Our primary stroller is an UPPAbaby Vista, but one of the things I dislike about it is how expensive it was (which causes me to be somewhat insane about keeping it in good condition so I can re-sell it later). That made me decide not to take it with us on trips that involved air travel. So last year, I set out on a quest to buy an umbrella stroller for our upcoming trips to Edmonton, Montreal, and Costa Rica with our baby.
Of course, my original criteria were simple: cheap and transports baby. But the more I looked into it, the more I realized that an inexpensive umbrella stroller wasn’t going to cut it. We were travelling to a sun destination, so a canopy became a must-have. We were travelling in general, so a basket was a nice-to-have so that we didn’t have to tote all of baby’s stuff on our backs. And we were travelling to places where we’d be taking buses, the subway, and walking on cobblestones and beaches, so the wheels had to be half decent. My growing list of criteria was becoming increasingly expensive, and looking like it would be at least $100 to buy something suitable. And I literally did not want to spend any more on strollers having already bought the versatile Vista, and having had to replace that stroller when it was stolen from our trunk. Enough spending on strollers, already!
So I did what I always do when feeling frugal and checked out second-hand sources. My searches at Value Village weren’t fruitful, and my trips to Once Upon a Child left me feeling like I shouldn’t be paying that much for a second hand stroller. All the while, I kept an eye on Kijiji, monitoring for higher end umbrella strollers like UPPAbaby and Maclaren. I was psyched when a 2012 UPPAbaby G-Luxe came up in Brantford, about a 1/2 hour drive from us. It was listed for $80, a significant discount from it’s $339 pricetag brand new. We went and checked it out and although the seat was clean, the white sides were dirty and there was a little bit of rust on some of the nuts and bolts– so I offered $60, which was gladly accepted by the seller. So there I was with an umbrella stroller that had a huge sun canopy, a little storage basket, and that I wouldn’t feel bad about if it got damaged during our travels.
Perfect! I took it home, took the fabric completely off the frame, and scrubbed it with a kitchen sponge and dish soap. All of the black marks came off the fabric and I had it looking next to new! If I’d had my Buggy Love Organic Stroller Cleaning Kit at the time, I probably could have gotten it even cleaner. But for $60, I was pumped. That stroller went with us on baby’s first flight, to Edmonton, and I used it every day, in malls, on the streets, and on and off buses. The little basket was the perfect size for my wallet, baby’s diaper changing kit, and his lunch bag with his milk and snacks. What more does a travelling baby need?
York Region’s Curbside Giveaway days. My husband, with his eagle eyes, spotted some baby stuff on a curb in a high-end subdivision. We pulled over and found out we had hit the jackpot. There was a Little Tikes Activity Garden (yes, it was missing a few pieces, but baby didn’t know, nor did he care), an Evenflo Jam Session Exersaucer (perfect, now we had one for upstairs and one for downstairs– hurrah for baby-containment devices!), a Mothercare umbrella stroller (from the UK), anddddddd a barely used UPPAbaby G-Luxe (are you kidding me?!)!
We were incredibly lucky with our curbside finds (we literally had baby stuff hanging out of all windows and doors of the Mazda 3), and I was able to replace the older G-Luxe that I bought off of Kijiji with a newer one. I ended up re-selling the Kijiji G-Luxe on Kijiji for $80– that’s $20 more than I bought it for. Turns out my elbow grease cleaning it up was worthwhile. So I guess you could say we came out $20 ahead on the whole umbrella stroller quest!
My point being, you too can find a stroller that meets your needs if you’re willing to buy second hand and put in the time, energy and elbow grease! If you’ve been reading for a while you’ve probably noticed I’m extremely motivated by finding a good deal and second-hand goods for baby. Baby uses things for such a short time, it’s often easy to find almost-new items at serious discounts.
I’d love to hear about your favourite curbside or second-hand finds! Also, do you have a favourite umbrella stroller for travelling? Let me know!
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