Featured Startup Pitch: The Baby Burp is a marketplace for independent baby- and mom-focused retailers that features an integrated gift registry

By Amy Lingawi, The Baby Burp founder and CEO

ELEVATOR PITCH

The Baby Burp is an online marketplace of everything baby, toddler and mommy. It is unlike any other baby-related marketplaces that are found on the web that focus on used or gently-used baby items. The Baby Burp has new, handmade, custom and innovative products.

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

The Baby Burp is a marketplace website, so all products are from sellers who consist of mostly moms and small businesses. The products range from handmade hair bows to new products on the verge of retail stardom. Since all products come from small business and mostly handmade, they are all truly unique. The fact is you probably won’t be able to find them anywhere else. Some products are one-of-a-kind, and that is what makes shopping at The Baby Burp really special.

FOUNDER’S STORY

The idea of The Baby Burp started when I was pregnant with my second child in the middle of an unplanned house remodel, thanks to Hurricane Issac. We were living in camper in my front yard during the construction. With no energy from the pregnancy and having to stay nearby with contractors, I found myself shopping online for nursery and kids decor. I was trying to avoid the packaged themed decor from the big box stores.

After many hours of digging on the Internet, I found many custom and handmade baby products that were exactly what I was looking for. I loved the idea that I was supporting these small- and home-based businesses. I thought: “If only I could find them all in one place like a one stop shop”—and that is when the idea of The Baby Burp was born.

MARKET OPPORTUNITY/DIFFERENTIATORS

The Baby Burp is positioned extremely well to take market share in the baby marketplace space. It is the only one out there specifically for new and handmade baby, toddler and mommy products.

Another feature that makes The Baby Burp unique from any other marketplace is the fact we are the only one partnered with MyRegistry.com, making us the only marketplace with the ability to create a universal gift registry. This gives our small businesses and handmade sellers an opportunity to have their products on a gift registry along with other retail products. This is huge for our sellers, giving them an opportunity to have their unique products on a customer’s gift registry for friends and family to shop from. You will not find that on any other marketplace.

We support our sellers 100 percent and provide any opportunity to share and promote their products and shops on The Baby Burp.

BUSINESS MODEL

Our business is commission-based. We take a five percent commission of all sales through PayPal split payments. Once an order has been placed through PayPal, the payment is split, where we get our commission and the seller gets their payment, all at the time of sale.

Anyone can register as a seller who has a product that is new, innovative, handmade, or custom made for babies, toddlers, or mothers-to-be. Sellers fill out a quick registration, can easily upload their products, and create their own store on The Baby Burp.

MARKETING/PROMOTION STRATEGY

Right now, marketing has been done through social media, word-of-mouth, and giveaways. We have been featured in CupcakeMAG and a few Tori Spelling giveaways. Marketing and advertising has been our biggest challenge.

CURRENT NEEDS

Our current needs are funding to hire a professional for PR and marketing. The Baby Burp has been a hit for its current customers, but needs a good advertising campaign to get noticed and become a presence in the baby industry and the World Wide Web.

A Kickstarter campaign to raise those funds just launched.

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HEADQUARTERS: New Orleans

WEBSITE: www.thebabyburp.com

FOUNDER: Amy Lingawi

INVESTORS: Bootstrapped

YEAR FOUNDED: 2013

KICKSTARTER: kickstarter.com/projects/559993610/make-the-baby-burp-a-top-marketplace-website

TWITTER: @thebabyburp

FACEBOOK: facebook.com/TheBabyBurp

INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/thebabyburp

GOOGLE+: google.com/+thebabyburp