A mum-of-three says she has saved £4,000 by renting out toys instead of buying them - and it means she isn’t worried about shortages this Christmas.
Rhianne McHale-Ogedengbe, 32, uses toy sharing subscription service Whirli to keep her children TJ, five, Remi, three, and Reo, one, entertained.
Whirli lets you pick from more than 1,000 toys for hire, including popular brands such as VTech, Le Toy Van and Fisher Price.
Then once your kid has become bored with that toy, you can send it back and swap for another item.
Or if they fall in love with a particular product, you can choose to buy it for less-than-retail price.
Whirli subscriptions start from £9.99 a month but Rhianne pays £19.99 for an enhanced subscription that gives her more toys, plus £6 for delivery booster.
Rhianne, who lives in Farnham, Surrey, with husband Tayo, 34, says she started using Whirli after noticing her children hardly using the toys they already had.
She now plans to rent gifts for her kids this Christmas after becoming a fan of the service.
Rhianne, who is the founder of sports coaching academy Pass And Play, reckons she has rented more than 150 toys from Whirli so far.
Would you rent out toys for your children this Christmas? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
She told The Sun: “Remi had to have a huge Hot Wheels track last Christmas.
“Santa got it for him, he played with it for a couple of weeks and now it lives in the garage and comes out for a day a month before he gets bored of it again.”
Rhianne added: “They get really excited when the Whirli box arrives — even the one-year-old recognises it now.”
By renting out presents, Rhianne says she won't have to worry about supply chain shortages causing her stress when it comes to buying toys this Christmas.
Toy chains have even started urging parents to shop early this year to avoid disappointment come December.
Geoff Sheffield, chief commercial officer of The Entertainer explained how a lack of shipping containers from Asia - a knock-on effect from demand being high for PPE at the start of the Covid pandemic - is also contributing to supply chain issues.
He explained how the supply chain problems are being caused by a range of issues, including a lack of shipping containers from Asia and the on-going HGV driver shortage.
As well as toys, families have been warned there could be shortages of Christmas trees and even Quality Street this year.
There are even fears turkey, gammon and pig in blankets could be off the dinner table, while the boss of Iceland has warned how supply shortages could "cancel" Christmas.
Shops have already started selling festive treats and stock over warnings the UK faces months of shortages.
