babyjunkinc

[babyjunkinc]

Family Love is in the Air

What will your family be doing to celebrate the love? Do you have any special Valentine’s traditions with your children? With multiple children, I find that it is often difficult to show each child the individualized attention that everyone craves (and deserves)! 

So, a few years ago, my husband and I created a plan. Each month on the date of our children’s birthdays, they would be treated to a special one-on-one Daddy “date”. We’re talking an outing to the park, a stop at the donut store before school, or a hot chocolate at Starbucks – nothing fancy, and definitely nothing expensive, but something that is extremely meaningful to each of them. 

Just recently I realized how cool this was for “them” – but that I had simply become the “day to day” parent, while my husband enjoyed all the fun adventures (naturally)! So for 2014, we are going to implement “Mommy Dates” on each of the children’s half-birthdays.  For this special date, my husband will teach the boys proper “dating etiquette” – getting dressed up, choosing a restaurant, picking a flower from the backyard, opening my door, the full nine yards! 

I look forward to joining in the fun of these special outings with my children. The chance to sit down with them and reconnect without the distractions of their siblings is going to be invaluable! 

With that said, we want to hear what you will be doing to spread the love of Valentine’s Day!  In the meantime, here are some other fantastic ideas to create quality time with each child from one of my go-to parenting blogs.  Enjoy!

[babyjunkinc]

BabyJunk is Growing!

Happy New Year everyone! 

My name is Megan and I'm thrilled to announce that BabyJunk is growing! We are kicking off 2014 with the addition of 12 new communities in military installations throughout the U.S. Whether you are stationed at Camp Pendleton in San Diego, CA, Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, NC or somewhere in between, BabyJunk has you covered! 

As a military spouse myself, I can not wait to watch these communities grow. I am the spouse of Air National Guard servicemember in California and have four silly boys -- yes, you read that right...four boys! Needless to say, BabyJunk is a GREAT place to come to buy and sell gently used baby items -- and I am so excited that military installations across the U.S. will now benefit from BabyJunk in their community! 

New to the BabyJunk community? Here’s how we work in a nutshell:

Sign up FREE to buy and/or sell gently-used baby clothes, toys, gear, etc.

Refer friends to BabyJunk to receive FREE credits that can be used to buy other items posted on BabyJunk.

For a limited time only, list items on BabyJunk and receive double credits.

BabyJunk just recently launched the following communities:

Camp Pendleton, CA

Ft. Bliss, TX

Ft. Bragg, NC

Ft. Benning, GA

Ft. Hood, TX

Ft. Huachuca, AZ

Ft. Rucker, AL

Holloman AFB, NM

Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst

Hampton Roads, VA

Norfolk, VA

Don't see your installation on BabyJunk yet? Contact me (megan@babyjunk.com) to learn more about how to get your installation started.

Getting started is super simple - we look forward to having you join the BabyJunk community TODAY!

[babyjunkinc]

Tooth Fairy Tales

I have to admit…I don’t do loose teeth.  Loose teeth make my skin crawl.  So, the other night when my second son slipped in the bath tub, hit my oldest son square in the mouth and subsequently knocked out his top TWO teeth – I just about passed out.  Thankfully they were his baby teeth – but it still made for quite a night! 

Needless to say, our tooth fairy will be kept VERY busy in the years ahead keeping up after my four boys!  When my son lost his first tooth, I was at a loss.  What is the going rate for tooth fairies these days?  Are there any other “special” things that I should be doing when he loses teeth?  So what did I do? I did what every other 21st century parent does and went online.  Not surprisingly, I found an abundance of resources to help us navigate this new chapter for our family. 

First things first, we created a name for our tooth fairy using the Tooth Fairy Name Generator.  Drum roll please…our tooth fairy is named Chanter Goldshimmer!  Now…to determine the “going rate”.  After asking many of my friends, it became very clear that tooth fairies wages vary considerably!  So, here is what we came up with.  For the first tooth, Chanter Goldshimmer came and left a special note (the size of a postage stamp...I simply type up a quick note and minimize the font to size 3 or 4) and a $2 bill.  For all the rest of their baby teeth, our boys will receive a note and a dollar coin.  (That is, of course, until he loses two teeth in one fell swoop…in which case Chanter was feeling generous and he got a whopping $5 bill!)

Though the act of losing teeth isn’t my favorite part of parenting, I must admit, it is fun creating tooth fairy memories with our children.  Do you have any fun tooth fairy traditions?  Post about them here – we want to hear them! 

[babyjunkinc]

The Holidays - What Truly Matters

With Santa’s arrival just days away (track his progress here), I find myself scrambling to get everything done.  Plan and shop for the Christmas Eve dinner…check.  Buy all the presents….check (until, that is, I realize I have forgotten one whole side of my family)…uncheck.  Wrap all the presents…check.  Oh, and now that school is out, entertain the kids…check. 

The list seems endless, yet when I step back and really think back to the memories that I have as a child, I don’t remember the specific details that currently add so much stress to my day, rather, I remember the traditions that I shared with my parents, siblings and extended family over the years.  I loved opening pj’s on Christmas Eve so that we could all wake up in our brand new pj’s on Christmas morning.  I loved that my Dad always made us homemade hot chocolate on Christmas Eve.  And I  loved that my parents always put an orange at the bottom of my stocking. 

Regardless of what your week has in store for you, remember to worry less about the specifics and more about making memories.  Christmas is truly a magical time of year.  Embrace the chaos, allow imperfection and know that 20 years from now, your children will have nothing but wonderful memories of your own family’s holiday traditions.

[babyjunkinc]

Look out Riverside - here we come!

BabyJunk, the easiest way to buy and sell used kids stuff, is expanding again. We're always looking for new communities to focus on as we build and grow BabyJunk. This time, we've set our sites on the historic community of Riverside, California.

With over 300,000 residents and 71% of households consisting of families, the city's diverse and growing population is perfect for the newest BabyJunk Community. 

Parents should visit http://babyjunk.com to browse local items for sale and list their gently used items for others to buy. It's a fun way to earn money, save money, and keep stuff out of our landfills.

As incentive to share BabyJunk with your Riverside friends and family, we're offering FREE BabyJunk credits for the following:

$1 for every friend you invite that joins BabyJunk.com.

$2 for every friend you invite that follows the Riverside, CA Community (click the star).

$2 for every friend's first purchase.

$2 for your first item listed.

$2 for every friend's first item listed.

We invite you to join us as we build another amazing BabyJunk community. Visit http://babyjunk.com to get started.

[babyjunkinc]

Summer Kickoff Contest

The official start of summer is just a few weeks away—and we're celebrating by having a Summer Kickoff Contest!

We'll be giving away a $25 Target Gift Card and $5 BabyJunk Site Credits daily for the next 7 days.

There's 3 ways to enter - do all 3 to increase your odds of winning (full details here):

1. "Like" the BabyJunk Facebook page

2. Invite your friends to join the BabyJunk community

3. Post items for sale on BabyJunk

Some of our best sellers are Jogging Strollers, Shoes, and Cute Clothes—but you can upload any gently used baby and children's stuff.

So, Like, Invite and Post your stuff for sale, and stay tuned—we'll announce the daily winners on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.

Good luck!

[babyjunkinc]

Customize Your View

You spoke. We listened. Many of you expressed interest in viewing BabyJunk items in alternate layouts on your mobile phone. So we built 2 new layouts - thumbnail and list view - to go with the existing format.

To switch between views, simply tap the gray icons at the top of the feed. Grab your phone and give it a try. Enjoy!

[babyjunkinc]

Open Everywhere

When BabyJunk first opened its doors, it was only available in Temecula, California. After three months of building,testing, and growing  we are very excited to announce that BabyJunk is now available - everywhere. 

And by everywhere we mean everywhere. At the time of writing, over 200 new communities have been created in the United States and around the world. Germany, Moscow, China, Canada, London, India, Australia, Egypt, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Brazil all have brand new BabyJunk communities.

Head over to http://BabyJunk.com to start building your community today.

[babyjunkinc]

New Mobile Navigation!

We're all about making your life a little easier. Today we're happy to announce a brand new way to navigate BabyJunk on your mobile phone.

The all new slide-out navigation houses everything you need from Search to Messages and Home to Help Center. Simply tap the purple button in the upper left to open (tap again to close). 

Try it out! Go to http://babyjunk.com on your mobile phone.

Cheers!

[babyjunkinc]

Share, Like, Locate, and Explore…

We've been hard at work making BabyJunk even better! Today we unveil a few new features to help you Share, Like, Locate, and Explore new items.

Share Share great stuff with your Facebook friends, groups, and email contacts. Also post on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.

Like Even if you’re not interested in buying today, you can still “Like” cute things or friends’ items.

Locate Now you can identify right away where an item can be picked up.

Explore Find the best item at the best price. Our new Explore area lets you compare similar items via tags and thumbnails.

Visit http://babyjunk.com and see how they work!

[babyjunkinc]

Flexible Payments

We want buying on BabyJunk to be as easy as possible - that's why were happy to announce Flexible Payment Options.

With today's update you can now pay with existing BabyJunk Credits, cash, or with your credit or debit card. 

BabyJunk credits are earned when you sell something on BabyJunk. Your available balance can be viewed at the top of the page (by your photo) or in your Account Center.

If you choose to pay with cash, please make it easy on everyone and have exact change ready when you meet to pick up your item. 

Of course you can still make a secure online payment with your MasterCard, Visa, American Express, or Discover credit or debit card.

Happy Shopping!

[babyjunkinc]

New Look!

Yesterday we updated the look of the item cards on the homepage of BabyJunk.com. Here's a few things you'll notice:

We moved the description above the image and price below, so you can see more of the photo.

The new layout allows you to view more items at one time.

See the Seller's name when you hover.

Now you can Ask a question and Buy directly when you hover.

In addition to these features, we've increased the overall loading time and viewing speed.

Enjoy!

[babyjunkinc]

Shoes, Boots, Sandals and More…

Because we all need more shoes… Shop for shoes on BabyJunk.

[babyjunkinc]

Launch Giveaway

BabyJunk.com is live and growing in the Temecula Valley. To say "Hello" to all our BabyJunk parents we are super excited to announce the BabyJunk Launch Week-long Giveaway Contest.

We'll be giving away a $25 Target Gift Card every day for the next six days. On the seventh day, we'll select a winner for our grand prize - 1 Legoland Family Pass!

Here's a quick overview of how to enter (full contest details):

First, "Like" the BabyJunk Facebook page

Second, become a registered user on BabyJunk.com

and daily do at least one of the following Actions:

Invite and have at least 1 friend join BabyJunk

List an item for sale on BabyJunk.com

Purchase an item on BabyJunk.com

To qualify for the Grand Prize you must accumulate a minimum of 10 actions during the contest.

So, invite all your friends, list your stuff for sale, and maybe buy a few things while you're at it :) Stay tuned, we'll announce the daily winners on our Facebook page, Twitter, and Go <1st, 1Good luck!

[babyjunkinc]

Now Open

We’re excited to announce that we are now live in the Temecula Valley. Local parents can visit http://babyjunk.com, Register with their Facebook account, and Request an invitation from friends already on BabyJunk. You’ll get a Facebook notification as soon as your friend approves your request. If you visit and your friends aren’t on BabyJunk yet, you can be the first! Just request an invite directly from the BabyJunk Team. To learn more about the BabyJunk community, how to buy or sell items, or if you’d like to share some suggestions or feedback, please visit http://help.babyjunk.com.

[babyjunkinc]

Giving Back

At BabyJunk we're working hard to build a simple, convenient way for parents to buy and sell used kids items. We love the idea that we're helping families make and save money, that we're keeping products and purchases local, and keeping those same products out of landfills.

In addition to helping local families with BabyJunk, we want to help our community through BabyJunk. Whether it's single mothers, homeless families, or children with illness or disabilities - we want to help. To accomplish this, we'll be partnering with organizations that are truly helping those in need right in our own neighborhoods with our Round up for Change program.

We honored to announce our first partner - The Sheepfold. Since 1979 The Sheepfold has been providing safe refuge to homeless, abused, and forsaken women and children. They provide clothing, food, childcare, and assistance in finding housing and employment. Most important they help to establish self-worth and hope for the future.

As part of our Round up for Change program a portion of BabyJunk sales will go directly to The Sheepfold to impact the lives of families and children in our communities.

[babyjunkinc]

The BabyJunk team is excited to announce our acceptance into the Temecula Valley Entrepreneur Exchange. We've moved in, setup, and are sprinting toward launch. #fullspeedahead