Racked: All Posts by Chaia MilsteinThe National Shopping, Stores, and Retail Scene Bloghttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/52809/32x32.0..png2017-12-20T13:02:01-05:00https://www.racked.com/authors/chaia-milstein/rss2017-12-20T13:02:01-05:002017-12-20T13:02:01-05:00Where to Buy a Kid a Gift
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<img alt="Two cute kids in striped pajamas, laughing" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/uGf6RKOoickVyqV82dkmFR1vKvY=/100x0:1700x1200/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/58043363/primary.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo: <a href="https://www.primary.com/">Primary</a></figcaption>
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<p>11 clothing stores, bookshops, and toy emporiums for children. </p> <p id="y8hFNj">Buying presents for babies and kids can be a challenge, especially if you don’t know what items they already have, and <em>especially</em> if you haven’t met them yet.</p>
<p id="AT7XpC">A couple things to keep in mind: When in doubt, good return policies are your friends. I mean, always, but especially when it comes to gifting. And as a pro tip for the non-parents, small children between the ages of 1 and 3 will probably find the wrapping paper the most awesome part of your gift, so just use something crunchy-sounding with springy ribbons and you’re set.</p>
<p id="gg4iwY">As for what to wrap, here’s a list of the 11 stores selling plush animals, itty-bitty sweaters, books, and arts and crafts for whatever child you’re currently shopping for.</p>
<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="VNsmbr">
<h3 id="gaUvNV"><strong>Clothes and Toys</strong></h3>
<h4 id="Fos7sb"><a href="https://acorntoyshop.com/"><strong>Acorn</strong></a></h4>
<p id="oTg31s">If you’re looking for the handcrafted and unusual, stop here. Need a <a href="https://acorntoyshop.com/product/rock-and-pebble-wooden-pear-house-/2830/housesaccessories/102/3199/0">wooden dollhouse shaped like a pear</a>, or an <a href="https://acorntoyshop.com/product/rock-and-pebble-wooden-apple-house-/2829/housesaccessories/102/3198/0">apple</a>, or an <a href="https://acorntoyshop.com/product/rock-and-pebble-wooden-elephant-dollhouse-/2831/housesaccessories/102/3200/0">elephant</a>? Check. A <a href="https://acorntoyshop.com/product/seedling-create-your-own-dragon-kit-/1773/artscraftsmusic/89/2157/0">build-your-own-dragon kit</a>? Check. <a href="https://acorntoyshop.com/product/easy-weaver-/1277/artscraftsmusic/89/1687/0">Beginner’s loom</a>, <a href="https://acorntoyshop.com/product/dry-felting-starter-kit-/1420/artscraftsmusic/89/1819/0">felting kit</a>, <a href="https://acorntoyshop.com/product/wooden-fondue-maker-/2993/kitchenshop-play/88/3343/0">play fondue set</a>? Check, check, check. </p>
<p id="T0QUBM">The Brooklyn-based children's boutique also sells baby and kid clothes — which include basics <em>and</em> things like fur vests, drop-crotch pants, and <a href="https://acorntoyshop.com/product/wing-bootspink/1261/shoesaccessories/117/1671/0">pink lamé leather winged boots</a> in toddler sizes — as well as items like <a href="https://acorntoyshop.com/product/matrushka-doll/571/dolls/105/947/0">Matrushka dolls</a>, <a href="https://acorntoyshop.com/product/pineapple-nightlight-/3216/nightlights/97/3562/0">pineapple-shaped night lights</a>, and a <a href="https://acorntoyshop.com/product/tractor-with-trailer-ride-on-/3561/riding-toys/83/3909/0">play tractor that seats two</a>. Basically, if you’ve ever wished you could shop a Wes Anderson movie, here’s your chance (and on that note, yes: Acorn also sells binoculars).</p>
<h4 id="iZFL3D"><a href="https://normanandjules.com/"><strong>Norman & Jules</strong></a></h4>
<p id="XmtTsc">The brand offers tons of brightly colored <a href="https://normanandjules.com/products/large-cube-building-set.html">wooden blocks</a> and <a href="https://normanandjules.com/products/stacking-tower-boat.html">stacking toys</a>, Tim Burton-esque <a href="https://normanandjules.com/products/handmade-linen-maeve-rag-doll.html">handmade dolls</a>, and sweet wee <a href="https://normanandjules.com/products/baby-hedgehog-in-leaf.html">plush creatures</a>. It has baby clothes and accessories (<a href="https://normanandjules.com/products/velvet-seahorse-mobile.html">mobiles</a>, <a href="https://normanandjules.com/products/hevea-rubber-panda-teether.html">teethers</a>, <a href="https://normanandjules.com/products/juju-grid-romper-12-months.html">adorable clothes</a>), arts and crafts materials (<a href="https://normanandjules.com/products/alphabet-stamp-set.html">stamps</a>, <a href="https://normanandjules.com/products/city-glow-in-the-dark-reusable-wall-stickers.html">wall stickers</a>, <a href="https://normanandjules.com/products/metallic-pencils.html">colored pencils</a>, <a href="https://normanandjules.com/products/brooklyn-bridge-embroidery-kit-1.html">embroidery kits</a>), science toys (<a href="https://normanandjules.com/products/lollipots-chard-planting-kit.html">plant kits</a>, <a href="https://normanandjules.com/products/crystal-growing-giant-sequoia-tree.html">grow-your-own crystals sets</a>, <a href="https://normanandjules.com/products/diy-mini-coaster-kit.html">build-a-roller coaster sets</a>), <a href="https://normanandjules.com/products/large-drum-paddle-stick.html">drums</a> and other musical instruments, <a href="https://normanandjules.com/products/large-pink-backpack.html">backpacks</a>, <a href="https://normanandjules.com/products/burger-birthday-greeting-card.html">birthday cards</a>, <a href="https://normanandjules.com/products/best-friends-tent.html">toy-sized tents</a>, <a href="https://normanandjules.com/products/best-friends-blue-sleeping-bag.html">toy-sized sleeping bags</a>...</p>
<p id="Q7WBdS">If everything in the last paragraph makes you sigh with longing, you’re probably going to want to buy two of everything and keep one for yourself.</p>
<h4 id="IFZu8Z">
<a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.toysrus.com%2F&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F12%2F20%2F16796810%2Fbest-kids-stores-online" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><strong>Toys </strong><strong>“</strong><strong>R</strong><strong>”</strong><strong> Us</strong></a><strong>, </strong><a href="https://goto.target.com/c/482924/81938/2092?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.target.com%2Fc%2Fkids-home%2F-%2FN-54x8x&sharedid=racked.com" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><strong>Target</strong></a><strong>, and </strong><a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.buybuybaby.com%2F&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F12%2F20%2F16796810%2Fbest-kids-stores-online" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><strong>Buy Buy Baby</strong></a>
</h4>
<p id="mJpVgH">And of course, you can’t really go wrong with any of the mega-chains. All of the above places carry a wide range of things by reputable brands for young humans, including <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.toysrus.com%2Fproduct%3FproductId%3D120392026&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F12%2F20%2F16796810%2Fbest-kids-stores-online" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">plush animals</a>, <a href="https://goto.target.com/c/482924/81938/2092?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.target.com%2Fp%2Fjetson-jupiter-scooter-with-led-lights-black%2F-%2FA-52298683%23lnk%3Dsametab&sharedid=racked.com" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">scooters</a>, <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.buybuybaby.com%2Fstore%2Fproduct%2Flet-39-s-feed-the-very-hungry-caterpillar-board-game%2F1061826625&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F12%2F20%2F16796810%2Fbest-kids-stores-online" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">board games</a>, and <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.toysrus.com%2Fproduct%3FproductId%3D135002176&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F12%2F20%2F16796810%2Fbest-kids-stores-online" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">play kitchens</a>, and in the case of the latter two stores, also clothing, nursery decor, strollers, diapers (for the pragmatic on your list), and the like. </p>
<p id="8S7QmD">This is where you can find all those brightly colored loud plastic toys that are kind of grating — how many times can you handle jamming out to an electronic version of <em>B-I-N-G-O</em>? — but that kids <em>love </em>(and never get sick of).</p>
<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="7171yT">
<aside id="YL48aS"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data="{"stories":[{"title":"Parents Need More From Children's Stores","url":"https://www.racked.com/2017/5/23/15625998/childrens-shopping"}]}"></div></aside><h3 id="fCXLjJ"><strong>Just Clothes</strong></h3>
<h4 id="n9OxIE">
<a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gap.com%2Fproducts%2Fbaby-clothes.jsp&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F12%2F20%2F16796810%2Fbest-kids-stores-online" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><strong>Baby Gap</strong></a><strong>, </strong><a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gap.com%2Fproducts%2Fgap-kids.jsp&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F12%2F20%2F16796810%2Fbest-kids-stores-online" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><strong>Gap Kids</strong></a>
</h4>
<p id="LHTjn5">This is where you shop for the tried and true. You'll find all kinds of pint-sized versions of the classics, plus some fun branded items that might have your inner 10-year-old (or outer 28-year-old) turning cartwheels, like this <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gap.com%2Fbrowse%2Fcategory.do%3Fcid%3D1095860%26sop%3Dtrue&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F12%2F20%2F16796810%2Fbest-kids-stores-online" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>Star Wars</em> collection</a>. Other super-cute things: this infant-sized <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gap.com%2Fbrowse%2Fproduct.do%3Fcid%3D1086196%26pcid%3D1086196%26vid%3D1%26pid%3D926631012&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F12%2F20%2F16796810%2Fbest-kids-stores-online" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Fair Isle sweater onesie</a> and this toddlers’ <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gap.com%2Fbrowse%2Fproduct.do%3Fpcid%3D5058%26vid%3D1%26pid%3D159369002&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F12%2F20%2F16796810%2Fbest-kids-stores-online" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">faux fur hoodie</a> (it has ears). </p>
<h4 id="2GHyDe"><a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.primary.com%2F&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F12%2F20%2F16796810%2Fbest-kids-stores-online" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><strong>Primary</strong></a></h4>
<p id="bdJjse">Primary sells a full line of cotton basics for sizes newborn to kids’ 12 in a generous range of solid colors and stripes — making it simple to mix and match shirts, pants, leggings, sweatshirts, skirts, dresses, onesies, etc. </p>
<p id="wwjpdA">Speaking of onesies, the brand offers <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.primary.com%2Fshop%2Fgifts%2Fbaby-gift-sets&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F12%2F20%2F16796810%2Fbest-kids-stores-online" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">three pre-curated onesie gift sets</a> — a baseball sleeve, a long sleeve, and a short sleeve — as well as a set that includes a long-sleeved onesie, a pair of pants, and a pair of zip-up pajamas, all in cheerful color palettes. </p>
<h4 id="v4ElAK"><a href="https://www.macandmia.com/"><strong>Mac & Mia</strong></a></h4>
<p id="cO39jx">Voilà! An on-demand subscription box of devastatingly fashionable kids’ clothing in sizes newborn to 6T. All you have to do is answer some style questions with a personal stylist, and your giftee will be sent a box of six to nine items. They can keep what suits and return what doesn’t. Shipping is free, although there's a $20 styling fee for each box. You pay for the pieces you keep, and the fee gets credited back to you when you keep two or more pieces from a given box. </p>
<p id="0ULxZU">And in case you don’t know much about the personal tastes of the child you’re shopping for, Mac & Mia offers gift cards, too. Brands include names like <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dl1961.com%2Fkids&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F12%2F20%2F16796810%2Fbest-kids-stores-online" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">DL 1961</a>, <a href="https://www.egg-baby.com">Egg Baby</a>, <a href="https://gogentlynation.com/collections/baby">Go Gently Baby</a>, <a href="https://milkbarnkids.com/">Milkbarn</a>, <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hatley.com%2Fen_us%2F&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F12%2F20%2F16796810%2Fbest-kids-stores-online" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Hatley</a>, and <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinkchicken.com%2F&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F12%2F20%2F16796810%2Fbest-kids-stores-online" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Pink Chicken</a>.</p>
<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="feify5">
<h3 id="LguoQh"><strong>Toys and Books</strong></h3>
<h4 id="IMNSfQ"><a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.lego.com%2Fen-us%2F&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F12%2F20%2F16796810%2Fbest-kids-stores-online" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><strong>Lego</strong></a></h4>
<p id="812sul">If you’re older than, say, 30, and haven’t thought about Legos in a while, its website will blow you away with its breadth of options. The company now has a bounty of branded sets and goes way beyond just blocks in a box, including the <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fshop.lego.com%2Fen-US%2FThe-LEGO-Batman-Movie-Sets&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F12%2F20%2F16796810%2Fbest-kids-stores-online" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>Lego Batman Movie</em></a>, <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fshop.lego.com%2Fen-US%2FDC-Comics-Super-Heroes-Sets&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F12%2F20%2F16796810%2Fbest-kids-stores-online" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">DC Comics</a>, <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fshop.lego.com%2Fen-US%2FDisney-Sets&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F12%2F20%2F16796810%2Fbest-kids-stores-online" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Disney</a>, <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fshop.lego.com%2Fen-US%2FMinecraft-Sets&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F12%2F20%2F16796810%2Fbest-kids-stores-online" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Minecraft</a>, <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fshop.lego.com%2Fen-US%2FStar-Wars-Sets&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F12%2F20%2F16796810%2Fbest-kids-stores-online" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>Star Wars</em></a>, and <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fshop.lego.com%2Fen-US%2FEcto-1-2-75828&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F12%2F20%2F16796810%2Fbest-kids-stores-online" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>Ghostbusters</em></a>, including <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fshop.lego.com%2Fen-US%2FEcto-1-2-75828&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F12%2F20%2F16796810%2Fbest-kids-stores-online" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">figurines from the recent Jones/McCarthy/McKinnon/Wiig</a> remake. </p>
<p id="yS5Uqf">You can also shop by interest (<a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fshop.lego.com%2Fen-US%2FRobotics-Sets&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F12%2F20%2F16796810%2Fbest-kids-stores-online" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">robotics</a>, <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fshop.lego.com%2Fen-US%2FTrains-Sets&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F12%2F20%2F16796810%2Fbest-kids-stores-online" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">trains</a>, <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fshop.lego.com%2Fen-US%2FAnimals-Interest&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F12%2F20%2F16796810%2Fbest-kids-stores-online" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">animals</a>, <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fshop.lego.com%2Fen-US%2FNinjas-Interest&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F12%2F20%2F16796810%2Fbest-kids-stores-online" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">ninjas</a>), or just order your classic small, medium, or giant box. There are <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fshop.lego.com%2Fen-US%2FDUPLO-Sets&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F12%2F20%2F16796810%2Fbest-kids-stores-online" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Duplos</a> for smaller hands that aren’t quite ready for regular Legos, and if your child already has a set that’s missing one crucial piece, you can even order one brick at a time. It’s easy to get overwhelmed, but the site has a few buying guides to help you get started.</p>
<aside id="zfm96m"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"How to Shop the Kids’ Section as an Adult","url":"https://www.racked.com/2017/10/4/16404004/crewcuts-kids-jcrew-adult-sizes"}]}'></div></aside><h4 id="uSnJVO"><a href="http://www.powells.com/books/childrens"><strong>Powell's </strong><strong>City of </strong><strong>Books</strong></a></h4>
<p id="PtQy7i">Welp, good luck not buying at least a thousand books for yourself at the Portland, Oregon-based Powell’s City of Books. This independent store carries every book imaginable that is, was, or ever will be, for adults and kids, new or used, best-seller or hard-to find. Plus, the customer service is unparalleled. In this guide, it’s voted Most Likely to Have That Special First Edition of Your Favorite Book From When You Were 11 (a legit award) that you now want to pass on to your favorite tween.</p>
<h4 id="kDFpi2"><a href="http://www.flamingorampant.com/"><strong>Flamingo Rampant</strong></a></h4>
<p id="xQIDn9">This small, direct-to-consumer press sells affirming children’s books specifically for trans-identified/gender-independent children and youth and their families. Sweet, accessible stories with lovely art take place at <a href="https://flamingo-rampant-lgbt2q-childrens-books-celebratio.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders/73144">Pride, at Passover, at a pow wow, in a mosque, under a Christmas tree</a>, and <a href="https://flamingo-rampant-lgbt2q-childrens-books-celebratio.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders/101986">on the planet Tenalp</a> (where everything happens backwards), among other places. </p>
<p id="iqrm1h">Flamingo is currently using a Kickstarter page for retail after an e-commerce hack, but the publisher assures that pre-ordered books will ship within a week. </p>
<p id="rQInBU"><em>Want more? Check out our </em><a href="https://www.racked.com/2017/11/15/16598388/holiday-gifts-ideas-best-2017"><em>holiday gift guide</em></a><em> </em><em>for few extra ideas.</em></p>
<p id="Pyhx1T"></p>
https://www.racked.com/2017/12/20/16796810/best-kids-stores-onlineChaia Milstein2017-11-10T10:32:01-05:002017-11-10T10:32:01-05:00Stop Giving Kids’ Clothes Such Infantilizing Names
<figure>
<img alt="A mom playing with her baby on the floor." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/MzQSgNwfY-_P8L2ISAEIew20UWA=/0x0:4800x3600/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/57540951/GettyImages_573127355.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo: Alexandra Grablewski/Getty Images</figcaption>
</figure>
<p class="c-entry-disclaimer"><i>Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods">The Goods by Vox</a>. You can also see what we’re up to by <a href="https://vox.com/goods-newsletter">signing up here</a>.</i></p>
<p>It’s the parents who have to actually say them aloud. </p> <p id="HFWpz2">Parenthood comes with a certain inherent loss of dignity. Anyone who’s had their kid stick a hand down their shirt in public or watched their own baseline personal hygiene sink to unanticipated lows can tell you that. But there’s the loss of dignity stemming from the everyday vagaries of raising a small human, and then there’s the loss of dignity inflicted upon us by others.</p>
<p id="0KvrZI">Product namers. Listen up. I am talking to you. </p>
<p id="vEl4Ex">How could you make a grown adult speak aloud any of the following words?</p>
<p id="bmCqie"><a href="http://kangapouch.net">Kangapouch</a></p>
<p id="EXQXFn"><a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.woombie.com&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F11%2F10%2F16630774%2Fkids-clothes-names-bad" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Woombie</a></p>
<p id="YZQQ12"><a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sleepingbaby.com%2Fcollections%2Fzipadee-zip&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F11%2F10%2F16630774%2Fkids-clothes-names-bad" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Zippadee Zip</a></p>
<p id="TMqq2T">In case you don’t already know — and if you do, just skip this paragraph of momsplaining — these are all brand names for variations on the sleep sack, a garment in which you wrap your baby for bedtime instead of a blanket. (It’s not safe to put a small baby to bed with a blanket.) As a plus, it’s great for tinies dealing with the unmoored feeling of no longer being held cozily in utero who have yet to master the fine art of rolling over. It keeps them feeling secure and sleeping safely on their backs. Sleep sacks are a freaking lifesaver for anyone who’s ever tried to swaddle an infant with a regular square-shaped cloth while living this new baby life on three hours of sleep. Or hell, eight hours. My kid sleeps through the night now and I still can’t magic a blanket into an origami envelope, no matter what’s at stake.</p>
<div class="c-float-right"><div id="3JOAyK"><div data-anthem-component="aside:750053"></div></div></div>
<p id="CpaVQB">The sleep sack is an undeniably great and useful item. So much so that the market is bursting at the seams, if you will. At any given time, Target alone carries <a href="https://goto.target.com/c/482924/81938/2092?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.target.com%2Fs%2Fsleep%2Bsack&sharedid=racked.com" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">up to 20 different brands</a> each selling their own version. It’s understandable that companies are looking for ways to differentiate the name when the product is basically just a bag-shaped pajama. Apparently the logic is that babies = cute, so product names should be cute, too.</p>
<p id="wIDuAp">The problem is that being forced to say out loud, with a straight face, “I’d like two Kangapouches, a Woombie, and throw in a Zippadee Zip, I’m feeling flush” is just not cute. I mean, am I the infant here? No. I am a grown adult, holding a credit card, interested in purchasing a thing with which to care for my child. I am a grown adult, meeting up with my grown adult friends with children at the park, where we all recommend useful products to each other. I am a grown adult who wants to be treated as such.</p>
<p id="9vJXgb">The nonconsensual forced cutesiness doesn’t stop with clothes, as you may have guessed. Want to set up a registry at <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.myregistry.com%2Fgiggle-registry.aspx&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F11%2F10%2F16630774%2Fkids-clothes-names-bad" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Giggle</a> for a <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffisher-price.mattel.com%2Fshop%2Fen-us%2Ffp%2Fbaby-sleepers%2Fpremium-auto-rock-n-play-sleeper-with-smartconnect-fcf09&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F11%2F10%2F16630774%2Fkids-clothes-names-bad" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Rock N Play</a>, <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffisher-price.mattel.com%2Fshop%2Fen-us%2Ffp%2Feverything-baby-gear%2Frainforest-jumperoo-k6070&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F11%2F10%2F16630774%2Fkids-clothes-names-bad" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Jumparoo</a>, or <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fshop.4moms.com%2Fshop-mamaroo&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F11%2F10%2F16630774%2Fkids-clothes-names-bad" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">MamaRoo</a>? Perhaps when you’re done wondering “Where’s the DadaRoo?” you’d like to consider an <a href="https://uppababy.com">Uppa Baby</a> or a <a href="https://snoofybee.com">SnoofyBee</a>? (Translation: bouncer, activity center, motorized bouncer, stroller, changing pad that prevents a squirmy baby from grabbing their own poop-covered junk during diaper time.)</p>
<p id="j4lG4T">Again, these are great and useful items. While my toddler didn’t really take to the bouncer, she LOVED the activity center — she was so serious about it that we called it her office — and until she got too big, it gave her a fun, safe place to be in the kitchen with me while I did other stuff. And while we are not going to SnoofyBee in favor of changing her diapers on the floor with a leg thrown over her chest (credit to my amazing mother-in-law for this technique!), not all parents want to or physically can do that. And who is about to call a stroller useless? No one, that’s who.</p>
<aside id="pwfLoR"><div data-anthem-component="newsletter" data-anthem-component-data='{"slug":"racked_national"}'></div></aside><p id="1mWPzm">But the names. Oy. The above are merely a few of the worst.</p>
<p id="r0TrwK">Not all brands have such egregiously infantilizing practices. Back to the sleep sack for a moment. Halo calls its <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.halosleep.com%2Four-products%2Fsleepsack&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F11%2F10%2F16630774%2Fkids-clothes-names-bad" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">SleepSack</a>: Yep, stet that midcap, but otherwise very straightforward, Repo-Man style. Aden + Anais stays minimalist with the <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.adenandanais.com%2Fbedtime%2Fsleeping-bags&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F11%2F10%2F16630774%2Fkids-clothes-names-bad" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Sleeping Bag</a>. Carter’s calls its take <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.carters.com%2Fcarters-baby-girl-up-to-60-off-entire-store-pajamas%2FV_118H402.html%3Fdwvar_V__118H402_size%3DM%26dwvar_V__118H402_color%3DColor%23q%3Dsleep%252Bbag%26prefn1%3DwebsiteBrand%26prefv1%3Dcarters%26start%3D1&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F11%2F10%2F16630774%2Fkids-clothes-names-bad" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Sleep Bag</a>, which, minus the gerund, somehow sounds a little... ominous? Yet delivers the gravitas. As do its <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.carters.com%2Fcarters-baby-girl-up-to-60-off-entire-store-pajamas%2FV_126G705.html%3Fdwvar_V__126G705_color%3DColor%26dwvar_V__126G705_size%3D3M%23q%3Dsleep%252Bbag%26prefn1%3DwebsiteBrand%26prefv1%3Dcarters%26start%3D1&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F11%2F10%2F16630774%2Fkids-clothes-names-bad" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Sleeper Gowns</a> and <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.carters.com%2Fcarters-baby-girl-up-to-60-off-entire-store-pajamas%2FV_126G897.html%3Fdwvar_V__126G897_size%3DM%26dwvar_V__126G897_color%3DColor%23q%3Dsleep%252Bbag%26prefn1%3DwebsiteBrand%26prefv1%3Dcarters%26start%3D1&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F11%2F10%2F16630774%2Fkids-clothes-names-bad" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Swaddle Blankets</a>. Other contenders include <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.swaddledesigns.com%2Fshop%2Fsleeping-sacks.html&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F11%2F10%2F16630774%2Fkids-clothes-names-bad" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Sleeping Sack</a> from SwaddleDesigns; <a href="https://www.bebeaulait.com/nursery/bedtime-sleepers.html">Bedtime Sleepers</a> (Bebe Au Lait; speaking of ominous, are you really making a coffee drink with your infant’s body? Solid product name, though); <a href="https://www.babydeedee.com/pages/sleep-nest-guide">Sleep Nest</a> (Baby Deedee; not descriptive of the actual product but not bad); <a href="https://www.embebabies.com/search?q=swaddle">Swaddle</a> (Embe); and <a href="https://www.disneybaby.com/search/wearable+blanket">Wearable Blanket</a> (Disney. Disney, aka Cute Central! Go, you!).</p>
<p id="IAwXUl">While my own tastes run toward a more literal naming convention, I’m totally up for a little creativity in this department. I’m not a robot with no sense of humor — just a parent who wants respect for my maturity and buying power. Product namers, and the brands that employ you: Please treat parents with the dignity we deserve. We get enough bananas in our hair at home.</p>
<p id="d8Fvfb"><strong>Quiz answers:</strong> a) fake b) <a href="https://goto.walmart.com/c/482924/565706/9383?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.walmart.com%2Fip%2FItzy-Ritzy-Travel-Happens-Sealed-Wet-Bag-with-Adjustable-Handle-Later-Gater-Green%2F759399014%3Fwmlspartner%3Dwlpa%26selectedSellerId%3D0%26adid%3D22222222227105638284%26wmlspartner%3Dwmtlabs%26wl0%3D%26wl1%3Dg%26wl2%3Dc%26wl3%3D219759880985%26wl4%3Dpla-547692615512%26wl5%3D9058761%26wl6%3D%26wl7%3D%26wl8%3D%26wl9%3Dpla%26wl10%3D8175035%26wl11%3Donline%26wl12%3D759399014%26wl13%3D%26veh%3Dsem&sharedid=racked.com" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">real</a> c) <a href="http://www.boogiewipes.com/">real</a> d) fake e) fake f) <a href="http://www.fillyboomaternity.com/p/9095550/play-date-trapeze-maternity-jumpsuit---stone-wash-blue.html">real</a> g) fake h) fake</p>
https://www.racked.com/2017/11/10/16630774/kids-clothes-names-badChaia Milstein2017-05-31T09:32:01-04:002017-05-31T09:32:01-04:00Why You’re Constantly Seeing Ads for Things You Just Bought Online
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/CEugfxCLWgp6CZSClLMD8t_nQr8=/254x0:7365x5333/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/54862525/GettyImages_596284091.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>“This again?” | Photo: Oscar Wong/Getty Images</figcaption>
</figure>
<p class="c-entry-disclaimer"><i>Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods">The Goods by Vox</a>. You can also see what we’re up to by <a href="https://vox.com/goods-newsletter">signing up here</a>.</i></p>
<p>Where ad tech goes awry. </p> <p id="e6uNkZ">It all started with my wedding dress.</p>
<div class="c-float-right c-float-hang"> <figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/umYYOIqkVzprdv6u8RyiirTtMi4=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8547201/milstein_racked_modcloth.jpg">
<cite>Photo: <a href="http://www.sarahbeckphoto.com/">Sarah Beck Photo</a></cite>
<figcaption>The author in her wedding dress — she only bought one.</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p id="R2nkiI">I bought it on Modcloth. Not even a minute post-purchase, I started seeing ads for it around the web. Especially on Facebook.</p>
<p id="wITpi1">Who the fuck needs to buy a second, exact same wedding dress right away?</p>
<p id="nabJ9e">Granted, it wasn’t marketed as a wedding dress — this was right before Modcloth released their wedding line — but it <em>was</em> a long, fancy, sequined champagne gown, the kind of piece that you really only need one of in a given six-week period. Which is about how long this dress internet-haunted me.</p>
<p id="UdBMLN">Everyone I know has a similar story about a big-ticket or one-time-only purchase that just never can say goodbye.</p>
<p id="kYXUHh">Aaron Shield, a college professor and my brother-in-law, bought a last-minute (no judgment) Valentine’s Day gift for his husband: an MVMT watch. Immediately after clicking the “Buy” button, Shield started seeing ads for it. “Everywhere,” he says. “Every website I went to. Social media. Facebook, Amazon, the <em>New York Times</em>, Politico. Basically, it was stalking me.” It’s May. He’s still seeing the ads.</p>
<p id="f7x6wO">Writer and world traveler Amna Shamim bought a North Face backpack in a store, a Dakine suitcase on Sierra Trading Post using Ebates, and a Longchamp handbag on the Bloomingdale’s website using Ebates, and immediately got hit with ads on sites like Facebook (“the most aggressive”), Amazon, Huffington Post, Forbes, and more. They began as soon as she started researching and didn’t let up for weeks post-purchase, “until I started browsing for something else they [could] put in front of my face ad nauseam,” she says. “Basically a few weeks at least.”</p>
<aside id="JK6Ra6"><div data-anthem-component="actionbox" data-anthem-component-data="{"title":"Like what you're reading?","description":"Get the Racked newsletter for even more great stories, every day.","label":"SIGN UP","url":"http://newsletters.racked.com/h/d/C4595F1D5E0088D6?_ga=1.36581730.373041903.1487623315"}"></div></aside><p id="eEkhqM">“I saw ads for a good three months after I bought a couch,” says Racked senior editor Alanna Okun. She bought it from West Elm, in the store, after extensive research. “It was only after I bought it that I started seeing ads for it all the time,” she says. “Why didn’t they know I’d bought it already?” Okun was actively shopping online for couch accoutrements — throw pillows, an ottoman, a coffee table. Why wouldn’t West Elm market those to her instead?</p>
<p id="l3Ecj7">Okun puts a finer point on it: “It’s like an annoying ex who keeps texting you. I’m more aware of you, but it makes me want to ignore you even more.”</p>
<p id="cOJ7yy">But WHY? Why must we live like this? <em>Must</em> we live like this?</p>
<div class="c-float-left c-float-hang"> <figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/cE21zIJf-IOjmFoLASLO4j8bsi8=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8547243/racked_milstein_west_elm.png">
<cite>Photo: Alanna Okun</cite>
<figcaption>An ad for Okun’s couch, served to her shortly after her purchase. </figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p id="E4VbRJ">I turned to MediaMath’s Matt Vaz for answers. MediaMath makes technology and offers services that help advertisers reach the customers they want to reach (perhaps you and me). Vaz is their senior specialist of programmatic strategy and optimization; he works on ad campaign performance. He has also been served ads for things he’d just bought (socks).</p>
<p id="iVLjSD">As it turns out, if Modcloth, West Elm, and the rest wanted to abstain from remarketing — also called retargeting — particular items to particular people, that would be easy enough. Vaz describes building a simple ad campaign that signals where a customer has been on a given website. The programming code creates, among other things, an invisible-to-the-naked-eye pixel on various site pages to signal when a customer has been to the homepage, category pages, shopping basket, and, finally — post-purchase — a thank-you page. “We need to have site pixels in order to serve ads... for the right recommendations to go into that ad, and the DCO [Dynamic Creative Optimization] agency needs that pixel for the right [content] recommendations to go into that ad,” he says. (DCO technology assesses who’s visiting a site and then serves them tailored ads on the fly.)</p>
<p id="ZZTu0G">“We can provide a daily pixel report for clients to see,” Vaz explains. “Every day they can see how often [for example] the home page fired the prior day. If we saw a huge drop-off that wasn’t explained, then that would suggest to us that we need to change that pixel. Zero loads means the pixel isn’t there,.” He adds that some campaigns deliberately do not include thank-you page pixels. In the cases of these single-occasion or rare purchases, he observes that remarketing the purchased item “would seem... out of touch with the actual semantic backing of brand; that they don't understand what the brand is selling, that a wedding dress is a one-time purchase.” He suggests that such advertisers might need to have an additional conversation to flesh out a media plan that makes more sense to their customers.</p>
<div class="c-float-right c-float-hang"><aside id="JwBA9T"><q>Remarketing the purchased item “would seem... that they don't understand what the brand is selling, that a wedding dress is a one-time purchase.”</q></aside></div>
<p id="yyFGYb">What could different plans look like? Zack Abbell, senior director of e-commerce at Poppin, weighs in: “Retargeting programs come in all shapes and sizes. Some campaigns are driven by recently viewed products, and show a customer a 1:1 on what they viewed” — yep — “while others will show similar items to what was viewed. Both of these examples tend to utilize retargeting vendors’ algorithms on which products to show, the underlying recommendations engine, and formats that are most likely to drive a click- or view-through conversion.” (Conversion, in this parlance, means sale.)</p>
<p id="4HUWNK">Back to the tracking pixel for a second, though. One place where this can get complicated, Vaz notes, is if you shop for an item on different devices or different browsers. So if you’ve been making googly eyes at a <a href="http://www.balmain.com/en_rw/women/outerwear/leather-jacket-2.html">Balmain leather moto jacket</a> on your phone, then finally take the plunge on your laptop, you might keep seeing ads for it on your phone even after you’ve parted with your $3,000. (Buy me one too, while you’re at it.)</p>
<p id="6z3hZa">But! Even if you are looking at the same thing on the same platform all the time, according to Vaz, sometimes that pixel can accidentally come off a page post-testing, if someone’s tinkering with other parts of the code on that page. So what starts out working well can end up showing you an ad for that car you just bought. Again.</p>
<p id="c2U03K">In these cases, where things seem to fall apart is amid the many entities involved in creating an ad campaign. I’ve worked in a bunch of marketing departments over the years and seen similar things myself: There’s the advertiser itself, plus perhaps a marketing agency, a creative agency, a digital agency, an SEO agency, a platform (such as MediaMath), a DCO agency, all joined by, I don’t know, Bette and Tina from <em>The L Word, </em>plus Ben Franklin from beyond the grave for good measure.</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/y3TiKAk7BPzrwk1BPTzDjx4AZ-s=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8547251/racked_milstein_mvmt.png">
<cite>Photo: Aaron Shield</cite>
<figcaption> The MVMT watch ad that haunts Aaron Shield.</figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="8X1mXf">Regarding quality control, Vaz says, “Ideally, we’d be doing those tests beforehand,” but in the day-to-day, it’s not necessarily his team’s responsibility. “Maybe once it’s done the first time, it doesn’t get done with the same diligence.”</p>
<p id="Pbfxcd">Or maybe it’s just not a priority. “There may be ways to control serving immediately after the conclusion of a session,” Abbell says, “but it’s not something most retailers are interested in suppressing.” He cites the 24-hour period post-purchase as the time when customers are most likely to still be in buying mode. So you’re basically getting spammed just in case you drop some more cash (my words, not his).</p>
<div class="c-float-left c-float-hang"><aside id="QUOjZe"><q>“Instead of stalking our potential customers with the exact products they viewed, we’re backing out to take a more holistic brand approach.”</q></aside></div>
<p id="kcFuEp">Guess what, though? Abbell also affirms that <em>heck no</em>, we don’t have to live like this. Poppin is changing the way they remarket by beginning to serve ads that feature collections of products: Buy a desk, see an ad featuring a desk/chair/filing cabinet/desktop organizers. Things you might need. “Instead of stalking our potential customers with the exact products they viewed, we’re backing out to take a more holistic brand approach,” he says. “We are shifting our focus now to... showing groups of products together. For Poppin, this should inherently help us avoid serving up the same products a customer just purchased in an ad.”</p>
<p id="Z1zA4m">Well, hallelujah. Because to recap, here’s where we’ve been stuck for a long time.</p>
<p id="DVMUB0">Shamim: “I wouldn't mind ads if they were for products I wanted and not ones I'd already purchased.”</p>
<p id="r8pasQ">Okun: “It feels like what's happening now is a lot of noise, and it's irritating.”</p>
<p id="U9atBa">Shield: “I'm annoyed.”</p>
<p id="7yw1l6">Me: “Me too.”</p>
<p id="o7Q1qm">In the ever-relevant words of Fox Mulder, I want to believe. You know? If this whole thing ever gets solved permanently, I’d consider buying a couple more wedding dresses. Just for kicks. Especially if they got remarketed to me with some great shoes and a whole look.</p>
<p id="x69r9V"></p>
https://www.racked.com/2017/5/31/15666062/online-ad-repeatsChaia Milstein2017-02-22T09:32:00-05:002017-02-22T09:32:00-05:00The Baby Gear Black Market
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<figcaption>Photo: Adam Katz Sinding/Trunk Archive</figcaption>
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<p>Swap groups and resale communities have cornered the customers baby brands want. </p> <p class="p--has-dropcap" id="G7lsFj">“If baby stuff manufacturers stopped making everything right now, we’d all be fine for 10 years,” quipped my sister-in-law Nedra as she packed up a co-sleeper, three carriers, and a gigantic pile of onesies to hand down to us from her own kids. My partner and I were preparing to welcome our first baby. Her husband, my brother-in-law David, emailed us a list of brands and items that they’d found particularly useful, commenting, “You’ll figure out what works. Don’t bother to buy a lot — people will give it to you.”</p>
<p id="aY3O3J">So we didn’t. And they did.</p>
<div class="c-float-right c-float-hang"><aside id="BhdXoi"><q>At this point, we — like most families we know — have established multiple trade pipelines: cousins, friends, and the local parents’ listserv, where we can find stuff for free or a fraction of its cost.</q></aside></div>
<p id="vApgbD">Seven months into parenthood, most baby stuff comes to us used. We pass it along as fast as possible, given how fast the baby grows and how small our apartment is. At this point, we — like most families we know — have established multiple trade pipelines: cousins, friends, and the local parents’ listserv, where we can find stuff for free or at a fraction of its cost. A $500 crib for $40? The baby is sleeping in it right now. </p>
<p id="enwyno">Baby care is an enormous retail market, expected to reach $66.8 billion in 2017, according to <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/250853/global-baby-care-market-size">Statista</a>. And <a href="http://www.racked.com/2015/12/2/9831080/baby-product-industry">retail is expensive</a>. If you had the means and wanted to buy all new top-of-the-line stuff, you could spend thousands and thousands of dollars. Picture that <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.allmodern.com%2FKarla-Dubois-Oslo-2-in-1-Convertible-Crib-NYT1068.html&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F2%2F22%2F14549388%2Fbaby-gear-black-market-swaps-secondhand-strollers" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">$500 crib</a> with a <a href="http://www.naturesplush.com/products/pure-organic-2-in-1-baby-crib-mattress">$300 organic mattress</a>, plus a <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.yliving.com%2Fbabyletto-sprout-3-drawer-changer-dresser.html&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F2%2F22%2F14549388%2Fbaby-gear-black-market-swaps-secondhand-strollers" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">$400 changing table</a>, a <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pishposhbaby.com%2Fnuna-rava-convertible-car-seat.html&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F2%2F22%2F14549388%2Fbaby-gear-black-market-swaps-secondhand-strollers" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">$500 car seat</a>, a <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bugaboo.com%2FUS%2Fen_US%2Fstrollers%2Fcreate%3FsId%3DCAM3STD%26cc%3Dtrue&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F2%2F22%2F14549388%2Fbaby-gear-black-market-swaps-secondhand-strollers" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">$1,240 stroller</a>; picture <a href="https://www.diaperkind.com/">$160 to $185 per month diaper service</a> or <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.diapers.com%2Fp%2Fpampers-swaddlers-diapers-92938&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F2%2F22%2F14549388%2Fbaby-gear-black-market-swaps-secondhand-strollers" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">$50 to $100 per month disposables</a>; picture all those <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514733&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.adenandanais.com%2Fclothing%2Fshop-all&referrer=racked.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2017%2F2%2F22%2F14549388%2Fbaby-gear-black-market-swaps-secondhand-strollers" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">onesies</a>... picture your bank account evaporating before your eyes.</p>
<p id="oaFlpM">Enter the secondary, informal, DIY, not-for-any-real-kind-of-profit markets. Peer-to-peer and community-wide swaps, hand-me-downs, second-hands for pocket cash. The speed, breadth, depth, and volume of these markets — all based on intense necessity — are impressive.</p>
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<cite>Photo: Melissa Ross/Getty Images</cite>
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<p id="YetMYP">Anne, a Queens mom of three — now ages 18, 15, and 10 — relied on friends-and-family swapping for years. “It definitely saves you a lot of money,” she says, estimating that when her kids were younger, she and her husband bought about 50 percent of their kids’ stuff and received about 30 percent from family, 20 percent from coworkers. When her children were small, she kept items to pass from one to the other; she saved their traditional Indian clothes to pass along to her niece. Eventually her daughters developed very different styles — “My older daughter is very fashionista... my younger one is all about the comfort” — and she realized she couldn’t accept many hand-me-downs anymore. So she passed stuff along to the family, friends, and church mates they were already socializing with, occasionally donating to nonprofits as well. </p>
<p id="zSas8M">The kids weren’t always cool with circulating clothes so close to home: Anne recalls one awkward moment when a friend’s daughter recognized her former outfit on Anne’s daughter, none too pleased to see it on someone else. Thomas herself had had a similar incident in her own childhood when she unhappily recognized a former dress of hers on her cousin. “I started laughing! It's the purple dress all over again!” she says.</p>
<div class="c-float-left c-float-hang"><aside id="Wvsatt"><q>“Give me gently used, give me more than gently used, I don't care, I'll take it.”</q></aside></div>
<p id="Jjj8af">Tara, Manhattan mom of a 2-year-old, estimates that she and her boyfriend buy about 40 percent of their daughter’s clothes new, and receive about 60 percent as swaps or hand-me-downs from close friends. She mainly swaps with her daughter’s babysitter, someone she counts on like family. Tara’s daughter is about 6 months younger than her babysitter’s son, and they trade unisex items like shoes, jeans, and undergarments. “She doesn't purchase clothes for her son; her sister-in-law purchases them, and sometimes doesn't get the right size. That's how she ends up giving them to me,” is how Tara describes their trades. Though she’s younger, Tara’s daughter is taller than her babysitter’s son, which is why Tara passes those clothes back to the babysitter, trading items whenever there’s something to trade.</p>
<p id="Zx1Qdy">Since pregnancy, Hima, another Manhattan mom of a 2-year-old, and her husband have mainly relied on two easy hand-me-down pipelines: a close friend and a “very organized” cousin. Hima describes her baby prep attitude as “Give me gently used, give me more than gently used, I don't care, I'll take it.” Fast-forward a couple years, and “Now I have seven crates of stuff, and I have to figure out what to do next.” She would prefer to give it away for free — “I think it's the best thing to do” — and plans on asking another cousin, who is currently pregnant, whether she would like the crates.</p>
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<cite>Photo: Catherine Delahaye/Getty Images</cite>
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<p id="sISc30">The markets that aren’t based on immediate social connections — and reinforce those connections with every swap — often form by common location. New York City alone hosts a parents’ group for every real estate designation (I stopped counting after 15 neighborhoods’ worth). Groups offer ways for members to meet other families, swap clothing and other goods, and discuss things like pediatricians, schools, child development, and, of course, stuff.</p>
<p id="4ojbVA">You can find stuff and chat about it in various mediums: Facebook, email listservs, IRL swap events. You have to act fast if you want to snag an item — “Upper West Side Moms don’t mess around,” observes Tara of the listserv classifieds — but when these systems work, they work.</p>
<p id="TbljWQ">Brooklyn mom Alice and her partner used the Park Slope Parents group as their No. 1 source of newborn items for their 5-month-old. (Disclosure: Their family is part of my family’s swap pipeline.) Some of their efforts were similar to Tara’s, like the time they responded to an ad within 30 seconds of its posting, only to be told they were seventh in line. But the PSP live swap yielded bounty: “We scored. Ralph Lauren, Rosie Pope, the tights with foxes on the knees that are my favorite,” Alice says. She describes the live swap’s atmosphere as similar to the emails: “a little ‘sharks in a feeding frenzy...’ the better-quality stuff, the minute it’s put out, someone grabs and takes it” — but saw most people taking only what they needed. </p>
<div class="c-float-right c-float-hang"><aside id="SCWsSn"><q>“We scored. Ralph Lauren, Rosie Pope, the tights with foxes on the knees that are my favorite.”</q></aside></div>
<p id="gb5bfU">It was a pretty social scene; some attendees seemed to already know each other from other parent meet-ups, and Alice and her partner ran into some friends themselves. Alice likes to pass along stuff to other friends. She also donates some of it to a nonprofit working in Haiti and a shelter supporting homeless LGBT people. “We take everything and re-disperse it. Even if it doesn’t work for our household, it seems like an important part of this economy, not throwing anything out,” she comments.</p>
<p id="w2NQlp">Re-dispersing and not throwing anything out is a fundamental tenet of PSP. President Susan Fox founded the community in 2002 after seeing a lot of perfectly usable exersaucers lying on the curb every time she went for a walk. (For non-parents reading this, an exersaucer is a stationary activity center for babies to sit in and play with a sensory overload of toys.) “I wondered if there was a way to tell people ‘Hey, there’s a supersaucer up for grabs here on Fifth Street,’ and get them redistributed to people who could really use them,” she told PSP Online in 2005. In its first year, PSP had 500 members; today, it has over 5,000. PSP hosts more than 100 subgroups for connection, discussion, advice, and classifieds.</p>
<p id="BWKPp1">They’ve been throwing live swaps in neighborhood churches and other venues since 2007. “The October 2016 [baby stuff swap] event was our biggest ever, with over 225 people there,” writes Fox in an email. Leftovers go to various nonprofits: “We’ve donated to a lot of different organizations over the years — Brooklyn Family Justice Center, Little Essentials, Housing Works, a preemie hospital in Philadelphia, and others. The organizations get SOOO many things post-swap (probably 25 tall kitchen bags’ worth of stuff) ... that many times they have enough for a year or two so they don’t need us to donate except every few years.”</p>
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<cite>Photo: Emanuele Ravecca/EyeEm/Getty Images</cite>
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<p id="KVL44r">All this swapped stuff represents new merchandise unsought. Do baby brands care about this gray market? Brands in other retail markets hold vastly different outlooks on recycling and reselling — <a href="http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/10/patagonia-asks-customers-buy-boosts-customer-base">Patagonia's</a> (pro) and <a href="http://www.racked.com/2015/3/12/8198483/lululemon-ebay-facebook-resale-secondary-market">Lululemon's</a> (anti) are diametrically opposed. Curious, I reached out to six different baby goods companies to ask their opinions. Five didn’t respond (Fisher-Price/Mattel, Carter’s, Toys R Us, Hanna Andersson, Polarn O. Pyret), and Skip Hop, the sixth, declined an interview, saying they don’t deal with concerns regarding secondary markets.</p>
<p id="6PrOJB">I’m not suggesting that brands should or shouldn’t care about desperate parents offloading the occasional bassinet for milk money — you do you, brands. But they should know that if there’s one thing parents can’t stop talking about, it’s being parents — and all the literal and figurative crap that comes with parenthood. And we seek out quality items by brand name: While I was typing this sentence, Alice texted to ask if we were ready to hand down our daughter’s Zutano booties (here’s to a sock product that actually stays on!).</p>
<p id="qCHsTM">When my child is 4, 10, or 18, will I still remember which brand of onesie was the best fitting and most durable? Will that brand even still exist? While I appreciate the products that work well now, I sincerely hope that this knowledge will have fallen out of my brain by then. Frankly, I can’t wait to get this next load of tiny stuff out of my apartment. And just as much, I can’t wait to kvell over how cute it looks on my kid’s tiny cousins, friends, and neighbors.</p>
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https://www.racked.com/2017/2/22/14549388/baby-gear-black-market-swaps-secondhand-strollersChaia Milstein