Hands down, one of the most common things I hear is “I would LOVE ______, but I only have a budget of _______”. Of course budgets are super important and necessary, but before you buy a ‘good enough’ stroller and spend the next 4 years staring wistfully at people in the mall, make sure you have explored the option of buying it second hand. In my opinion, second hand can make you think of dirty, cheerio encrusted strollers and the image of putting your gorgeous new baby in one makes you feel ill. Thats not really what I am talking about, *although*, there is money to be made on strollers that are an easy clean and can be resold for a profit… more on that later.

I am going to use Bugaboo as the case in point for this post, but really it can be anything. I have seen some ahhhmazing deals on almost every popular stroller, even more so if you have the luxury of time to wait for a good deal to come up.

BUYING: 

- Make sure you know if the stroller you want has differences in model years, and if it does, which one you want. Then, if a listing doesnt include details on it, ASK. Beware of “like new, only used for 3 months”, because that 3 months could have happened in mid 2001. This is especially true of strollers that have warranties that transfer from owner to owner.

- Know that most warranties do NOT transfer from owner to owner. For lots of strollers (2 years for Bugaboo, 3 years for Stokke) this is HUGE selling point. The only way around this is if the previous owner hasn’t registered it for warranty and can provide you with all the info like when and where it was bought. Be very careful with this, you only have 45 days to file a claim against an eBayer who falsified a listing, so when the chassis breaks on your stroller that you bought thinking it had a warranty 3 months after you buy it, you will be out of luck in every way.

- Read every listing, and take advantage of people who dont know ‘the game’. Yes, its kind of opportunistic, but here we are. Some people just don’t know how to sell stuff. In many cases, this means they get very little money for their listing which they would have got far more for if they had posted some better pictures or been a little more descriptive. If you see a listing for “black baby jogger- has cupholder. Florida”- email them. Maybe its 2 years old and missing 3 wheels, or maybe its brand new in the box and she got two for her baby shower and just wants $200 for it. I recently got the score of a lifetime this very way: there was a listing for a Bugaboo Cameleon that had one ancient stock picture and the listing said “denim, has accessories. also paul frank”. I guarantee you most people saw the listing and didnt even click on it. But after a few friendly emails to the seller, I ended up winning an 6 month old denim Cameleon with footmuffs, blankets, cup holder, car seat adapters, two canvas sets of fabrics AND a brand new set of Paul Frank color block fabrics, for $520. It needed a damn good cleaning, but I sold off the accessories I didn’t want for $480, and am still left with easily $700 of stroller. READ EVERY LISTING.

- Dont be too afraid to bid. Paypal protects buyers like crazy (much to the frustration of sellers!) and as long as you read the listing and know what you are bidding on, you probably won’t get screwed over.

SELLING: 

- Take point three from above and work out how not to be that person. People love pictures, and they like them to be nice. Don’t use pictures with your child in it, or from Bobby Sues birthday party last year. Wash everything, because dirt will lose you a listing. It boggles my mind when people say “Has some dirt in it, but will easily wash out”. THEN WASH IT OUT AND SAY “Perfectly clean”!! List everything that comes with it, even the obvious stuff that should come with the stroller regardless.

- List everything that is wrong with it. Remember that your version of “barely used” is not someone else’s. If you claim its in perfect condition/ like new/ spotless, and its not, your buyer will come after you and you WILL lose. I always, always take pictures of the wheels, because people want to see tread and wear. Clean them first, obviously. If the inside of the canopy has a tiny spot of grape juice in the seam, list it! Say “tiny spot of grape juice. Barely visible, but just want to be honest!”. People like honest, weirdly. :p

- Spell out your terms like you are selling to a kindergartner. Read lots of listings and see what they say about how long you have to pay, etc. Then make sure you disclose that.

- People care about smoking, so if you dont do it, tell them its from a smoke free home. People also care about pets, so tell them its from a pet free home as well, if it is.

- Use the name of the stroller in the main title listing. Don’t abbreviate, because eBay does not have search parameters for subtitles or within the listing. Listing a “Brand new BJCS!” will not get you seen by anyone searching for a Baby Jogger City Select.

- Work out the absolute lowest price you could want from your item. Remember eBay fees and paypal fees are revolting and will lose you up to 10% of your sale price. This is a great calculator to help you out with that. Then either set your starting bid at that price, or set a reserve. There are penalties for canceling a listing or worse, a sale, because you got $3 for your BOB revolution.

- Remember your time zones, and plan the end of your listing accordingly! If you live in LA, dont list your item at 1am on a tuesday because thats when it will end (this is not true for Buy It Now, of course) and since most of the time people go all bid crazy at the last minute you will lose all that luck by everyone being fast asleep. I try to end listings on a Sunday afternoon.

- For the sake of baby Santa, check your cost of mailing BEFORE YOU LIST. You cannot recoup costs of postage after the fact, so if you charge $10 for a stroller that cost $100 to ship, you just took a loss of $90. Package it up, weigh it and measure it and if possible, use the handy little eBay calculator so you aren’t left with a loss at the end. Dont ship overseas without being extremely aware of what you are doing…. there are so many ways to get messed with by doing this.

There are lots more pointers, but thats the main ones. Whether you are selling something to fund a new stroller baby, or trying to stretch your budget a little further, I think eBay can be an amazing tool to work with. Give it a try!

I am fascinated by this new Chicco stroller, which we now know is coming at the end of May in the USA. I really cant wait to see it, because it seems like it could have some good ideas and, like I have said before, if its sold where all Chiccos are it might help raise some awareness in the ‘There Are Strollers That Aren’t Made by Graco’ movement.

I wrote about this before because of the last movie about this stroller, which was pretty bad. But it seems no one was fired, because now they have a GLOBAL campaign that includes a song and dance routine!

Learn it here! 

I cant get it download and post it directly. Or I might be able to, but to be honest I have been trying for 17 minutes and in that time I have heard it about 12 times and now I need to go cut my ears off with a spoon until I cant hear it ever again. All jokes aside, I think its really cool and I am looking forward to seeing more of it, I just kind of hate everyone who is in control of the press/ marketing for this little baby.

The upside is that I am kind of able to speak a foreign language now. And Chicco is an Italian company , but was that Italian? Let me know. Because I can totally speak it now….

So I have had a few separate emails asking general stroller questions, and rather than answer them all separetely I thought it would be fun to compile them all! I would also love to hear other peoples answers to the same questions!

“My husband thinks I am crazy just having 3 strollers!! How many have you owned and how does your husband feel about it!?!?”

- My husband hides it well, but he is as pram obsessed as me. Trust me, there has been times he has been convincing ME to buy something, not the other way around. However, he likes different ones than I do- he hates the Cameleon now, for example.

I think my total count must be around 40-50. However, many have been owned more than once. Total at once is probably 9, but that was short lived. I don’t like having a lot at the same time, because its impossible to use them all. Also, because I sell them to fund new ones, we aren’t Rockefellers.

“Why?”

- Why not? Babyhood is so fleeting, this isnt something that will last forever. Its fun, and I like seeing the design and mechanics of them. I know a lot of people have issues with it, but thats OK with me.  

“Whats been your favorite ever?”

1. Although I think they need some updating, I would still put the Cameleon as my #1 stroller ever.

2. Orbit Baby G2.

3. FirstWheels City Twin- not available in the USA, sadly, but a BRILLIANT double stroller.

4. Joolz Bloom: Another import, also sadly missing in the US market.

“Least favorite?”

1. I despised my Kolcraft Contours Twin, but maybe they have improved it since most people I know like it. It lasted about 4 days in my house, I hated it so much.

2. Mia Moda Cielo: I could never fold it and it looked way too weird for me.

3. Easywalker Duo- that thing was horrible. Its been hugely improved since I first owned one though, so hopefully its better now.

“Whats the most you have ever spent?”

The Silver Cross Kensington, I spent $2699 and sadly maybe used it once before I sold it.

Cute story about the least I have ever spent….. 

When we lived in Hawaii, we spent a lot of time at the beach. L was only 7 months when my husband went away on a long deployment, and I needed a beach stroller that could contain her, stop her from eating sand, and generally be a safe place for her to be when I was with the other kids. I almost spent $500 on terrain strollers, but I really didnt want to spend it. So I found this beauty:

I found it literally on the side of the road, left out for the trash collection. It was in fine shape, just obviously not needed anymore and unsellable. We used it soooo much, and it was perfect for what we needed. Total Cost: $0.00

“What do you think is the ugliest and the prettiest strollers out there?”

Ooohh…..tough one. Its so subjective, in fact I know some of my prettiest will be someone else’s ugliest!! 

Prettiest, if functionality means nothing: 

1. I am in LOVE with how this looks right now- The Stokke Xplory V3 w/ Summer Kit in sand. So gorgeous. 

2. The Inglesina Classica in Tortora. That silver scrollwork on the side is actually crystals…. *sigh* So pretty.

3. The denim Cameleon with off white fabrics- AKA my own. I am not sharing pictures right now because I have a heck of a story behind it and I dont want to ruin an upcoming post!

Ugliest: 

1. Bugaboo by Bas Kosters. I have to believe that all the normal people who work in Bugaboo Design came down with some horrible illness and this decision was approved by a guy who usually works in the mailroom. And who is blind.

2. Micralite Fastfold. I understand NOTHING about this stroller. Its tiny at the seat and wide in the front and its. just. totally. weird. Gross.

3. Anything with Winnie The Pooh on it. Sorry if that offends.

“If money was no object, what would be your dream stroller?”

Silver Cross Balmoral: $4000. Totally impractical and almost unusable, but SERIOUSLY how gorgeous is that?

Well that was fun!! I would love to hear from other people, whats the ugliest stroller in your opinion?? Or the prettiest, dreamiest….?