Bought the wrong Barbie Dreamhouse

[EJ72]

This is actually about a birthday present, but posted here for traffic.

Ok, this is going to sound mad but please be gentle with me.

DD turned 9 today. She’s a young 9, and we bought her the Barbie Dreamhouse, which she is delighted with. Never thought I’d buy such a big load of plastic, but I’ve realised she absolutely loves it and will definitely play with it so all good…

Except I’ve realised we’ve bought the wrong one. I’ve been horrendously busy with my teaching job all term (crazy stress), DH bought this a good couple of months ago on Amazon. I thought, ok that’s fine, job done, though why TF did I not do my own research, as tbh, can never trust DH to buy anything… and now I realise he has bought the 2020 model (only available on Amazon, nowhere else) and my DD has been showing me pics for a few weeks of the one she really wanted. It’s much MUCH nicer (not that I’ve admitted that to her). Just annoyed at myself for letting DH deal with this. He’s irritatingly only interested in getting a bargain and I failed to realise why this one was cheaper 😞

utterly first world problem

Please tell me a) to get over myself b) flog it (beautifully built today) on eBay / local forum and buy the other one (Smyths at £179.99 right now - pretty much what we paid for the old one). PS we don’t buy many things for my DD so it’s not like she’s used to being ‘spoiled’ with loads of stuff…this is the first time she’s been given something she was v keen on. I just feel I’ve messed up and feel sad for her. As she knows it’s not quite the nice one.

I agree with this, amazon are great. If you still have the box

I can’t read the whole thread as I’m in bed and it’s making me sad remembering the year Dh and I accidentally bought the wrong airport for ds when he was 5. His disappointed little face saying ‘Father Christmas has tricked me’ broke my heart. Ds has forgotten now but I’m feeling gutted again 8 years on.
If I was you I would definitely get her the new dream house, she’ll be so happy and it is lovely that she’s still playing with barbies at her age. And she’s old enough to always remember how important it was to you that she got the house she really wanted.

I'd sell the one you have and get the new one if I could afford to.

As pp said, Amazon have a long return policy and if you still have the box etc it may be worth asking about a refund.

Thanks for the suggestions re trying to get money back. Sadly, we built it. And secondly, I did just check when we looked back to see what we paid for it exactly - bought on 25th September. Return date was 29th October.

And I have just remembered that DD and DH stuck the stickers on in various places today... won't be returnable, sadly.

@FatFilledTrottyPuss thank you for sharing that... oh bless him at 5!

@Tessabelle74 hilarious! The are even two of them!

If you can afford it, I'd do it. And now's a good time to sell your current dream house, especially being hardly played with.

Spent too much time watching videos on these houses, lol.

The older version seems better in some ways. It has a garage. I like the way sofa converts to bunk beds. However new version seems to have more sounds.

I guess having a conversation with daughter to see if she is disappointed. You may be seeing things that aren’t there as you know it is different or she may actually be disappointed.

You could always get the new one for Christmas on the proviso that current one would be for another little girl.

Get the new one op!!! Sell the old one and cut your losses.

Nobody wants to be given disappointment on their birthday.

If it makes you feel better, dh and I spent £170 on an metal shed. That comes in a billion tiny pieces.

We started to build it today and we will take it to be recycled next weekend if we can't find anyone who has the patience to build the fucking thing.

Money gone but happiness restored!

Thanks again to everyone, and to those giving me advice about talking to DD. I think that makes sense. Thank you @Freddosforall @snugglyblanket @NoSquirrels @Hodge00079 Lots of great ways to talk to her about it... thank you.

You said she is delighted with it, absolutely loves it.

The issue here is how you feel about her not having the latest model. Please don't share that with her. Let her be. She is happy.

@Minimalme oh that does make me feel better!😂😂😂😂

There may be truth in that @hotelpink (sorry, I don't normally reply to each and every post like a mad woman but so much food for thought!).

Yes, DH would agree. He thinks it is all in my head. But to clarify, DD's delight was in the moment of opening and unpacking and building... later in the day, I think she had maybe slightly shifted her response...But she wasn't so fixated on the other, it is true...

I accept there are issues here about me (perhaps not latest-model-itis but sadness / guilt about not having researched it properly). I accept that it isn't quite a case of bought the wrong one... (though we did). I'm going to sleep on it and see how I feel in the morning... 🙂

This sentiment and as Peach put so eloquently (& others)

• I looked at your links and I'm 54 and no longer a Barbie expert sadly but I loved the new one - loved it and like the other poster said you wanted the red gloves but ended up with the blue as they were cheaper

Do it - it will be so worth it just for that look on her face (I say this as someone with a teenage DS )

If you can afford it then swap it.

When you really want something and you get the 'almost' it just isn't the same. In some ways it is worse because you have the 'nearly' so can't ask for the thing you really wanted again because it seems rude.

My mother would do things like this.

One year (1 was 9 or 10) I wanted a silver locket that I could open for Xmas, We went to the shop, I picked one out that I could open, that was the really important thing for me.

It was put away for Xmas.

But then a couple of days before Xmas my mum told me I wasn't getting it. She had been talking to a neighbour who had said she had a locket I could have, so my mum took it and returned 'my' locket to the shop.

So instead of my nice shiny new oval locket that I had picked out I got an old locket that I couldn't open and was love heart shaped. I have never in my life liked love heart anything.

I bought myself a locket, an oval one, when I was 21.

Buy her the one she really wanted and sell the 2020 one. You'd make 2 children very happy. Your daughter because she has what she really wanted and the other child who perhaps wouldn't have got one at full price but will cherish the one your daughter isn't so happy with.

Loving all the barbie dream house nostalgia. Both new houses are fabulous- Barbie is living her best bougie life!

I adore my little lad but there will always be a bit of me that is sad that I never got to buy a barbie dream house. It’s all football and Pokémon here. Sigh,

Your dd is probably being grateful and showing happiness as she is well mannered.

She doesn't sound spoilt at all in that she'll point out the 'proper' one but is happy with what she has.

I would ask her. From her reaction you'll know if you should swap or not.

Now is definitely the time to sell though.

Would dd definitely be happy for you to sell the one she has? I only ask because I used to get attached to things as a child and even if I could've had the one that I originally asked for instead, I would've chosen to keep the one I actually got once I had it.

Something to consider is that she is 9 so realistically how long is she likely to really play with it and enjoy it? 12 months or so? It's a lot of money and faff for something that probably isn't going to be sticking around long term.

I wouldn't flog it and replace it with a Christmas present dream house because that's her birthday present and she'll essentially have her birthday present sold and not replaced.

I would have an honest chat with her and say you understand she's a little disappointed and you want to put it right.

Give her the option of selling the one she got, and buying the one she wanted. But it remains her birthday present.

Or ask her if she is ok with the house she got and would like to keep it, but to make it up-to her for getting the wrong one offer to let her choose some accessories/new barbie etc to go with it. She might be more excited at the prospect of something to go with the house she got.

Good idea

Can you not just gently explain that Barbs and Ken divorced and Barbs has to live in her old house for now?

She sounds lovely 😊 just like my 8 year old! So many children these days are into screens, so nice when they play. I’d buy the other one, I’m like you I know it won’t last forever!

Oh, normally I’m a total grinch about things like this, but the thought of being so excited to get something huge like that….then it not being quite as good as what you actually wanted.

As an adult, I’ve asked my family not to buy me presents. I’m quite particular and wouldn’t want someone to spend their money on something that wasn’t exactly what I wanted. DH is the sort of person who buys himself the cheaper, less fancy model of things, whereas I’d rather save and wait for the better one.

www.very.co.uk/barbie-dreamhouse-playset/1600608651.prd

If you do decide to get the newer one then you can get this for £160 if you don’t have a very account already as there’s a welcome code to get 20% off if you’re a new customer.
Just type in WELCOME in the promo code bit.

I think I’d be another who’d buy the newer one and sell the old one.