Don’t want to spend a fortune on a bassinet or pram? A new DC company allows parents to rent high-end baby and toddler gear. joyLet was founded by local entrepreneurs Alli Cavasino and Natalie Poston, who came up with the idea while at Georgetown Business School.
While other services focused on short-term rentals for travel and holidays, long-term rentals were not as common. Then the high-tech, celebrity-endorsed Snoo bassinet shook parents to their collective core with its $1,700 price tag, and the brand began offering monthly rentals. joyLet now also offers Snoo rentals, along with many other popular high-end baby items.
Here’s how it works: visit their website and check out the baby gear page – bassinets, bouncers, strollers, carriers, quadricycles, bulky climbing toys and more – place a rental order, schedule a delivery time and get started with the equipment. From there, you can rent it as much as you like or, if it’s not suitable for home use, swap it out for something different (with door-to-door pick-up, no less!)
Pricing is based on the retail price of each piece and the expected time of use, and Poston says the goal is to save parents at least 40% off the retail price during the rental period. So if a typical bassinet is used for four months, it’s priced so that a tenant pays less than 60% of its retail cost when renting for four months.
But it’s not just the price tag, says Poston. joyLet’s customers are also interested in renting so their homes don’t become overcrowded with baby items that are only used for a few months. Instead, they can borrow equipment when they need it and then quickly get it out of the house.
“Our goal is to make renting more attractive than turning to the secondary market, even if the savings are similar,” Poston says. “When you rent, you don’t need to watch your house flooded with baby and toddler gear that we’ll take away once your kids are older. That’s a huge difference between the rental market and the second-hand market.”
This month, the company is launching a new membership scheme. There is an annual membership fee (price to be confirmed), but members will receive free delivery on hire/return and unlimited exchange out, and a 10% discount on all hire prices. Members will also have exclusive access to a trial purchase scheme which will allow customers to purchase any gear they particularly like and want to keep for a price equal to the difference between the retail price and the monthly rental to date.
“Rent before you buy is a very smart idea for parents who don’t want to spend a fortune on a piece of gear before they see how it fits into their family’s lifestyle. No matter how many reviews you read, it’s impossible to know what will work for your family until you try it,” Poston says.
Poston adds that they have tried to curate these products carefully to help renters avoid falling down the rabbit hole of choice. Each category contains only their top three recommendations. The company also offers free consultations for parents to help them decide what to rent, what to buy and what to skip altogether. “We source the best baby products from parents and professionals. In fact, we just went to Germany for the world’s largest baby fair,” Poston says.
Despite starting out with baby products, Poston says they are planning to grow: “Our long-term vision is for JoyLet to be a one-stop shop for parents’ supplies and big toys from birth to kindergarten.
