Buy a woven wrap - new or secondhand?

Question

Buy a woven wrap - new or secondhand?

Two things to know

When considering to buy a woven wrap from new vs used, it's good to know two things:

1. Many woven wraps need 'breaking in'

A woven wrap is best for wrapping if it is nicely soft and flexible. However, far from all woven wraps are soft and flexible right from the start. Most woven wraps require to be used to a greater or lesser extent to become really good for wrapping. You can compare it to a pair of jeans or a pair of leather shoes that need to be used a little to fit just right.

If you are interested in a particular woven wrap, you can look it up on Wraptrack to find out if it is soft from the beginning or if it requires some breaking in. Search for the wrap using the search field and select 'see reviews'.

2. The selection of woven wraps is larger when buying secondhand.

Many woven wraps, especially the more expensive ones, are only in small batches. Also they often sell out quickly. Thus many woven wraps simply can't be found from new. On the other hand on the secondhand market there's wide selection of different wraps.

However, there's a lot of great wraps to buy from new, and when buying from new, you can often expect to chose between different sizes.

Pros and cons

	When buying a woven wrap from new	When buying a woven wrap used
Pros	You might have a right of withdrawal if you change your mind. It's easier to complaint if receiving a flawed wrap. You can usually chose between different sizes.	The previous owner will probably have broken in the wrap for you. You'll usually pay less for your wrap. There's a large selection of brands, patterns and colours.
Cons	You have to break in the wrap yourself. You'll probably pay more for your woven wrap. There's a smaller selection of brands, patterns and colours.	You have no right of withdrawal if you change your mind. The complaint process can be difficult if recieving a wrap with flaws. It can be hard to find the wrap you want in exactly the size you want.

If you want to buy a woven wrap used you can take a look at Wraptracks market.

If you want to buy a woven wrap from new you can take a look at Wraptracks list of babywearing shops.

Accepted Answer

When setting out to buy your first woven wrap, you might want to consider whether to buy your wrap from new or secondhand. We'll here look at the pros and cons for the two options.

N.B.: Please notice that this guide concerns woven wrap. If you want to buy a strechy wrap you can't use this guide. However if you want to buy a ring sling, please read on, as the same goes for ring slings as for woven wraps.