BabyPlays, a Toy Subscription Service

I checked out some toy swapping services earlier, with which I was not enthralled. A coworker sent me an alternative, BabyPlays, which is a Netflix for the toy world. You check out up to 6 toys at a time and return them to the company with no late fees whenever your child gets bored with them. It's not quite as easy as dropping in the mail, since you drop off the prepaid packaging at a UPS store, but it's still a neat service. Very few toys are destined to become a beloved childhood toy or an heirloom for the keepsake box, so why buy something that your child will be done with in six months?

The company tests its toys for lead, donates used toys to children who would otherwise go without, and was started by a mother. I have to admire her -- I have spent many quality hours complaining to anyone who will listen about the lack of trading/swapping and PSS arrangements that would be so ideal for families trying to save some money (or alternatively, trying not to fill up the landfills with the victims of voracious baby neurons). However, I haven't quit my day job to strike out as a PSS entrepreneur.

The service plans are:

GOLD 6 Toys per month 3 Months $35.99 SILVER 4 Toys per month 3 Months $28.99 GOLD PLUS Best Value - 6 Toys per month 12 Months $31.99

Requiring a multi-month commitment is smart; with such a new business model, customers need to give the service a real chance to see benefits at home. New business owners need the guaranteed revenue. As long as it isn't a two-year commitment (*cough*), it's a reasonable expectation.

I'm always thrilled to see people venturing into the PSS world, particularly on the commercial side. What is unique about a subscription-model PSS is that it is up to the customer to make it a good deal. Some people will sign up and then procrastinate or ignore the subscription, which means they are just throwing money away. These people could be subsidizing all the smart customers who conscientiously log in and pick out new toys and get their money's worth out of the deal.

However, if the subscription model is priced correctly, everyone can be the smart customer and the company should (I hope) still be profitable, because the profit lies in efficient reuse and good forecasting. Ideally, most of the toys should be out in customer's hands, not sitting in the warehouse, with a 1-2 day wait time for waiting customers. That means that there isn't too much inventory and too little demand. This doesn't happen until the company has a large and varied customer base, but the customers show up if the service is needed.

At ~$350 a year, the service isn't cheap, but it does provide a steady stream of new entertainment to children at a time when their brains are growing rapidly, absorbing new information on a constant basis. While I personally am of the "Here's a cardboard box, a stick, and three pretty rocks, go nuts!" school of toys, BabyPlays is a marvelous idea and I applaud it heartily.

What I would like to see from BabyPlays

• A more stable website
• More wooden toys and educational toys, e.g. from Haba and Melissa & Doug; my little girl got some Haba toys for Christmas from Oompa.com and she adores them, particularly this caterpillar clacker gnaw-toy.
• Some additional help to pick out toys, either a "Featured toy" section or a Toy Editor making blog posts about specific toys or a customer rating system; it's possible that these exist and are available only to customers.