Buying fashion dolls for children has long been a tradition. Collectors have also been a part of the market from its early days. The attraction for adult and child alike has not just been the doll itself, but the characters and transformations the doll can make by changing costumes and fashion designs. The doll can change historical periods or professions in minutes.
Manufactured Clothing
Doll manufacturers have long recognized a market for doll clothing. Barbie and friends all have a line of clothing produced with name brand labels. Other manufacturers wanting to cash in on the popularity of the Barbie craze produce labels that will generally fit the popular Barbie dolls, but use a generic fashion doll label to avoid copy write infringement issues. Some even produce alternate dolls for crafters and parents looking for a price alternative to Barbie.
Crafters for years have sold manufactured fashion doll clothing that will fit Barbie and friends. With the opening of the Internet markets, many have increased their markets beyond the local craft fairs and shops, reaching a new base of customers. Fashion doll clothing providers can range from simple outfits to elaborate wedding ensembles.
Outfits are available from people who are sewing, crocheting, and knitting for Barbie and looking for buyers to purchase their work. Prices vary. Some of the issues are the quality of the work, the confidence of the seller in asking for compensation for their work, and the willingness of the buyer to pay.
Patterns for Fashion Dolls
Publishers have also recognized the interest of parents, children, and collectors in creating their own clothing for fashion dolls. The tradition of writing sewing, crochet, and knitting patterns for fashion dolls is a long one. Today, sellers and buyers are using traditional publishing and Internet publishing options to sell their patterns. Books are still sold with fashion doll patterns.
However, crafters have realized they no longer require a publisher to sell their patterns. The Internet has opened a market for fashion doll patterns to be sold on websites to interested buyers. While being published in a book still creates a wide market share, smaller fashion doll designers can still make money selling online.
Another interest for those looking to create fashions for their dolls is the free pattern market. Many people are designing and sharing free patterns for fashion dolls. An Internet search can easily get one started finding the most popular sites. Yahoo groups have been formed to share information on finding free patterns and bloggers regularly post the best sites to find resources.
Barbie Clothing Resale Markets
There are many second hand markets for Barbie and fashion doll clothing. There is a clear difference between buying vintage Barbie and fashion doll clothing and the items sold last year at Target. It is important to know the value of item for sale when purchasing in person or online. While investing a few dollars for a reissued piece may not be an issue, people sometimes spend significant amounts, only to discover they thought they bought a vintage outfit that instead was one that was brought back as an anniversary issue or some other edition. Consumers need to be educated buyers.
There are many vintage and more recent fashion doll fashion pattern books available to purchase as well. Again, buyers need to be educated prior to purchasing. Some sellers will sell the whole pattern book. Other buyers find some are splitting books into individual patterns for resale. Some list the book by the original title and publisher book number, others do not. This can create challenges when trying to compare price, quality, and value. Buyers should not be wary of asking the sellers questions. They risk not getting the correct product when assumptions are made incorrectly.
The fashion doll clothing market is alive and well with the assistance of the Internet. Buyers and sellers seem to be finding each other with new marketing techniques and strategies. Both large corporations that provide the main sales in the market and smaller crafters seem to benefit from this situation.
Christine Ledder - Chris Ledder is a former elementary teacher with experience in accounting. Freelance writing has allowed her to use both career paths in a ...
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