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..