[name]Hi[/name] Berries,
What would you consider the most important factors when buying toys or baby gear? Rank 1-10, 1 being most important:
Durability
Convenience
[name]Brand[/name]
Quality
Design
Grow with me features
Intellectual development
Safety
[name]Price[/name]
Environmentally friendliness
Okay, we’re still just shopping (hopefully doing the registry this week), so we could be wrong, but here’s how we’ve been trying to do it:
1 - Safety (for toys and such, all of the big things have to pass the same tests, however as first timers we are pretty attracted to the bells and whistles)
2 - Intellectual Development
3 - Environmental Friendliness
4 - [name]Price[/name]
5/6 - Quality
6/5 - Durability
7 - Convenience
8 - Grow with me features
9/10 - Design
10/9 - [name]Brand[/name]
This was so helpful. Thank you!
Are there any other Berries that would be willing to help?
In order of ranking from 1-10
Safety- If I don’t think it is safe why would I give it to my kid??
Quality- I am not sure I understand the difference between quality and durability.
Durability- I am not sure I understand the difference between quality and durability.
Intellectual development
[name]Price[/name]
Environmentally friendliness
Grow with me features- I don’t exactly know what you mean by this. Are you saying it can be used through many developmental stages?
Design
Convenience- I don’t really understand this category. [name]Do[/name] you mean availability? Or convenience to use? or…?
[name]Brand[/name]- I sort of feel like this has connotations with quality (in that some brands are considered ‘high quality’ while others are not.)
Safety!!!
Quality
Durability
[name]Brand[/name] (check out the book [name]Baby[/name] Bargains by [name]Denise[/name] and [name]Alan[/name] Fields, brand is important when dealing with customer service and the companies recall history)
Convenience (very important when dealing with a screaming baby)
Grow With Me Features (they grow fast)
[name]Price[/name]
Intellectual Development (everything is intellectually stimulating)
Environmental Friendliness
Design
In order from 1 to 10:
Safety
Quality
Durability
Intellectual development
Environmentally friendliness
[name]Price[/name]
Convenience
Design
Grow with me features (If they are of high quality and durability, I expect to be able to hold on to them for future children etc.)
[name]Brand[/name] (I felt quality, durability, and safety kind of relate to, or overrule, the ‘brand’)
Another one I feel is important (as I shop for baby gear primarily) is gender neutral items… so I don’t have to buy again! That might relate to convenience, not sure.
Safety
Durability
Quality- Find that these two often go hand in hand!
[name]Brand[/name]- Now this one is only so high as I often find that brand goes hand in hand with quality/durability. For instance, after using various buggies, I ended up with a Bugaboo and now I will never go back!
Convenience- Living in a big city, it pays to have products which fold away. And with babies, anything which can be cleaned/tidied easily makes a huge difference
Design
[name]Price[/name]
Environmental friendliness- I use cloth nappies, and I don’t buy big plastic toys which will last/keep their interest all of 5 minutes, but bar this I have to confess it doesn’t usually cross my mind too much
Intellectual development- I don’t really choose toys based on this either- I go for the simpler the better. Found a wonderful wooden ark and hundreds of wooden animals at a second hand warehouse, and thats done for all my kids. The less there is to a toy, the more room there is for imagination and exploring, and developing! Thats kind of my philosophy anyway.
Grow with me features- Not sure what’s meant by this- products which continue to be suitable for a long time? through lots of developmental stages?