More accurately, this question should be "Why are genuine BJD dolls expensive?" Because the price difference between genuine BJD and pirated BJD is quite large. As for the reason why genuine BJD is expensive, I personally think it is mainly the following:
First: original cost.
In terms of the creative process of genuine baby clubs in China, the birth stage of a new baby is mainly divided into two stages: design and shaping. These two stages add up to one or two months short and months long; As far as I know, there are several well-known Dawa clubs in China, and most of their designers and plastic designers are graduates from major first-class fine arts institutes. Therefore, the labor cost at this stage can be said to be quite large, which is equivalent to the research and development cost of the product, and finally it is reflected in the doll's products. However, pirated baby clubs steal intellectual property rights through plagiarism, thus saving the research and development expenses of this part of the products, so the price of D baby is often half lower than that of Z baby, which is why.
There is another kind of dolls created in cooperation with well-known IP, such AS Dragon Soul, As, RD and other baby clubs. Although the original cost of these dolls is saved, the copyright fee of well-known IP is not low at all, so the price of such dolls will naturally rise.
Second: the cost of raw materials.
As we all know, the main raw material component of BJD dolls is resin. In fact, the cost and price of this resin span quite a lot. The cheapest resin is industrial resin. This kind of resin is generally used for industrial processing, and it will be harmful to human body if it is directly used as a model. Ten years ago, there might still be some "black-hearted" baby clubs making black-hearted money with industrial resin, but at present, none of the well-known baby clubs in China will step on this red line.
However, even if some industrial resins are excluded, the prices of the resins that can be used to make BJD dolls are very different. According to my previous interview with a domestic doll club with the name "A", the prices of the resins they use are more than twice as expensive as the average price in the market, which is also a factor that affects the prices of BJD dolls.
Third: scale effect
Large-scale production is one of the effective ways to reduce the cost of individual products. However, BJD culture belongs to a minority culture both at home and abroad, with a small audience. Naturally, the production quantity of BJD dolls is very limited, and the huge fixed costs such as modeling design, hand-kneading and reverse mold development can only be spread evenly among a small number of finished BJD products. Therefore, the price of BJD dolls is the same as that of hand-run markets, and it is doomed that it can't compete with mass-produced dolls like plastic dolls, so it can only take the route of high-end customization.
Well, these are my personal opinions on the question "Why BJD dolls are expensive" mentioned in my friends' private letters. If you have more opinions on this question, please share them in the comments section.