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MCMSign

Sign outside of the Middleton, WI location of the American Girl Benefit Sale.

The American Girl Benefit Sale (abbreviated AGBS, colloquially known as the Madison Children's Museum Sale, and abbreviated thus as MCM Sale) is a formerly held annual overstock sale held for the benefit of the Madison Children's Museum and American Girl's Fund for Children that sold overstock and returned American Girl items at a discount from retail prices. The sale was generally held over a two-day weekend in July; however, in 2023 it moved to June 24-25. The sale, fully staffed by volunteers, began in 1987 and ended in 2023.

All items sold are donated from American Girl and sale proceeds are divided between Madison Children's Museum and American Girl's Fund for Children (which makes substantial grants to about two dozen local and regional organizations working on behalf of children in the area). The sale is the museum's largest annual fundraiser at nearly $1 million each year. The sale was initially held in Middleton, WI (a suburb of Madison); the 2023 sale was held at the Alliant Energy Center (in Exhibition Hall C and D) in Madison, Wisconsin. Sales from 2020 to 2022 were held online due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, with the last sale being an in-person sale in 2023.

Items are only sold on-site (or, in select years, through their online store) and cannot be purchased over the phone, online (outside of the three online sales), or through mail order whatsoever. Frequently, collectors who will go to the sale will offer to purchase items at the sale for members who cannot attend themselves. Most of the time this cost is no more than the cost paid for items plus minor convenience and shipping fees.

AGBS expressly states not to contact American Girl regarding any information about the sale or items purchased at the sale, as the sale is not conducted by the company and cannot assist with any purchases.

Ticket Purchase[]

Before 2018, tickets for Saturday and early Sunday entrance times were made available for order at the start of May, with downloadable or online forms. Saturday Tickets range in time from 7 am until 2:45 pm. at fifteen minute intervals for $8 and a limit of six tickets total per person/household. Sunday morning early-entry tickets for 7 am were sold for a higher price, generally $20-24.

In 2020, due to venue change, the intended prices of tickets rose to $10 for all Saturday tickets and $5 for all Sunday markdown sale tickets, eliminating free Sunday tickets. Sunday tickets were also sold simultaneously in the pre-sale lottery.[1]

In 2023, the general Saturday entry ticket cost rose to $20, with entry after 9 a.m. and a limit of 4 tickets per household. Additionally, two more categories of tickets were created. Saturday companion tickets for $5 (which must be purchased with a shopper ticket) allow people who are not purchasing to come in with the shopper, but does not increase shopping limits; companion tickets could not enter the sale without the shopper's ticket. Early Entry Shopper Tickets are $100 and have an entry before 9 a.m. with a limit of two tickets per household. Sunday Early Entry Shopper Tickets are $20 and have entry before 9 a.m. and a limit of two tickets per household. Sunday General Entry Shopper Tickets are $5 and have entry after 9 a.m., with limit of four tickets per household. Sunday Companion Tickets are $1 and are a limit of six per household. Tickets opened for online purchase on May 10th, and shopper's tickets were available through the end of the sale Sunday (Sunday tickets had to be purchased in cash).

Both standard and early Shopper Tickets have the same shopping limits.

AGBS expressly forbids re-selling tickets for more than face value per policy. Unwanted tickets should be sold for the paid-for price only. Ticket transfers may be made via the ticket purchase website. Purchased tickets may, if one cannot attend, either be donated back to the sale or transferred to another person including via the online ticket exchange system. All ticket transfers must be completed by a selected date (June 16 for 2023); any tickets after that will be locked to their owners. Any arraignments between others for exchanging or selling tickets is taken at own personal risk.

Tickets are non-refundable for any reason--unable to attend, lack of desired or sold-out inventory, etc.

Receiving Tickets and Entry Times[]

Originally, ticket times were assigned by postmark and not arrival at the office; this meant a person who sent in forms by May 3rd but lived further away from Madison was more likely to get an earlier time than someone who sent a later postmarked time but lived closer. Starting in 2017, Saturday tickets became available for purchase online as well as via mail and could either be picked up on site at will-call or mailed. Physical tickets were mailed out prior to the sale. Starting in 2018, tickets could only be ordered online, with all orders on a set day randomly chosen for various entry times; the earlier the purchase, the likelier chance there was for earlier times. Later, the option was offered to allow a second entry into the warehouse in Saturday afternoon hours.

In 2023 all tickets were distributed by electronic e-tickets sent to the purchaser's email with no physical/paper tickets mailed out on June 20. Entry tickets were scanned by showing either the e-ticket barcode (such as on a smart phone) or from printouts and shown to be scanned.

Donated and unsold tickets were available to purchase at the info booth, with varied times.

Timed Entry[]

AGBS asks that no one arrive on the grounds before 6 a.m.; this was changed to 7:30 a.m. at the Alliant Energy Center. Early line up or arrival is discouraged. Ticketing helps to regulate the flow of people into the warehouse and enforce safety and capacity limits. Times can be delayed depending on the amount of people inside; until enough people have exited, no more can enter.

Groups at the Madison warehouse location were approximately 100 people per fifteen-minute interval starting at 7 a.m. and until 2:45 p.m. Groups were lined up under a large central tent in three groups, with clipboards showing ticket times. Ticket holders could not enter under the line up tent until their time was available, though they can step out of line if necessary.

In 2023, due to new location, ticket sales did not include initial exact entry time, due to a new sales location and a need to reassess how groups were admitted and checked out. Instead tickets were initially given a letter group (A–G) and a sub-group number (1–4), entering in order (e.g. A-1, A-2, and all the As before moving to group B). This was later updated to times with fifteen-minute intervals; the earliest shoppers could enter the check-in line was fifteen minutes before ticketed time with early line up discouraged. Shoppers were lined up outside of Hall D in Hall C. Hall D contained the sale and was not accessible without a shoppers ticket, while Hall C was open to the public and allowed access to vendors, concessions, information booth, and on-site ticket purchase.

A person does not have to line up to gain entry unless they wish to have immediate entry. If ticket holders arrive after their timed entry has entered, they may enter to shop as soon as it is permissible. At 3 pm on Saturday all purchasers must exit with their purchases and leave the grounds.

Sunday Free Entries (pre-2020)[]

On Sunday, non-purchased free entry tickets are made available at 8 am and given out, one per attendant; these tickets do not have times and groups are lined up by ticket number from 0-799 and then unnumbered. People are not allowed to line up to get these tickets before 7 am. Entry is closed after 11:45 a.m. on Sunday; the sale is closed at noon and all purchasers must exit with their purchases.

Starting in 2020, Sunday tickets were no longer free.

Auctions[]

On Saturday, silent auctions are held for rarer items, including retired items donated by volunteers. There are also Buy It Now sales for items and retired or older dolls. Auction bids are taken by writing on silent auction sheets, with set price increments. End times are staggered.

Raffle[]

On Saturday, raffles tickets are sold for $1 or a string for a cheaper overall amount. Raffle prizes are donated both by volunteers and American Girl and may include yet-to-be-released products, older collections, and/or early entry times to the sale.

Names and contact information must be written on each ticket. A person does not need to be present to win.

Vendors and Other Booths[]

Outside the warehouse are personal vendors. Most sell doll accessories, items, and clothes, though anyone can purchase vendor space; some spaces are set up for food purchases or children's activities.

Staring in 2017, UPS set up stations on-site to ship items back immediately; this was not made available in 2023, with encouragement to access nearby UPS or USPS shipping locations to ship items if desired.

Starting in 2017, a "doll daycare" was set up as previously purchased dolls of any kind may not be carried into the warehouse; dolls must be checked in before entry. Use of the doll daycare is at personal risk of loss or mixup.

Vendors were in Hall C at the Alliant Energy Center in 2023; no ticket was needed to browse vendors, concessions, or access doll daycare/short term bag check.

In 2023, completed purchases could no longer be watched by volunteers or kept in extra carts as in prior years, and had to be transported to vehicles by purchasers as soon as possible; there were two lanes for pickup on site, or purchasers were encouraged to carry purchases back to their vehicles at on-site parking.

Parking[]

Parking at the Madison location did not allow parking in the lots of warehouses and businesses nearby. Overnight parking or camping is not allowed. If weather did not permit use of the large parking field (such as from mud/rain), it was closed. Limited disability parking was available with a valid, currently active parking permit, but cannot not overflow the lot. Shuttle buses ran from aligned hotels and a nearby ice arena parking lot to the warehouse, and did not run on Sunday. Street parking was variant to what was available and at own risk.

Paid parking at the Alliant Energy Center was available on-site for $8 for the day in front of the Exhibition Hall.

Merchandise Availability and Purchase[]

Over the course of the year, volunteers repair, sort, and clean items at a different location. Items with major flaws or missing components are sent briefly to American Girl for repairs before being sent back for sale.

Stock at the sale was originally and primarily comprised of returned stock and factory seconds (items with minor flaws in construction), allowing any possibility of items to be found and purchased, ranging from recently retired items to older, harder to find items. Since American Girl had a somewhat liberal return policy allowing items to be returned to them at any time until 2018, people can and often do return older items to the company, so nearly any item returned used to be sent to the sale instead of resold to customers.

In August 2008, President George W. Bush imposed the world's strictest lead ban in products for children 12 or younger by signing the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. As a result, AGBS staff and volunteers were then not allowed to repair or refurbish several older items, and older items were not often sold. This law later relaxed and older items were allowed to be available again. Still, simply due to age and availability, most items found at the sale are recent overstock or returns from American Girl's warehouse. Older retired items that are donated are often placed in a silent auction; some are set aside for a raffle.

When a Girl of the Year is retired without selling out, generally any remaining stock of items is sent to the sale instead of sold after December 31st.[2] Items released since the start of the year will not be available until the next sale (e.g. in 2016 Lea's Collection was not available at the sale, but was starting in 2017).

Items are grouped according to type with an internal map given out in line. Major Groupings consist of:

Occasionally, other Mattel brands and products such as Corolle or Monster High (when active) are available.

Saturday prices are approximately 30% off retail costs. Sunday prices are approximately 50%. Occasionally free items were given to purchasers on exit.

Items are not held on-site for anyone and will be restocked if not purchased, and merchandise is not staggered or held back; when an item is out of stock, it is not restocked. (Generally, information is presented stating which Historical Characters, BeForever, and/or Girls of the Year are out of stock at entry; Truly Me and other dolls are not listed.) All items are seconds and/or returns by nature and are sold as-is; no refunds or exchanges are allowed.

Payment is made with credit (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express) or cash on site; one set of tables are for totaling and the other for payment. Checks of any kind are not accepted, nor PayPal, Apple Pay, or credit cards saved on phones. Wisconsin State Sales Tax is charged. Purchasers are encouraged to round up to the nearest dollar on the final amount for donations.

Sale Regulations[]

Limits are placed on every item available to prevent bulk purchasing too much by one person; these are per person paying and not per ticket. In 2023 it is per Shopper Ticket and does not include any companion tickets; companion tickets without a Shopper's ticket will not be permitted to enter. The sale reserves the right to deny excessive purchases.

Limits are mostly placed on dolls, with the tightest being on Historicals which is often a limit of one per ticket purchase; the most liberal limits are often modern (Truly Me) dolls which can be as high from 8-10 each per ticket, though there have been high limits for other dolls and items when there are high amounts in stock. During the 2023 sale limits were high to clear all stock as much as possible for final sale.

Bags are not given out for free; large branded bags may be purchased on site for $5 each or a person may bring their own personal bags of any size sufficient to carry items. No wheeled transportation or shopping baskets are allowed such as wagons, wheeled shopping carts, children's strollers, or baskets; all items must be carried by the person(s) inside. People with disabilities are permitted to come in with their needed mobility equipment. No animals with the exception of trained service animals are permitted.

There is no time limit on shopping, but a person cannot return after leaving; companion shoppers had to leave with their shopper entries. Entry was initially only once a day; starting in 2018 afternoon walk up tickets were allowed, though not guaranteed.

Children under three were not originally allowed inside the warehouse under any circumstances. in 2023 all entrants had to have their own ticket, including children; the only exception are infants being body-carried (an infant walking must have a ticket).

American Girl is not responsible for the condition of the merchandise or the management of the sale; therefore, contacting them regarding items is not advisable. American Girl will not repair, exchange, or replace items purchased from the sale that come with flaws, with the notable exception of silver eye originally.

Policies state that items are not to be resold; this rule is broken often by purchasers since many items show up on eBay for secondhand purchase soon after the sale.

Marks on Merchandise[]

Xmarksthespot

An X on a doll's bottom, indicating purchase from the sale.

Dolls and furniture are marked with black Xes or dots in a non-obtrusive area to indicate they were purchased at the sale. Cloth-bodied dolls are marked on the bottom near the seams; Welliewishers are marked at the center back of the molded panties; furniture is marked underneath. Clothing and boxes are slashed through the UPC barcode, and some tags may be slashed or blackened. This is to prevent returns to the store or through American Girl.

2020-2022: Online AGBS[]

2020: AGBS Online[]

Due to the start of the ongoing 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, the Benefit Sale was pivoted to be held online. The following changes were made to accommodate the inability to hold an in-person sale:

  • Ticket sales were limited to the lottery pre-sale from March 18-23. While AGBS had hoped to sell General Sale tickets after shifting to online, after taking inventory of the stock of available product the decision was made to sell no further tickets beyond initial sales, rather than offer a poor experience or high competition for limited tickets.
  • Dates of purchase were moved from the original dates of July 11-12th to July 25-26th to give time to facilitate setting up the online purchase system.
  • All shoppers were required to have a ticket to shop online. Tickets were tied to e-mail addresses and required log-in by e-mail address with password. In order to allow others to use tickets, transfers of tickets was allowed (e.g. a person who bought four tickets for themselves, a child, and two friends they planned to meet with could opt to keep two tickets, then transfer the other two to the friends via e-mail address). The limited window for ticket holders to transfer their tickets to another person was from June 26 through July 7. All ticketholders had to activate accounts in order to shop and were encouraged to put in shipping addresses beforehand.
  • Due to the sale being online, all purchases were required to be paid for with either credit or debit card.
  • Access to shopping online was on the same weekend day and time as ticketed entry times (according to Central Daylight Time/CDT). Quantity limits remained the same as the physical sale, limited by ticket. A single ticket allowed one online purchase of a shopping cart of goods, honoring all quantity limits. If a product had sold out by checkout, it was removed from the cart during check out; if a person had more goods than were permitted, the checkout would not complete until items were removed to honor limits. Each additional ticket allowed another online purchase with refreshed quantity limits, and so on.
  • Create Your Own dolls were listed in a category to themselves, shown from the front in full box. Due to the nature of the product, as each doll was sold it was removed from view and purchase.
  • As with previous sales, on Sunday there were additional markdowns and limit changes. However, these markdowns could not be specified on Saturday via blog as before; they were shortly specified on the active website ahead of time.
  • Dolls and Friends Pajama Party kits--in lieu of the sleepover that would have be held the prior Friday night--were available in limited quantities. Each kit included a Bitty Baby doll, special craft project supplies, and an invitation to participate in an exclusive online video party in the fall with exact dates listed in purchase.
  • Grab bags were offered in limited quantities with a mix of items. $50 Grab Bags included an 18" Truly Me doll (the majority of which were #47), while $20 bags did not; items included doll clothing, books, accessories, and mini dolls. These have been available in later sale years online.
  • No auctions or raffles were held.
  • Purchasers could choose to donate a doll--either Melody or Tenney dolls--through purchase, with dolls purchased being given to children in need. This option was not carried through to future sales.
  • All orders outside of donations were shipped to the purchaser; curbside pickup options were not made available. Shipping costs were calculated and included in the purchase total at the time of checkout, according to weight, shape of box and distance from Madison to the destination. No shipping could be made outside of the United States or to APO/PO Boxes, as shipping was made through UPS Ground. Due to the logistics of sorting and packing plus time to ship, most orders could not arrive until August at the earliest, and separate tickets/carts shipped separately.

Due to the multiple logistic changes, AGBS temporarily changed the longstanding refund policy and offered refunds to current ticket holders. Ticket holders could also opt to donate unused or unwanted tickets. Requests for refunds or ticket donation to the museum were processed from June 8 through June 15.

The benefit sale opened daily at 7 a.m. CST and closed at 3 p.m. CST; the last ticket entry was 2 p.m. and all purchases had to be fully completed by closing or were voided and lost.

Since the vendors could not be present, the sale linked to a virtual vendors market on Facebook, listing various vendors and how to contact for private sales.

2021: AGBS Online/Pickup[]

The 2021 sale again was modified for extenuating circumstances regarding public health concerns relating to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The sale was delayed with initial news being released in April stating the sale would, if held, be delayed to September. While public health in the United States continued to improve over the months, it did not reach levels for a safe in-person sale (especially due to spread of the highly-contagious Delta variant). Furthermore, 2020 resulted in complete sell-outs of some doll inventory with inventory projected to be lower than in previous years, so ticket sales were lowered and more restrictions on purchase limits were placed. Finally, there was no shipping offered; the sale only offered item pick-up in Middleton. Because of the significant limits on purchase and lack of ticket purchase guarantee, AGBS advised against planning trips that could involve traveling a long distance prior to ticket purchase.

In a first, purchase limits were announced before ticket sales were made available so as to offer people full information before purchasing; furthermore, a double lottery was used to offer everyone a fair chance at the limited number of tickets.

  • Ticket Sales Lottery and Purchase: Aug 25–26 was the ticket purchase lottery sign-up; forms were sent out and available on the website and Facebook page for entering the pool for the chance to buy one ticket per person. Only one entry per person was accepted. From the pool of applicants, people were informed if they were selected to buy tickets or not by August 27. From August 27th-30th, those who were selected to purchase tickets were given the link to allow them to purchase their ticket. Tickets cost $12, all sales final, and limits were one ticket per e-mail/household. Ineligible ticket purchases were refunded minus a $4-per-ticket fee; purchase violators may be denied future ticket sales. Shopping times were randomly assigned to all purchased tickets, with results sent by email to all ticket holders.
  • Ticket Transfers and Purchase Verification:: If a purchaser could not, for whatever reason, use their ticket--or purchased a ticket on behalf of another--from Sept 1-8th, the ticket could be reassigned using the website, similar to transfers in 2020. Every email address associated with a ticket had their online account automatically verified with the Shopify website before the benefit sale.
  • Shopping: Shopping was only open on Sept 25th. Shopping started no earlier than 9 a.m. PDT with the last time at 2:45 p.m.; all purchases had to be completed by 3:30 p.m. The Bonus Buy reopened at 5 p.m., allowing shopping until 6 p.m. Afterwards, shoppers could select times for pickup.
  • Purchase Limits: The purchase limits were a sum total of four dolls and four accessories per ticket holder, for a total of eight items. This was for all dolls in a collective pool--all 18" dolls (Historical, CYO, Modern, and GotY), Bitty Baby, and Bitty Baby gift boxes; there were no statements on WellieWishers doll availability. Accessories such as furniture, pets, clothing, etc., were individually priced. Items were not reserved until checkout and could sell out while shopping.
  • Bonus Buy: As shopping was tricky and it was suggested that purchasers not dally in order to secure a purchase, this did not leave much chance to browse through any books. A special Bonus Book Buy was available after the main sale concluded, where all ticket holders were able to log back in again and shop for an unlimited amount of books and any remaining dolls and accessories (with regular purchase limits, but unlimited carts).
  • Post Sale Pick Up: From October 9-24--weekends only--orders were available for in-person pickup at the warehouse in Middleton. Shoppers had the opportunity to select from available pickup times--either 8–11 a.m. or 12–4 p.m--as well as designate a proxy to pick up orders.

2022: AGBS Online[]

The 2022 sale, for the third year, was modified for extenuating circumstances regarding public health in the US regarding the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The sale opened starting July 14th at 10:00 a.m. CDT and continued through July 16th at 11:59 p.m. CDT or until all items were sold.

  • All early purchasers had to register to participate. Registration was completely free through a Google form, initially posted on their official Facebook page and later on the official site. Registration had to be completed by noon CDT on July 13th, 2022. All registered purchasers were sent access to the link and password to enter at opening. Those who missed pre-registration were permitted to access the online shop to browse and purchase items that remained on July 15th.
  • Entries were not time staggered; all registered shoppers were able to shop as soon as the sale began at 10 a.m. CDT.
  • There were no limits on entry. All purchasers could, after any check out, return and shop again with new refreshed limits. Multiple orders were combined before shipping or pickup.
  • Per-cart limits were set for items and categories of items, with limits of ten dolls per cart total (excluding Create-Your-Own dolls [one per cart], Bitty Baby Sets [three per cart], Mini Dolls, and Bargain Bags with or without a doll, [sorted as accessories/items]). The limit total was twenty-five dolls, items, or accessories total with no more than two of any one item. Limits were enforced at checkout; purchasers could add more than the stated limits to the cart but could not check out until the cart was within the limits of items. If an item was sold out before checkout was completed, it was removed from the cart with notification to the purchaser. Limits were removed completely starting on July 15th.
  • No extra discounts or markdowns were available; all prices remained the same through the duration of the sale including Sunday.
  • Purchasers chose during checkout to either pick up items in person or have them shipped. Contact could be made to switch from one to the other shortly before packaging.
  • AGBS stated that, as the sale is a charity benefit sale, no merchandise purchases was be refunded if a purchaser refuses to pay shipping or did not come to pick up an order.

Pickup:

In-person pickup was in Middleton, Wisconsin. Initially one pickup weekend was scheduled, but a second weekend had to be scheduled due to conflict and large arrivals.

  • Friday, Aug. 5, 1–4 pm
  • Saturday, Aug. 6, 8 am–3 pm
  • Sunday, Aug. 7, 8 am–3 pm
  • Saturday, Aug. 13, 8 am–3 pm
  • Sunday, Aug. 14, 8 am–12 pm

Appointments were not needed, but were only during the selected times. Orders could be picked up by others such as friends or family with the order numbers available.

Shipping:

Shipping was offered through the UPS Store of Middleton. Volunteers gathered all orders to ship together and delivered them to the shipping location, where UPS packaged orders as optimally as possible, determined exact shipping costs, and called to contact purchasers for payment in order to ship items. Shipping was not charged during checkout, with all notifications during the sale stating this and emphasizing that no refunds would be given on any purchase if shipping was not paid. Shipping began July 20th and, due to several delays and misbehavior, lasted several weeks until approximately mid-August. An estimated shipping cost chart for locations from Madison and by amount of dolls was available on the site; package shipping varied depending on size of items (e.g. it was much more to ship larger and/or more cumbersome boxes). No international shipping was available (including even to Canada).

Links[]

References[]

  1. General Ticket Sales were planned, but could not be sold due to the limitations on the sale caused by the covid-19 pandemic.
  2. Ever since Chrissa's retirement, however, some items in the collection are rereleased under generic names as part of the Just Like You collection or sold online after retirement.
  3. The dolls tend to be available at a higher cost than most other items.
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