Volks – Super Dollfie “Farewell Service” explained
Have you ever wondered if there are other ways to find your beloved Super Dollfie a new home if you cannot bring yourself to sell it online and have no friends who would take them?
In the spring of 2019 Volks announced that they would now be accepting dolls back from their owners as a “Farewell service” – and exactly this service is what we would like to explain to our international readers today.
What is the “Farewell Service”?
The Super Dollfie “Farewell Service” was officially started by Volks on the 1st of May 2019.
It provides you with the option to send your doll back to the company and have them tasked with finding her a loving new home in your stead. So far this service is only available to registered Volks members within Japan.
To be very clear here, this new system should not be understood as “selling” a doll but rather as a form of “giving it away” to their new owner. Owners returning their SD to Volks will NOT receive any form of monetary compensation – on the contrary, you have to pay a small fee for the service – but for that, the company assures that they will not only take care of your old companion but also find them a loving new home.
Those wishing to use the Farewell Service will have to purchase a doll return package from the Official Dollfie Store.
Each package costs 2,200 yen (including tax), about 20 USD and can hold one doll. For this price you will receive two items: a special drawstring pouch to hold your Dollfie and a return form which has to be included in the return-package There are currently three different sizes of packages available:
S-size for YoSD, MSD, SDmidi and SDCute
M-size for SD, SD13 and SDGr
L-size for SD16, SD17 and SDGou
As for the conditions of returning a Dollfie, there are several things to note.
Volks will accept your doll regardless if:
- The doll is strung or not
- Some of the body parts are missing (a hand etc.)
- It arrives with or without head plate, eyes and elastics still installed in the doll.
Volks, however, will not accept the following items:
- Extra body parts, wigs, dress, packaging, plushies etc.
- BJD not made by Volks
- SD sent without the return package
When filling up the parting service form, the owner needs to take note that if he/she is under age they have to get permission from their parents or guardian. Each new doll must be packaged separately. In addition, the owner is responsible for any occurring transportation fees and cancellation or return is not possible once the doll has been sent to Volks.
Those who would like to make the departure a more ´special´ moment may also chose to visit Tenshi no Sato themselves to go through a “parting ceremony”. Volks will prepare this ceremony for owners as long as they submit a request some time in advance.
After Volks received your Super Dollfie, they will send out a little token of appreciation: a memory gift for your doll in form of a message card and special “Super Dollfie Appreciation Heart”-Crystal. As for the owner, or ´previous-owner´ – they have now done their part and can leave the remaining process to Volks.
We can understand that the Farewell Service may seem strange to many of our readers – who would give away such a valuable item for free? However, our writers do think that it might still prove helpful for some owners. Maybe you have spent many years with a doll and cannot bear to auction it off or trade it into a second-hand shop only to sit on the shelf for a long time? Maybe a relative died, leaving behind their SDs and now the family wants a “nicer” way to find new homes for those their loved one held dear?
Even if we may not be the target audience – there will certainly be those who are happy to find that this option exists.
What happens to your doll once it has been returned to Volks? Where will it end up?
We will look into those and more questions next time in our article about the new “Adoption Models” please stay tuned!
References: Volks Owakare Official site
