What did you do with unwanted baby gear?

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lightheir
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Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2011 11:43 pm

What did you do with unwanted baby gear?

Post by lightheir »

I have stuff from my infant-early toddler that she's now outgrown. High chair, portable crib, bathinette, etc. All are in used but otherwise perfectly good condition and were upper-midrange priced items when purchased.

I asked the few friends I have who have infants/toddlers in the area, and they're not interested in them.

I brought them to Goodwill and they turned me away, saying they don't take baby goods. Checked Freecycle, but it seems way too painful to photo and list my items one by one, and then schedule all the pickups/dropoffs. (I'd do it if it were 2-3 items, but there are like 20 items.)

I was going to just list them for free on Craigslist and put them out on the curb for pickup, but I'm uncomfortable about that due to privacy concerns about having multiple cars (like 20+ if I'm list 20 items) circling my house and traipsing around the driveway, since it's a very, very low traffic private community.

The financial value of these goods is not important to me, but I really do hate to see perfectly good, higher quality baby gear just discarded. Any other suggestions?
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ResearchMed
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Re: What did you do with unwanted baby gear?

Post by ResearchMed »

lightheir wrote:I have stuff from my infant-early toddler that she's now outgrown. High chair, portable crib, bathinette, etc. All are in used but otherwise perfectly good condition and were upper-midrange priced items when purchased.

I asked the few friends I have who have infants/toddlers in the area, and they're not interested in them.

I brought them to Goodwill and they turned me away, saying they don't take baby goods. Checked Freecycle, but it seems way too painful to photo and list my items one by one, and then schedule all the pickups/dropoffs. (I'd do it if it were 2-3 items, but there are like 20 items.)

I was going to just list them for free on Craigslist and put them out on the curb for pickup, but I'm uncomfortable about that due to privacy concerns about having multiple cars (like 20+ if I'm list 20 items) circling my house and traipsing around the driveway, since it's a very, very low traffic private community.

The financial value of these goods is not important to me, but I really do hate to see perfectly good, higher quality baby gear just discarded. Any other suggestions?
Is there a homeless shelter nearby?
Or a shelter for abused/homeless women, who may have children with them?

Or a day care center for low income families? They might be able to use some of the items or know which of their families could use them.

Either of these types of places may also have other suggestions of where these items could be put to good use.
(Or a social service agency?)

RM
nimo956
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Re: What did you do with unwanted baby gear?

Post by nimo956 »

Have you tried going to a local church? I bet many have some kind of outreach program to help young single mothers.
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Steelersfan
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Re: What did you do with unwanted baby gear?

Post by Steelersfan »

If you or one of your friends has a Facebook account you might post it there. That way only people you know, or their friends, will see they're available.
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runner9
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Re: What did you do with unwanted baby gear?

Post by runner9 »

Urban (and only somewhat urban) school districts have lots of teenage moms. Calling the school or a social organization that works with them would probably work well. If you were close to the school I work at we'd have 20 grateful girls taking home an item each the same day.
user5027
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Re: What did you do with unwanted baby gear?

Post by user5027 »

It was 25 years ago but we handed the stuff around to my wife's three siblings' families. We were all having children and passing it back and forth.

The superstition was to keep the bassinet stored in your house for as long as possible after you were done with it. As soon as you passed it along you would have another "bun in the oven." :o
Big Worm
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Re: What did you do with unwanted baby gear?

Post by Big Worm »

Battered women's shelter.
VGSailor
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Re: What did you do with unwanted baby gear?

Post by VGSailor »

Is there a second hand baby store around where you live?

They may not take car seats due to safety reasons, but other stuff they should.
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Epsilon Delta
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Re: What did you do with unwanted baby gear?

Post by Epsilon Delta »

Are there other charities that operate thrift stores in your area? AMVETS and the Salvation Army come to mind.
Gnirk
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Re: What did you do with unwanted baby gear?

Post by Gnirk »

40-some years ago, I offered it to friends who were expecting. If they didn't want it, I sold it at a garage sale.
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White Coat Investor
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Re: What did you do with unwanted baby gear?

Post by White Coat Investor »

Give it to family. If no one needs, or we're the last to use it, we sell it. Some of that stuff is pretty expensive and even used, worth quite a bit.
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Boglemama
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Re: What did you do with unwanted baby gear?

Post by Boglemama »

We have consignment shops that will take the items and give you cash or in-store credit. I'd call some locally and see what they are taking and when.
jlawrence01
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Re: What did you do with unwanted baby gear?

Post by jlawrence01 »

We used to collect all of the used baby furniture and clothes from people looking to get rid of them. We would clean up all the furniture and high chairs and the like. We would launder and repair the clothing. Then, we would contribute them to Birthright, a charity that helps unwed mothers.
Rupert
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Re: What did you do with unwanted baby gear?

Post by Rupert »

Check with local daycares, especially church-based ones. They'll often accept gently-used equipment.
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Joe S.
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Re: What did you do with unwanted baby gear?

Post by Joe S. »

We stored our baby/toddler stuff in the attic, and eventually some family member/friend wanted it. Getting rid of the double stroller took the longest, but my sister had two kids close together and wanted it.
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Kosmo
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Re: What did you do with unwanted baby gear?

Post by Kosmo »

We gave some stuff away to friends and to the daycare my kids go to. A lot of places won't accept baby gear because they don't know what's happened to it or how it's been treated even if you swear an oath saying something's only been used a half dozen times. It's far easier to give these things away to people/organizations that you have an established relationship with.
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BolderBoy
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Re: What did you do with unwanted baby gear?

Post by BolderBoy »

The womens' shelters suggestions are very good ones.

You might call around to the labor / delivery and nursery departments of hospitals and see what their suggestions are.
MN Finance
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Re: What did you do with unwanted baby gear?

Post by MN Finance »

Easy. We just had 3 more kids. By then everything was thoroughly used and ready to pitch.
davebo
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Re: What did you do with unwanted baby gear?

Post by davebo »

We have 3 kids and are not planning on having more and are in the same situation (for the most part). I tried giving away a lot of stuff, but found that most people do not want used things. I'd hold onto some stuff even if they have outgrown it, since it's helpful to have (for example) a high chair in the house for when friends come over. The rest of the baby trinkets, we donated to this cancer for kids charity thing that did free pickups. I didn't want to bother listing and selling that stuff.

You should be able to get a few bucks for stuff like Strollers though, so Craigslist might be an option. Particularly if it's something like a running stroller, which seem to hold their value pretty well. Most people are set with a primary stroller from their baby showers, but anything like a running stroller is usually an add-on that is not registered for.

I am kinda amazed that people don't want things like Baby Bjorns because they are used. These things sell for like $80 retail and SHOULD be used by multiple people and passed around like baby clothes.
Jeanz
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Re: What did you do with unwanted baby gear?

Post by Jeanz »

The St. Vincent de Paul Society once came and collected a refrigerator that my mother insisted had to be donated instead of trashed. In that case, though, I suspected that they might have been doing her a special kindness by taking it away; I never knew. I had called her parish and asked; if you're comfortable doing that, it would probably work.
vveat
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Re: What did you do with unwanted baby gear?

Post by vveat »

Do you have a babysitter? Ours works with a few different families and also does some daycare at a church and always finds somebody who wants our stuff. There were very few things she hasn't been able to find a place.
sscritic
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Re: What did you do with unwanted baby gear?

Post by sscritic »

Give it to biscuit.
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lthenderson
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Re: What did you do with unwanted baby gear?

Post by lthenderson »

We live in a smallish town of about 30,000 people. Last summer we put an ad in the paper for a garage sale on a Saturday we were free. We sold quite a bit of our baby gear along with other assorted clutter and made about $500 in about five hours that we were open. Because we bought a lot of baby stuff at garage sales versus paying new (except for safety related items like car seats) I can say there is definitely a market for the stuff.
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