How To Get Doll Money: The Master List of Ideas!

These are fantastic ideas. I am definitely saving this post to continue reading through it later on. It can be hard to save money these days with everything skyrocketing in price, but if you are smart about your savings then you should be able to save up enough money for this.

 

Selling stock photos was mentioned in passing on the first page but they only named iStock/Getty which is the most difficult agency to work with. Adobe, Shutterstock, Dreamstime, 123RF, Bigstock, Depositphotos, Pond5 are much better for sales. Each have their own requirements what kind of photos they want to accept but you learn as you go. Read the instructions for contributors that each site has, especially the important legal stuff. You must be 18+ to open a contributor account. Technically ok photos and videos from phone cameras are accepted, also vectors and illustrations. It's mostly about what's on the photo not how high end your camera is. Proper descriptions and keywords are important for buyers to find them. You can earn for a cup of coffee or a few thousand a month, nameless pink flowers will get you nowhere but photos with people doing things or photos from hard to access/get permission locations (ex. medical, oil refineries, laboratories, etc) sell well. I sell mostly travel photos, crystal ball photos, and whatever I snapped during dog walks or shopping. Gets me enough to buy my clothes (just happens because photo money come into PayPal and clothes site accepts PayPal). Good thing is that the same photo can be sold over and over. You keep adding more to your portfolio, the sales keep growing too. It's a numbers game and waiting game not a get rich fast scheme but I like this idea.

 

which one is better for vectors and turistic places pictures?

 

@flornosertao In the order I listed them. I use uploading service Microstock+ (for a fee) to do the uploading, descriptions, keywords just once for all those agencies. There are way more slow earners, depends how many you want to use.

 

I’ve been using Fetch app and I love it. You just scan your receipt from any store or restaurant and you get points that can use towards a gift card to stores like Amazon. I use it for mostly craft stuff for my dolls(eye mold bases,faceup supplies) or buy wigs,clothes,accessories. You get a lot more points if you buy what’s on their promoting list. Also if you refer friends you get a lot of points too. All you have to do is use my code and take a pic of receipt and we both get points If you would like to do it here’s my code GKT7WM

 

I've seen people mention Redbubble and zazzle here, but not spoonflower (apologies if I missed it, I did search). I've been using it to upload fabric designs so I can make special customized gifts for friends and found it really easy to use. I've sold some designs I made public without the grind of pushing and advertising myself everywhere.

There's a small upfront cost of getting started in that you must buy a sample before you make it public, but this is a good way of checking the print and then using it in projects. There's probably not a lot of point in selling a fabric if you're not excited about it yourself. It was very easy to upload the designs, and they even help you to easily change colour if you wish.

 

I've been getting doll money by selling some older Monster High dolls I had laying around. I bought them for repaints a long time ago and never did many. Now I am more interested in BJD's, and so have been selling them on ebay! Even little things like accessories sold cheap add up over time It's been really helpful!

 

I recently found out about a local consignment shop, where I can make an appointment (this particular one is booked a month out- busy! a good sign!) and bring in some unworn or very gently worn clothes for them to sell on my behalf, and if they sell within 30 days I get compensation; if they don't, when they eventually do sell the money goes to a local charity. I'm excited because I have a ton of old but unworn clothes I got on a whim at whenever time but ended up not suiting me. I assumed the only options were to donate it to one of the massive clothing donation boxes (where they most commonly end up as rags, it's not a good system) or cut them up for craft fabric. They're perfectly good clothes, so I'm glad I have a 3rd option- and if it helps get me doll funds, I figure it's worth a try.

The items on the rack go from anywhere from $2-$10 as they have a system where each month the price is halved. I believe once the price is halved it becomes donation given the timing. I honestly don't mind if none of what I bring in sells in time for me to cash out, so to speak- the cause it supports is a good one and I much prefer that to wasting the items completely. But if it is a chance to get doll money, or other hobby money, as well, I'm fine with that!

If you live near a place that does consignment, they don't necessarily only take designer clothes. Perhaps ones that don't donate proceeds may be stricter in some way, but if you can find a situation like this one, it seems a pretty good deal. I suppose I can edit this when I do get a chance to try it out myself, but it sounds promising so far.

 

I’ve been doing this too, selling different kinds of dolls to fund these! I use to buy so many different kinds of dolls, it really added up space and money wise, so now I’ve decided just to focus on BJDs since some of the others cost about as much but weren’t even as well made.

 

Yeah! I feel exactly the same. Space and finance wise, I'd rather invest in BJD's now! I used to just donate old play-line dolls I didn't want to thrift stores and such, but some sell well! Even if it's just a few dollars, it's better than nothing, and ensures they don't end up in a landfill or something!

 

Yeah! If you use Mercari then you can just keep the money in your balance and let it accumulate too, which is good if you do lots of smaller sells. It’s like my own little dolly savings account!

 

I funded my first BJD almost entirely by selling old Bratz, Barbies, celebrity dolls and other old toys. There are retro toy stores in lots of cities that will buy them, but in my case, I only got 50 cents per doll (played with, no box, no accessories). I did much better at my local weekend flea market--you could rent space outside, no contract, just pay cash that day to set up. I just spread out a blanket with dolls and other toys or old things I didn't need on it and did better there than selling to shops, and I didn't have to deal with shipping or customer service online.

 

Not sure if this has been said yet but if you are an artist you could consider doing commissions and maybe even do portraits of peoples dolls in specific?

 

I donate plasma, so in a creepy way I can say I've gotten my girls by my blood, lol. I moved in November, however, and have to get back into it. It's mostly my fun money, but I want to help build up our savings. I used to do mturk, but I'm not sure that I would recommend that anymore as a way of getting funds. I plan on reading through this whole thread. I'm disabled and cannot work, and these dolls aren't cheap by any means, and I could use some ideas not only for them but building up a savings.

 

I've been having a lot of luck using methods I found on /r/beermoney. Top favorite is Swagbucks - take surveys, play games, and you can cash out for giftcards including Mastercard, American Express and, perhaps most importantly, Paypal. I haven't used the money I've made there to buy a doll...but it's definitely helped me support my gaming habits. I also really like using S'More, but I believe it's only available on Android. Same basic idea, play games, take surveys - points earned here DO expire, I believe after 6 months, so you need to spend them somewhat regularly. The most relevant cash-out at the moment is Amazon, but hey, not a bad place to pick up the little things.

 

Is it possible or already in existence for members to offer services on a thread? Like:
- Wig making
- Doll Art Portraits
- Vector Images for Doll Websites
- Eyes and supplies
- PDFs or tailoring for doll clothes

That way the community builds off of each other financially and reciprocally. Is that allowed? Possibly a dumb question but I want to ask.

 

Not sure about portraits / images but once you get access to the marketplace there's a category called "customizing services" where people post about the services they offer or are looking for. There are mostly face-up artists there at the moment but wig or eye making 100% fall into this category

 

Gotcha. Thank you for double checking on me. It’s cool knowing that members do have access to BJD marketplace to create doll money. That is definitely fun and heartwarming to think about at a community level.

As an artist myself I do recognize now the boundary in my place. I’m curious as to why and what stories have arose to its initiation, but I also do not wish to upset anyone for asking. It will be respected though. I don’t feel confident yet apply personally since there feels like a heaviness to tread lightly on the site, especially the Marketplace, when new and I wish to be respectful without making mistakes.

Thank you again for your time Idrisfynn.

 

ooo so many good suggestions, thanks for creating the list . I'll definitely be looking to try some of them as I've reached to a point where I'm proper skint right now after putting in a doll order last month, keeping up with my other expensive hobbies and paying the bills that's costing people's limbs at the moment..

 

This is such a great thread! As someone that has recently purchased a couple of dolls I'm in need of rebuilding my doll money. I love to sew so getting back to making and selling clothes is probably the best option for me. I also recently got a resin 3D printer so I bet that making and printing accessories and furniture could be a lucrative way to make some doll cash. Wishing everyone luck in their doll money making endeavors.

 

where to get money to buy new dolls: 1. Birthdays, Christmas and other holidays give gifts, I ask friends and relatives to give me only money, because everyone knows about my passion for dolls. 2. in order to buy something, you need to sell something. If you have a large doll collection and not a very large one, you can always sell it to someone and buy a doll. For example, I always leave some amount of money in my bank account specifically for the purchase of new dolls. What if I like it and need to buy it urgently, after all, it’s not always possible to sell a doll quickly and it’s difficult to make a choice about who is the odd one out in my collection - I love them all. 3. Bank loan

 

Not sure if already posted but 3D printers are a great way to make and save money! Printing things for people can make a ton of money. You will also be saving lots of money by being able to print things for yourself instead of buying them.

If anyone wants recommendations I recommend a resin 3D printer for the high detail, just be sure to do lots of research into safety!

 

Once i thought about this but upon research found out in some places (including where i live) is very hard and expensive to maintance 3d printers cause there isnt many people with expertise to fix the little mistakes necessary, so yeah, also look into this before spending on a 3d printer expecting to become rich

 

It is definitely not a get rich quick kind of thing, however repairing these kind of machines is definitely learnable and there are an abundance of youtube videos on how to do repairs.

 

Sometimes you can also access 3D printers from other places! At my university, there's a ton of 3D printers that are free for students to use as long as they get certified, which is a really quick process. Some libraries also have them, as well as makerspaces if you have them in your city. Though I believe my university may only have filament 3D printers- whenever I need a resin thing printed I go to someone on Etsy who does it for a fair price, partially because the swords I need printed in resin are tall and skinny and I'm not good at supports.

 

This is a great point! You can even make files and then sell the files online for money, while testing your files on these community printers.

 

If you are good at massages, there are people who will give you money for it.
You can also help elderly people with shopping or dog walking.

 

Not sure anyone's mentioned this yet but, while both of these companies have a wait-list to join, Pinecone Research and Prolific surveys are great ways to make money in your free time!

Pinecone Research emails with occasional surveys, and while they don't send them often, I almost always qualify and you get a guaranteed $3 per survey.

Prolific offers less, though the amount depends on the survey itself, but there's a ton more surveys available and I rarely screen out of them. You can pick and choose which ones to do - no penalty for turning any down. On Prolific, I made almost $100 in roughly a week of doing surveys for a few hours a day. I don't know how long the wait list is on either website at the moment, but it's worth looking into.

 

If you're willing to keep a workbook or something, keeping track of expenses is really helpful That way you know how much money you need to set aside to pay for your hobby without eating into your savings or pinching pennies elsewhere. And you can use a workbook like that to plan ways for your other hobbies to pay for this hobby.

For example, I sell bookmarks/jewelry/other crafts as a hobby and based on the profit margin, I've set a baseline allowance to pay for my BJD hobby. That way, my day job covers anything to do with living expenses, and my hobbies cover each other. Setting boundaries can help ensure you don't generally overspend, but also if you're struggling to save up for that grail doll, achieving incremental goals can be motivating.

 

I’m sure this has been mentioned but if you have a car or even a bike and are at least 18 years old you can sign up for delivery driver apps like DoorDash, UberEats, or Grubhub. This is how I fund my doll purchases in part. Busier areas tend to be more lucrative for this kind of work but even in a town of about 30,000 or so like where I live I tend to make roughly 60-100 dollars a day depending on how long I work and how busy it is. I know this isn’t an option for everyone but for those who can utilize it the sign up process is quick and if you’re approved you can usually begin working within a matter of days! Plus you can schedule yourself based on your personal availability. Hope this helps!

 

Collecting BJD's is a passion that can sometimes strain the wallet. Here are some practical tips to help you afford those beautiful dolls that you dream about!

1. Explore Second Streams of Income

Side Hustles: Consider taking on a side job or freelance work that aligns with your skills. This could be anything from graphic design, writing, tutoring, to pet sitting. Websites like Upwork, Fiverr, and TaskRabbit are great places to find gigs.

Online Selling: Platforms like Etsy, eBay, and Depop allow you to sell handmade crafts, vintage items, or even digital products. If you’re crafty, consider creating and selling BJD accessories such as clothes, wigs, or props.

2. Sell Unused Dolls and Accessories

Declutter Your Collection: Go through your current collection and identify dolls or accessories that no longer bring you joy. Selling these items can free up space and provide you with extra cash.

Join BJD Marketplaces: There are many dedicated online communities and marketplaces for selling BJDs and accessories, such as Facebook groups, and Instagram (not so much anymore, but still).

3. Mindful Purchasing

Avoid Impulse Buys: It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of a new release or limited edition. However, impulse purchases can quickly drain your funds. Instead, take a step back and consider if the doll truly fits your collection and brings you joy.

Create a Wishlist: Maintain a focused Wishlist to prioritize your purchases. Keep it small and specific, and regularly review and update it. This helps you stay disciplined and only buy items that you really want and need.

Happy collecting!

 

As someone who has struggled with a bit of a hoarding tendency, one thing you can use to get more doll money and convince yourself to let go of less treasured items is to plan to sell things you would otherwise hold onto but not do anything with (this includes BJDs, in some cases, or fandom merch, old figures etc), and consider the money from selling them to be "free" doll money- once you actually sell the item(s). It can be a good incentive to stop keeping things for the sake of things- follow that one method of "does this spark joy" and you might realize that even if you wouldn't normally let something go, you might be able to for the sake of your dream doll.

Of course, don't buy, or sell, on impulse- there might definitely be regrets there. But in the end a lot of things are just things and if the only thing they mean to you is that you have them, it may be time to consider letting them go. And then the funds can go to something you really want, knowing that if what you end up with after saving doesn't work out either, for whatever reason, you can let it go as well and try to find something you care about more.

TL;DR: being a "revolving door" collector is not necessarily a bad thing; keep and save for the things you really want, with the bonus that if you don't want it, you can sell it for the sake of something you do.

 

This is so true! That's how I afforded my first two BJDs. Cleared out old manga and figures that I didn't care about anymore, each time made enough to buy a fullset Ringdoll (first time Xie Lian, second time Hua Cheng). I've been a lot more thoughtful with what I purchase since, and I've really streamlined my collection quite a bit towards two fandoms (well, now three main and one secondary fandom) to avoid wasting more money. I might eventually move on from those fandoms and sell them off, but for now, I'm really happy with where my collection stands! I might be done with BJDs for a while though, I am completely out of room for my big 1/3 scale boys.

Selling old items both feels good in clearing your space out/streamlining your collection, getting money towards new dolls or doll accessories, and giving someone else the opportunity to add a wanted item to their collection. Win, win, win!

 

Save money, for sure, it is an expensive hobby. Make sure to pay off all bills and essentials first, and then save money for the hobby.

 

Here's a tip from me.

If you are good at crafting or making jewelry, sell them on Etsy! There's plenty of people who sell jewelry on Etsy and a lot of them are all handmade. There's also plenty of crafters who sell their creations on Etsy as well. Plus, it's another way to know that your art is loved by others.

 

As I'm a software dev I got working on a stock trading idea.

Uh...

Well we're doing better with investments than we were. The idea is if my savings grow faster then I can spend more and save less.

A new idea is to pay for dolls and accessories through everyday savings. This is proving surprisingly successful. For example I bought a railcard for discounted train travel and that's saved 10% of the cost of a Dollfie Dream in less than 6 months. The savings really do add up over time. Most of the savings are from only buying groceries when they're on discount. This year I've saved enough to pay for 1 doll and many outfits. We're a bit over budget now but we believe the autumn and winter will allow us to pay down the cost of the last doll ordered.

 

I don't know if anyone has said this yet. I apologize if you have already heard it ten times.

We have a credit card (TD Bank Visa) that accrues points with every purchase. You can redeem the points for cash. Right now we have over $300 saved and redeemable upon request at the bank. The card has no annual fee and we use it every day to buy groceries. It really is great.

My other thought was:

If you are going to adopt a cat, adopt a feral instead of a purebreed. Tell yourself you really don't need that exotic cat that can cost $$$. Put the saved money towards dolls. A feral is cheap and loving and grateful.

 

I usually sell all the things I don' t use anymore. Sometimes I find a solution to get something, I play with It a little, took photos and then I will sell It again . Or find some old vintage items that often are at low prices and then you restaurate It, and sell It at a double price (for the restauration Is ok to ask more. Some vintage items that people dont considering at all, even Half in bad condition, still can really be transformed , restaurated and sell again. ).

 

I have a side gig training Language Learning Models, basically just rating their output quality or trying to make them give me fake/bad information. It's a pretty easy, low-stress way to make $20 here or $50 there in my spare time.

 

I suspect other states have a similar system, but I do not know the links. If you are in Oregon try:
unclaimed.oregon.gov
When I looked up my name I was able to afford a new doll with what I found! I was also able to inform most of my family members that they also had money to claim.
My niece had long ago not claimed three paychecks! I was able to find unexpected money for over half my family members by informing them they were on this list! Good Luck!