Once you hear the amazing news that you’re going to be a parent, you begin noticing every stroller you pass on the street. Depending on where you live, you will likely find that UPPAbaby strollers are everywhere you look!
As a new mom doing stroller research, I was initially surprised by the high cost of UPPAbaby strollers. So Is UPPAbaby worth It?
Fast forward a few years and our UPPAbaby Vista and Minu strollers have not disappointed. In this post, we’ll discuss why UPPAbaby gear comes with a high price tag, what makes it so desirable, and whether it’s worth the money.
Table of Contents
What’s So Special about UPPAbaby?
UPPAbaby uses durable materials to make strollers that are safe, sleek, modern, sturdy, and long-lasting.
They are also full of features that adapt for parent and child comfort, like an expandable sun canopy, easily-adjustable seat recline positions and leg rest, and extendable handlebars. Premium shock absorption and compatibility with add-on items like the snack tray, cup holder, and ride-along board seals the deal and sets UPPAbaby strollers apart from the rest.
In addition to creating impressive products, UPPAbaby excels at customer service. Their strollers have an extended three-year warranty, and they ship replacement parts quickly to residents in the US.
In an interview with Vogue, UPPAbaby execs explain that customer service is even more important today because well-researched parents come armed with nuanced baby gear knowledge that wasn’t as accessible to consumers in the past.
Whenever I speak to parents who aren’t happy with their UPPAbaby strollers, it often comes out that a part has broken (Surprise! Even UPPAbaby strollers sustain damage), but they haven’t tried to fix it. If you reach out to the brand right away, you’ll likely be impressed by their quick response and their determination to return your product to good-as-new status.
All these impressive feats give UPPAbaby strollers the upper edge against competitors and contribute to stellar online reviews, which any online shopper knows is critical evidence for making a new purchase.
A quick search on websites like Amazon shows that UPPAbaby’s larger strollers, including the Vista and the Cruz, consistently have sky-high ratings consisting of over-90% 5-star reviews.
Why Are UPPAbaby Strollers So Expensive?
Many of the factors that set UPPAbaby ahead of the stroller game are also the driving force behind high prices.
Although UPPAbaby doesn’t make the most expensive strollers out there, it is on the higher end of the cost spectrum. Parents buying their popular convertible Vista stroller can plan to spend about $1000.
High-quality fabrics, lightweight materials, and adjustable features all contribute to the high cost of these strollers. Add elements like cutting-edge spring-action suspension, convenience-focused accessories, and unwavering customer support, and you’ve got a product with a serious price tag.
Despite the higher cost, UPPAbaby has managed to excel in today’s stroller market, and the founders believe they hit a niche in pricing that wasn’t present in other brands.
How Did UPPAbaby Become So Popular?
Husband-and-wife team Bob and Lauren Monahan started UPPAbaby with the Vista stroller in 2006, aiming to create a cool stroller that was modern and attractive to parents.
They incorporated technology to allow parents to snap stroller pieces—infant car seat, baby bassinet, and toddler seat—in and out of the stroller seamlessly, akin to the instantaneous tech syncing that parents have become so accustomed to, according to Vogue.
Their venture started at the same time that high fashion was inching more and more into the baby world. Baby nurseries started to incorporate sophisticated interior design techniques rather than just a mix of bright colors. The Monahans similarly aimed to create a stroller that was hip from a parent’s point of view rather than a child’s.
In an interview with baby gear retailer Magic Beans, Lauren Monahan describes the gap they saw between the uber-expensive brands that were on the market and the more budget-friendly options marketed to the masses.
They targeted what Bob Monahan described to NPR as an “entry-level luxury” price tag. Simultaneously, Bob told Slate, they saw a niche for a high-end stroller company based in the US rather than Europe, in order to make replacement parts more accessible for local customers.
According to Vogue, the founding couple credits a few key early-2000s retailers of their products, who saw UPPAbaby sales double yearly from the start, for helping their business take off. The products exploded mostly via word-of-mouth, and also thanks to a few key photos of celebs toting their tots in UPPAbaby gear.
The ubiquity of UPPAbaby strollers since has helped them to remain that way. When we were stroller shopping and noticed them on every street corner of our downtown neighborhood, we were encouraged that we’d be making a smart purchase, not a risky one.
Are There Ever Discounts on UPPAbaby?
Discount-savvy online shoppers have hunted for UPPAbaby sales everywhere. Even serious online research yields little in terms of discounts, as UPPAbaby gear is often excluded from store coupons.
The most reliable way to find an UPPAbaby product on sale is to purchase a discontinued color or model.
For example, it’s currently possible to purchase the older UPPAbaby Minu travel stroller at about 20% off of the original price since the Minu V2 came out in April 2022. There are typically some notable improvements between each stroller version, so it’s worth evaluating how the specific upgrades would impact your family and if passing up on them is worth saving the extra chunk of cash.
Many retailers also give new parents a percentage off their baby products to complete their registries, which may allow you to knock a precious 15% off the price tag.
Some larger stores such as Nordstrom do also appear to include UPPAbaby strollers in their major semi-yearly sale, according to What to Expect, but others are limited to cashback toward your next purchase.
The UPPAbaby Vista: Worth It for Two Kids?
Putting it all together, is an UPPAbaby stroller worth the cost? Let’s take the example of UPPAbaby’s first (and most expensive) high-quality stroller, the Vista.
UPPAbaby brands this stroller as the one that will carry your family through babyhood to the growing stages of a family with young kids.
The Vista is a convertible luxury stroller that can seat two infants, one/two toddlers, as well as one child standing on the available piggy-back board. It comes with abundant adjustable features and a safe-for-overnight-sleep infant bassinet that easily snaps off of the stroller.
The Vista incorporates spring-action suspension on four large wheels that make it navigate easily across bumpy terrain and roll smoother than any other stroller I’ve tried.
Other major wins are the 30-pound-capacity storage basket and an array of beautiful fabrics and stroller frame finishes.
From my experience, all these factors make the Vista worth the investment, especially if this is the one major stroller you’ll need to purchase to support your growing family. Otherwise, parents find themselves buying an additional double stroller when baby #2 comes along and spending even more money than they would have with the Vista from the start.
The Final Verdict: Finding the Right UPPAbaby Stroller
If you find the right UPPAbaby stroller for your family’s needs, it seems to be well worth the investment.
While the large and heavy Vista might not make sense for parents who live in a small walk-up apartment downtown, UPPAbaby has other options. The Minu stroller, for example, is smaller, of a lighter weight, and less expensive with many similar features.
To learn more about which UPPAbaby stroller is right for you, read our review on the Best UPPAbaby Strollers. More specifically, see our reviews of UPPAbaby’s Vista, Cruz, or Minu.
To compare UPPAbaby strollers against other brands, including more budget-friendly options, see our articles on the Best Convertible Strollers or Best Lightweight Strollers.
