Angie Wynne, founder of the popular frugal parenting website, Baby Cheapskate, recently announced the Portland arrival of Freepeats.org, an online forum which allows parents to pick up gently-used baby, kid, and maternity items for free from nearby parents who have finished with them.
"Preparing for a baby's arrival is expensive," says Wynne, "and so is raising one. Common estimates put the cost at $10,000 in the first year alone. And this is at a time when many families are trying to get by on one parent's income. At the same time, many of the expensive baby items parents spend their money on get used only for a very short time. There's still plenty of life left in them. If parents can find good-condition second-hand clothing, toys, and gear, they'll shave hundreds of dollars or more off that $10,000 total. Besides that, we'll keep usable items out of the landfills."
Freepeats opened in the Portland area on July 16. Freepeats groups are also up and running in 24 other major U.S. cities. Wynne plans to open a dozen more Freepeats forums in metro areas throughout the U.S. during 2008. "I want parents all across the country to have access to the savings that Freepeats offers," Wynne says. "We're opening the forums just as fast as we can."
Portland-area residents who join Freepeats before August 1 will receive a free lifetime membership. After that, there's be a $4.95 one-time membership fee. Meanwhile, it is Wynne's hope that residents will get hundreds of dollars' worth of gently-used baby items for the price of the cost of the gas it takes to go pick them up locally.
Freepeats has now registered more than 5000 members. Offerings have included bouncers, swings, cribs, infant formula, baby and toddler clothing, zoo tickets, diapers, strollers, high chairs, baby gyms, parenting books, toys, and more. The site has been featured at Discovery.com's Planet Green website, Apartment Therapy.com, Nickelodeon's Parents Connect website, Green Deals Daily, and more.
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