I’ve always been told that good things come to those that wait.

Now I’m not sure how truthful that phrase is, but I’ve been waiting to find a good deal on a certain wishlist doll for a very long time now (Sunday Best!). Every time that she shows up in the Buy/Sell/Trade (BST) forum of certain Blythe forums (This is Blythe, Plastic Paradise) I always have the need to check out the posting to see what the doll looks like, what kind of customizations have been done and if I have that little bit of spark of love when I see her. If there’s nothing there, I move on.

Prices for dolls have been moving around a little bit lately, some days you can’t look through threads without bumping into a few for sale threads all featuring a Goldie with “the best hair” the original poster has ever seen in their life (and, to be fair, if it’s the only Goldie they’ve ever seen, there’s not much competition, now is there?). It really is a competitive market. Those who really need to sell their dolls might do it at cut-throat pricing, or offer incentives for those who buy more than one doll or even free domestic shipping, which is a nice bonus if you were planning on buying that doll in the first place.

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1. Save a specified amount in a jar every month. Even if you only save $10/month, every little bit adds up. Alternatively, have a monthly deposit into a bank account dedicated to dolly savings.
2. Have a lot of clutter around your house? Garage or yard sale it! Of course, if it’s not all of your own things, only put part of it towards a new doll.
3. Closet clean out! Haven’t had your dolls wear that dress in months? Sell it online!
4. Learn to crochet or knit – make hats, sweaters or cardigans and sell them to other Blythe enthusiasts.
5. Get a second (part-time) job – dedicate those paycheques towards a new Blythe.
6. Do chores around the house for extra allowance/money (sadly, this only works if you’re still getting allowance and if you get paid for doing chores).
7. Do a bake sale (check with your local laws regard selling food first).
8. Learn to sew and start making your own dolly clothes – sell them online.
9. If you can do any other craft (not related to dolly outfits), consider make those and selling them (craft fairs, online, etc.)
10. Collect pop cans and return them to bottle depots, save the money for a new doll.
11. If you have a regular budget for groceries, use some coupons to save some money – anything ‘extra’ can go into a savings jar.
12. Cut out something from your monthly budget. If you normally spend $100 on alcohol per month, consider a dry month and put the money that would have gone to alcohol towards a new doll.
13. Consider doing a doll swap – you trade your doll that you no longer want for a doll that you do. Best way to save money is to do a straight swap (no money exchanges hands).
14. Do sponsored posts on your blog.
15. Babysit your friends’ kids for a few nights when you don’t have any plans and they do.
16. Do freelance writing (maybe not on your blog).
17. Join affiliates programs and link to those on your website.
18. Offer to customize Blythes for other people (it helps if you have a portfolio of work you’ve already done, plus a website with a clear pricing list and other terms and conditions).
19. Offer to do custom clothes or other accessories for their dolls.
20. Go to thrift stores and seek out some good deals to resell online.
21. Sell used items  to secondhand stores.
22. Put ads on your website and hope people click on them.
23. Do paid product reviews.
24. Come with a new thing to make for Blythe – market them and sell them!
25. Auction something you no longer want on eBay.
26. Do sponsored tweets!
27. Do commissioned design work for websites (or offer to do it and get paid for it)
28. Take out a loan from your significant other (repay in kisses or homemade baked goods – only works if they’re willing to take baked goods as compensation – also, repay promptly).
29. Sell textbooks. Not if you actually need them though (or maybe even if you do…?).
30. Pick up change found on the ground. Find a penny, pick it up, and all day you’ll have good luck.

Participating in swaps is a great way to get new things for you and your dolls. You can find swap groups on Flickr, Swap-Bot.com and Plastic Paradise (new memberships are currently closed).

I personally like to participate in swaps that are all about crafting items for your swap partner – that way I only need to buy crafting materials and I can try out new fabric combinations, new patterns and I get a great excuse to buy new trims. So far I’ve participated in three swaps, all were revolving around handcrafted items for Blythe, and have had great success in getting to make things for people and that way I also get to see the things I make on other dolls.

You can participate in swaps where you trade things you already have. If you have dresses that you no longer like to see on your dolls, you can send that to someone and someone else will send you things in return. This way, you’re getting something that’s new-to-you and someone else is getting something that is new-to-them! This is definitely a win-win as everyone gets something and all you have to pay is the postage for shipping out your swap package.

There are also swaps where you mostly trade new items, which can get pretty pricey considering the costs of some doll items, but it is totally possible to avoid those swaps altogether and find ones all about swapping gently used doll clothes or things made by you.

If you can’t find a swap group that’s currently organizing a swap that you can sign up for, see if you can organize a personal swap between you and another person! If you have some Blythe friends online (or offline), see if they’d be interested in doing a swap with you.

Some important things to consider about doing swaps are:

• Do swaps where your address is hidden except for whoever is sending to you. You want to make sure you need your personal information private from other people!
• The requirements for the swap packages. If they state ‘handcrafted items’ only, be sure to only send handcrafted items for the other person’s doll. If it’s a swap with a theme, be sure to follow it. If there’s a price limit (maximum or minimum) try not to go over or below the limits.
• The date of the swap send-out deadline. You don’t want to be the one who doesn’t get their swap package out on time. If you are going to send out late, be sure to contact the swap group’s administrator/moderator so they know that you’re going to be sending late.
• Be sure to use adequate packaging for your swap package. You don’t want your fragile items to be broken in the post!
• If you’re not sure how many items you should be sending out, ask the administrator/moderator for an idea of how many items for a swap package.
• Remember to include a note in the package so that the person knows who it’s from and that it’s for the swap.

I think swaps are an excellent and inexpensive way of getting new things and I’ve gotten some really great items from people in the Blythe community. Sometimes the most expensive part of participating in a swap is the cost of sending my package out!

Have fun swapping!

Drawing inspiration from a recent thread on Plastic Paradise by the member dawn (thread was titled “Is this hobby still fun if you have no money?”) it really got me thinking about how expensive this hobby really is and what we can do, as the economy is still quite uncertain, to save some money here and there. And that is the inspiration behind this new article series.

Buying Blythe dolls and accessories should never take priority over paying for rent, food, utilities, insurance of all sorts. But what do you do beyond that if you’ve paid for everything and only have a little bit you can put towards your Blythe hobby? That’s what this article series is all about – putting your Blythe hobby on a budget (a tight budget, that is!).

It should get pretty interesting. For me, I put myself on a budget when it comes to Blythe because I work to be able to pay for my education. For others, it’s because they have a lot more financial responsibilities in the form of rent, children, pets, mortgages, utilities, etc. Whatever your reason for putting yourself on a tighter budget when it comes to Blythe, you’re not alone. And there are a lot of ways to have fun with Blythe without spending obscene amounts of money on brand new dolls every month (not that there’s anything wrong with that, if you can afford it).

If you have any suggestions for future installments of Blythe On A Budget, please let me know! New installments will be going up once a week.