Babonbo – Europe’s first baby equipment rental marketplace

When and why was Babonbo created?

Babonbo was founded in 2018 by Duygu Sefa. As a mother of two, Duygu realized that travelling with little kids and carrying all the bulky baby gear needed causes stress and hassle to parents, and she thought there must be an easier way than carrying all the baby gear necessary while travelling with kids. So, with a full understanding of what travelling families might be struggling with, in 2019 Babonbo baby gear rental marketplace was launched.

How does Babonbo differentiate itself from other baby rental sites?

Babonbo is a parent-to-parent marketplace that provides rental baby gear to travelling families while supporting local parents to earn extra by renting out their baby equipment. Most of our providers are parents and understand the priorities of travelling families. We are in more than 300+ locations, mainly in Europe, and have more than 10+ baby gear options. In addition, Babonbo’s 24/7 available support team is ready to help whenever and wherever our providers and customers need help.

Can you explain briefly how it works?

Renting baby gear from Babonbo is easy. Parents just need to follow three simple steps: pick, receive and return. After picking the travel destination, dates and baby equipment needed our providers to deliver rented baby gear to airports, hotels, or famous landmarks along the way. Parents can also pick up the rented baby from the provider’s location.

It is also easy for local parents to rent out their baby equipment to travelling families. They just need to create their store on the platform and add products they want to rent. Then, after speaking with the provider, explaining our rules, and ensuring they’re ready to become Babonbo providers, we publish their stores. So they can start earning while contributing to a sustainable economy and helping travelling families.

What kind of items can people rent, and what has proved to be the most popular?

At Babonbo, travelling families can rent strollers, cribs, car seats, toys and books, consumables and more to make themselves feel safe and comfortable. We’re expanding our product range depending on the needs of travelling families and trying to make their travels as homelike as possible.

The top three most rented items are strollers, car seats and cribs or cots. One of the essential points of travelling with babies and toddlers is maintaining their routines to prevent them from feeling stressed or uncomfortable. Therefore, these top three items are the number one requirement to provide little ones with homelike comfort and safe.

How far in advance do people need to book?

We don’t have any rules regarding how far parents need to book in advance. However, to prevent last-minute hassle, during high seasons, we recommend parents rent as soon as their travel dates are confirmed. As there is intense demand during high seasons, they may have problems finding the baby equipment they’re looking for at their destination.

What is your refund policy?

We’re offering full refunds (except for the Babonbo fee) only 48 hours before the rental period starts. We understand that unexpected circumstances can arise, and we want to accommodate our customers as much as possible. However, our providers rely on rental income to maintain and replace their baby gear inventory and a last-minute cancellation can result in loss of income for them. So, our refund policy is available until 48 hours before the rental period starts.

How can parents be sure that your items meet safety standards?

At Babonbo, we don’t let our providers publish their stores and products immediately. Instead, we have an approval process where we examine the baby equipment and ensure they’re high-quality and meet our safety standards. Also, we keep in touch with our providers and regularly check their stores and products. As a result, customers can only see stores we approved that meet our standards and are safe to use. In addition, we care about the comments from our customers. In line with these comments, we take immediate action and ensure hygiene continuity.

Do you offer help in installing and setting up the equipment?

Babonbo providers are responsible for ensuring our customers fully understand how to use the rented baby gear. Additionally, we have several articles on our website explaining the installation of selected baby gear and our customer support is available 24/7 to help parents who need it.

Which cities do you currently operate in and do you have plans to expand?

We’re currently available in more than 300+ locations from Europe to the U.S. We’re constantly working on finding new providers in different locations and we aim to have at least one provider in each location worldwide. Also, if a family needs baby gear in a location where we’re not available yet, we recommend they contact us so that we can try to find a solution for them.

Where do you source your rental items from?

Our rental items are sourced from our providers, who are local parents or small business owners who want to earn extra money by renting out their well-conditioned or unused baby gear.

You also collaborate with parents who want to rent out their equipment, how does that work?

At Babonbo, we offer local parents an opportunity to boost their monthly income. Parents with unused or well-conditioned baby gear can rent their equipment to travelling families on our platform and earn up to €1,500 or more each month. First, they need to create their store and add the products available to rent. Then, after we approve and launch their store, they can start receiving orders!

What do you love most about what you do?

The best part of our job is to see happy families. In each order, we have the chance to witness the happiness of two families, the one we contribute to have a safe and comfortable travel and the one we provide with the chance of earning extra. It is excellent to work with a group of people who can understand and contribute to each other’s travelling and also parenting journey!