Have you ever had nightmares about Chucky? Do you tremble in fright in front of Annabelle? Well these adverts on eBay are going to frighten you even more.A very profitable market of buying and selling haunted dolls is growing more and more each day in the United States, all on our trusty and well-known auction site.
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As reported by Katherine Carlson, collaborator at the New Yorker, the market for haunted dolls has really taken off over the last few years on the platform, where these objects go for between £40 to £90.
According to Carlson, there are currently three preferred categories competing against each other for buyers, including dolls dressed in swimming costumes, clowns and young girl dolls dressed in Victorian clothes. To attract potential buyers, sellers on eBay don’t hesitate in giving creepy details about the doll’s paranormal characters.
‘Haunted Doll Dakota Spirit Child *Very Active* *Experienced Only*’ reads one advert, stating that ‘Dakota’ was a doll embodied by the spirit of a child named Dakota, who was murdered by his mother.
‘A doll is just a doll, but a haunted doll requires proof – or at least enough of a backstory that a prospective buyer can embrace the possibility of the supernatural,’ explains Katherine Carlson who has looked into the thousands of results that come up when you search ‘haunted dolls’.
However, selling an object ‘whose value is not concrete’ is forbidden on eBay. This rule was put in place to prevent abusive speculation and money-laundering. The auction site also states that selling any object that is supposed to be magic or possessed is prohibited.
To get around this prohibition, the sellers make it clear on their adverts that these dolls are sold ‘for recreational purposes’ only. Some people also warn that everything that happens as a result of these dolls is ‘the buyer’s responsibility’.
An interesting new experiment or the stuff made of nightmares? Or maybe it's all just a hoax, who knows? Either way it's a thanks - but no thanks from us.
