American girl Doll

[Mumofgirls12341]

My 7 year old DD has asked for a American girl doll. The price of one doll is eye watering, are they really worth that much? I know our generation dolls are the Uk equivalent but she has her heart set on AG doll.

I know I cannot buy the doll in the UK and I can’t see an option on the American website either. Has anyone bought one before if so where did you get them from?

Thank you. I can’t wait to see her excited face on Christmas morning.

My DDs adored theirs- check eBay!

@Mumofgirls12341 can I ask how much taxes you had to pay once your parcel arrived? Dd4 wants a Bitty Baby but it’s a long time since I placed an order from AG directly.

I guess it is always going to be more expensive from My Doll Collection because they need to make a profit don’t they.

Ooh this is so lovely! I still have the two American Girl dolls I was given as a child, I remember being so excited to open anything related. We used to read the catalogue cover to cover!

The AG dolls look beautiful. Just fell in love with ski collection, but £477! Eeeek. Good luck. We have OG doll and love them, and many outfits. We have some designer friend clothes too.

My DD's had the mini ones that came with a book. I'll see if the box sets are in the loft tomorrow, quite willing to give them to you for the postage (unless by chance you are close, even easier) as they are way past that age being grown up, I just can't remember if I donated them ( no light also need to wait for tomorrow!)

Gawd we’ve got 3 in the loft that my kids don’t play with anymore. Must dust them off and sell them 😂. We bought most of the clothes and accessories from aliexpress or etsy

I've been stalking some on eBay as not sure I can stomach the terrible exchange rate and customs!

DH got our daughter one on a business trip to Chicago. DD is 17.5 now and the American Doll is still on her bed... 😂 It was insanely expensive then too. Don't get her a fake/own brand one, unless she agrees. Better tell her that they are not available in the UK, but if/when you travel to the US you'll get her one.

We have had two welly wishers (the slightly smaller ones). Both have broken, a common fault by all accounts - the vinyl leg joints have literally crumbled. DD has been devastated (and I’ve shelled out twice!). AG have agreed to a replacement but not until we are in the US next year. Just be careful if you are going for a welly wisher.

These dolls are absolutely gorgeous, your daughter will love hers.

my daughter has 6 of them, thanks to her American granny who treats her. She had her first two when she was 4 and she still plays with them all still (she’s 12)
We also loved visiting the AG store on two occasions in Orlando.

as other posters have mentioned, OG accessories and clothes are compatible with the AG dolls and are good quality.

This is such a shame, especially if you don't tend to go to America. In the description on the web page, it does now state 'improved' - hopefully this means they have fixed that issue.

I paid £20 import fee and £20 tax for my AG order

Thank you. I decided to order directly from AG because they have 20% off for this weekend. My Doll Collection wanted about £400 for one doll and 3 outfits which seems a lot. They were trying to persuade me that it's cheaper to order from them but surely that can't be the case when they need to make a profit? Otherwise how would they even stay open.

Sorry just seen this. I haven’t received the parcel yet, I’m hoping it’s not too much x

@Xaviera How did you manage to place the order? I can’t see any option to complete an order to the UK??

Unfortunately, you can't place the order online - you have to phone up their international order line and do it over the phone. Years ago, it was easier because I would email the codes for the items I wanted, customer services would send me an email and I'd just phone up to actually give my card number and pay. I had to give all my information over the phone this time which took a bit longer.

However, I do think that ordering from MDC would have been more expensive, even with taxes added on. I think that they may have put their prices up, considerably because a couple of years ago, dd3 wanted the girl of the year doll and this tent play set and it was pretty reasonable even though the packages were big. It's understandable I guess otherwise they'd go out of business.

@Xaviera Have you ordered within the last year? If so, how much was postage please? I'm apprehensive to call them in case they end up asking for an amount I don't have! That would be humiliating. The doll I want to get her is $93 after discount. However I think I saw someone mention upthread, that there's a $200 minimum spend for UK orders :( Definitely can’t afford that plus postage & taxes.

They really are missing out by not being in the UK market!

Yes, I ordered yesterday for a Christmas present. The shipping cost was $77 but, as you mention I ordered about 6 things because of the minimum $200 that you now have to spend to get a delivery to the UK. That's because of a change in UK laws and nothing to do with AG.

I know that MDC charges £175 for one 18 inch doll. As I said, though, I found them to be a lot more expensive even taking taxes into consideration.

I'm still waiting on my package. Apparently it's just cleared customs.

They're absolutely not worth the price difference. I bought one a few years ago and it was £120. We still have it and it lives with a heap of OG dolls. The quality difference is minimal, and tbh it looks uglier than the OG ones due to its teeth being on show. My daughter was thrilled to get it, of course, but it's certainly not worth £100 more.

Ok, so I have now received my daughter's birthday presents from AG. I'm updating on the cost for other people who may wish to order from the UK.

I ordered 8 items and the cost for everything, including shipping and taxes was about £300. This is compared to My Doll Collection who said that it would be £400 for 4 items.

Unfortunately, you have to spend a lot of money to order anything directly now because of the change in law in the UK which requires a minimum of $200 excluding delivery. Maybe this is why MDC have elevated their prices so much - because they can.

It's beautiful stuff and the role play aspect of these toys is so well thought out. One of the things I bought was a lovely little tea set and breakfast making set. Really good quality and can be kept for years or sold on.

However, two of the boxes were severely damaged in transit so I'm not too happy about that. Didn't affect the goods inside but still...

Just an update - I ordered one from Simon's Collectibles. He ordered it for me and covered all shipping & taxes. The Truly Me doll is on Americangirl.con for $115 (£93.50 today, according to XE.com) and charged £169.99 all in, including both shipping from US & from him to me via DPD. As stated above, he covered import taxes as well, dealt with the ordering of it and the best part, it all took just under 14 days!

Unsure about the law change bit being correct as I managed to get one for much less. As per my last post above

Glad you got one