Doll price going up

[lieu2]

This is cross posted information. But people think the price of the doll is going up to 91 or 94$. I don't know when but if you want to save a few bucks, order the doll soon. I will keep you informed of any updates. Probably will have to pay more for Elizabeth.

[Kitzka]

Lieu:
thanks for the info. I don't know how I feel about this. on one hadn it has been a while since the price has gone up from the $84 but i wish the price was not so much more. I mean $94 is 10 more! I think a $4 increase would be more reasonable but clearly I have no say.

Lara

[lieu2]

I think they are still pretty nice dolls for $94. But I think it is the shipping that kills you. I think in my ideal world, shipping would be free.

[Lissiefan]

I think if they were smart they'd raise the price to $89. It just sounds so much better than when you cross that $90 mark. [img]eek.gif[/img] I'll have to admit. That $10 WILL make a difference to me.

For those of us who can't read the other board because we can't become members...any guesses on how soon this increase will happen? I mean can I wait until my credit card rolls over tomorrow? Can I wait until my gift certificate I ordered from the forum arrives? (anyone know how long that takes? I ordered it about 10 days ago!) [img]graemlins/cry.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/broken_heart.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/wonder.gif[/img]

[mayergirl]

Personally, (here comes the side of me that my dad says should have gone to b-school) marketing strategy-wise, it is a bad choice to introduce a new doll and a higher price at the same time without including something special with her. Price hikes should never be associated with a specific product if the company wants that product to sell at all. That being said, I would expect the price to increase around Thanksgiving, right after the Felicity movie, and just before Christmas. This would seriously help their year-end numbers. Also, like the Samantha movie, the Felicity movie is bound to attract newbies who won't have known the old price, and won't feel like they missed the boat. Another note with any catalogue-based retailer, they'd have to announce the price increase long before it occured (also good marketing)so that people are not using an older catalogue and thinking that the old price is still good. Obviously, this announcement will be good for business because it will cause a code-like frenzy to get things before the price hike. So expect to get catalogues saying "Price of dolls increases to $89-ish as of 11/25/05." If the price were going up this summer, it would already be in the catalogues, unless AG is willing to risk bait and switch lawsuits.

[Lissiefan]

Excellent point! [img]biggrin.gif[/img] My last catalog says "Prices effective through July 1, 2005." So the dolls should be $84 till at least then. Maybe you're right and there won't be an increase until fall. [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]

[lieu2]

I have no idea when it goes in effect. I will let you know if I find out. I hope I can order Elizabeth at the old price. Eeks. I think all the catalogues say price until a certain date. But I could be wrong. I think they always do that regardless if they are planning a price hike. I think they like to reserve the right to raise the price depending on performance and economic conditions. I guess we better order Elizabeth as soon as we can. But I don't think $10 is worth ordering more dolls just to save a small amount. I think only the price of the dolls is suppose to go up. So not as much as code frenzy. I saved or spent a lot on the code because I just ordered one item at a time. So this doll hike should not effect me too much.

[judiaci]

Although I don't like the idea of price increases, I am quite surprised at how stable the price of most AG items have been for years and years. I have an AG catalogue from Christmas, 1995. The dolls were $82 - that is 10 years ago and they are only $2 higher. If you think about how much everything else like gas and wages have gone up, that is a pretty small increase. Most of the outfits and accessories have only gone up $2 in 10 years also.

[kamakajr]

I think the 80 to 90 dollar jump is a huge one. 90 bucks just sounds too close to 100. And the doll is the main purchase. Once you get people to purchase the doll, you have more customers for the accessories.

Of course we will all continue buying the dolls but I think an average parent looking for a present may view 100 dollars as excessive for a doll whose several accessories could easily double that.

[lieu2]

As a parent the initial cost for the doll does not seem out of line. A lot of toys cost at least a 100$. Some way more than that. I think the hard part is everything is an add on accessory. Even the doll underwear and meet accessories! It is the collection that gets you in the pocket book.