This is an archived post, and applies to the old Whirli company. It has since transferred ownership and we'll be reviewing their latest offering in the next few months...stay tuned!
Looking to have access to a huge range of toys without having to store them or throw them away? Then Whirli could be for you!
Just here for a discount code? Click here for 30% off !
As any parent knows we're always on the lookout for ways to stimulate our child at home without creating a landfill of rubbish along the way. Whirli aims to solve this by having a subscription service that lets you swap toys, similar to how you'd rent a car or a book.
We hope you like this review and please comment below if you have any questions on anything that we cover.
In a rush? Here's why we love Whirli:
Pro's
Huge range of toys to choose from.
Has an 'unlimited swaps' option so you can really maximise the amount of toys to play with.
Each box comes with its own return label so you can post them back easily without having to print anything.
All toys come in their own canvas bag so you can keep track of all the parts.
Pricing is competitive and very transparent.
You get to help the environment by not wasting toys.
If you want to keep a toy you can buy it at a discounted price from new.
More and more toys are getting added every day.
Con's
Whirli is very cheap compared to the cost of buying all the toys you would use, but it is still a subscription service so make sure you can factor it into your monthly budget.
The toy range is mainly focused on under 4's.
Already going to buy one? Please support our page by buying through our links (it helps us write more great content and saves you money): Whirli link
What you get:
Refer your friends and get £40 off your subscription for every person that signs up. Your friend will get £10 or 30% off their first payment (whichever is greater).
Want to know more? Let's dive into our full review now...
How does Whirli work?
Choose your toys - This is the easy part, go on their website and choose from a huge list of toys, similar to how you would in a shop. On Whirli everything is priced based on 'Whirli tokens' where 1 token = 1 British Pound. Basically it's what the price of the toy would be if you bought it new.
We recommend having a look on their site before you sign up to see if the toys are what you're after.
Toy range - We've been very happy with the selection so far, most of the toys are of the wooden variety as they prioritise environmentally friendly (and robust!) toys. They do have things like dolls and even a nerf gun in there though!
Our current 'toybox'
Age groups - Whirli caters for lots of age groups but definitely favours younger ones, we found that above 4 there is less variety but they do keep expanding their range (the company only launched last year).
Ordering - Once you've selected the toys press 'checkout' and then they will be posted to you. Nice and simple! The toys arrive in a cardboard box that you can keep to send back the toys.
The canvas bags! - These are really really great, each toy comes in a reusable bag which is great as you can store all the parts for each toy in a separate bag. Bizarrely most of the toys don't come with a list of parts so in the case of marble toys its up to you to roughly keep track of them! That said we've had a few rogue marbles that have been lost and haven't been charged so they account for minor losses and wear and tear which is great :)
These bags are great!
Returning the toys - As soon as you want to return a toy, go on the website and initiate a return. As you do this your Whirli credit allowance is renewed so you can immediately order more toys.
Then all you have to do is put your unwanted toys in their canvas bag and the cardboard box they sent you and seal it up using the tape supplied in the box.
What we love is that you don't have to print a return form or label as it is all in the box already. This saves so much hassle!
Subscription options - Whirli has a few options for different price points. Each subscription has a 'Whirli token allowance' which is effectively the total value of toys you can have at any one time. For example 7.99/month will let you have £80 worth of toys etc. We went for the 'Toy Trunk' option as it gives you access to the bigger toys. The toy chest is only really needed if you want their giant wooden toys.
You also get a discount on yearly plans but we would advice taking out a monthly plan first, trying it for a month then going in for the yearly plan if you think you like it as it'll save you a mighty 20%!
Postage options - There are two options:
Pay each time you post the toys - £3.49 each way
Pay a monthly fee for unlimited swaps - £6 a month
Now I've seen a lot of people unfairly saying this is a 'hidden fee' but it does cost money to send things by post (shocking i know) and they're not making any money off their postage fees. Infact if you choose the £6 a month and do 2 swaps a month that would be costing them at least £12 in shipping fees alone so your subscription cost is paying for the postage too.
Just make sure you factor in the postage costs into your budget. We would recommend the unlimited swaps as we normally switch out our toys every 2-3 weeks but if you want to swap less often then go for the fixed fee option.
Royal mail postage fees
Sustainability - We really like the fact that we are not wasting anything and don't have to constantly worry about reselling old toys or hunting out bargains on Facebook marketplace (the ultimate guilty pleasure!). Whirli definitely ticks the box on sustainability and minimising waste which we like.
Top tip - We have a draw where we put the Whirli toys in their bags then periodically swap them. This way our little one doesn't feel spoiled that there's an infinite amount of toys and it feels more like being at nursery whereby they get access to different toys at different times.
Summary
So we're a big fan of Whirli, it's a really simple platform to use and the toy selection is great. We haven't found any drawbacks (yet!) and there doesn't really seem to be any worthwhile competitors out there either.
The pricing is always going to be the deciding factor on whether you can afford it but if you want a huge variety of toys and plan on swapping them regularly the subscription is a total bargain in our book.
Discount code - 30% off! We hope you liked our review, if you did and are thinking of getting a subscription, please use our referral link to get a discount on your order (30%!) and to help us out writing these reviews :)
Let us know what you thought about our review in the comments and if you have any questions on this then please send us a message and we'll update it.
They have pretty much every Janod toy you can think of!
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