'Way better than my day job': This Florida mom made over $85,000 in just 1 year renting out strollers, car seats and baby toys as a side hustle — here's how she did it
Melissa Avey and her husband needed a double stroller for their young children while on a family vacation in St. Augustine, Florida, in 2021, but didn’t want to purchase a brand-new pram for just a short-term stay.
Avey did a quick Google search and found exactly what she needed from a parent in the area renting out gently used baby gear through an online marketplace called BabyQuip.
“It was a really great experience,” Avey told Moneywise. The couple was inspired to sign up as renters on the platform. “We were just, like, this would be so great in our town. So we just took the ball and ran with it from there.”
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Run with it they did. Avey and her husband last year earned over $85,000 through BabyQuip — after the company's cut — renting out things like strollers, car seats and beach toys in Panama City Beach. It was more than what Avey makes in a year from her full-time job as a community association manager.
She says one of the best parts about her side gig is that she genuinely enjoys the work.
“It's way better than my day job,” Avey said. “You get to work with moms and kids and help them — and I'm a mom, so I can really relate to them. It's just really rewarding.”
The value of convenience and experiences
BabyQuip says it served 80,000 orders to nearly 60,000 families around the world in 2023.
“I think the demand is higher than anybody … ever expected,” Fran Maier, CEO and founder of BabyQuip, told Moneywise.
After facing a major setback during the pandemic, Maier says the company rebounded in 2021 when travel began to pick back up.
“I think it's because today's parents really value convenience, they really value experiences,” she explained. “They don't want to buy and dump. And travel is now considered more of an essential than a nice to have.”
Maier claims BabyQuip’s Quality Providers — the folks who rent out baby gear — rake in about $1,500 a month on average. Providers sign up and pay a $200 starting fee, set their own rental rates, can include surcharges for things like early pickups or damages and keep 78% of the proceeds plus all of their tips.
As an example, Avey says she charges $20 per day for baby cribs, but another mom in her area who manages a much larger online store sets her baby crib rates at $17 per day.
Maier says that while a majority on the platform rent out baby gear as a side hustle, there are also folks who have turned it into a full-time gig, earning anywhere between $5,000 to $10,000 a month.
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It's important to be well-organized
These short-term item rental platforms may offer an opportunity for an additional stream of income, but they involve more work than simply picking up loose items you may have already lying around the house. Success often requires additional investments of time and money.
After all, renting out a single crib for $20 per day, every day, would only amount to $7,300 annually. That may be enough if all you’re looking for is a bit of extra cash, but to be really successful requires added inventory and time-management skills.
Avey and her husband work as a team to get out orders. Avey, who works full time, is in charge of logistics, while her husband, who’s self-employed and has more flexibility in his schedule, completes the bulk of pickups and deliveries.
As a mom to young children, Avey says she’s often raiding her kids’ toys or scrolling through other online marketplaces to find affordable and gently used baby gear to rent out through their store. One of the couple’s biggest challenges, however, is finding enough space to store the baby gear in their home.
Avey says she and her husband plan to save $10,000 to construct a shed in their backyard to use for storage. But aside from funding their side gig’s operations, they’re also using the extra income to secure their financial future.
Last year, Avey paid off most of her consumer debts and the couple is starting to save for their kids to attend college — a huge consideration for many American parents as the costs of higher education continue to rise. They’ve also been able to put money aside for their retirement.
“We will continue to save for our children's future and our retirement goals but also make time to have fun because we want to make sure the fire is bright for our family,” Avey said.
Other ways to earn supplemental income
There are plenty of options for folks to make extra money on the side, even if they aren’t parents with a pram’s worth of baby toys.
For example, you could sell some old clothes you no longer use on reselling platforms like eBay or Poshmark.
You could even rent out a spare room on Airbnb or the garage in your home for storage use.
If you’re not interested in become a landlord, look into investing in shares of commercial real estate or vacation rentals.
Or, if you just want to dip your toe into investing, consider a platform that puts your leftover change from your everyday purchases into a diversified portfolio that automatically rebalances based on market changes.
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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
