The Juiced Guide To: Making Money Reselling Barbie Dolls

In the realm of toy collecting, Barbie stands out as an undisputed icon. The brand’s cultural significance, coupled with a healthy dose of nostalgia has made its merchandise highly collectible for decades. The most collectible of all is perhaps the iconic Barbie doll. Once just a children’s toy, these dolls are now highly coveted among adult collectors. Moreover, with the release of the upcoming Barbie movie starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, Barbie has re-emerged in pop culture, which has created an even bigger demand for its products among collectors.

As with many collectibles, there is an opportunity to make money by reselling Barbie dolls, especially now with the new movie’s release. In this guide, we will inform you of all you need to know when it comes to making money and investing in Barbie dolls, including most importantly what makes a profitable doll.

What Makes a Profitable Barbie?

There are a few factors that can make a Barbie doll profitable, which we have explained below. It’s important to note, however, that not all Barbie dolls that fall into these categories will be automatic money-makers.

Limited-Edition Releases: When looking for a profitable Barbie doll, one aspect to look at is limited-edition releases. The Barbie brand sometimes releases dolls that are produced in extremely low numbers, driving up their resell value on platforms like eBay. These types of limited edition dolls are often raffles released on the Mattel Creations website. Additionally, the brand sometimes collaborates with other brands or artists to produce limited edition pieces such as the Elton John Barbie doll released for $50 in 2020. This doll was resold on eBay for around double its initial price, highlighting the potential of these types of releases. Mattel in particular also often collaborates with artists on higher-end Barbie dolls that can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

Barbies with a Cultural or Media Tie-In: Barbies that are tied to a specific culture or media event often see a spike in value. For example, dolls that represented characters from popular films or TV shows have performed well on the resale market. The Star Wars x Barbie collaboration is a prime example, where dolls fashioned after iconic Star Wars characters found a warm reception among both Barbie and Star Wars collectors. More recently, we have seen certain dolls from the Barbie movie collection sell out and sell for over double their retail price. An example of this would be the Western Barbie doll, seen below, which resembles what many consider to be an iconic look for Margot Robbie.

Seasonal and Event Barbies: Additionally, Barbies centered around specific events or seasons often perform well. The Barbie brand often release dolls tied in with holidays such as Christmas, Halloween, and the Day of the Dead. In 2022, Mattel released the Día De Muertos Benito Santos x Barbie Doll seen below for $100, with the doll going on to resell for well over $400. Thus, it’s important you stay up to date and keep an eye on releases around these holiday seasons.

Where To Buy Barbie Dolls?

In general, the most profitable Barbie dolls are released by Mattel on their Mattel Creations website. Sometimes in order to be able to buy the most sought-after dolls you will require a Barbie Signature Membership to enter. This is a special membership giving you exclusive access to 3 drops per year and costs $10 annually. It also gives you priority access to releases accessible to the general public and so may be worth the investment if you plan on taking your Barbie investing seriously. The likes of Target, Walmart, and Amazon also sometimes get some of the lower-end but still profitable releases. If you want to be informed of the most profitable collectible, sneaker, ticket, NFT releases, and much more then sign up to Juiced for free here.

Conclusion

Buying and Selling Barbie dolls can be a lucrative venture if you know the right ones to buy. Of course, not every doll will be profitable but a lot of the time it will be as long as it falls into one of the categories discussed in this article. It’s also important you keep your dolls in good condition in their original boxes. When dealing with collectibles, the condition is everything and the same goes for Barbie’s. Keep your dolls in their original packaging, handle them with care, and store them safely. Mint-condition dolls will always fetch a higher price.

Sean O Reilly

Authored this article.