I've seen a lot of posts on the subreddit lately asking questions about what exactly is at the Madison Children's Museum benefit sale. I also keep wanting to share my experience, but I don't want to write it in multiple places, so I will share it here. I also want to note that I last attended the benefit sale in 2017, 6 years ago. Many things have changed since then, and because this year's benefit sale is being held in a brand new location, it should be noted that this blogpost, is NOT an official guide to the sale. r/americangirl will be hosting forum questions about the sale, but we also are not an official source of Benefit Sale information.
For the latest up-to-date information on the Madison Children's Museum Benefit Sale, Always refer to The Official Facebook Page of the sale. Additional information is also available from their official website. These two links are the official sources of information on the Sale.
About a week before the sale, a price list will be released. This list will not include every single item available at the sale, but it will give the general prices for items. It should include all the categories of dolls (Historical, Modern/Truly Me, Girl of the Year, World By Us/"modern characters", Create Your Own, etc.) as well as the limits of each type of item per ticket. There are some accessories and playsets available at the benefit sale, but the specific items and accessories are not known until you actually go to the sale. The focus of the sale, however, is the dolls. If you go to the sale expecting to buy a specific item, you will likely end up disappointed. This has caused a lot of confusion in the past when people think the sale is exactly like shopping at one of AG's retail stores, which it is not.
When I went in 2017, I ended up getting Melody's Bed for a great price. I also remember seeing Melody's recording studio and Lea's rainforest treehouse as well. I also got Melody's Hairstyling set at the sale that year, along with three of Lea's smaller plush animals. One of the best accessory items I got though were the hangers! The benefit sale was a great place to score hangers, and I'm very glad I bought so many at the sale before AG changed their design.
 |
| My mother took advantage of one of the AG Shutterfly Photobook Coupons we got from the sale and made me this photo book with memories of the sale. |
 |
| When I went to the sale, we stayed in the Benefit Sale hotel block. I got a goodie bag that included a Lea mini doll, which was super fun seeing as I was missing the dolls I already had back home, and was anxious to get to the sale to get other dolls! |
We (My mother and I) stayed in the benefit sale specific hotel block when I went in 2017. I would recommend trying to stay in a hotel block if they are offered. It was a ton of fun, we got a goodie bag, and it was also nice to have other people around us going to the sale too, it makes you feel like a bit less of an odd person hauling around huge bags of dolls through the hotel lobby when there are other people doing it too.
 |
| Here are some of the only photos we took of the actual sale. My mother and I aren't really vloggers, and the benefit sale is also crazy busy. Lots of long lines, tons of people, and it can even get pretty hot. |
Here are the few photos we took from waiting outside of the sale. We ended up getting very early tickets, so we left the hotel around like, maybe 6:30am at the latest.
This process is going to be very different this year since the sale is being hosted at a brand new venue. I don't think there's been any information yet on whether lines will be inside or outside, but be prepared to stand in the heat and wait a bit for your ticket time. If you have an early ticket call time, make sure to be there well before that time. Camping out overnight before the sale used to be a thing way back in the early 2000s, but now it's quite discouraged and also not really necessary since the tickets have an assigned entrance time, and you can't enter the sale before then anyway.
 |
| Here are some photos we took after we did our first round of shopping. |
Dolls cannot be brought into the sale, hence the photo in the top right hand corner with the sign reading "Welcome to Doll Daycare". We brought our own blue Ikea bags, but Madison Children's Museum also hands out the iconic big purple bags for all of your shopping needs.
 |
| Here I am with my first haul after day 1! The doll on the rightmost side was actually my mother's first AG doll, but I purchased the other 5 dolls during the first day of the sale. |
 |
| Here are some other photos of each doll, plus the mess that unfolded in our hotel room. |
 |
| Here's what our bags looked like once we got in the door, as well as our ticket numbers for the sale. |
 |
| A final photo of my doll Genevieve, who I took out with me on some of the other stuff me and my mother did in Wisconsin on the trip. |
I hope some of these photos can give a little more insight into what the benefit sale is like. For even more information, we have compiled a list of general benefit sale information on r/americangirl available here. As the sale gets closer, we will do our best to keep up with the information coming from the Children's Museum. Our live discussion mega-thread will launch on r/americangirl June 20th, and by then more information about the sale should be revealed. Please continue to leave posts and comments about the benefit sale on r/americangirl as they come up!
