More than 11 million tons of textiles end up in U.S. landfills each year. Much of that waste comes from baby clothes and gear, items often used only a handful of times before a baby outgrows them. At the same time, parents now spend nearly $30,000 a year raising a child, a cost that’s only rising.
We saw an opportunity to ease both problems with one simple change: a registry feature that makes it easy for families to request gently used items.
In December 2024, Babylist launched “Open to Secondhand”, a first-of-its-kind registry feature that lets parents mark individual items they’re open to receiving pre-loved. Instead of quietly asking a few friends or family members, parents could now signal directly in their Babylist registry which items they are open to receiving secondhand.
The goal was simple but ambitious:
The idea didn’t come from a boardroom brainstorm; it came directly from families. Expecting parents were already writing “open to gently used” in registry notes, and in a Babylist newsletter poll, 67% of expecting parents said buying secondhand or accepting hand-me-downs was their primary strategy for saving on baby gear.
We designed, tested, and launched “Open to Secondhand” across our universal registry platform, allowing parents to easily mark any item, from a stroller to a baby carrier, as secondhand-friendly.
But the work didn’t stop there. We had to make sure people knew about the new feature and felt excited to use it in a culture where “used gifts” aren’t common. To do this, we launched a multi-platform campaign that combined product education, storytelling, and advocacy:
We reframed secondhand gifting not as a compromise, but as a thoughtful, sustainable choice - rooted in care for families and the environment. Most importantly, it brought families closer to their support systems by passing loved items from one baby to the next.
By turning secondhand into a celebrated choice rather than a quiet workaround, Babylist became an industry leader in sustainable gifting. The feature exceeded our objectives: reducing costs for families, decreasing environmental impact, and creating deeper connections between growing families and their support system.
The impact by the numbers:
Campaign performance:
Community response:
For Babylist, success isn’t just about registry growth, it’s about building tools that reflect the real lives of modern parents. “Open to Secondhand” is proof that when we listen to our community, innovation follows.
