Tired Of Your Kids Not Playing With The Toys You Bought?
Posted: Sunday, February 10, 2008
by Stephany Springer
There are few times in my life when I have referred to something as genius. The inventors of Google rank up there in that category. The inventors of Tin Roof Sundae Ice Cream can be referred to as genius. Even the inventors of the swimsuit that hides all your fat (you know the one that is so tight you can't breathe and still does not hide the flabby legs or arms) rank high on the genius list.
The AP News reports that Lori Pope hated the clutter in her house and decided to do something about it. She created an online toy rental company.
The idea behind Baby Plays, a Web-based company Pope launched in October allows parents to receive four or six toys in the mail every month, assembled and ready for playtime. Call it Netflix for the toddler set.
Baby Plays subscribers visit the company's Web site to browse among nearly 200 toys for newborns through preschoolers. Customers build a wish list of toys they'd like to rent, and Pope's staff ships them to their door.
Genius. Pure genius. It is so much more realistic to rent toys as to buy them. I can't tell you how many toys my daughter outgrew before she even had the opportunity to play with them. We have done hand me down after hand me down just to be able to function in out house. I can't imagine how simple a concept this is. Just go online, rent a few toys then send them back when she is tired of them. Genius.
According to the AP News, customers pay $28.99 a month to get four toys a month for three months and $35.99 a month to get six toys a month for three months. Families willing to sign a yearlong contract can get six toys a month for $31.99.
Baby Plays' inventory includes popular toys by brands such as VTech, LeapFrog and Playskool as well as more obscure European manufacturers. Pope keeps at least seven of each kind of toy in stock so she can fulfill almost every request. She plans to double her inventory over the next two months.
Pope mainly stocks sturdy, easy-to-clean toys with few parts or parts that are easily replaced. She searches Web sites and catalogs for popular toys that are appropriate for small children and meet all European and American safety standards.
The toys are sanitized with Clorox wipes and loaded with fresh batteries before being shrink wrapped and boxed for shipment. The few toys that are too big to be shipped fully assembled are boxed with a screwdriver and instructions.
Families generally keep the toys for one month and then send them back in the box they came in, using a postage-paid return label the company includes with each shipment. Most parents know that's long enough for little kids to exhaust their interest.
But it's no big deal if the little one wants to hang on to a couple of toys for several months, Pope said. Parents can just exchange the toys they don't want, and new toys are shipped out as the old ones are returned.
I love the concept. Toys are tested for lead so you do not have to be the pseudo-worried mom every time you shop for your kid. They are sanitized before they ever come to your house and no buying batteries.
There also is that no shopping with screaming kids since all your shopping is done online. The part I like is that this idea seems so reasonable and needed.
I admit that my kids most likely would be the ones not willing to give it up, but the possibilities are endless with this. I can't tell you how many times I, or my kids have been disappointed with Christmas gifts they thought they wanted. With this concept, they could try out the toy before Christmas or their birthday to see if they really like it or if it is that gift that they will continue to pick up throughout the year.
I can see this site as a miracle site for all parents. Just imagine the amount of time that would be saved. Imagine the lack of clutter. There is not a day that does not go by that I do not wish I didn't buy a V-tech laptop for my son the Christmas before last. I think he has picked it up twice in the year to play with. This type of scenario would have not caused the waste of $50 last Christmas.
As of now, Pope continues to lose money in the site, but she is hoping her luck changes soon. She is already looking to grow bigger. So will this be the next big thing in the toy industry. Will toys for kids become one giant swap out? Only time will tell. As for me, I think the idea of a toy rental company is genius.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)If the kids dont play with the things you buy through the other ones that there playing with out!!!!!
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