These useful and practical tips for buying American Girl Doll Clothes are essential for consumers wanting to stretch their dollars.
To be an informed consumer, there are three things to consider when purchasing American Girl doll clothes: Price, Quality, and Child's Interests
There is a large variation in the price of American Girl doll clothes. Ebay sellers often start doll clothes at $.99 so looking for an outfit with no bids can result in a great deal. The original American Girl Doll website generally offers their doll clothes for approximately $26.00 an outfit. Custom clothing can start at $60.00.
The wise old saying that you get what you pay for applies to American Girl doll clothes just as well as it applies for all goods on today's market. There are various issues that have an effect on the price. They are the strength of the sewing stitches, the packaging of the doll clothes, whether the doll clothing is sold separately or if it comes with accessories, and charges for shipping. Taking each of these items into consideration we can see their effect on pricing of the doll clothes.
Quality of Stitching and its effect on the price of American Girl Doll Clothes There are two kinds of seams in all clothing, both doll and adult. They are unfinished seams and overcast seams.
An unfinished seam line is shown below. Usually the stitching line is about 5/8" from the edge of the material. Sometimes in order to cut costs by using less material, there is less of an allowance between the stitching line and the edge of the fabric. In this case the stitching line is about 1/4" from the edge of the fabric. When the stitching line is close to the edge of the fabric, there is less room for fraying, which means over time, the seam can unravel. Cutting down on the amount of the material in the clothes is one way the manufacturer cut their cost. This can affect the children's wear and tear on the doll clothes. Ideally you want clothes that are stitched farther from the edge of the fabric.
Below is an example of a Finished Seam Line. A finished seam is one that has a line of stitching and then another set of stitches are sewn over the edge of the material. This extra step of sewing will stop the threads from fraying, thus making the seam stronger. Extra sewing means extra time, thus the price increases due to the extra labor. Many manufacturers of doll clothes do take the time to make the extra row of stitches on the edge of the seam. When you see doll clothes that are very low priced, it maybe that the seams are unfinished. If this is a concern, simply ask the maker if the seams are unfinished. When doll clothes are sold with accessories the price will increase. Doll clothes sold without packaged accessories are cheaper. The best way to lower the price on the doll clothes is to look for doll clothes that are sold without shoes or other accessories. You can then try to look for a good deal on just the clothes and a separate purchase on accessories.
There are two reasons for this.
Some merchants sell doll outfits in a set with a coordinating pair of shoes. It is best to look for clothes that are sold individually and not in a packaged set. When merchants package the clothes and the shoes together, the price will almost be higher than if you do a search and buy the two items separately.
Little girls have definite ideas on their fashion preferences which is another reason why it is best to buy the American Girl doll clothes and accessories individually rather than in a set. When manufacturers put sets together of clothes and shoes, they use the marketers opinion on which shoes and clothes should go together. However, little girls may not like that choice and may want to match shoes of their own liking. They may not use the shoes that came in the set which means you paid for an item that will not really be used. Best to let them chose their own shoes, and save money as well.
Consider shipping and handling costs when making a purchase. An attention grabber is to offer a low price on an item and then a very high price on the shipping charges. If you are short on time and making a fast purchase the shipping charge may glide by you. Later, when you recognize the price you paid on shipping, you will see that your purchase was actually very pricey and not a good buy.
One flat shipping charge is to your advantage if you are purchasing numerous items provided the shipping charge is inexpensive.
Free Shipping can save you money. But watch closely to see if there are other hidden costs to make up the price of the shipping. A great value is to find inexpensive doll clothes and free shipping.
The internet can be very helpful in searching for coupons for American Girl doll clothes. A search using the terms "coupons for American Girl doll clothes" will provide you with all the retails with valid coupon offers. Beware of the coupon details as each coupon will state the terms of use. Some of the coupons are good for free shipping, some coupons are for Buy one, get second item at half price and some coupons take a percentage off the total purchase amount.
Getting Bargains on American Girl Doll Clothes at Special Sales Many retailers run annual sales on overstocks, samples, or slightly flawed items. Most of us know about the bargains that we can get on children and adult clothes at stores such as Tj Max and Marshall's which give us great shopping opportunities. The same opportunities are online for American girl doll clothes. Some are known as annual sales and some are know as scratch and dent sales which are items with flaws. The flawed items are usually described and often barely visible. These doll clothes sometimes sell for a fraction of the normal price. Doing an online search for "Annual Sale on American Girl Doll Clothes" or "Scratch and Dent sale on doll clothes" will provide a list of retailers offering such a sale.
Auctions shopping can result in good prices on American Girl Doll Clothes. The most popular auctions are Amazon and Ebay and they both have multiple listings on American Girl Doll clothes. One important consideration in auction bidding is timing. If you want a chance at getting the listing for a great price, it is best to stay away from the high traffic times when lots of people are bidding. Lots of bidders mean price war and higher prices. Sunday night is a high volume time on all auctions sites so on Sunday night, you can be relatively sure prices will be higher than the low traffic times which are weekday mornings. The less popular auctions also have lots of American girl doll clothes and less bidders will generally mean lower prices.
In Conclusion, before Buying American Girl Doll Clothes check that you are aware of precisely what you are buying, read the seller testimonials and the terms and conditions set forth by the seller.