Toygaroo website rents toys
Toygaroo Website Rents Toys, Toygaroo 24.99
Can't lay your hands on that hot Christmas toy, don't worry now you can RENT them (just be careful when breaking the news)
It happens every Christmas, that special toy every child wants has sold-out leaving parents to frantically search store shelves for that last must-have item.
And if Black Friday numbers are anything to go by, stock is already flying off the shelves with major retailers reporting popular toys are already selling-out.
If you're that parent this year and can't find that special toy or you've simply gone over your budget, help is just a click away as you can now rent-a-toy on a new website.
Toygaroo offers parents the chance to hire toys for a fraction of what they would cost to buy.
Paul Reinsmith of Boston and his wife Pam have sampled the website that they call the ‘Netflix’ of toys.
'It’s the ideal situation for the holiday time,' Mr Reinsmith told CBS Boston.
'You can stuff toys under the tree for under 50 bucks. If you were out there buying them, there’s just no way you could do that.'
The Reinsmiths choose the toys that are best suited for their young son Will and just like Netflix, they go into a queue.
Depending on the service plan, every month or every other month, a box comes in the mail with a new set of toys from the queue.
When the time is up, the toys are sent back and a new box will be on its way.
The cheapest option is $24.99/month for a box of four toys, reports CBS.
With that you can put The Toy Story 3 Speedway, The Thomas the Tank Engine laptop, Chicco’s radio controlled ATV and the Rolling Round Jungle under your Christmas tree.
The retail value of those toys is $112.96.
If there is something a child does not want to send back, or if something gets lost or broken, parents can purchase the toy at a discounted price.
Toygaroo says all the toys are carefully sanitised and re-sealed in plastic before they are shipped to a new home.
The website could prove to be a hit with Christmas shoppers if Black Friday figures are anything to go by, toys are already selling-out with retail foot-traffic increasing by 6.6 percent post Thanksgiving according to ShopperTrak, compared with 5.1 last year.
It is expected that the LeapFrog LeapPad Explorer, a tablet for kids with a built-in camera and video recorder, will be one of the most popular toys, Needham and Company senior analyst Sean McGowann said.
Even at this early stage, 'it’s the one thing you can’t find anywhere,' he said.
'For $100, you wouldn’t think it would be sold out, but it is.'
According to Msnbc.com, the LeapPad Explorer is out of stock on the websites of Toys ‘R Us, Wal-Mart and Barnes and Noble and appears to be unavailable for internet purchase on Target and Kmart’s websites.
Another in-demand toy is the Lalaloopsy Silly Hair Doll by MGA Entertainment which is also out of stock online on Toys ‘R Us, Wal-Mart,
Kmart and Target, and is marked up to $67 from around $30 on Amazon.com.
Toys ‘R Us told Msnbc.com that the Thanksgiving weekend also yielded big sales of the Trash Pack 'Trashies' Garbage Truck by Moose Toys and the Animal Planet Air Swimmers eXtreme Radio Control Giant Flying Shark and Clownfish.
But both are still available online for purchase, as are hot sellers like Monster High dolls and Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure video games.
Company spokesperson Jen Albano told Msnbc.com that Toys ‘R Us will continue to receive daily deliveries of its top selling items throughout the season up until Christmas Eve.
At Kmart, in addition to the LeapPad Explorer and the V-tech Innotab Tablet, the Fijit Friends Interactive Toys have proved to be popular this season, according to spokesperson Julia Fitzgerald with all three currently sold out at Kmart.com.
Regarding the tablets, she says, 'If moms are thinking about them, I would start scouring and securing them now.'
For boys, Fitzgerald told Msnbc.com that Hot Wheels Wall Tracks, which uses 3M Command Strips to adhere racing tracks up walls, are already a big seller at Kmart, with the starter set currently unavailable for online purchase.
Overall, Fitzgerald said that innovative toys that feature some sort of upgrade from a popular classic are always big holiday sellers, even in the case of a more expensive item like the LeapPad Explorer.
'It doesn’t matter what the price or the year is; innovation carries the day when it comes to toys,' she told Msnbc.com.
