Save Money on Kid's Outdoor Playsets

My wife and finally bought an outdoor wooden playset for our daughter's upcoming second birthday. I was surprised at how much these swing sets cost - anywhere from $700-$3,000+ seems to be the typical price range for a wooden swing set. The cost was really surprising to me given they are mostly just wood and bolts.

Based on our experience here are our tips for a playset purchase:

The warehouse clubs (BJs, Costco, Sam Club, etc) appear to typically have the best all around value on new playsets.
Looks on craigslist for a used playset nearby. We were suprised at the demand for used playsets on craigslist and found they typically sold within 24 hours of listing in our area.
Off season purchase could save you significant money. We just missed a Costco closeout sale of one of their 2010 swingset models that would have been a great value. Also I suspect less competition on used playsets during Fall/Winter.
A cordless drill with socket adapter to screw/unscrew the bolts will save hours in playset assembly.
You can buy inexpensive replacement swings, infant swings, etc from Lowes/Home Depot. Especially handy if you buy a used playset.

We ended up purchasing a 2.5 year old Creative Playthings Chesapeake wooden playset off of craigslist in like new condition. The sellers were moving and didn't have room at their new place for their playset. The sellers had paid $1,959.17 for the playset and we purchased it for $800, plus spent ~$80 in gas to transport it back to our home. Disassembly of the playset into sections for transport and re-assembly was easier than I expected and probably the same amount of work as assembling a new playset from scratch.

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Comments (2)

We got one of these adventure play-sets for our kids, and like you managed to get it at a great price. My advice to you though is make sure you treat the wood properly (every year) or you could find that it starts to crack and become brittle.

Posted by Tony | March 28, 2011 2:22 PM

Wow that looks nice! Makes me want to swing! I wish I was 2 again.

Posted by Steve | March 29, 2011 4:32 PM