<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I agree. I think if they up the price of the doll herself, they will lose a huge market. I can't count how many people (including my own Mom at first) have said to me, "How could you spend that much on just a doll???"Originally posted by 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.
It's after we buy our first doll that they will start getting money from us for the clothes and accessories. The doll (imo) should be a loss leader, if anything, to entice people into the whole AG Doll World...
$10 bucks is a huge jump. I'll still pay it, but as a mother starting out in AG, I might not have.
DH and I were discussing this a little bit this afternoon. It is amazing that AG hasn't raised the price of a doll for 10 years. But the mind does weird things, and seeing a doll priced at over $90, can really stop a person in their tracks. It's like seeing something for $89 verses $91, you know? At first the mind jumps on the item that is under $90.
I wonder why they'd raise the prices - they'd probably sell less (judging by what people have said here). They're doing fine now - I think they should just keep it how it is!
I'm hoping this turns out to be just another rumour. I don't think it would be good for them to raise the prices. $84 is a alot for a doll to a non-collector as it is! Besides, I still need Nellie, Samantha, Josefina, Addy, Kaya, AGT15 and AGT4...and maybe a newer Molly if my childhood one doesn't clean up well. Been so busy lately I haven't had time for her makeover yet. [img]frown.gif[/img] Going off on a tangent here, but I think it will affect people having multiple dolls if the prices go up, which is bad for AG.
Do we have any rock solid evidence or at least an inside source on this?
Again, this might turn out to be another rumor. We'll just have to wait and see what happens. The latest catalogue we have received states that it is good for Spring/Summer 2005 so I do not see them raising any prices until Fall if they do.
I understand American Girl dolls are supposed to be heirloom dolls for girls, but there are a lot of parents in the US who are not able to purchase $100 dolls for their children. I know the production costs might have risen, but I think Mattel's increase in sales in especially the AG area more than makes up the dfference. If they raise the prices I do see a drop in sales. There are too many high quality dolls out there for less.
Kim
If they raise the price, I expect nothing but a raise in quality...if we pay more, they have to make their stuff better quality! *cough* wigs *cough* LOL! [img]tongue.gif[/img]
Kim, I also think it could be related to higher production costs and/or that the US Dollar is rather low at the moment and as the dolls are being produced in China, AG loses money in the currency conversion.
That is true, Miki, but the high increase in sales more than offsets the increase in production costs. The dollar being worth less than other currencies worldwide is only a temporary thing. It fluctuates frequently so I can't see Mattel using that as an excuse to raise the prices permanently. It was not too long ago that the Asian market was seriously in trouble and the dollar was riding high [img]smile.gif[/img]
I heard a very funny Internet rumor the other day about Disney. We asked an employee Sunday if the rumor was true and they laughed out loud. It was very humorous to them because it was so false. I am not saying AG might not raise their prices, but I tend to believe stories when the prove themselves to be true.
Kim
Right now this is a rumor told by someone who works there. I think it is possible that they will raise prices. There are lots of parents that can't afford an $84 doll for their child. But I would beg to say the majority of parents that can purchase an $84 doll can probably purchase $94. I don't think in the long run $10 makes a difference to the majority of their clientell. I know for me it is not really much of an issue. It will only affect those parents that are on the cusp of affording this doll and for all the kids who eagerly scrimp and save their money for that one doll.
I would agree with Lieu that this is not just a rumor, the person who posted it has been very helpful to us on getting info on other AG matters, she just doesn't post here anymore.
I think it might tend to put people off of buying more than one doll, but like Lieu said, for those of us who are willing to fork out $84, the extra $10 probably won't stop us either, we'll just wait for a new code or free shipping [img]wink.gif[/img]
I'm not happy about it, but not surprised at all since they haven't had price increases on their dolls in a very long time. I've seen the prices on outfits and accessories go up a little as they release new things.
Laurie
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