Here is my honest Whirli review as a paying customer. Thinking of using Whirli’s toy subscription service? Then read on!
I first discovered Whirli when another mum mentioned it to me over coffee. I hadn’t heard of it before, but was interested in finding out more.
My husband and I have spent the past few years paying off a lot of debt. We’ve had a small, inexpensive wedding, ensuring our debt is a thing of the past. Since then, we’ve become interested in minimal living, and having a tidy home helped me to feel relaxed. I am well and truly living a simple life, free of clutter and the stress that comes with it.
So when I got pregnant, we started to accrue tons of stuff for the baby. Our house slowly started to get cluttered with toys- a bouncy chair here, a walker there. We started to run out of places for everything, and baby’s things became unmanageable.
On top of that, everything baby-related costs money. £50 here, £80 there. And when baby outgrows it, that money is gone forever. Unless you want to sell everything on Gumtree, eBay or Amazon. However, for any tired parent, this feels like a lot of hassle.
So when I heard about Whirli– a website where you can rent toys and send them back when you’re done- I went straight online to see what it was about.
Since then, I’ve tried and tested the service, and here is my honest Whirli review.
Think of Whirli as a UK online toy library.
Subscribers purchase credits that they can then redeem for toys. Credits are worth about £1 each. So if you have 120 credits, then you can redeem these for £120 worth of toys.
Whirli sends the toys to you, and you can rent them for as long as you like (after 8 months, they are yours to keep). When your child wants to swap the toys they have for new ones, you send back the toys, Whirli credits your account with the value of your credits. Then, you can start renting more toys again.
How does renting Whirli toys by post work?
Subscribers of Whirli pay for postage, which works out at around £8 for delivery and return of the items. Whirli send them everything they need to pack the items and return them, which makes the process really simple.
Are the toys clean and in good condition?
Everything I ordered arrived in excellent condition, with only minor wear and tear on one item. (This was a wooden play box, which my baby loves to bash about, so I can definitely see why it’s been slightly scraped!)
That being said, the item is barely marked, and if I had bought it new, it would have been in a similar condition within days of play. In fact, I appreciated a little wear and tear, as it didn’t make me anxious that we would scuff something!
In general, the box of toys that arrived were great, right down to the little cute drawstring bag they were stored in. It’s easy to tell that Whirli take really good care of their items.
With Covid19, ensuring the items were clean was the top of my agenda. Whirli’s website advises that all toys are sanitised before they are sent out. This was evident when we received our box of toys.
Will renting toys via Whirli save money?
I read a ton of Whirli review posts before subscribing. The three things that cropped up time and time again were:
- How excited kids were when their Whirli boxes arrived in the post
- That it taught kids about sustainable living
- How much money people saved by renting!
With my Whirli subscription, I am planning to rent new items right before Christmas this year. This means that I can gift my child the items, and when he has grown out of them, we will exchange them for someone else. The cost of Christmas is covered, with the guarantee of more toys further on down the line when we are finished with the ones we have. This will save us a small fortune over 2021.
Would a Whirli subscription make a good gift?
As a new mum, I beg you to give the gift of Whirli!
Before discovering Whirli, I spent a lot of money buying sensory items, books, educational toys, a swing and a full activity centre for my baby. I’m a first time mum and as such, I was bombarded with recommendations that will help with baby’s development, tantrums etc. It’s easy to spend a small fortune and accrue lots of things that baby grows out of quickly, or that don’t work for us personally.
Had I known about Whirli sooner, I would’ve been able to rent what I needed, and send it back when we were done. To date, it would have saved me around £400 by having a Whirli subscription, than buying what I have.
So if you’re thinking of gifting someone a Whirli subscription, do it! Every mum I’ve told about Whirli is interested, because the clutter is real, folks.
Would I recommend renting toys with Whirli?
100% yes! I love everything about Whirli. From the impact renting toys will have on the environment, to saving money, Whirli is fantastic. If you are thinking of subscribing, do it.
This Whirli review is giving it a massive thumbs up!
Is there a Whirli discount code I can use?
Using my refer-a-friend code TSVRQJD0 you can get £5 or 15% off your first payment, whichever is greater (I also get £20 off my subscription if you use this code, so thank you very much if you do). You can use this code when you register here.
I signed up using a discount code and am now happy to continue paying full price for Whirli. Having tried and tested the service, I can highly recommend it. Not just for playtime, but for teaching kids the value of money and the impact that we can have on the environment when we re-use and recycle! Whirli is a wonderful idea and I hope this blog post helped you decide it it’s the right service for you.
Let me know in the comments below if you use Whirli, are thinking of subscribing, or if you have any questions!
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