Bottles, rompers, a car seat, a buggy and lots of cute clothes. Having a child costs a lot of money. And certainly now that life is getting a lot more expensive, that can cause a lot of stress for young parents. Before you start sweating: it doesn’t have to be that expensive, as these Belgian start-ups prove.
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Babies cost money: it’s something any parent can attest. According to the Federal Public Service Economy, Belgians spend about 500 million euros every year on baby equipment. Parents would pay 6,500 euros in the first year of their child’s life alone for clothes and toys of all kinds.
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Online birth list Pakske proves that things can be done differently. “Anyone who puts together a traditional birth list at a store can only choose the products from that one store,” says one of the founders, Thomas Loyens. “Then it’s a shame if you can’t add that fantastic pram from elsewhere.” Because that’s how you can keep prices down, Thomas knows.
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Compare prices from different stores
“When we wanted to put together our birth list for Mia, my daughter, we didn’t find a good solution. Moreover, I did not only want to add items from multiple shops, but also second-hand items and other items. At that stage in your life you mainly need things and services that really help you, don’t you? In our view, maternity food, someone who promises to come and babysit regularly or a babywearing consultation was much more useful than just another toy to please Uncle Jos. We started Pakske from that vision.”
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In short, the concept is very simple: you choose what you want, from anywhere. A Tripp Trapp from Stokke, a buggy from Bugaboo, a car seat from Hema or a baby monitor from secondhand.be? Everything is possible. And by comparing the prices of different stores, you can also save a lot, says Loyens. For example, for five bibs from the Lässig brand, you pay €32 at Bol.com and €22.95 at Babypark. So the difference is almost 10 euros.
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We did the math for ten different products
1. Slabbetjes van Lässig
• At Bol.com: 32 euros
• At Baby Park: 22.95 euros
• The difference: 9.05 euros
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2. Co-sleeper Iora van Maxi-Cosi
• At Babyplus: 169 euros
• At Amazon.nl: 146.28 euros
• The difference: 22.72 euros
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3. Philips bottle feeding starter set
• At Farmaline: 38.42 euros
• At Pinkorblue: 33.64 euros
• The difference: 4.78 euros
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(Read more below the photos.)
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4. Maxi-Cosi . car seat
• At Amazon.nl: 161.81 euros
• At Pinkorblue: 99 euros
• The difference: 62.81 euros
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5. Diaper bag from Child Home Mommy
• At Pinkorblue: 99.95 euros
• At De Gele Flamingo: 92 euros
• The difference: 7.95 euros
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6. Travel cot from Eco Baby
• At Bol.com: 39.95 euros
• At Mamaloesbabysjop: 34.95 euros
• The difference: 5 euros
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(Read more below the photos.)
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7. Tripp Trapp van Stokke
• At Smallable: 241 euros
• At Babyplus: 229 euros
• The difference: 12 euros
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8. Night light from Flow Amsterdam
• At Baby Park: 32.95 euros
• At De Gele Flamingo: 29.95 euros
• The difference: 3 euros
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9. Blanket from Nattou
• At Bol.com: 58.61 euros
• At Nattou: 54.95 euros
• The difference: 3.66 euros
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10. Babymoov . dining set
• At Van Asten Babysuperstore: 31.99 euros
• At Bol.com: 21.60 euros
• The difference: 10.39 euros
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So you save in total 141,46 euro.
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(Read more below the photos.)
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Second-hand birth lists
In addition, second-hand birth lists are on the rise. The Ghent start-up Mic Mac Minuscule is one of the pioneers and was even awarded a ‘Radical Innovator’ earlier this year. The Ghent company was founded in 2017 by Jona Mukabalisa and Gert Linthout, with the aim of giving baby items a second life.
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In the five years that they have been working, the entrepreneurial couple has already rescued more than 100,000 baby items from the garbage dump and put them back into circulation in Flanders and Brussels. So it is clear that it is good for the planet. Also nice to have: it is also better for your wallet. “If you were to buy a trousseau completely new, you can charge around 6,500 euros for a child in the first year of life,” say Jona and Gert. For each item we only charge 50 percent of the average price you would pay in the store.”
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