Used Kidstuffs: Loving Craigslist

Our daughter has become quite the little monkey, enjoying climbing up, down, and all around any object in sight. Jennifer and I decided to get her some sort of climbing contraption or backyard play equipment or such so that she can enjoy it this summer. We knew what our budget was going to be (I wanted to spend no more than 200-250 tops) and had an idea of what we wanted from some web-surfing Jennifer had done.

Last week, we headed out to Toys-R-Us and took a look at their selection. I really wasn’t impressed… they didn’t have much in our price range, and the types of things similar to what I wanted were a lot less exciting in person. We came home, disappointed, and I thought about some options so we could get a decent plaything without breaking the bank.

I thought of eBay and Craigslist. Because of the size of a play structure, shipping wasn’t really an option, and we found out there weren’t many to be found locally on eBay. Craigslist was a different story. The Portland baby+kids category contained quite a few listings of parents whose children had outgrown their play structures, and several were available for fractions of original price.

Jennifer diligently sent emails and made phone calls as new ones appeared on the list, and she found a nice one out in Camas that we’re picking up tomorrow. It’s in great condition, retails new for $500, and we’re buying it for $125. Craigslist is your friend.