@immanuelsdottir I get it, they’re great carriers, I personally have a I’ve colored Japanese style one. But it’s just a carrier. A means to be hands free and still connected to baby. I wanted the swan printed artipoop carrier, but the price man, I’d rather buy a nice stroller, or put money in savings!
@immanuelsdottir I had to leave the fb group for this reason. I got my two carriers from the website when they were fully stocked and not selling out and while the greedy part of me wants to sell them now to make a profit, the rational part of me is telling me to just use them and then deal with it when I’m done having kids.
@immanuelsdottir That's nuts! I bought mine in early 2022 without any fanfare and I had no idea it was like that now. I really like it compared to my old lillebaby but I wouldn't be willing to go through all that to buy one!
@immanuelsdottir I JUST joined the FB group thinking I could get one for a decent price. NOPE. I tried a few others and they all hurt my back. This one was the most comfortable. I’m really glad to see a commenter passing on theirs to you!
@immanuelsdottir There's a bunch of seriously weird cults of collecting with certain parenting things and they are just straight up bizzare. I was joking with my husband that the next time Grovia (cloth diaper cover company) releases any sort of "Asian" print I am gonna buy 20 and just keep them in a closet for 2 years at which point I'll be able to sell them for 4 times what they are worth. Whole thing is absolutely batshit to me.
@immanuelsdottir I feel like I could have written this post myself! Happy Baby is the only carrier I can find that works for both me and my daughter, but as a young single mom I can’t afford the secondhand ones, or keep on top of the auctions. I wish so badly I could carry my little Velcro baby around without crying, the HBC culture is really discouraging.
@immanuelsdottir I got lucky and was able to get one (OG, but original style, not the newer one) off of their website nowhere near a drop time and was so confused about the Facebook group. The color I got must have really not been popular (I mean… I like it lol). This was a few months ago and I LOVE the carrier.
That being said I do not for the life of me understand why people have like ten carriers (especially the same one????) in different colors. I have never once cared if my carrier matched my outfit, and I don’t understand the obsession with limited edition colors. It’s a baby carrier! I love that the look is stylish but needing to have a million makes no sense to me. The B/S/T group is such a trip. I could see wanting one OG and an onbuhimo, or one for each parent so you don’t have to adjust it each time you use it but the whole thing is really wild.
@immanuelsdottir Ugh tell me about it. I was just looking for a HB Revolution carrier and was appalled at the asking prices in the BST. Might as well buy a ridiculous Artipoppe for that money . (I will say I have a HB OG and it’s amazing but I got it on sale before HB was having stock issues.)
@immanuelsdottir Omg, yes to all of this. A baby carrier is primarily meant for utility and comfort, it is sooo bewildering how obsessively collecting them is treated as a hobby/subculture. The craze around “rare” colors reminds me of the beanie baby era. And that Facebook group is truly like dropping into a cult, I don’t get how Happy Baby lets an official channel get so out of hand.
@immanuelsdottir At least it’s better than it was a couple years ago. The carriers were selling out with like TEN SECONDS at each drop. 30 minutes sounds like a dream! I got my OG back in 2020(during the insanity) and it was life changing. I wear it literally every single day and my second is 20 months old now.
That being said, I do not understand the people who have like 20 of them. I personally have an OG and an onbuhimo and I don’t really get why you need more than that!
@pilgrim37 Yeah, I was looking for a toddler carrier and was so disheartened when there were so few restocks that sold out so fast. Some dad ended up selling a new one to me at retail price because he said his wife panic bought multiple carriers (including a toddler one) even though she was only 3 months pregnant lol. Thanks, random FB HBC dad!
@immanuelsdottir That FB group is insane. You’re totally right that the icky icing on the cake is that it’s run by the owners. Red Flag I left after a month. Eventually I was able to order one from their website, but only because apparently it was not a desirable color/pattern. Worked for me! There are some listed on FB marketplace, but for more or less what they sell for. However, two year ago, there were zero on marketplace.
@immanuelsdottir So I got into HBC in February 2021 when there were NO carriers on the website and product drops sold out in minutes. The market was crazy, but it also cooled off a TON and people couldn’t resell things for more than $100. The market fluctuates, and they will get back to higher production. So yeah, if you can snag one from someone used for reasonable, or just wait it out. I had to leave the FB group bc yeah it’s just too much.
@immanuelsdottir There’s multiple on Facebook marketplace right now for $80-125
You don’t get a choice of colors but they are all nice.
I also have never tried to get one on a drop but in December I was able to purchase two from the website- again color selection was down to like 5-9 choices but I got a nice neutral color. There are definitely options out there for super reasonable prices!
You could also set a saved searches alert on Mercari, lots come through on there for reasonable prices
@belleclear Ofc it was. Did you see the (very long) post from a woman asking for a ‘good price’ on ~cake~ as a gift to her ‘rainbow baby’ from it’s ‘angel sibling’ … I had to pick my jaw off the floor that she was trying to use a miscarriage to score a LE colour of a carrier!!!
@immanuelsdottir Yup same. I have a Tula and it just isn’t what I want for my scar and I have heard rave reviews about them but I am a teacher on maternity leave. There’s no way I could afford to buy a secondhand carrier at or over retail price. And then people post their pictures of like….. 10 or more carriers of the same brand and that breaks my brain. (Maybe also a lil jealous bc I just want ONE )