I am happy to announce that BabyQuip has formed a strategic partnership with Inhabitr, the fastest growing online furniture rental company. We are now providing long term baby gear rentals to millennial families in select cities with more coming in the near future.
We all know that baby gear is necessary but it can also be pretty expensive. According to MomLovesBest Baby Cost Calculator nursery, feeding and bathing gear can easily exceed $3000 in the first year of baby’s life. In addition to the expense, changing tables, diaper pails, swings, bouncers etc. take up a lot of space. After a few months of use, parents often try to either sell the items on Craigslist (typically for less than half of its purchase price) or it gets stored away for future use. However, many millennial parents only expect to have one child, are on the move, or like the flexibility and sustainability aspect of renting rather than buying.
With this partnership, we will be the first companies to rent baby furniture at scale using a subscription model so parents can rent the items they want, just for the period of time that they need them. Once the baby outgrows the infant gear, it can be returned and new age-appropriate furniture and gear can be rented again.
BabyQuip has assembled three main packages that parents can choose from: the Minnie Nursery Set, the Magnolia Nursery Set and the Deluxe Nursery Set. Each provides the basic nursery items needed (like cribs, changing tables, baby monitors and more) to get through the first few months of baby’s life. We also have ala carte items that can be added on to any rental to make the nursery experience more customized to a family’s needs. In coming weeks we expect to launch into new cities as well as introducing new gear including car seats and strollers.
BabyQuip Quality Providers, experts in baby gear, will assemble, deliver and set up the rental gear in the same way they rent and deliver baby gear to traveling families. For an additional concierge fee, they will meet with the parents, review how to use the gear, and help set up the nursery which is especially valuable for first time parents!
“Families want to rent baby gear as it costs a lot of money to buy it for a short period of time, and also takes up a lot of space,” said Ankur Agrawal, founder and CEO of Inhabitr, “BabyQuip brings a trusted brand and significant expertise in the baby gear category to Inhabitr’s customers. We are really excited to add the product and offering to our customers”
We are confident that families will love the convenience and service of having a full set of baby nursery furniture and gear delivered and set up in their homes.
Fran Maier is CEO and Founder of BabyQuip, the leading baby gear rental service for traveling families and now offering local cleaning services too. She is a serial entrepreneur and brand builder with over 25 years experience in B2C and B2B internet businesses. She is best known for her 10+ years leading TRUSTe (now TrustArc), the leading privacy trustmark and compliance provider, and as Co-Founder and first General Manager of Match.com.
Fran speaks widely on several topics relating to women in business, including opportunities for women in the collaborative economy, addressing the lucrative family travel segment, women in entrepreneurship and on boards. She serves as an advisor to many start-ups including Portfolia, Women’s Start-up Lab, Sign-up.com, Kango, and Dabbl.
Such a cool idea! Congratulations!!
Long term rentals will soon become then norm. Statistics show more and more millennials renting the things they need over buying.
This is fantastic! I hope this service expands to NYC soon!
So exciting!