPR adhesive for around $49 with a sound profit, at least as long as Indigo's business is VAT exempt.

Sandro

Indigo20 · Post by **Indigo20** » Fri Feb 15, 2019 6:56 pm

Sandro, thank you for explaining the current situation.

Let me bring more light into this "value added tax jungle" we have in Europe / Germany.

I run a so called small business.
With the low profit I make I'm able to sell my hand made products without 19% value added tax on products and shipping costs.
Just for having this "small business on paper", I have to pay a lot of money.
- Insurances
- Water, electricity,
- Fees for the Chamber of Commerce and Industry
- Fees for the Trade Union for Raw Materials and Chemical Industry
- Fees for the recycling of chemical waste
- Fees for the recycling of packiging material every manufacturer / vendor has to pay according the "packaging act"
All of this is taxed with 19% value added tax.

All material I purchase for making the products and their shipping costs to me is taxed with 19% value added tax.

You see, I have to pay a lot of money, I pay 19% tax on everything and I'm selling my products for low pricing.
My profit is a joke.

Sandro with Dollstudio has a so called "big business".
He is forced to add 19% value added tax on products and shipping costs.
And everybody is paying with PayPal.
PayPal is
- using a currency exchange which is 2,5% above the regular currency exchange rate
- adding 2% for border crossing money transfer
- adding 2,49% + 0,35 Euro on the whole money transfer

Now you see the effect of the so called "doubled added value tax", 19% payed from me on everything and 19% which Sandro is forced to add.
Plus shipping costs and plus PayPal fees....BAMM....the product becomes expensive.

Sandro is in the situation that he is not making profit with my products, he is making loss !
He is making this loss since he is selling my products.
We talked about this situation a lot in the past.

As the true gentleman he is, he told me that I should run my own shops for selling the products.

But this is a big problem:
If I would run my own shops, I would be the "competitor" of my own business partners Jeff (BCD), Remi (DollsFrance) and Don (Mon Amour Toujours).
I would be forced to quit with my business partners.
And I would be cut off from information what happens in China and I would be cut off from the possibility to purchase TPE material.

Further:
I would need to run 3 websites with shops.
Germany: German language / currency Euro
Europe: English language / currency Euro
International: English language / currency US-Dollar

Running 3 shops and 3 websites would cost me a lot of money, especially because of all conditions and IT law that has to be correct.
And therewith I would be forced to encrease the pricing of my products.
For having contact with China, it would be necessary to sell dolls.

And finally I have to say, I'm a manufacturer and developer.
"If the baker man is more in front of his computer, he is not making bread".

The current situation is really bad, for all of us.

We will find a solution, that's all I can say at the moment.

Post by **Booty Call Dolls** » Fri Feb 15, 2019 7:26 pm

I just want my BCD Fmers to have a good product.
I do just fine finding dolls new homes.
V/r
Jeff

Dutch Dance Maniac · Post by **Dutch Dance Maniac** » Fri Feb 15, 2019 7:41 pm

I understand the situation from your side Indigo and also sandro. 19% tax on products it's crazy and killing for small counpany's, here in the netherlands it's even 21% tax.

It's all a big joke with ther one united europe bla bla bla. Why not one EU tax ??

I Will follow your news about a solution for the future.....

youbet · Post by **youbet** » Sat Feb 16, 2019 2:22 am

Indigo20 wrote:Sandro, thank you for explaining the current situation.

Let me bring more light into this "value added tax jungle" we have in Europe / Germany.

I run a so called small business.
With the low profit I make I'm able to sell my hand made products without 19% value added tax on products and shipping costs.
Just for having this "small business on paper", I have to pay a lot of money.
- Insurances
- Water, electricity,
- Fees for the Chamber of Commerce and Industry
- Fees for the Trade Union for Raw Materials and Chemical Industry
- Fees for the recycling of chemical waste
- Fees for the recycling of packiging material every manufacturer / vendor has to pay according the "packaging act"
All of this is taxed with 19% value added tax.

All material I purchase for making the products and their shipping costs to me is taxed with 19% value added tax.

You see, I have to pay a lot of money, I pay 19% tax on everything and I'm selling my products for low pricing.
My profit is a joke.

Sandro with Dollstudio has a so called "big business".
He is forced to add 19% value added tax on products and shipping costs.
And everybody is paying with PayPal.
PayPal is
- using a currency exchange which is 2,5% above the regular currency exchange rate
- adding 2% for border crossing money transfer
- adding 2,49% + 0,35 Euro on the whole money transfer

Now you see the effect of the so called "doubled added value tax", 19% payed from me on everything and 19% which Sandro is forced to add.
Plus shipping costs and plus PayPal fees....BAMM....the product becomes expensive.

Sandro is in the situation that he is not making profit with my products, he is making loss !
He is making this loss since he is selling my products.
We talked about this situation a lot in the past.

As the true gentleman he is, he told me that I should run my own shops for selling the products.

But this is a big problem:
If I would run my own shops, I would be the "competitor" of my own business partners Jeff (BCD), Remi (DollsFrance) and Don (Mon Amour Toujours).
I would be forced to quit with my business partners.
And I would be cut off from information what happens in China and I would be cut off from the possibility to purchase TPE material.

Further:
I would need to run 3 websites with shops.
Germany: German language / currency Euro
Europe: English language / currency Euro
International: English language / currency US-Dollar

Running 3 shops and 3 websites would cost me a lot of money, especially because of all conditions and IT law that has to be correct.
And therewith I would be forced to encrease the pricing of my products.
For having contact with China, it would be necessary to sell dolls.

And finally I have to say, I'm a manufacturer and developer.
"If the baker man is more in front of his computer, he is not making bread".

The current situation is really bad, for all of us.

We will find a solution, that's all I can say at the moment.

Stop over analyzing...throw just this one product up on ebay and lets get this party started....people are hungry for the cold welding product..

Rick9191 · Post by **Rick9191** » Sat Feb 16, 2019 9:57 am

First. Thanks Sandro for the weekly updates. You seem to be one of the few that put out "news" besides sales pitches. Real sorry to hear there's issues with the CWA because gosh darn it I'm ready to order for a specific project CWA would be my solution for. LOL So when you or Indigo get it on the market, I'll be buying. If it works as I suspect it will, it will be worth it to me. Thanks again.

seagull · Post by **seagull** » Fri Jul 05, 2019 5:59 am

Seems a common thing in Western countries, small businesses are easy targets for Government revenue raising. They have neither the political clout/influence or the resources of the multi-nationals.

This does little to foster growth in the small business sector and currently doesn't help me get a look at the pdf of the CWA product

Post by **Dollstudio** » Fri Jul 05, 2019 8:35 am

seagull wrote:[…] doesn't help me get a look at the pdf of the CWA product

Maybe this helps:

Full manual (PDF): https://bit.ly/2RUcpWQ
Howto repair tutorials using Indigo's CWA (with illustrations): https://bit.ly/2Jtfr0k

Indigo will resume his business after he is back from the hospital about end of July, if everything goes according to plan.

Sandro

Anung Un Rama · Post by **Anung Un Rama** » Fri Jul 05, 2019 9:16 pm

I also think ebay is a good option for the product as well, as ebay charges tax to buyer at check out and would avoid import hold fees for GST calculations with Aust customs, as the GST and taxes already paid via eBay...

So perhaps even an ebay shop or just as a eBay member that only sells to certain locations Uk, Europe, Australia, The Americas and maybe China is definitely the way to...as a seller rather than a small business.

Just a though to help get the product out there to other countries.

Anung