I make $5,000 a month renting out baby gear on the platform BabyQuip. Here's how I set up this super flexible side gig.
- Sarah Huff rents out cribs, strollers, and toys to parents visiting LA on the platform BabyQuip.
- She wakes up at 5:30 a.m. to deliver equipment to hotels and airports — sometimes for celebrities.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Sarah Huff, a 38-year-old BabyQuip Quality Provider. Insider has verified her monthly income with documentation. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I first heard about BabyQuip in 2016, when my family wanted to take a trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico, to visit my mother-in-law with our five-month-old baby. Like any new mom, I wanted to make sure I had all the right equipment for the trip, and my mother-in-law said she knew of a startup in the area that rented out baby gear.
When we arrived at her house after our flight, there was a pack-and-play crib, a highchair, my son's favorite toys, and even a rocking chair I could rock him to sleep in. I felt so much more relaxed knowing I'd be using the same type of products I had at home.
At that time, the company was called Babierge, and its founder, Kerri Couillard, who delivered the equipment to my mother-in-law, said they were looking to expand to Los Angeles, where I live. After my positive experience with the company, I became a provider myself. Now I make an average of $5,000 a month renting out baby gear to traveling families. Here's how I got started.
It had always been a dream of mine to run my own business
After leaving university, I started working in education and then for a tech firm, but after giving birth and spending five months as a stay-at-home mom, I knew I didn't want to work in an office anymore. Babierge, which was just starting to branch out, had created a platform like Airbnb, but instead of showcasing houses, it showcased baby gear.
Couillard told me she'd just brought on the cofounder of Match.com, Fran Maier, so I could see the company was thinking big. I signed up to be a provider while I was still in Santa Fe and became the fifth person to join their BabyQuip Mastermind Facebook group, which now has more than 1,000 "Quality Providers," what sellers on the platform are called. Maier took over the company in 2016, and it rebranded as BabyQuip, with Couillard as an advisor.
My husband and I were living on one wage, so I didn't have a lot of capital to invest in a new business. However, as I already had baby gear at home, that became my inventory, and I was able to start renting out equipment straightaway. There was a $200 fee to register, which included my store page on the BabyQuip website, an email address, and training materials, such as information on what items to buy if you don't have them, how much to charge, and how to clean equipment. I also tried to plug any gaps in my business knowledge by taking a few small-business courses, including a course on finance at a local community college.
I helped spread the word about my new business by sending postcards to hotels, contacting luxury-vacation companies, and taking out Google ads. When I started, Google ads offered discount codes for small businesses. I paid between $100 and $300 a month for ads, depending on how busy I was. If I was busy, I wouldn't run as many ads. From there, my business just steamrolled.
I now travel up to 60 miles across LA to deliver items to hotels, airports, and sometimes beautiful properties right on the ocean
I get up at 5:30 a.m., so I'll do a few deliveries before my sons — who are now seven and five — wake up. As I live in Los Angeles, which is a year-round travel destination, we don't have an off season. I may drive to the airport to give a car seat to someone arriving from Australia, Japan, or India, or take strollers and highchairs to the homes of Hollywood A-listers, TV celebrities, and rock stars because they have visitors. While some wealthy people will ask for luxury items, I find that celebrities typically just ask for a regular crib.
I usually do the deliveries on my own, but if they've ordered too many items to squeeze into my SUV, my husband or a delivery driver whom I work with will help out. Sometimes, the kids or my husband will join me, and we'll turn the deliveries into a day trip. We'll go to a restaurant or park we've never been to and discover more of our city.
At the end of each day, I reconfirm orders with the customers by text or phone, so they can add something on to their order if they need to. Then I give the kids dinner and get them ready for bed. This job has given me so much flexibility.
My first customer rented 2 convertible car seats, and now I have more than 65 items that I store in my garage
I haven't had any breakages — just general wear and tear. I replace strollers the most, as they get more of a beating with people taking them hiking or to the beach. I always keep my eye out for baby sales online, or I'll use a discount code for a store. I buy everything new, so it comes with a guarantee.
My average booking is $150 to $180 per time, which includes a crib and another large item plus delivery. Sometimes, people will order up to 15 items. BabyQuip pays me within three days of a customer placing the order, and I keep 78% of each rental booking.
After years of answering emails from new BabyQuip Quality Providers and running classes, in July 2020, I joined the BabyQuip corporate office
I now manage the BabyQuip Quality Providers. I earn a salary, but I still wanted to keep my BabyQuip business because I love it so much. The customers are so appreciative. You can really tell that you've made a difference in their vacation.
I've done more than 1,500 orders since 2016. When I say BabyQuip was life-changing for me, I really mean it. My husband and I just purchased our first home, which was in part due to BabyQuip. We're looking forward to renovating our new house with my BabyQuip rental income.
This story was originally published in October 2022.