4 ms·

My wife and I just had two kids, about 14 months apart. The essentials we missed out on must have been unknown unknowns for us. We bought almost all of our clo

by cfeduke 11y ago

My wife and I just had two kids, about 14 months apart. The essentials we missed out on must have been unknown unknowns for us. We bought almost all of our clothes second hand (there are thriving brick and mortar stores that sell second hand infant/toddler clothes). Outside of hospital costs the expensive part of having a baby isn't all that expensive, actually. If I had a service that picked up the things I already paid for, I'd have to repurchase things when we had baby #2. That's not a selling point. (When clothes don't fit, or are incorrect gender, they can be used for credit at used clothes stores.)

fixxer 11y ago
Can not overemphasize the value of the secondary market. That is a huge cost savings for clothes and also large toys. Garage sales, etc. Why pay $100-200 for a fisher price car when you get a used one for $10? The only exception I've found are good kiddie pools. Those things hold a surprising amount of value. There are a couple of products out there that are popular for dog baths, so kind of a funny market dynamic.
- MrZongle2 11y ago
  "Can not overemphasize the value of the secondary market. That is a huge cost savings for clothes and also large toys. Garage sales, etc. Why pay $100-200 for a fisher price car when you get a used one for $10?" Wish I could upvote this more than once. When the first child is on its way (or has arrived), new parents understandably want the best for their baby. Of course, in many cases this translates into "new". After all, unless your parents are pack rats or you've got older siblings who have recently passed through the early stages of child-rearing, who keeps this stuff around? If rent-to-own stores are the greatest rip-off in consumer America, I think baby stores may be a close second. We spent far more time, energy and money in 'Babies R Us' than I care to remember. Now when baby #2 arrives, you're a little more seasoned. Jaded, even. Hand-me-downs are definitely an option, and you likely no longer have the budget to buy all-new again. Yard sales can be your friend, and you'll be surprised how many used items can be like-new or restored to like-new condition and still be safe and clean for use by the new arrival. Edit: regarding Bundle Club -- the whole purpose of this thread -- I think that it may be useful to first-time parents without an available support mechanism (family & friends) in their area. Existing parents are full of knowledge of what you need (usually due to an experience of not having it on hand), so if they aren't accessible perhaps a 'curated' experience may be able to fill some of the gaps.
  - cfeduke 11y ago
    When we were about to have our first we went to Babies R Us, and had to sit through some "new parent" training nonsense with a few other couples for a 25% off coupon. I thought at the time "25% off, okay I can endure 15 minutes." It wasn't worth the time. What I learned from that experience was that they were desperately trying to sell us a bunch of expensive crap we didn't need. I think if they didn't try so hard its likely we would've bought a lot of baby stuff from them. Because of that experience we went to second hand stores where the employees left us alone and answered questions when we had them.

by cfeduke 11y ago

fixxer 11y ago

Can not overemphasize the value of the secondary market. That is a huge cost savings for clothes and also large toys. Garage sales, etc. Why pay $100-200 for a fisher price car when you get a used one for $10? The only exception I've found are good kiddie pools. Those things hold a surprising amount of value. There are a couple of products out there that are popular for dog baths, so kind of a funny market dynamic.

MrZongle2 11y ago
"Can not overemphasize the value of the secondary market. That is a huge cost savings for clothes and also large toys. Garage sales, etc. Why pay $100-200 for a fisher price car when you get a used one for $10?" Wish I could upvote this more than once. When the first child is on its way (or has arrived), new parents understandably want the best for their baby. Of course, in many cases this translates into "new". After all, unless your parents are pack rats or you've got older siblings who have recently passed through the early stages of child-rearing, who keeps this stuff around? If rent-to-own stores are the greatest rip-off in consumer America, I think baby stores may be a close second. We spent far more time, energy and money in 'Babies R Us' than I care to remember. Now when baby #2 arrives, you're a little more seasoned. Jaded, even. Hand-me-downs are definitely an option, and you likely no longer have the budget to buy all-new again. Yard sales can be your friend, and you'll be surprised how many used items can be like-new or restored to like-new condition and still be safe and clean for use by the new arrival. Edit: regarding Bundle Club -- the whole purpose of this thread -- I think that it may be useful to first-time parents without an available support mechanism (family & friends) in their area. Existing parents are full of knowledge of what you need (usually due to an experience of not having it on hand), so if they aren't accessible perhaps a 'curated' experience may be able to fill some of the gaps.
- cfeduke 11y ago
  When we were about to have our first we went to Babies R Us, and had to sit through some "new parent" training nonsense with a few other couples for a 25% off coupon. I thought at the time "25% off, okay I can endure 15 minutes." It wasn't worth the time. What I learned from that experience was that they were desperately trying to sell us a bunch of expensive crap we didn't need. I think if they didn't try so hard its likely we would've bought a lot of baby stuff from them. Because of that experience we went to second hand stores where the employees left us alone and answered questions when we had them.