Shopping for Your BJD
Honestly, I think buying your BJD might be the easiest part of this hobby. There are so many amazing artists that you can easily buy from these days, plenty of conventions or online giveaways where you can win a doll, a buyer’s market on the secondhand front — it’s great!
But hey, what happens after you get your hands on a doll? You have this awesome little (well, maybe not so little) new friend, but maybe it’s blank or eyeless or naked or *gasp* shoeless. How do you get your doll to look the way you envisioned it in your head? Today, we’re going to learn how to complete your doll.
We’ll focus more on shopping as in how to shop versus where to shop. I’ll share some of the online stores I personally shop from, but this post will serve more of a general shopping guide rather than being a directory. For a great list of BJD shops, check out BJDCollectasy’s Companies List. If you’re just new to all things BJD, I highly recommend the amazing Big BJD FAQ.
Measurements Matter
The first thing you’ll want to do is actually know what your doll’s measurements are. General sizes like SD or 1/4 refer to the scale based on height, but you can’t guarantee that your doll will just fit something because the height is the same. The most important measurements are the doll’s height, bust, waist, hips, and the width and length of your doll’s foot. It’s worth taking the time to measure your doll completely, though, especially if you plan to shop online.
For most BJDs, no one is making clothes specifically for your sculpt. It helps to know what more popular sizes your doll is compatible with and shop looking for those sizes instead.
It might seem silly to measure things like shoulder-to-shoulder width or thigh circumference, but here’s the thing: your doll is a rigid piece of plastic, and their clothing probably doesn’t come in as many size variations as human clothing does. A three centimeter difference doesn’t make a huge difference with human clothing, but when you get that scale down to 1/3, 1/4, and definitely anything smaller than 1/6, it impacts the fit. You’ll want to know how your doll compares to that doll. For example, if I see something like a tight-fitting skirt made for Minifees sewn with non-stretch fabric, I’m going to need to cross-reference the hip and thigh measurements of Minifee with my dolls. Spoiler: It won’t fit.
Tip: Someone may have already done this part for you! Check the Den of Angels Wiki to see if your doll’s measurements were already added. Not all dolls or even studios are on here, but it’s worth taking a second to check.
One thing that I find very helpful, especially when I’m at a doll show or convention, is to have a journal with all of my doll measurements inside. This way, instead of taking all of your dolls with you, you just need to bring your journal.
You could also use a note-taking app if that’s more convenient for you!
“Okay, cool. I know my doll’s measurements. Now what?”
Now you get to learn the measurements of dolls you don’t even own. Huh?!
In my doll measurement journal, I have a page for Mini Dollfie Dreams even though I don’t own one. The reason? They have so much cute clothing! Although some items don’t work for my dolls, a lot actually do! For example, Mini Dollfie Dreams have a waist measurement of 13.5cm and a hip measurement of 18.5cm. For Asella dolls, these numbers are 10cm and 20cm respectively. This means that I can safely buy high, mid, and low-rise skirts, as both 13.5cm and 18.5cm fall into my dolls’ range of 10cm-20cm. Now instead of just tying myself down to clothing made specifically for my doll, I can branch out a little more. See how that works?
For BJDs of all sizes, do also consider what dolls outside of the BJD space your doll is compatible with. For example, Minifee fits into Ellowyne Wilde clothing. Now you have all of Ellowyne’s outfits to pick from, too! Brodjam has one of my favorite doll resources — a page full of doll body sizes for various Western fashion dolls.
Here’s Rivanone wearing a lingerie set originally designed for MDD.
For some dolls, you might be shopping in sections. For example, your doll’s upper torso might fit Minifee-size clothing, while the lower half has measurements closer to a Super Dollfie. It’s still the same concept.
Shoes will probably give you the most trouble. It’s not very easy to adjust shoes the way you can take in a too-large piece of clothing, for example, and even a tiny measurement difference might mean your doll’s foot isn’t getting in that shoe at all. Make sure you pay attention to both the width and the length of your doll’s foot size. If you have to pick between a shoe being too large and too small, pick the too large shoe. You can pad the extra space with socks, light colored tissue paper (try to avoid bright and dark colors to avoid color transfer), or a combination of both if there’s a lot of extra room in the shoe.
Buying BJD Clothing and Accessories Online
There are lots of creators around the world, although there’s no one-stop shop for doll fashion with everyone there, just like there’s no magical one-stop shop for human fashion. My dolls’ wardrobe has Tonner, Volks, small artisans, stuff that isn’t even technically for dolls — you get the point. Over your years in the hobby, you’ll start compiling your own list of favorite sellers and where to find them. I highly recommend keeping things like business cards and making a note of what you purchased from a seller to make it easier to find later on.
With that being said, you can find BJD items on sites and apps you’re probably already familiar with. Let’s go over some BJD shopping tips for them.
Etsy
Etsy is a good starting point, and many BJD clothing and accessory creators have shops here. There are a couple of things you should keep in mind, though.
First, there are a lot of drop shippers on Etsy, so what looks like a handmade item from an independent artist might actually be an item resold by a drop shipper. You could be paying double or more for an item you could have purchased yourself from the original seller. Reverse image search is your friend here. If you can’t tell if the Etsy seller is the original creator, you can always reach out to other collectors for guidance.
There’s also the matter of shipping costs. Etsy has sellers from all around the world. This means that depending on where you’re buying from and shipping to, the shipping costs could be wild. Etsy will provide the cost to ship on the item listing, but you could pay additional fees for import duties. Make sure you’re aware of these fees to prevent some unwelcome sticker shock!
These are some of my favorite active shops on Etsy. I’ve put my dolls next to each shop’s info to give you an idea of what they sell.
La Mienne Doll
USA
Available in Minifee, SDM/MSD/MDD, SD/DD, Yo-SD, and more.
Girly styles from lolita to fantasy, with extra care on the craftsmanship and quality of materials. The set in this photo included the dress, shorts, apron, and bonnet.
TiToDollClothes
USA
Available in Smart Doll and Minifee sizes.
Cute, casual, and trendy styles. I own this dress in purple and yellow!
LaPetiteEgriene
The Philippines
Available in Blythe, Minifee, SDM/MSD/MDD, SD/DD, and more.
Cute, casual dresses (like this one!), as well as some more formal styles. Lots of pretty florals, too.
Instagram is worth mentioning, despite the recent change in hashtags making it nearly impossible to find sales on your own.
It’s a good place to follow lots of different doll artists who might be selling on various platforms or their own websites. Instead of checking lots of different sites all the time, you can just check Instagram for updates. Even if you’re not big on social media, consider making an Instagram just for doll updates.
Many doll collectors also list their secondhand items for sale on their Instagram pages, so it’s a great place to find deals on BJDs and things like wigs, clothing, and shoes. @bjdsalesplace is a great account to follow if you want to keep up with sales.
While we’re on the subject of Meta, right? ( ≧ᗜ≦) Facebook is one of those platforms that’s changed so much from what it was originally for. While it’s not really great for keeping up with family and friends these days, it is surprisingly great for shopping! The BJD Addicts Commissions and Sales group is a great starting point. If you have a local community, chances are, there’s a sales group local to you as well! For example, the DFW area has DFW Texas BJD Buy Sell Trade. Buying local is a nice way to save on shipping fees!
eBay
eBay is surprisingly great. Most items will be secondhand, so make sure you read the item condition and description. I buy a lot of Western fashion doll clothing and accessories here.
Many BJDs are actually compatible with these dolls, although you might have to do some mixing and matching. For example, my Raspberry fits nicely into Ellowyne Wilde clothing, but the shoes are just too small. While I wouldn’t really suggest eBay for buying dolls just due to eBay’s complete lack of moderation when it comes to counterfeit items, you thankfully don’t have to worry about this when buying doll accessories.
(Worth mentioning: As of February 2026, eBay now owns the secondhand platform Depop as well.)
Mercari
Mercari is another secondhand site you’ve probably heard of before. Recently, Mercari US opened the option to purchase from the Mercari Japan site directly from the Mercari US website and app, so you no longer need a shopping service to use Mercari Japan. Like eBay, this one will be largely secondhand items.
After Instagram’s hashtag update, many BJD collectors moved to listing both dolls and doll accessories on Mercari. It’s been popular for that purpose for a while in Japan, and you can find Japanese dolls and accessories from both big Japanese companies and independent creators and studios.
Booth
Booth is a Japanese website similar to Etsy. I would say it’s like how Etsy was back when it was mostly indie sellers and not 85% drop shippers. It’s one of my favorites, and you can even browse based on ongoing events. Lots of sellers at these in-person events will list their leftovers on Booth after the event.
Although the site is based in Japan, you can browse the site in English! Many sellers also offer the option to ship internationally through Buyee. Keep in mind that you’ll mostly find items for dolls popular in Japan, which tend to be sizes like SD, MDD/SDM, Yo-SD, and 1/12.
Suruga-ya and Mandarake
Suruga-ya and Mandarake are two Japanese secondhand chains with global websites. You can find Japanese dolls, including BJDs, and wigs, clothing, and accessories on both sites — sometimes even stuff from independent Japanese artists!
Suruga-ya regularly offers free shipping and has a whole category for dolls and doll accessories.
While Mandarake doesn’t offer free shipping, they do tend to have a better selection and more frequent updates. Notably, they also break down their larger doll category into very specific subcategories for easier browsing.
Tariffs won’t be included automatically, and you can expect to pay a minimum of about $20 plus 15% of your total purchase. The initial $20 is DHL’s tariff handling fee, and there’s not really a way to get around that. For this reason, I suggest either making larger orders or doing group orders with local friends when ordering from Japan.
Now for a couple of doll-specific shops! All of these are shops I’ve personally purchased from. The sizes might not match up with your dolls, but hopefully you get an idea of what kinds of doll clothes are out there.
Volks
Available in a variety of sizes.
Volks sells lots of gorgeous clothing and accessories for their dolls, and many of these items are compatible with non-Volks dolls. The shops are updated frequently, so it’s worth checking back every month, especially after Dolpa events! I love the quality of their clothing and shoes, but I’m not as big of a fan of their wigs and eyes. You can definitely get better wigs and eyes at that price point. They also make carrying cases. If you’ve seen me in person, you’ve probably seen my pink doll tote. It’s from Volks!
Even with the tariffs and shipping costs, I’ve personally found that the Volks JP store is more economical to purchase from if you’re purchasing anything more than a few items. Take the extra five minutes to compare the total cost of your purchase between both sites.
AmiAmi
AmiAmi | Japan
Japanese retailer selling many different doll brands.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted AmiAmi in this section or not since they’re not technically a doll shop, but their selection is even better than many doll-specific retailers.
AmiAmi is a Japanese hobby store specializing in figures and anime goods. They also have a sizeable selection of dolls and doll goods from companies like Azone, Groove, PetWORKs, Good Smile Company, and more. Every once in a while, they’ll also take pre-orders for resin BJDs and blind box dolls. Sometimes they even have exclusives! It’s worth checking their store a few times a month.
Buying BJD Clothing and Accessories In Person
In-person shopping is a little more limited, but there are still options! The main categories are estate sales, flea markets, and doll events.
Estate Sales
If you’re not familiar with estate sales, they’re basically like garage sales, but rather than just selling out of your garage, pretty much the entire contents of the home are for sale. Sometimes, you can even buy the home and its fixtures, too! The best place to find estate sales is the conveniently titled EstateSales.net. You can find lots of wonderful doll stuff at estate sales, typically for Western dolls, but I’ve actually seen BJD items at estate sales before! You never know what you’ll find — wait, that’s not right! When you find an estate sale, make sure to go through the description and photos. The organizers take a lot of time to make those listings, so take some time to go through them. Doll items are almost always called out, especially when the owner had a collection.
Typically, estate sales take place over a few days. The earlier you go, the better the selection. The later you go, the better the deals. It’s up to you to decide which is more important! Most organizers are also pretty comfortable with reasonable offers, especially if you’re paying in cash and it’s the last day. I’ve found lots of amazing clothing for my BJDs at estate sales for bargain prices!
Flea Markets
“Flea markets” is a large category. This is where I’d put everything from antique shops to thrift stores to community sales (think neighborhood garage sale days and church sales), to, well, flea markets! They’re places where you kind of go to shop without anything in particular in mind. From my experience, there’s so much doll stuff just hanging out in these sorts of places.
Look for things like American Girl clothing, shoes, and props to items that work for BJDs like miniatures, dainty human jewelry, fabric scraps or clothing that could be re-purposed into fabric for a new projects, and trunks. The amount of amazing, vintage storage at these places! I wish I had room for it all! My own BJD clothing trunk is actually a thrift store find that I relined with fresh fabric. It’s a gorgeous, vintage flight attendant trunk purchased for not even $10.
BJD Conventions and Events
If you’re able to make it out to an in-person doll event, I highly recommend it! Most of what’s in my dolls’ wardrobe was actually purchased at in-person events. You’ll be able to see items up close, gauge whether or not they’d fit your doll (some sellers will actually let you try items on), and you’ll likely run into many sellers who don’t even sell online. It’s also a great way to meet other collectors and their dolls!
Some tips for shopping in-person:
Bring only the amount of dolls you can comfortably carry. Many events won’t allow you to bring strollers or suitcases, so you’ll either be carrying your dolls in your hands or in a bag. If you’re shopping for a lot of dolls, it might be helpful to bring a notebook with their measurements and a measuring tape or just the specific parts you’re worried about (like feet) instead of the whole doll.
You’d be surprised at how many sellers only take cash, especially at international events! Take a few minutes to stop by an ATM and save yourself the fees from having to get cash at the event venue.
Manage your expectations. A doll show focusing more on antique dolls probably won’t have anything fashion forward, but you can probably find some nice props or vintage clothing and accessories that work.
Keep those business cards! It’s nice to be able to keep up with your favorite creators on social media after the event ends.
In the USA, the big BJD events are Resin Rose (Clackamas, OR), NYC Doll Convention (New York City), and BJDC (Austin, TX). Outside of the USA, there are also lots of events! If you’re visiting Japan, definitely take a look at I-Doll. There are events happening throughout the year across the country, not just in Tokyo!
It’s a little old-school, but Den of Angels actually has a whole forum dedicated to conventions. You can also reach out in BJD groups on Discord and Facebook to get an idea of what’s happening near you.
I hope this guide helps you out with shopping for your dolls! If you’re ever confused or looking for more tips, feel free to contact me!
