TAMPA, Fla. — With Christmas rapidly approaching, if you're still searching for that hot toy on your kids' wish list, we may know where you can find it. You just may pay a little more for it.
Fallon De Vour is a full-time mom, but she's also a regular on the buy, sell and trade Facebook pages.
"The only colors we weren't able to find were the pink and the black one," said De Vour, who is selling one of the hottest toys this year - Fingerlings. She picked up a handful of them in Okeechobee. "No parent wants to hear the D word. Disappointed," she said.
She says this is making it hassle-free for busy parents who don't have the time to run from store to store. The trade-off is an upcharge. She's listing this $15 toy for $30.
"What I ask for them is pretty much what you’re going to pay for your gas, your time and all of the effort you put into getting it yourself," said De Vour. "It’s like you pay people to do your grocery shopping, you pay for them to deliver it, how about paying an extra couple of dollars for me to meet you halfway and get you what your child wanted for Christmas."
"I think it's a smart way to shop," said Diana Anioce-Andre, a writer for Tampa Bay Mom's Blog. She says the buy, sell, and trade trend is giving parents way more options.
Let's say you got a Fingerling, but it wasn't the color you wanted - maybe your kid wanted it in pink, you can go onto one of these Facebook sites and see if someone is willing to trade it evenly for the other color. De Vour says often times people are, and she has taken many trades.
She's also donating a few of them to Shriners Hospital for Children, as well as the Salvation Army Angel Tree. She says as a child, she was sick and in and out of hospitals and understands the challenges that come from hefty bills.
"Their parents don’t have the ability to get them what they need especially if they’re spending a lot of time in the hospital."
Anioce-Andre says if parents really want to get ahead of the gift-giving game, pay close attention to movies that are doing well in the box office, often times themed toys come later. Plus anything that's heavily advertised on TV, social media or in stores is grabbing your kids attention which means you should be listening to what kids are talking about in school.
"One kid has something and they bring it out, FOMO, fear of missing out is real for everyone so you have kids want what other kids have," said Anioce-Andre.
She says skip the chaos, buy the toy early, wrap it up and hide it until Christmas.
