F the cult-like following of certain carrier brands (Happy Baby)

@immanuelsdottir BST groups for literally anything child related is ridiculous. I wanted to try some bamboo pjs for my son. Joined a bst because retail price of 20-30 is just too much for me regardless of “how long” your kid can wear them.

People will buy sold out prints just to resell to someone at a higher price. I’ve seen it in cloth diaper groups too. Thankfully the brand that I gravitate towards is very like strict in pricing the used and you can’t resell for higher than retail price.
 
@immanuelsdottir I just joined the group last week and have been losing my MIND!! Was hoping to spend >100 since I figured that was reasonable for a second hand carrier… bidding wars starting at $300!! Clearly we’re in a different tax bracket!! I had to hide the group from my feed cos the lingo and the emoji use was killing me lol
 
@immanuelsdottir I feel like the “MMAO” thing has started recently in the group, it’s so rare to even find one that is just “for sale”. Makes it really hard to buy and frustrating to see those prices go up and up.
 
@immanuelsdottir The HBC fb group is crazy. I bought a highly sought after color (Cake) in a website drop in 2021 and seriously have considered selling it recently based on the insane prices on the group, lol. I got two others (an onbuhimo and one for my husband) about four months ago just from their website because idc that much about colors 🤷🏻‍♀️ I can’t imagine paying SO MUCH money for a carrier - even if I think the Midnight RPC limited edition is rather droolworthy 😂

I also think they are full-stop hallucinating on their description of used items. They will post like “used with my two year old who loved being carried every single day of their life. EEUC - Basically new!” Bish please, get out of here.
 
@immanuelsdottir Soo... YES, 100%... and no, not really. Yes, some of the following is crazy. BUT somehow that goes for so many things that you wouldn't think - ie I tried to buy a baby blanket from the same company as our sleep sacks because we liked them and was absolutely shocked at what it would take to get even a used one. People love to buy and collect and you can't really fault the companies for that, although I will say that I will never understand that mindset and it is completely bonkers to me.

These things are also cyclical, when I first bought my HB they were completely sold out, but a few months later there was a big release and then there were some available for months in many colors.

And also, no. I bought both a HB & SB second hand through the official FB groups, and didn't pay anywhere near 80-90% for either in really great condition. I didn't look very long and just took one that popped up and looked decent in an OK color. Maybe it was because they weren't super popular neutral colors? Who knows.
 
@obelex I think right now HB have been having production/supply issues for almost a year now so the demand is high for all carriers regardless of colour and condition. I’ve been obsessively looking for 2 weeks and haven’t found a single second hand carrier going for less than $150 and retail is $165 (and any carrier less than $200 has stains/fraying/missing the sun hood).

I don’t fault the company for supplying chain issues, or for having loyal customers who want to collect their products (the carriers do really seem to be very high quality). But running these weird auctions* where the ‘seller’ is not in anyway obligated to actually sell feels like enabling people to show off how in demand they’re carrier is?

It sounds silly but this is the type of behaviour I’d except from sleazy influencer owned brands, not a supposedly wholesome family owned baby carrier brand.
 
@immanuelsdottir The next “drop” is in a few weeks, so used prices always spike when there are no available new ones to purchase. I will say that I see people post “ISO” (in search of) posts for carriers around 100-125 and they often get ppl selling for that amount.

I have 2 carriers (one OG, one onbuhimo) and I cannot for the life of me understand why anyone needs 10+ of the same carrier where 4 of them are ever do slightly different shades of pink that are indistinguishable unless sitting side by side.

I am not in the market for a new carrier but stay in the group mostly for the entertainment…
 
@immanuelsdottir Yeah, you're probably right. Production/supply issues are kind of still at an all time high for so many things (we're currently in Europe and lots of things aren't available right now, including randoms like face wash, yogurt, antibiotics) which will definitely drive the bonkers market.

I think I want to defend them because I really, really love my OG. We tried a whole slew of carriers and nothing was ever as comfortable and easy to use as the OG and I'm not sure what I would have done without it in certain situations, like flying alone with the baby etc. And we used it A LOT and it has held up really well. BUT yeah, that doesn't make the current situation less crazy.
 
Adding this: I just checked the FB page and yeah, there is 100% some pre-release frenzy going on that feels nuts! That I will never understand, if you know the market is going to be saturated in April (ie really any day now), why is everyone buying and selling like crazy?!
 
@obelex They just announced the new drop colors, which are pretty limited because of supply chain issues. So I’m guessing people are using the opportunity to sell desirable colors that aren’t dropping anytime soon for top dollar. Also, people that have been holding out for the drop, but aren’t interested in what’s coming, are probably going ahead and looking for secondhand carriers they want rather than waiting for the spring release.
 
@vickymoose I was so disappointed to hear that the spring drop is going to be limited and the same colours as last spring. They have hinted that they have a bunch of new fabrics but don't have the production line to get them made. I was a part of the craze in 2021 and loved the thrill of the drops. I was hoping that this year all of their production troubles would be behind them so I can get a new fun print for my second child but it seems like I will be living the same thing over again.
 
@obelex Seconding the cyclical part. I had no idea there is such a frenzy around hb. In like late February, I was researching carrier options and saw that hb had good reviews. I went on their site, a few colors were in stock, and I bought one. I think it was even on sale. I'd check sometime after whatever is going on with this drop because it's not like this all the time, IMHO.

Eta - have you checked Facebook marketplace, OP? I see some there available for shipping for a reasonable used price. Do you think they're scams?
 
@immanuelsdottir Yeah the happy baby fb group was a joke. I ended up finding one on some random woman's baby retail shop website. Just found it and it is Purple Elm Baby. I just got the color that was available at the time!
 
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