I acquired a 1996 Ashton Drake "Who Made This Mess?" porcelain doll and am wondering what it is worth. It is still in the original box has all the certificates. It comes with a teddy bear with adjustable legs and arms and a toy chest with some toys still in the packages.
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There has been one sitting on eBay for months--started at 18.50. They keep lowering the price and it has not sold.
Right now it is at 16.50 with buyer paid shipping (so a value of approx 25.00 if it sells). Still unsold. Until one sells you will know get an accurate gauge of value which equals what someone actually pays in today's market.
If it was mine, I would start it at 10.99 in a 7 day auction and see if it goes up, but I would take the 10.99 and be happy to sell it.
The market for dolls is at the lowest it has ever been and often these type of dolls (even new in the box) are selling as low as 99 cents to 5.00.
Now is the time to try to sell to capture the few who do buy for the holidays. An in person selling venue is the safest for the doll (these are very fragile as they were not made to be sturdy pieces).
If you do an online sale, just be sure to pack this VERY carefully (at least 2-4 inches of solid packing material all around the box--or better yet, DOUBLE box with the 2-4 inches of packing around in EACH box. Also be sure to measure and weigh the box accurately so you don't lose money on shipping. Use eBay's advance seller tool to find the place to enter the shipping info. NEVER let eBay calculate shipping. It is wrong 99 of 100 times and NOT in your favor.
Post back with how your sale goes.
You might try listing her on a local venue such as Craigslist, OfferUp, Facebook groups or Marketplace and offer her as pick up only so no shipping charges and no chance of getting broken during shipping.
If you do not wish to do this then I would suggest you donate her to the Toys for Tots drive and maybe make some little girl smile at Christmas.
Just as an aside, I used to encourage people to donate these to Toys for Tots also, until I learned that there are children who are getting cut by these dolls because they break so easy.
The quality of many of these dolls is so very poor, that as they age, they shatter quite easily.
This makes me very, very sad since dolls were meant to give children joy, not be shelf sitters.
A friend suggested donating them to a senior center/nursing home, but I haven't researched that angle. My fear is that the same thing would happen if they were holding them--it could break and risk cutting someone.
Thanks Pghgirl for this information as I had not heard of this happening.
Most dolls (in boxes or with tags) have age or adult written on them somewhere and Toys for Tots in my area will only accept dolls with tags or in boxes.
I did call our local chapter and they said they had not heard of this problem but would certainly check into it and would be very careful to check dolls closely before giving to small children so thanks for posting this information.
Sad isn't it. These discussion were in several of the doll and collectible groups I belong to online and was an in person conversation with a friend who has young grandchildren.
From my understanding, in some cities Toys for Tots and other charities that serve children will no longer take the 1980s-2000's boxed porcelain dolls because children have been cut when the dolls break.
Someone quoted the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) as to why the group gave when stopping. I am not well versed in the law and have not had time to research it. Maybe after the holidays, since it does interest me.
One gal said she found a large number of boxed dolls in the dumpster at a local charity shop and the owner said they stopped taking them and were disbanding their stock because of the danger to children (that and that they were taking up too much shelf space and not selling--the perfect storm of bad for a charity shop).
After seeing and having these discussions, I stopped suggesting that people donate them to children's charities and started suggesting holding on to them since the market may eventually change and they will regain some value.
Thanks for all the information.
I will follow your lead in the future and not suggest Toys for Tots.
Such a shame as the young girls I see getting them are very happy with big smiles and hugs.
I guess dolls like this will decrease even more in value but how much lower can they go?
After Thanksgiving I want to do some of my own sleuthing and see if I can find some SAFE alternatives for these dolls.
I mentioned this conversation to a friend and she said there is a market for making these dolls "haunted" and selling them on eBay. She shared these links with me. NOT mine OR Hers...
www.ebay.com/
www.ebay.com/
Totally NOT what I had in mind....but I ALMOST have to admire some marketer's creative spirit. ALMOST...it is very creepy.
She told me there are several thousand SOLD dolls with the term haunted in their title. Some are officially named haunted--like some Haunted River doll from Mattel, but some have quite questionable stories of their spirits. I checked and she is absolutely right. Honestly...what is this world coming to!?!
This one is asking $16.50 and has not sold.
There are so many dolls flooding the market these days and they just sit on eBay and other sites and are never sold. The doll you have is from a doll company who mass produces dolls. They normally make between 500 to 2000 of each doll to be sold on the market. Therefore, it is harder to sell your doll. People have even tried to give the dolls away for $1 t6o $5 and people are still not buying them. The average price this doll should bring is around $15.
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