Dumb idea? $1,700 “smart” bassinet loses features if you buy it used

Enlarge / The Snoo, a "smart" bassinet.

Owners of the $1,695 Snoo "smart" bassinet like to gather in forums like Reddit's r/snoolife to swap tracking graphs of their children's sleep patterns. But they also like to complain about Happiest Baby, the company behind the Snoo. That's because Happiest Baby this summer added a $20 monthly subscription fee to several of the Snoo's "premium features," which are controlled by a smartphone app.

Those who bought their Snoo from an "authorized" retailer before July 15, 2024, get the premium features free for nine months. No problem!

But those who bought their Snoo from an unauthorized retailer—that is, got it used—can "enjoy all the fun and benefits of our premium App features—for FREE—until July 15, 2024," the company announced in its fine print. After that date, premium features went away; the only option for premium feature access on used Snoos now is to cough up $20 each month, atop the $600–$1,000 already spent on the device.