Feedback Wanted - Toy Subscription Idea

[kenbot]

Hi All,

I am an impending first time father, and toy designer by trade, and I would really appreciate some all important honest feedback on a business idea I have had to establish if there would be a demand before going any further with it.

In a nutshell:

The idea is still fresh and needs detailing, but I am interested to know if there would be a demand for a service that would provide developmentally appropriate toys without you having to worry about finding what is right for your child, through an online toy subscription service that would automatically send you an age appropriate toy at regular intervals as your baby grows between 0 - 18mths.

Thanks in advance, and I appreciate any feedback :)

Its a nice idea but I don't think its something I'd use personally. They get so much for birthdays and christmas I barely spend anything else on toys throughout the year unless my 5 year old specifically asks for something when we're out and about.

That said, I do have some relatives (particularly older ones) who predictably call before hand as they "are really struggling for ideas". With my 5 year old its pretty easy because she can tell me, I do struggle to come up with ideas for my 1 year old though.

Now if you could find a way to market yourself as the company who can solve this, then I think you might be on to something. For example a toy is sent out early dec and then the month of their birthday, so a bi-yearly service which caters to their age as they grow, which could be bought by the grandparent/ aunt or uncle and then sent out to the child.

Or, you could market the buisness in a way so that when x relative calls and I can't think of any ideas I can say "well why don't you get them a kenbot subscription?".

So to sum up, I don't think its something I'd buy personally for my kids (because I don't really buy many toys) but it does sound like it would be a good gift idea. Hope that helped.

Thanks @Hamiltoes, can I ask how important it is to you either when you do buy a toy or are gifted a toy that it supports the developmental needs of your child or are there other factors you are interested in e.g. look & feel, materials, quality etc? Thanks again

If I was more busy I would use this. Fortunately I'm lucky enough to be able to spend the majority of time at home with my son so we go out a lot to toy shops and he will choose toys, also have time to browse the web for toys. For me it's paramount that they are age appropriate. I still have all of this toys from when he was a tiny baby and it's all stuff he wouldn't think about playing with now as it would be "boring" to him. I'm able to research and find toys that his age group enjoys though as I have the time.

I think your product could be useful to new and busy mums. New mums are less likely to know what toys to get for their age group. Mums that are second third times etc have experience and often left over toys to use. Busy mums I think would also use this to save time searching around.

I tend to buy toys but I know a lot of people just rely on birthday and Christmas for that like the above lady said. But my boys birthday is a few days before Christmas, so these toys can not last the whole year as he would grow out of them fast.

I would say go ahead and trial the idea. Try to get some sponsors and samples to put with the product which will earn you some extra revenue.

It's already pretty easy to go to a shop and buy toys. I just don't see the point of it. How would you know what is right for a child more than the parent looking after it?

Sorry to bother you all.

I am still working on the toy subscription idea I started thinking of back in January. I have a co-founder on board now which is great, and I wanted to come back here to ask for your help in completing a very short 10 question idea feedback survey. This will help decide the direction the business takes, so the more responses we can get the better :)

Just click here to take the survey

Thank you!

Toys are bought for bithdays and Christmas, or given by others as gifts.

Thank you for all the responses to the survey so far, the more the merrier :)

Parents and family enjoy buying toys for their children. Not sure many would want them chosen by someone else.

Firstly, kids develop at different rates so you would need to allow parent a choice of product not just send a random wooden toy.

I think your target market is quite limited if you are going down the trendy handmade wooden toy type route? Kids love the cheap noisy plastic tat and it's affordable.

If going down the toy library route, due to the age groups you are looking at, I think you will need to replace your stock more often than you think. Babies/toddlers make mess that gets into every nook and cranny of toys. Then there will be the teeth marks etc. Second hand toys are great but if you are expecting people to pay x amount per month they won't want them to look second hand.

Good luck.

I just want to say a BIG thank you to everyone that filled in the survey, we are closing in on the magic 100 which was our target for responses before we decide if this idea has legs...

For those that haven't, if you couple spare a moment of your time to complete it, it would be much appreciated :)

Click here for survey

Thanks again!!