Where Does Your Stuff Go? The Companies We Donate To and Why We Love Them

At GoodBuy Gear we get a lot of baby and kid items, from toys to strollers to cribs. But not all of it sells and not all of it can be sold. Not to worry, we still do our best to find a good home for it! A lot of gently used children's gear gets donated, and there's a particular process it goes through. 

For starters, when you sell your stuff through this online consignment shop it goes through a 120-day cycle, from the asking price to a couple discounts and finally, to donation. While we want every item you list with us to sell, sometimes demand is low, the price isn't right or the season is all wrong. Sometimes the piece is too damaged or soiled for us to work with, but that doesn't mean another company won't clean, fix and give it a good home. Whatever the reason, those baby gear products don't go to waste. 

Whether it's donated right away, goes through the site, or you decide to have the proceeds go to charity, each item helps one of our three non-profit foundations. This includes WeeCycle, Children's Hospital and Hope House. All three organizations have a different mission, but each aim to bring stability, necessary items, support, care and funds to parents and kids. WeeCycle was the first charity on the list that Good Buy Gear started working with when the site launched in 2016.

"We reached out to WeeCycle the week we started the company," says co-founder Kristin Langenfeld. "I think we read about their mission and team and were genuinely impressed with them."

This company focuses on matching new and gently used baby gear to low-income families. It does this by taking donations from various groups and organizations, accepting gifts at their drop-off locations and working with volunteers. Good Buy Gear is one of many businesses that work with WeeCycle, and in turn, WeeCycle gets items to partners such as A Precious Child, Mother House, Project Worthmore, Families Forward Resource Center and dozens more. They clean, sanitize and distribute bouncers, toys, strollers, play mats, clothes and anything else a young child might need.

When you sell with Good Buy Gear you can choose to have your profits donated to this charity, or allow us to donate the items we don't take such as gently used clothing, baby bathtubs and new or like-new stuffed animals. Another place both WeeCycle and Good Buy Gear partner with is Hope House, an organization that helps provide stability and education to teen moms.

At Hope House they provide free self-sufficiency programs including help with getting a GED, parenting and healthy relationship seminars, classes on basic life skills, certified counseling, college prep and other activities and workshops all designed to prepare these young mothers for long-term independence. The non-profit also provides housing for teen moms and their kids who are experiencing homelessness or don't have a safe space to live. 

While Good Buy Gear doesn't take physical donations for Hope House, you can choose to have the profits from selling your items sent to this organization. We also have some bright young moms working for us in the Good Buy Gear garage, cleaning, organizing, taking pictures of items, getting your kid gear ready to ship and more. Not every mother looks the same, and we are proud to be part of these young women's lives, whether it's through a check, gently used baby toys or employment.

If you want to donate the profits of your second hand kid gear through Good Buy Gear you just need to go to the "How do you want to be paid?" question and choose from the drop-down menu who you want the money to go to. The proceeds go directly to the non-profit organization in the form of a check. You can also choose not to pick up the items we can't sell, all which goes to WeeCycle.

And if you want to shop to support, we have a whole page of goodies that are sold just to benefit Children's Hospital. Make a difference with your shopping and donating, and in some case you can get a little something for your kids in return.