The Toyary

Play, share, save – better.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Joining, memberships & access

Reserving/booking and returning toys

Safety and sanitization

Donating and supporting

Joining and memberships

Is a membership with The Toyary worth it? A.K.A. What’s in it for me?

Based on our experience, members that get the most out of joining The Toyary place strong value in the core principles underlying our mission.

  • Save money: Comparing the cost of membership, The Toyary offers a more affordable path to using/consuming and aging with toys, games and other play experiences, particularly over the course a child’s lifetime of play. The data itself doesn’t lie: with the average child receiving more than $6,500 worth of toys, it would take 21 years of our entry level Toyary membership to even come close to that!
  • Save the environment: The toy industry faces the same waste problem as Fast Fashion—children grow through toys rapidly with many items failing to find another home. While the toy manufacturing landscape is changing, the majority of toys (especially more affordable ones) are still made largely of non-recyclable plastic. In addition to saving money, toy libraries like ours help fundamentally support reuse.
  • Save your sanity: It’s hard to beat the joy that comes with giving toys to kids! We savor the moments of play, learning and distraction that toys fuel—but those moments can be short-lived. Instead of adding more toys to the madness, use The Toyary like your toy trunk: enjoy and rotate through them without the “work” of having to own, store and buy them.
  • Save your space: Little ones might be “little” but the same doesn’t necessarily hold true for the amount of space they require! Toys don’t need to be part of that equation. Our members value the opportunity to outsource and rotate their toy collection, and save all that extra space for a less cluttered home.

What items do members have access to?

Our toy library items are a carefully curated, constantly growing collection of learning-based and inclusive toys and games. Children’s brains develop the most during their first few years of life and we’re very much focused on positively impacting development from 6 months months to 6+ years by enabling learning-based play. That being said, we do have toys, games and play experiences that cater to children as young as newborns and as old as 8+ years old, with games and activities that the whole family can get excited about!

Why do you need to file my credit card?

Both our mission and our membership value rely on the availability and quality of our toy library inventory. We need to keep a credit card on file for borrowing to help ensure items are returned, free of damage and in their entirety. If you opt for delivery, a flat $5 delivery fee will automatically be charged to the card on file. If/when you decide to purchase a toy you end up loving, you also have the option to charge your card on file.

How do I change/cancel my membership?

You can cancel a membership and enable/disable auto-renewal directly in your membership account. Memberships can be canceled anytime before you are charged for the next month (note: if you have items checked out, these will first need to be returned). If you’d like to change membership types (which requires a change in your current loan status) or need any assistance, please contact us at [email protected].

Where/How do you deliver?

Deliveries to the following zones are available to members: Boston (specifically: Fenway, South End, Brookline, Dorchester, Roslindale, Milton, Newton & Jamaica Plain); Cambridge & Somerville; and the North Shore towns of Melrose, Wakefield, Stoneham, Malden, Everett and Medford/East Arlington. If you fall outside of these zones and prefer delivery, please contact us to discuss next steps. If you have questions or are interested solely in borrowing a party pack, just click here to get planning.

Note, we require a physical location to drop-off and pick-up items, typically within a 2-3 hour window depending on location. If you reserve particularly large items or party packs, we’ll arrange a specific time/date that works best for you.

How does pick-up work?

All members have the option to reserve and swap items in-person for pick-up during regular hours in Malden, MA (our warehouse loft location) or Medford, MA, at Trove Green Provisions. This is a great option if you fall outside of our current delivery zones or if you’d like to swap items more frequently than our biweekly delivery schedule allows.

Just select the “pickup” option during the reservation process, after which you will be prompted to choose your preferred pickup location. We’ll email you when your items are ready for pick-up at this location (if you have items to return, make sure you bring them to swap for your new bag). Note, while we can typically process orders with a quicker turnaround for this location, pickups themselves can only take place during each location’s opening hours, which we recommend you confirm before heading over!

Our warehouse loft in Malden is the only location where you can explore, play and browse our collection in person. And you don’t have to reserve items in advance unless you want to!

How do I purchase a toy if we can’t part with it?

One of the perks of membership is your ability to purchase a vetted toy at a substantial discount if your child ends up loving it. If you are interested in owning a toy you’ve borrowed, look for the “love it” price included with the item’s online listing and contact us to approve your purchase.

When is your warehouse loft open for playtime and browsing?

We offer consistent weekly hours, including weekend availability, so you have regular opportunities to visit. Click here to find us and learn more.

Booking/reserving and returning toys

How do I make my toy selection(s)?

Members select their toys online through our member portal; alternately, members can choose a “Surprise Me” option for a selection curated by us. So that we have enough time to collect them for you ahead of deliveries or pickups, we require online reservations be made 24-48 hours prior. Don’t worry about having to remember this though; you’ll receive loan reminders when it’s time.

How many items can I borrow at once?

This depends on your membership tier: Toyary Tote members can rotate ONE item at a time, while Toyary Trunk members can borrow up to 3 items at a time, and Toyary Truckload members can borrow up to 5 items at a time. Beyond that, we charge a small fee ($7-$14) for each additional item borrowed. Alternatively, we love to work with members to put together a curated or themed Party Pack for special occasions (prices vary depending on the number and types of items needed).

What if an item I want is already reserved?

If an item you want is already reserved, just view the calendar for that item and book the next available date.

How often can I borrow toys?

Anytime you want! As long as we’re open, you are welcome to swap out your toys in person—some members do this daily and others opt to hold onto items for months. If you prefer to receive toys via delivery, you can borrow toys for as little as two weeks (the time between our delivery routes) and as long as several months.

Can I save my favorite items for future borrowing?

Yes—the best way to save items for future borrowing is to make a future reservation for them. As long as you’re a member, you can reserve as far in advance as you’d like. Some members will reserve items several weeks or months in advance to keep them in their pipeline.

Can I/How do I renew items?

With a few exceptions (e.g., high demand items or another reservation), most of our toy library collection can be renewed for additional borrowing increments. To renew, just log into your member portal and renew the item directly by clicking on the “renew” button to the right of your loan list.

I’m having trouble reserving the items I want—what is happening?

Here are 3 pointers to prevent the most common fixable issues when it comes to reservation bookings:

  • Start a reservation with your first item. Selecting the reservation period for your FIRST item will prompt our inventory system to default to showing you only the items available during this reservation period. When you click on an item, you will see the booking calendar for it, which will show you its upcoming availability. For reference, dates that are greyed out in an item’s calendar represent our reservation buffers, which leave room for us to quality check and clean items before their next booking.
  • Do not uncheck the “in stock during reservation dates” filter when starting a reservation.  With this option enabled (which is the default), our inventory system will show items available for the dates you set. This option is ALWAYS selected by default when a member starts a new reservation—leaving it this way will avoid issues with trying to reserve items that show as not currently available.
  • Contact us if you’re still having issues. If you have issues booking an item you want please don’t hesitate to reach out. We can override buffers if necessary, secure backup or additional items or make sure to line the item(s) up for a future reservation for you. Please know you can certainly reserve several months and weeks ahead, which some members do (treating future reservations as a “favorites list” of sorts).

An item that I want looks available, but I can’t book it—help!

  • If you look at any item’s booking calendar, you will find the exact availability of the item. Dates blocked and marked as “reserved” indicate the item is booked by someone.
  • Any dates that appear “greyed out” are our booking buffers. These buffers ensure we have time to clean, quality check, account for potential delays, prep orders, etc., before an item is due to go out again. We can sometimes override these buffers for you if there is a larger gap between bookings. 
  • If the item’s booking calendar shows availability (white, not greyed-out dates) for your desired time frame, adding it to your cart should never result in a “none available” display.

How do I get my toys and return them?

Once you become a member, you’ll have direct access to our member portal where you can:

  • Browse and reserve toys: Log directly into our member portal to choose your items and dates and make a reservation. Members can borrow a toy for a minimum of two weeks and a maximum of one or more months, with the option to renew in most cases. Make sure to click “Submit Reservation” to complete your request. Then, look out for our confirmation email.
  • Renew items in your account: Log into your account to view and renew your items. Unless there’s a pending reservation, the majority of items can be renewed for another 2+ week period. We’ll send you a confirmation to let you know you’re all set.
  • Choose your fulfillment method: When you reserve your items in the member portal you also choose how you want to get them. When you choose delivery, we’ll contact you with a delivery window within 24-hours of the date items are due to be dropped off/returned. You will also receive delivery updates the day of your delivery. When you choose pickup, you’ll receive an email confirmation when your items are ready for pickup. If you experience an unforeseen circumstance or scheduling conflict, just contact us to discuss alternative arrangements.

What happens if an item I borrow is lost, broken and/or late?

Look, we get that life happens and that life with young children throws in a few extra wildcards. A major part of our mission is to make the lives of parents and child caretakers easier, not more stressful. If you’re reading this in a panic, we’ve failed! Before you get to the point of stress, here’s what to do when you get our delivery/return reminder and realize something’s missing, broken or lost:

  • “Help, we’ve lost a toy or part of it!” As parents, we know that in most cases the missing item or parts usually reappear. Your first step is to just let us know. We can renew or decommission that item for you until you’re able to find it. If it’s ultimately gone, depending on the item or part(s), we can replace the item for you with a replacement fee (if applicable) or a member can replace the missing toy or pieces themselves, as long as they’re in a similar condition.
  • “Yikes, we broke something!” We think the ultimate test of a good toy is how much play it can handle. That’s why—in addition to its developmental strengths—we pay strong attention to an item’s durability and sustainability when selecting which items to include in our toy collection. In the event that something breaks, your first step is to immediately remove it, then let us know. If it’s not something that we can fix or replace in-house, we’ll work with a member to discuss potential replacement options. Most importantly, if any item is damaged while being borrowed, it is the members responsibility to immediately remove it to ensure a child is not playing with a defective product.
  • “Ugh, we’ve missed our return date!” In case this happens, we’ve built buffers into our borrowing system so that members generally don’t have to worry about leaving other members hanging (or about being that member left hanging)! Members also have a 7-day grace period to return late items. In general, if your items are eligible for renewal, they will simply auto renew.

What if I can’t bear to separate my child(ren) from a toy?!

Amid the plethora of play options, it’s a wonderful thing to come across a toy or game that your little one(s) just can’t let go of! As a member you have the option to purchase any item that you can’t bear to part with, typically at a substantial savings given its pre-loved condition. When you do this, you also receive the added benefit of supporting a more sustainable economy.

Safety and sanitization

What is The Toyary doing to prevent the spread of Covid and any other potentially contagious germs?

Our items undergo a quarantine, inspection and cleaning process between loans, which you can learn in greater detail about here, including the CDC and ALA guidelines that we track and follow.

Do I need to clean items before returning them?

We ask that you treat the toys and games you borrow like your own, which means letting children play with them like they should! As you probably would with anything in your house, if something gets particularly dirty please wipe it down so that it is no longer soiled or stained. While we clean and quarantine all returns, we expect members to return items in the condition they would want to borrow them in.

Especially large and outdoor play toys may require an extra rinse and/or wipe down before they return. If these types of items return soiled to the extend that extreme cleaning measures are required by our staff (i.e., we cannot physically clean them in-house), then a $30 fee will be charged to the card on file.

Donating and supporting

I have toys that I’d like to donate or sell to The Toyary, what’s the best way to do this?

There are a few ways we value support and donations are one of them! Please just call or email us to coordinate a pick-up time. If you have items to donate that we might not typically use in the toy library (e.g., stuffed animals), we work with our non-profit partners to redistribute them to children and families in need.

How can I get involved with The Toyary as a local toy maker/business/community organization?

We love to support and advocate for small businesses, toy makers and fellow community organizations at The Toyary! Here are a few ways we enjoy collaborating.

  • Identifying sites for our local pick-ups and drop-offs.
  • Helping to expand our selective toy collection.
  • Supporting member events, fun activities and unique offers.
  • Bringing all sorts of creative ideas to the table!

Please reach us in any of these ways to get a conversation going.