kraft

Sources & Uses: Non-Traditional Outlets for Kid Stuff

Being a parent shopping for children's “necessities” like miniature shopping carts or  doll houses can make one feel a bit like an unwitting tourist falling victim to a rapidly changing foreign exchange market. I mean, come on... does miniature plastic fruit really warrant a $69.95 price tag? I recently purchased a build-it-yourself dollhouse. The dolls and miniature furniture to fill it cost almost as much as our real life-sized dining room set.

I ’ve now been finding it very useful to source child-oriented products from non-traditionally child-themed stores.  The impetus for this was my original qualm with paying $8 for what felt like a notebook's-worth of paper that was so narrow, my daughter and her friends couldn’t avoid drawing and painting on the craft table it was intended to cover... and the quality was akin to that of the roll of tissue-paper masquerading as an impenetrable germ barrier protecting our children's naked bodies on doctors' examination tables.

This is a copy of an email I sent to my play-date posse:

FYI for those of you with easels or craft tables: 

HP 24"x150 print rolls are approx 3xs the paper, wider, better quality and

less expensive (even with taking shipping into consideration) per sqft than the Melissa&Doug or ALEX-like brands out there…and require less frequent roll changes.

See below.

Regards,

Josh

Keep Calm

and

Carry On


Sent wirelessly via BlackBerry

Subject: Your Order with Amazon.com

Thanks for your order, J.Sapienza!

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If you need to check the status of your order or make changes, please visit our home page at Amazon.com and click on Your Account at the top of any page.

Purchasing Information:

Order Grand Total: $50.12

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Order Summary:

Your purchase has been divided into 3 orders.

Order #1 : (order will arrive in 1 shipment)

Order #:

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Shipping Method:

Standard Shipping

Items:  

$14.25

Shipping & Handling:  

$9.12

------

Total Before Tax:  

$23.37

Estimated Tax To Be Collected:*  

$0.00

------

Order Total:  

$23.37

1

"HP Bright White Inkjet Paper (24 Inches x 150 Feet Roll)"
Office Product; $14.25
In Stock
   Sold by: Amazon.com

Order #2 : Shoplet

Order #:

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Shipping Method:

Standard

Items:  

$11.72

Shipping & Handling:  

$5.29

------

Total Before Tax:  

$17.01

Estimated Tax To Be Collected:*  

$0.00

------

Order Total:  

$17.01

1

"HP Universal Bond Paper (24 Inches x 150 Feet Roll)"
Office Product; $11.72
In Stock
   Sold by: Shoplet

Order #3 : Essex Technology Group

Order #:

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Shipping Method:

Standard

Items:  

$9.74

Shipping & Handling:  

$0.00

------

Total Before Tax:  

$9.74

Estimated Tax To Be Collected:*  

$0.00

------

Order Total:  

$9.74

1

"HP Recycled Bond Paper, 24 Inches x 150 ft Roll (CG889A)"
Office Product; $9.74
In Stock
Sold by: Essex Technology Group