AVOID SCAMS

How to avoid Sex Doll Scams and Fraudulent online love doll stores?

With the increasing popularity of realistic sex dolls in the media, there have been a high number of scammers entering the love doll scene. These online scammers watch a real doll TV documentary or some Youtube videos and realize that these lovely silicone girls are quite expensive and could fetch them a lot of money. That is why in 2019 alone over 200.000 people were scammed and cheated out of their hard-earned money. This is significantly higher than in 2016 when about 140.000 cases of scams were reported.

There are multiple forms of sex dolls scams, from different dolls than in the photos advertised, recycled toxic TPE, bad customizations that sex dolls sites do from seemingly legitimate stores, and probably the worst is when they send and inflatable doll filled with rocks to make the package heavier. We will be talking about all of these so you can avoid getting scammed by some fraudulent sellers.

1. DIFFERENT DOLL THAN IN PHOTOS

The most common scam found on Aliexpress and Sex Doll shops is that they send a totally different doll than what they advertise in the photos. We had a customer that said he had bought 4 sex dolls from Aliexpress and none of them looked like the one in the photos. Some even said that they were delivered a small, young-looking sex doll when they ordered a full-sized mature one.

We personally know 2-3 legitimate and honest Chinese sex doll companies that have stores on Aliexpress. And they told us that their online stores on Aliexpress only make up about 10% of their total revenue (the rest is the domestic market in China) as there are so many scam shops on that site that it is almost impossible for them to compete. The scammers use mass manipulation tactics, purchased fake reviews, delete legitimate reviews, or buy old Aliexpress accounts altogether. Most legitimate Chinese sex doll companies barely make any money from Aliexpress because of this. Just one scammer like this on Aliexpress will sell about 50 dolls/day. And with that sort of money, they can buy 10 new Aliexpress accounts for sale, just like someone can buy an old eBay account for sale. If his account gets shut down after about 6 months of scamming people, he will just use a new account. People will flock to the new, fresh account hoping that this one will finally be legitimate, when in fact it’s the same sellers just with new accounts. Then the customer sees a large number of reviews, at least 2-3-year-old account, and insanely low prices, so obviously he is going to choose that instead of the other more expensive one.

Amazon and eBay are the same, though very few sellers are on these platforms because the rules are much stricter. Sex doll specific shops outside of Aliexpress will also do similar scams. They pretend to sell famous brand sex dolls, which are in fact counterfeit or knock-offs. They do not tell the customers that these are knock-offs and cash in on about 800-1000$ in profit from each doll. Note that an honest love doll store will always tell you if the doll he sells is a knock-off, canceled order, or has some sort of defect. And you should ask him why the doll is so expensive or cheap.

 For example our most expensive dolls here at Smart Doll World are the ones with silicone heads with implanted hair, curvy heavy dolls, or big brand dolls straight from the manufacturer. Being a small company we try to keep our prices affordable as long as we can sustain ourselves. And because of the constant new waves of fraudulent sellers out there – it has become increasingly difficult. Aliexpress has also taken over, pumping out so many bad dolls and experiences that people don’t want to risk another bad experience. They reportedly scam at least 1.000 – 2000 people with fake descriptions or dolls every day. And that number is probably much higher. Other sellers steal our pictures, descriptions, blogs etc. Since this is still a fairly new industry, it is not regulated so they can get away with this. And because most of our efforts go into making dolls and customer service, we can’t pursue legal action against every doll seller that steals from us. All we can do is warn customers of the dangers that are out there.

2. RECYCLED TOXIC TPE

What most sellers won’t tell you is that they use or sell dolls that are made from recycled materials, many times from returned and sexually used dolls. They melt down the silicone or TPE material and re-use it to make a new doll. Or if the returned order only has a minor flaw, they melt or glue it up. The customer then gets a highly toxic, cancerous product that will cause them a huge risk to their health and physical well-being.

We rarely fix or glue products. Most of the time if the customer’s synthetic girl has a defect, we just send a new head or body, even replace the doll altogether. Sometimes, when the customer gets attached to the doll or doesn’t want a new one, we might perform some minor surgery on the body like the legs or hands, but never on the genitals. It is too risky and not healthy when it comes in contact with someone’s genitals. Personal health and well-being is the most important things. We got into this business because we truly thought it was a great thing for people’s sexuality and mental health. Realistic dolls and companion robots are something we truly believe in. But one should always respect another man’s health and safety.

If you receive a doll that is too soft or even starts to easily melt – do not use that doll! It is poison and will damage your body. Sex dolls should be solid and strong. The material should not easily break or melt. Leaking might happen if you put the doll on a bad synthetic material like faux leather or latex, but if you keep the doll on cotton or a natural material, it should not leak. God forbid you to get a moldy doll – throw that thing out immediately!

3. BAD CUSTOMIZATIONS

We only offer a limited amount of customizations so we can keep our costs lower and shipping times fast. But we have heard of horror custom dolls that came malformed or looked alien-like. Most fraudulent sellers won’t tell you that the customizations you choose are bad or unnatural looking. This will result in dolls that look less like humans and more like disgusting creatures. They might have huge heads with small bodies, unnatural skin color tones, big feet or weird looking hands. It will look like straight out of a horror movie.

Whenever a customer asks for some customizations at Smart Doll World, we are always honest. We tell them that the customization might not be a good idea or that it is even impossible. Yes, we lose a lot of customers because of this, but at least we are not sending out horror creatures looking like they jumped out from an H.P. Lovecraft or Stephen King story. Yes, if we are to be honest, we do get a lot of weird requests and we do try to honor or at least entertain them, but we take pride in our work. So when we get asked to do something that looks like a small demon or zebra for 800$ in 1 month, don’t be surprised if we don’t do it. And we also don’t put full-sized doll heads on small bodies either. This will cause a bobblehead effect as seen above.

4. INFLATABLE DOLLS FILLED WITH ROCKS

This used to be a huge issue 3-4 years ago. Back when sex dolls under 4.000$ became a thing, most sellers still only had inflatable, semi-solid dolls. Or could not keep up with the high demand. So what they would do is pack up a semi-solid, ugly looking inflatable doll with a bunch of rocks to make it look like a real silicone or TPE doll. There weren’t as many scams back then so the customers didn’t even think twice before purchasing. It happened quite a lot on Aliexpress and even by the USA and Europe-based sellers.

Now, this scam has since died out. Very few online stores use this scam anymore, at least we haven’t heard much about it in the last 2-3 years. The last time a customer told us he had been scammed like this was 2 years ago. So hopefully this is no longer going on. But in new locations where sex toys and sex dolls have just become legal, it can be a serious issue. While many scams like this have died out in the USA or EU, countries that have just entered the online world and the sex toy industry like – Africa, South America and even some parts in Europe need to stay cautious and vigilant. Scammers are out there!

5. NO PRODUCT AT ALL

Another common scam is when you order a doll and get nothing at all. You get charged for the doll but will never get your purchase. The fraudulent person sets up a website so they pose as a real store or shop. They put up real attractive images or even 3d digital photos to trick customers. Obviously, they don’t have anything, it’s all smoke and mirrors. This one is very difficult to avoid because these types of scammers usually have a lot of websites set up. They can have anywhere from 5 to 20 websites running at the same time. Once they start advertising, you will only see their websites. And they usually have very flashy sites, with things like ‘50% off’ or ‘Best Deals’, and even ‘Free Doll’ advertisements. We can assure you that nobody is sending out free sex dolls to customers. There are a few very big sex doll companies that send out dolls for free to get a review or marketing for their products, but this is not the lottery. Unless you have a social media channel with a huge following, you’re never going to get a free doll. The costs are too high, salaries as well, companies can’t afford to send out dolls for nothing or give 50% off, no matter what they might say. Yes, once or twice a year they might be able to do it.

So if you see a site that is super well designed, with a bunch of flashy stuff, popups with huge discounts, free dolls or other manipulative tactics – it’s a scam!

6. NO CONTACT OR CUSTOMER SUPPORT

If you can’t contact them or thy offer no customer support, it’s a scam. Just as in other products, descriptions or reviews matter a lot. They help you see the honesty of the seller, and make your decision of whether or not buy from the store. Research to see whether the seller has transacted business with other people, google search them and see how other have felt about the transaction. Don’t expect everyone to be happy or satisfied though. Every store in the world has at least a couple of unhappy customers. But if more people are on the unhappy side, that should be a warning sign. Also, check on the doll’s descriptions and if the site has details on how to care for your dolls. Scammers only go for flashy sales tactics. They have sexy pictures, and manipulative marketing tactics.

With the sex doll business being an online shopping experience always look to see whether the seller’s website provides you with contact information. Do they respond? Well, scammers will never respond to you or just write short one-line sentences usually. You can always ask the seller for unclear descriptions or about the information you need. No response = usually a scam. We always respond within 24 hours and you can contact us directly by phone and we are happy to answer all your questions. Also, if a seller is not able to answer your questions in detail either they are a scam or they just don’t know the product and you will get poor to no support.  Smart Doll World specializes in only 3 doll types and we know our product inside and out and will answer all your questions in detail.

   7. PAYMENT

Even sex doll stores need some sort of payment method. Smart Doll World accepts Paypal, Mastercard and Visa. Your transaction is as safe as doing business with your online bank as we have the latest security standards in place.

So how do you go about making sure your money is safe? Well, check to see the payment methods that the seller accepts and choose the safest one. The most advisable method to pay for products online is definitely credit cards and PayPal. Why? Both methods offer a recovery method in case something goes wrong. With PayPal’s buyer protection you don’t need to worry. If the product delivered is not as advertised or if you don’t receive your product at all, PayPal will refund your money.

Avoid online currency, Bitcoin type of transactions or direct transfers unless you already have a relationship with the seller. We are not saying that all Bitcoin transactions are going to be problems, but if that’s the only way the store accepts payment in 2020, there is a problem.

If the deal is too good to be true it is a scam. If you see a full-sized curvy doll that is in total less than $1,000 be very careful. It is most likely not a real thing or the poorest quality materials. If a seller advertises a product that seems too cheap or too expensive, question that. An ideal price should be realistic and not scam – like with fake deals and offers. One doll that is not too expensive and not too cheap either.

It is our hope that the article is helpful, and that you will use the tips to protect yourself from scams.

Important! We send a picture of your doll to you before we ship her to make sure all selected customizations have been applied correctly.  If there is a problem with the customizations, we will rectify the issue before shipping your doll.