I got an email from a biz called BabyQuip last week. They wanted me to tell you all about how you can use them to rent all the baby stuff you need when you travel so you don’t have to worry about renting things like high chairs and car seats and strollers. They even have packages that include toys and full-size cribs.
And I think that’s a valuable service for many people. Definitely check them out if you are traveling and would rather rent that stuff than haul it all with you.
I started looking into how the stuff gets to you when you rent it, though, and that’s when I stumbled on what I thought was more exciting to share with you- becoming a BabyQuip Quality Provider, or, as they call them, a QP.
My links to them are affiliate, but this is how bad I suck at affiliate marketing: I only make money off people who click through to RENT things and not what I’m writing a whole blog post about.
QPs own all their own baby equipment that they then rent out to traveling families through BabyQuip. BQ is a “platform business” similar to what Uber is. You use their platform to service people with stuff you own. The people using you have assurance that you are legit. You are insured through them (billed monthly on a sliding scale based on what you make). And they make it easy to list what you have available to rent on their website.
There is a $100 fee to get started, which covers your first month of insurance and setup & admin expenses. After that you make 80% of your rental and delivery fees and BQ keeps 20%. You get to keep 100% of your tips. People will (hopefully) tip you because you’ll be delivering immaculate baby gear that you lovingly care for and thoroughly clean in between clients, setting up cribs, demonstrating how to fold and unfold strollers and more. In addition, hopefully they will be rating you highly on BQs internal rating system.
They have QPs in many cities, but it doesn’t seem saturated, and many cities still don’t have QPs. So this seems like a really great opportunity for the right people to put some of their gently used baby gear to work! Or even for someone to slowly invest in new baby gear and build a business.
On the FAQ page, in response to “Do I need to buy gear to get started?” BQ replies:
“No. We can get you launched on the BabyQuip (formerly Babierge) platform and open for business before you buy any gear. We recommend (but don’t require) that you purchase one item– a full-size portable wooden crib–because that’s our most requested item and could easily be your first order. It fits in many cars and all vans and SUVs. We’ll tell you how to order a crib later. If you’re close to a baby store, or use Amazon Prime, you can actually purchase gear after you get an order most of the time. That’s how Quality Providers build their inventory. You can also purchase used gear in great condition.”
I’m kind of regretting giving away some of our less abused baby stuff now! If you’ve got some gently used baby gear you could do without, or the means or desire to build up a stash of baby gear, and if you’re looking for a way to bring in some extra money each month, head over and read more about becoming a BabyQuip QP.