s/o frugal place to get American Girl doll?

[O's mommy]

I'm thinking of getting my 6 yo an American girl doll this year but dang they are expensive!! I think if she does get one we would keep it forever so I guess it's kind of like an "investment" of sorts but just for the doll and shipping on the American Girl website it's about $105 . I've been looking on ebay and Craigslist eveyday but not seeing anything. Well I take that back, ebay does have some dolls but not the one she wants.

Anyone know of any other ideas for getting one a little cheaper?

[EFmom]

Other than second hand venues that are going to be hit or miss by their very nature, they really don't go on sale much. If you sign up for email from AG, occasionally they will have free shipping or a very small discount, but that's about it.

There just was a free shipping code that expired 11/7. Sorry!

[Mulvah]

EFmom is spot on.

Any chance your daughter would go for a mini doll? Amazon has them for relatively cheap and you can sign up for Amazon mom (free) to get free prime service for three months. Plus, you could buy her a couple of minis that way.

[MrsTittlemouse]

Has she seen the Target Our Generation Dolls? They are $30.00 and my dd LOVES hers and doesn't see any difference between it and her AG.
Maybe if she sees one, she will switch her favorite to the one she can see in real life at the store.

[orangecanoe]

I went with the Target doll and was able to get the horse and another outfit for less than the AG doll. Someone else wound up getting her the AG doll she wanted for her bday and she doesn't really seem to get the distinction between the two.

[Teensy]

My MIL bought a used American Girl doll with all sorts of clothing and accessories from a High School Senior who was cleaning out her room and saving up for college. It was a really good score for MIL.

Might be worth putting out the word among the teenagers you know.

[EFmom]

I'm usually the queen of cheap. But in this case, I'd go with the real AG doll, if you can swing it, especially if the child has seen the real thing and has friends who has them. They just are much nicer than the Target dolls, whose hair has a tendency to frizz up and get yucky pretty quickly.

We did get some of the Target accessories, and AC Moore also sells some stuff that fits AG dolls and is much cheaper.

[CatsCradle]

I agree with EFmom...invest in the doll itself if you can and stay away from the AG accessories. The cost of accessories and clothes through AG can end up being outrageous. It is becoming quite common to find clothes for AG dolls at craft fairs, etc. for much cheaper than the AG versions, and actually I think there are better options out there in terms of clothes and creativity. It is has also been a good way to teach my own DD to sew - she made a hat recently for her AG doll and she took a lot of pride in it. Essentially the doll was the only purchase we made from AG.

[Lilcrunchie]

If she would be accepting of it, Gotz dolls are well made and the 18 inch ones can wear the same clothes, etc. as AG. DD has a Gotz purhcased on megasale. They are not inexpensive, but they are often less $$ than AG. In the past Tuesday Morning carried a lot of them on super sale but that was a few years back...not sure if they still do.

Gotz apparently made the AG dolls for a number of years. Nice quality hair etc.

Look at the Gotz Precious Day dolls.

[Amys1st]

Originally Posted by EFmom

I'm usually the queen of cheap. But in this case, I'd go with the real AG doll, if you can swing it, especially if the child has seen the real thing and has friends who has them. They just are much nicer than the Target dolls, whose hair has a tendency to frizz up and get yucky pretty quickly.

We did get some of the Target accessories, and AC Moore also sells some stuff that fits AG dolls and is much cheaper.

The other queen of frugal here. We have several AG dolls thanks to my mom and a SIL. The bitty baby she bought for dd1 when she turned one. It is still nice 8 years later, when dd2 is using it. My DD1 used her birthday money when she turned 6 and bought the Samatha doll. We had to kick in a few bucks but she was very proud of it and was thrilled when it came in.

My parents bought both girls Just like Me Dolls last year for xmas. Plus they each picked out outfits accessories. The total was close to $600 when the order was totaled. Lots of $$ but the girls play with them all the time and the stuff stays nice. If your girls like playing dolls, have friends who do as well, I highly recommend it. My girls also like collecting them, reading the books etc.

Get on their email list. I did a free shipping a while back and ordered the xmas gifts i knew my dd1 was wanting.

[jimblejamble]

Magic Attic dolls are similar. I wanted an AG doll but got Magic Attic instead. Thy're a little bit cheaper than AG.

[MrsTittlemouse]

Originally Posted by EFmom

I'm usually the queen of cheap. But in this case, I'd go with the real AG doll, if you can swing it, especially if the child has seen the real thing and has friends who has them. They just are much nicer than the Target dolls, whose hair has a tendency to frizz up and get yucky pretty quickly.

We did get some of the Target accessories, and AC Moore also sells some stuff that fits AG dolls and is much cheaper.

I really love my dd's AG doll too, but the AG's hair frizzes more than the target doll. I think it depends on the doll. Her Bitty twins hair is very easy to comb out, but her Kaya doll is really difficult. The My Generation doll is super easy to keep nice.
I do think there is a certain air and higher quality to the AG, but my dd is really not aware of any difference.

[EmsMom]

When my daughter was little, I purchased two American Girl dolls from our mother's helper who had never played with them at all because she wasn't a "doll" girl, although someone in her family was because they kept giving them to her with lots of accessories. Absolutely ask around friends and neighbors for older girls who might be happy to sell them. Even dolls in relatively poor condition sell for almost retain on ebay (or at least they used to) which I couldn't really understand at all.

[xmysticprincessx]

Originally Posted by EmsMom

When my daughter was little, I purchased two American Girl dolls from our mother's helper who had never played with them at all because she wasn't a "doll" girl, although someone in her family was because they kept giving them to her with lots of accessories. Absolutely ask around friends and neighbors for older girls who might be happy to sell them. Even dolls in relatively poor condition sell for almost retain on ebay (or at least they used to) which I couldn't really understand at all.

Maybe the buyers of the ones in poor condition are going to send them to the doll hospital?
http://store.americangirl.com/agshop...llHospital.jsp

And/or maybe those dolls have been retired. I went to the AG website and saw that Samantha and Kirsten aren't on there, so they must have been retired. And they're retiring Felicity soon too. I'm kinda bummed about this, since they were the originals, so the books I read when I was growing up.

[bigteamug]

Do you sew?  A lot of the money in those dolls is in the clothes and accessories - they used to have patterns for them, I would think that one of the pattern companies would have something that would fit, and there are always pattern sales at Joanns - you could also reuse old clothes for fabric (what could be better than using a favorite outgrown dress of DD's to make one for her doll?)

I would also look for one used among friends with older kids, to get the doll itself.