You mean I don't need a $900 stroller? Perhaps this is a sign that perhaps the recession is dragging everyone back to something approaching reality. Even affluent American parents are buying secondhand items or using hand-me-downs for their children. [New York Times]
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Again with the stroller hate. You can pry my Xplory from my cold, dead hands.
Perhaps, it could, possibly, be a sign. Maybe.
I bought a $450 Maclaren for WAY less than that when my daughter (second child) was born. It wasn't stolen or used or anything. I just had an in.
Anyway, It's worth about what I paid (under $100). It's incredibly underwhelming, somewhat chintzy and grossly overpriced.
I'm happy I didn't pay full price.
If this means the end of the over priced SUV strollers that seem to plague every public place that would be fine by me.
Corporate lawyers in DC = *lobbyists*.
They're the reason our health insurance premiums are so high - to pay for these rich ^$$&s' expensive strollers.
@outlulz: The biggest reasons are safety and convenience. New parents are drilled into thinking that used = unsafe for key items (cribs, strollers, carseats). Think of the issues with Chinese-made toys in the past few years.
It's also easier to go to the store and get something new rather than finding, cleaning, and testing the same item used. We nearly always buy used for items that retail for $30 or more... but it means that if I decide on a certain brand or model, I end up looking around for a while until I can find it. Sometimes, we just want to get it over with. That's when we go to the store and pay too much money for the convenience. (We did this for our highchair and for certain clothing items).
I"m trying to think what we spent the most on for the baby, and it was probably nursingwear for me, lol!
Probably the Pack 'n' Play or the car seat (also Graco) was the most expensive thing. We did get a more expensive swing (Fisher Price) but it was the ONLY ONE ON THE MARKET THAT PLUGGED IN instead of eating batteries.
Someone needs to show this to my sis... a new mom, who thinks that "the baby should not have to go without anything" and "everything should be perfect".
Aint gonna happen dear.
Right now, she doesnt care, and once she grows up, no matter how much you sacrifice for her, shes gonna think her parents dont do nearly enough for her. Just look at how you talk to our mom :P
@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): @Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!):
what?!? They don't still sell the wind up kind? Lol
@outlulz: Seriously. Of course, I have no kids, so I can't really point a finger at anyone, but really? $900 on a stroller? How is that even remotely feasible?
Also, did anyone else notice how the first paragraph of this article is like, "Meet these people. They are rich. They are better than you. They are lowering themselves to their level by buying/taking second-hand items. See, the wealthy are still, sort of like the unwashed masses."
Obviously I'm exaggerating, but still kinda weird.
My wife's due in 3 weeks, we did buy a new pram (£250/$410)(you say stroller... I'm from Ireland) and a new car seat but mostly everything else is hand downs from my sister. The baby doesn't know where everything is from, its why I'm quite against designer baby clothes. £250 for an outfit that lasts a month tops before they grow out of it is a waste. I told the wife she can e bay for stuff if she really wants to and even then there is a limit.
They said the only thing you really should buy new is the car seat for safety reasons. heck the hospital wont even let you leave the hospital without one if your driving.
@MostlyHarmless: I plan on lowering my hypothetical childrens' expectations from the beginning. That way, when I give them the key that unlocks the padlock attached to the radiator once they hit eighteen, they'll be teary-eyed with gratitude.
@Gareth Gibson: Definitely a smart thing to buy a new carseat for each child and not use secondhand. The safety standards change so quickly; the padding and parts deteriorate over time; and they really get gross over time...
A lot of charities/consignment stores in our are won't even accept carseats because they don't want the leagal liability.
@tekiebelu: I actually looked for the wind-up kind! I thought that'd be my environmentally friendliest option, and I have fond memories of being six years old and RACING over to wind it really fast when it was winding down because otherwise my baby sister would start SCREAMING HER HEAD OFF. (I'm the oldest of four.)
My parents always had willing swing winders in their slightly-older-children who did NOT want to listen to the baby scream!
But no, no wind-up kind. Sad!
@MostlyHarmless: How new a mom? Because if she's really new, she'll probably relax.
A lot of people were all appalled we didn't matchy-matchy up our nursery. But I figure by the time the baby's old enough to CARE what's in his bedroom, he's old enough to have strong opinions on what it should look like, and probably cute little frogs isn't what a three-year-old boy will want.
@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): But anyone under 5 looks adorable in the frog suit...
Like, less than a month right now. First baby, no less. And she has an issue with frivolous spending. The baby is probably a dream come true, opening up SO many avenues where you can make unjustifiable expenses ;)
Yeah, my mom is trying to explain to her that she should tone it down a bit...
We sell Bugaboo, Baby Jogger and a couple other ones. I once took a call from some yuppy jackass who was all distraught because we were sold out of the red one, and only had the blue one left. At one point, he asked me "You probably think caring about the color is kind of weird." I replied "Siz, you're spending 900 dollars on a stroller. Nothing gets weirder then that." His silence was AWESOME.
And by "yuppy jackass", you mean customer who was willing to drop a grand on you?
Nice. Glad you lost the sale.
Never really got why people spend so much on baby products. You only have a couple years of a kid's life that it isn't a slave to commercialism so make the best of it and buy cheap. There's also no point spending a bunch of money on something a kid will either crap or puke on.