Please note: As of May 2009 we are NO LONGER AFFILIATED with Graphlink Media.  Any products sent to the former 330 E. 63rd street address will not be reviewed and we cannot assure their return.  Jonathan Stafford, Heather Ng, and Lance Evans of Graphlink Media are no longer affiliated with Gruntlings, and should not be sent products for review. Please contact sara @ gruntlings . com if you want the new shipping address for products for review.

Gruntlings was founded in 2006. We have peaked at 80,000 readers monthly.

Gruntlings came into existence when our founder became pregnant with her first child and was astonished to find that most of the reviews of baby/child products out there were short Amazon-like reviews that only focused on a few narrow items, or they were simply rehashing a press release for a product that the person had never had any first-hand experience with. Coming from a background in publishing, she decided to launch Gruntlings. Gruntlings has been an immediate success because it meets a need that many parents have: To know more about the product that they want to buy.

The word count speaks for itself. The average review on the internet is 200 words or less. It is common for our reviews of more complicated items to exceed 3,000 words without an ounce of filler.

OUR UNIQUE REVIEW STYLE

For each of our reviews, a small team from our panel of 15 reviewers comes up with a checklist of “points to cover” which addresses any questions that they would have before purchasing the item. This checklist is used by the reviewer to cover as many aspects of the product as possible. Our editors read other reviews of the product and the press material that comes with the product to make sure that any updates to the product are covered in the review, and that any possible misinformation that our readers may have received from other reviews is addressed.

Armed with this checklist of points to cover, our reviewers take the items home and let their children go to town with them- something that quickly exposes the best and worst of any product and that gives our readers an accurate idea of what to expect from their purchase. A buyer that knows what they’re buying is a happy buyer.

Our goal is to allow our readers to feel as if they have first hand experience with a product that they may have never seen in person, and to feel confident in their decision to purchase that item.

WHO ARE OUR READERS?

Gruntlings has a unique demographic. Our readers are predominantly young parents and grandparents that make between 15 and 75% of their child related purchases over the internet, and that rely heavily on research while they are making their purchasing decisions. These readers are drawn to our detailed reviews.

COMPARING APPLES TO APPLES

One of the things that has always turned us off about internet reviews is that there are a huge number of reviews that compare a $20 item to a $200 item and that don’t take the price difference into account. Or worse, we’ve seen reviews that compare umbrella strollers to jogging strollers without any consideration for the difference in functionality. Or reviews of toddler items that complain that they are useless for a 2 month old baby.

Gruntlings reviewers and editors understand the concept of “product class”, and are aware that parents have many different needs and budgets. Our reviews are written with the goal of helping parents make the decision as to whether a specific item meets their needs of price and functionality.

WHO WE’VE WORKED WITH

We have worked with an extensive list of companies including: Pottery Barn Kids, Warner Bros., VTech, Boon Inc., Keekaroo, Kettler, NettoCollection, Naturepedic, Chicco, Sterling Publishing, Scholastic, Barefoot Books, Kelty, Sandisk, Playskool, 7AM Enfant, Columbia Sportswear, Kushies, Pediped, Playtex, and a long and growing list of others.

CHARITABLE AFFILIATIONS

Since large amounts of children’s items come through the Gruntlings office and many of them are not items that the manufacturers want back after they’ve been run through our “full use” review process, we make sure to donate regularly to the New York Ronald McDonald House as well as local charities that distribute children’s items directly to homeless children.