E-baby..we can do better than that!

azjh77

In the Sun was an article about how much a woman saved by buying all her baby gear on ebay. She did it for £500. Out of interest how would all the MSE Mum's save even more cash....

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2001290023-2007170504,00.html

Her list:-

Stokke Sleepi Cot, mattress and cot bumper: £135 (rrp £500) Got mine in Ikea for £20, and thought you weren't supposed to use cot bumpers

Learning Shoe: £2.50 (rrp £14.99) ummm..didn't buy one

Car Race Track: £5.67 (rrp (£16.99)baby didn't need this either....

East Coast Activity Cube: £12.67 (rrp £39.99)again....

Mothercare Luxury Travel Cot with Basinette: £11.50 (rrp £70) didn't bother with one of these either

Theraline Maternity Pillow: £7.00 (rrp £30.00) different from a normal pillow?

Various Childrens' Clothes: Average price 99p (rrp £5.00 - £17.99)This is where charity shops and boot sales come in - and there is no postage either!

Box of Sticklebricks: £3.21 (rrp £16.99) Baba went without

Bambino Mio Reusable Nappy System, birth to Potty Pack: £60 (rrp £199)

Fisher Price Car: £6.50 (rrp £30)

Avent Bottle Steriliser and Bottles: £6.00 all in (rrp £25 for steriliser; bottles £3.00 each) Am I evil? I 'sterilised' with boiling water

Tomy First Explorer Atlas and Globe £3.57 (rrp £24.99) Damn I'm a bad Mother, they went without this too

DooMoo Children's Beanbag: £10.00 (rrp £75) A what? It's the settee or the floor in this house

ITV Digital Monkey: £7.89 (rare/collectible, now about £50-£60) Rare & Collectable, well don't let the kids have it! If only I had known before I let the girls play with my 'My Little Pony' collection

Micralite Pushchair (with carrycot, not shown in pic) £200 (rrp £375) My big expensive purchase for my first baby £59 in Toys R Us, latest (and last!) baby got a free travel system from a nice girl in church

(Just out of shot)

Svan Metamorphic Highchair: £45.00 (rrp £150) Well you don't need this till the kid is at least 6 months, and I didn't use one at all for my first (used it to strap one down while I chased the other once I had 2 kids!! And Ikea again does them for half that price)

Bumbo Baby Seat: £5.00 (rrp £28.99) Okay..whats a Bumbo seat?

BebeCook Food Processor: £12.00 (rrp £65.00) Call me old fashioned but I just used a sieve and the back of a spoon

Tomy Walkabout Baby Monitor £6.99 (rrp £40.00) Lived in a flat with first baby, didn't need one

ELC musical octopus and various wooden toys: Average price £3/£4 (rrp £20/£30) Didn't this woman have family and friends? Half of these items are toys that the kid wouldn't even be old enough for!

TOTAL SPENT £545.49
TOTAL SAVED: £1269.44 You haven't saved what you wouldn't have spent in the first place....


This lady has now written a book ‘How To Have a Baby on Ebay’ (and will no doubt make a fortune) Anyone think they could do it for less?

Welshlassie

We have just about finished buying for our first baby and other than the travel system which we spent £250 on and the cotbed which we haven't bought yet (although we have seen the one we want its £150) we bought everything we wanted for about £350 mainly off e-bay, although have used some discount websites.

We are using reusable nappies, but have decided to buy them new as they will serve for the next baby/babies we have, they were just short of £300.

We had planned on buying everything we needed with the £600 I had saved up, but were given a lump sum from DH parents so had more flexibility to spend a little bite more, but we could have easily bought everything we wanted for under the £600 we had if we really wanted to (including the reusuable nappies).

It can be done if you really try and we have had some great fun looking and researching it all, but you do need the time to do it. We certainly haven't bought a lot of those toys and things that lady did especially as a newborn isn't going to need them.

Justie

well so far I've spent £4 on clothes at an NCT sale and that was as much for something to buy as anything else... I will need a new cot mattress £54 for a *good* one but could easily do that cheaper, and a pushchair/pramette which I will probably get from one of the grandparents... most everything else is a hand me down or off Freecycle - I will then top up as and when I see what people give us as we're the first grandchild on one side and the first for quite some time on the other...

absolutebounder

Can one get the baby from ebay? The normal method seems so much fuss. All that begging (foreplay) then the grunting and groaning and after that finding she is in the bog puking every five minutes. Then theres the walking round tescos witha beached whale and all the fuss in the labour room and to make matters worse she shuts up even less of the time and keeps pinching the gas and air off you. Its not good so can one get a baby cheap on ebay

Rachie_B

absolutebounder wrote: »

Can one get the baby from ebay? The normal method seems so much fuss. All that begging (foreplay) then the grunting and groaning and after that finding she is in the bog puking every five minutes. Then theres the walking round tescos witha beached whale and all the fuss in the labour room and to make matters worse she shuts up even less of the time and keeps pinching the gas and air off you. Its not good so can one get a baby cheap on ebay

:eek: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

lollyred1

My baby is now 5 days old and we have spent £350 on everything all from ebay this included-
mamas and papas pramette
steriliser
breast pump
bottles
car seat
moses basket

I have also been to carboots and NCT sales to get bits and pieces still in that £350 which included 2 bags baby clothes 0-3 & 3-6

i havent turned anything down from family and friends and have got top and tail bowl, baby bath, baby carrier, swing chair, bedding.

We are getting our cot from ikea in couple weeks time

The little monster is going to cost enough when they are old enough to want the latest trainers mp3 player.

My tips are Carboot sale generally pick up 5 items of clothing for £1, NCT sales are great but can get carried away, charity shops and of course trusty ebay (just look for things close to where you live)

jo_b_2

azjh77 wrote: »

In the Sun was an article about how much a woman saved by buying all her baby gear on ebay. She did it for £500. Out of interest how would all the MSE Mum's save even more cash....

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2001290023-2007170504,00.html

TOTAL SPENT £545.49
TOTAL SAVED: £1269.44 You haven't saved what you wouldn't have spent in the first place....

This lady has now written a book ‘How To Have a Baby on Ebay’ (and will no doubt make a fortune) Anyone think they could do it for less?

I agree with you. Most of the items she has bought are non-essentials so the 'savings' quoted are pretty meaningless.

By far the best way to save on toys (which make up a lot of her purchases) is to use a toy library. You just pay an annual membership of a couple of quid and get to vary the toys every week. Less clutter, less outlay and more social interaction as well. They are also a great way to meet other mums and babies.

Having said that,I have used eBay for a couple of luxury items. I picked up an electric baby swing for £10. The one I've bought is still on sale in Mothercare for £80! :eek: I haven't 'saved' £70 really, as I would never have paid that for the item but I have certainly got a bargain as it looks virtually brand new! :T

I've also bought a second-hand moses basket for £8 (just need to buy a new mattress for it.)

I have to admit that I've been looking on eBay for Bumbo seats. They are not essential by any means but are of those 'useful to have' items. :rolleyes:

benedictadams

Feel left out

will never have kids (what with being a bloke and not into women)

can i write the ebay cat and find lots of luxury products which Cosmos wouldn't ever need but claim i could do it for less?

LilMissEmmylou

a bumbo is a seat to help babas who can control their head but not sit up on their own sit up.

I think we did ours pretty cheap although i did spend quite a bit on the pram, cotbed/sofa and reuseable nappies, but all of that will be used with any other babies i have.

i think a lot on the list as said above isnt even needed for a baby, i mean what baby needs one of the digital tv monkey things???

Claire_Jones_3

I'm so proud of myself at the minute with my baby spending so here goes..

Paint & border for nursery £20
Carpet & changing mat (treat from my Nan) £0
Curtains £0 from Freecycle
Cot & moses basket £0 from auntie used for my cousins (oldest now 22!)
Pushchair, Car seat, baby bath, black bag of baby clothes, door bouncer, high chair, cot bedding, cot mobile, moses basket stand, bibs, bottle warmer all donated from friend at work so £0
Mattress £50 when I get round to getting it!
Vests, babygo's & sleeping bag all from Ebay £25 (including postage)
Cot toy, mittens and socks all presents from relatives so £0
Towelsx2 1 was gift other one was in sale at £1.50
Baby coat in sale £8 should have been £22!!
Lampshade, nightlight & matching lamp were gift from my parents so £0
3 brand new bottles & teats from Freecycle so £0
Single use camera from boots coupon so £0
Fleece baby blanket present from auntie £0

However need to get:
More cot sheets so about £15
Muslin squares about £7-10
Changing bag (but am holding out for huggies coupon from free one!)
Curtain rail £5

So I will have spent about £85 on getting bits for baby! When we had the 2nd scan at 20 weeks baby was lying head down with its back to us. We couldn't get a decent look at baby so didn't bother with a picture, what a truly money saving baby!!

fsdss

absolutebounder wrote: »

Can one get the baby from ebay

of course you can

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BabyGoldAcres-Reborn-Baby-Girl-Celine-E-Wosnjuk-MUST-C_W0QQitemZ280116899710QQihZ018QQcategoryZ122723QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem