Bargains4Babies - and for struggling parents

For many parents the price of stocking up for a new baby comes as a big shock. Even essential items like strollers and cots are sometimes beyond the average person’s budget.

Outer West-based mother and daughter business team, Janet Watson and Sarah Lowe, believe the niche they have established has helped solve that problem.

But to find out a little more about this burgeoning family partnership, one needs to visit a small shopping precinct on the left on the way up to Botha’s Hill.

Down a cobbled alley and just around the corner, a collection of prams, cots and high chairs indicates you have arrived at the right place, aptly named Bargains4Babies.

“We call it our baby kingdom,” says Watson, who at 62 has decided her working life is far from over.

“It might not be in an upmarket, fashionable centre, but we like it like that,” she says. “Our focus is on giving mothers value for money and the one way to do that is by keeping the overhead expenses at manageable levels.

“It’s also the sort of place that moms, grans and even dads can wander around at their leisure without feeling pressured into buying.”

Their Bargains4Babies outlet is full of pre-owned baby paraphernalia, all of which looks surprisingly new.

Says Lowe, a mother of two: “We are very particular about what we will accept for sale, which means the merchandise must be in near-perfect order. Even then everything is cleaned, sanitised, refreshed and in working order before going on sale.”

Mother and daughter admit they have had to learn some tough business lessons along the way.

“We soon realised,” says Watson, “that if a pram, for example, was in need of repair, getting the right parts was often difficult and the renovation time costly.

“Our husbands usually had the job of doing repairs, but that meant most of their weekends were spent mending wheels and replacing springs, nuts and bolts. It really wasn’t ideal and certainly not cost-effective.”

With that lesson under the belt, they no longer go that route.

“There’s quite a bit of testing before we accept goods. I think mothers and grans now know that what we sell is functional and in working order.”

The pre-used baby goods concept is strong in the UK, says 35-year-old Lowe, who with husband Jason, a civil engineer, lived and worked in England some years ago.

Options

“I was working as a primary school teacher in Bedford,” she says. “We certainly did not have enough money to pay for costly new prams and cots when my first child was on the way.

“But it wasn’t a problem. The pre-owned options were huge, on eBay and at fêtes and sales, which were held in open spaces every weekend somewhere nearby.”

When the couple returned to South Africa in 2008, expecting their second child, they assumed that the same pre-owned route would be readily available.

“We searched everywhere, but there was very little on offer,” says Lowe. “What was available was usually in a bad state of repair. In the end, we were forced to buy everything new.”

In a way that was quite fortunate. Like anyone with an entrepreneurial spirit, Lowe and her mother decided there was a gap in the market, which could be transformed into an exciting business opportunity.

“I know it’s not always possible to put good ideas into practice,” says Watson. “When you live in a reasonably affluent society like ours, you can’t help wondering how much demand there would be for pre-owned goods.”

But mother and daughter did extensive research with family and friends and found there were many opportunities.

“There were dozens of people who wanted to sell the baby stuff they no longer needed. And there were plenty of mothers and families who couldn’t afford to go the new route, or, if they could, they would still rather spend their money on other essentials.

“Even before we opened our outlet, the calls were coming in.”

Pricing is one of the critical issues in the pre-used market.

“There is a fine balance between the buying and selling of goods,” says Watson. “You want to be fair to both sides, but you also need the stock to move quickly to make way for new merchandise. It’s a bit of a juggling act that you have to get right.”

Supporting those who cannot afford baby clothes is a mission close to their heart.

“There are a number of pregnancy crisis centres and crèches in KZN,” says Lowe. “Whenever possible we distribute clothing to a number of worthy organisations. When you are in a business like ours, you become mindful of every mother and her baby’s needs.”