I have been asked to take a look at the BabySock and give my opinions (I’m pretty good at that!).
I have been paid a small fee to do this, however, it’s the kind of site/product/business I like to champion. Why?
I’m fascinated by Mums, who, through the journey of motherhood come up with products and ideas that help other mums, or help them to support their family and still spend lots of quality time with the kiddies (somethingelse I champion!).
A bit from the about page;
“After moving to the Seattle area with her 6 month old, Robyn found that she wanted to go for walks anytime the rain would clear. The only problem was that her daughter would kick off her blanket. The blanket would get wet, dirty, or stuck in the wheel of the stroller. She started looking for a product that wouldn’t come off her baby. After several months, she realized that despite her lack of sewing skills, she would have to make her own. A few modifications and another baby later, BabySockâ„¢ was born in 2004. Robyn will proudly tell you that each BabySockâ„¢ is now made by professionals in the Pacific Northwest.”
Wonderful, how about a little picture Robyn? With such a personal story it helps other mums and dads relate to you on a parent to parent level.
A great little story, and as much as I love the ‘mumpreneur thing’ the product needs to be good too. There is no doubting the BabySock is a simple idea borne from a simple problem, we have a similar idea with a slightly different design here in the UK and it seems to do quite well. The price is nice too, at $29.99 it translates quite well in British pounds, although I’m not sure if that has a lot to do with the exchange rate?
Overall, a nice product that has it’s place in the market, however a few tweaks to the website would be good, as I mentioned a photo, and a larger variety of styles of BabySock perhaps with some funky patterns? could really take the product and brand from good to great (from a shopper’s perspective!). Part of the appeal of the BabySock needs to be the brand and I think some funkier designs could tip me over the edge into a purchase.
What does everyonelse think?
9 Responses to “BabySock”
It’s a pair of trousers with feet in isn’t it? Now why oh why did I never think of that when I had a small wriggly creature that refused to stay warmly tucked in (rolls eyes) Looks a fab idea, I guess if you were on a tight budget you could grab some fleecy toddler sized PJs out of the charity shop and use those for a similar effect.
Love the new look, very clean and sharp looking. I suppose you noticed the soon-to-be-announced Problogger group writing project in two days? I have you to thank for tipping me off on the last one. I still get tons of Google searches for the post I did for that one. And I have you to thank
Do they work out quite expensive to you t-bird?
Michelle - Haven’t seen it yet, I was thinking we must be due another!
Well, $30 (so lets say £15-£20 depending on exchange rate) for an item that probably uses less than a meter of fleece that would cost me about £4 per meter off the market (and fabric is expensive in the UK) Yes, that’s expensive BUT you are also paying for some kind soul to cut out the fabric and sew it up all nice and neatly for you so I suppose it depends on how you are looking at it. Our family income is £15k so I’ve always been a bit of a charity shopper for things I either can’t make myself or can’t be bothered making for myself, I suppose I look at things differently than I would if I had more to enjoy spending.
Thanks t-bird we are practically IM’ing here! Our family income is pretty low too but I quite like the £15 price tag (the other UK based product I was thinking of is definitely more expensive) however, that may well be because the thought of sewing etc doesn’t appeal to me in the slightest - I’d ask my nan to do it.
I think this is where the brand thing comes in, the product needs to appeal on more than just a functional level. Do you agree?
conversation via blog - it’s certainly different! (or not, now I think about it, I seem to do a lot of it round the Early Years Blog ring!)
I agree, a product has to do more than just be functional. If those “socks” were boring black or murky brown you wouldn’t give them a second glance. But they are lovely colours and are practical in a sort of “now why did I not think of that” way. Much better than messing about with threading straps through holes taht are never quite in the right places on “buggy snuglers” and saves disturbing a sleeping child when you transfer them from pram to car etc.
Let’s face it, we all go out and buy things that our great grandmothers made by hand (towels, curtains, sheets as well as clothing) and I don’t think this is any different for most people, just that I have a “Prairie Muffin” streak in me and make a lot of stuff so I look at things differnetly. The exchange rate makes them more appealing too, and if they were marked up as *BABY CLOTHING* there should be no import duty so it comes down to how much postage is to hte UK and if you can bear to wait 6 weeks for it to arrive surface mail!
Early Years Blog Ring?!? Tell me more…
if you go to my blog and look down the side bar there’s a box with the blog ring links in it. There’s about 40 blogs assuming no-one is hibernating but some are passworded
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